Dawn of Chaos and Fury by Melissa K. Roehrich - 13

10

“ I really don’t like this,” Axel said from where he sat on the edge of the bed.

Kat poked her head out of the ensuite, her toothbrush in her mouth and her brows knitted. “Like what?” she asked around the brush.

“You know what,” he grumbled.

She gave him a small smile before returning to the bathroom, but he knew she was annoyed with him. It had been a week since Theon had shown up here, and like he’d known he would, Theon had set about laying out all their options and overthinking everything. Yes, Axel needed his brother’s help, but overthinking wasn’t how things were done in the Underground.

Unless it came to his wife.

Then he was the one overthinking things.

Katya returned, wearing only one of his shirts. Her belly was too large for her own clothes at this point, and while he had purchased her maternity wear from the Apparel District, she said his shirts were more comfortable to sleep in. That might be true, but he suspected it might also have something to do with the scent of him that lingered.

She stopped before him, resting her hands on his shoulders. His fingers trailed up bare thighs as he spread his legs and tugged her between them, needing her closer. He could swear his canines tingled as he inhaled her scent, despite having drank plenty of blood that day. Theon had given him all the rations he’d brought, not keeping any for himself. He insisted he could go get more when they needed it, but gods, that trek there and back would take at least a week. Theon couldn’t Travel, and without a Source, he couldn’t shadow walk like their father either. But that wasn’t what had him worried currently.

“I don’t suppose I can convince you to stay behind tomorrow?” he murmured, his fingers brushing up and down her soft skin.

A small, coy smile formed again. “It hasn’t worked yet,” she answered. “What makes you think it will work now?”

He sighed, his fingers tightening around the backs of her thighs. “It’s dangerous, Kat. The Shifters are⁠—”

“Cunning and fickle,” she interrupted. “Yes, I’m aware. I have met them before.”

“I could kill Theon for taking you there,” Axel snarled, dragging her closer still until her protruding stomach bumped against his torso.

“I was as determined to find you as he was, Axel,” she said, reaching up and pushing her fingers through his hair. “I insisted.”

“Because you are stubborn,” he muttered. “It puts you and the babe at risk.”

“So your solution is to leave me here alone? How is that any safer?”

“Stop being so logical,” he grumbled with a scowl.

But her smile only grew. “Stop bringing up the same argument every few hours,” she countered. “Give me something new to work with.”

She slid onto his lap at the words, her knees going to either side of his hips and her hands looping around his neck.

“You’ve worked with that plenty,” he grumbled more as she settled over him and ground down.

“So grumpy,” she chided, peppering kisses along his jaw.

“I’m being serious, Katya.”

She pulled back with a sigh, now visibly irritated. He held her hips, supporting her weight and helping her stay balanced as her arms dropped to her sides.

“We truly must have this argument again? Fine. What do you propose, Axel? Are you sending Theon by himself so you can stay with me? Are you leaving me here by myself for Bree to find? Is Theon staying and you’re going to deal with the Alpha and Beta alone? Which option do you choose?” she demanded.

“I know there aren’t any good options,” he argued, his own irritation climbing.

“There is a good option,” she insisted. “It involves the three of us going as a united front. It involves showing you are already different from your father and other Legacy by taking a Fae for a wife.”

“You’re not a fucking bargaining chip to parade around and be used to further an agenda, Katya,” he interjected.

“So you would relegate me to a position of being quiet and docile? Doing what I am told and staying hidden from the world?”

“That’s not fair. You’re pregnant, Kat. If anything happened to you…”

She took his face in her hands, forcing him to hold her stare. “Have you considered for one moment that I feel the same? That perhaps I am just as possessive and overprotective as you are? I lost you once, Axel. I refuse to do so again,” she said, flames and shadows flickering to life in her eyes.

“Kitten,” he breathed.

“I love you, Axel, but in this matter, I am stronger. I have my fire and your shadows. Theon has his power.”

“And I am nothing,” he said, feeling the sting of that statement in his soul.

“No,” she insisted, holding firm when he tried to turn away from her. “You are everything . And you have knowledge, Axel. You know the Underground better than anyone. Knowledge can win over sheer power if wielded with the same finesse. It is what makes Theon so dangerous; he is a powerful being who covets knowledge. Your worth lies in more than your magic. You taught me that. But if you go into that meeting tomorrow thinking you are less than what you are, they will see it. They will see it, and it will be all they need to see. They will not follow someone who does not believe they aren’t the most powerful in the room. Who does not think he is worthy to lead.”

“Am I?” he asked, completely vulnerable in front of the one person who could bring him to his knees.

She leaned in so her words feathered across his lips when she whispered, “Axel, you weren’t born to live in the dark. You were born to bring your people out of it.”

“Gods, I love you,” he breathed before his lips were on hers, his hands sliding behind her head to hold her to him.

“What are you doing?” she gasped when he released her.

“Kissing you,” he answered, his lips gliding along her jaw.

“I know that,” she said, already sounding breathless. “But you…” She shook her head before dropping her brow to his. “You keep doing this,” she said, her eyes falling closed, but he saw the tears pooling. “You do this and then stop.”

“You know why, kitten,” he said softly, tucking stray hair behind her ear. “I don’t want to hurt you. Ever. And if we… I could lose control.”

“Then don’t kiss me and look at me like you do,” she snapped.

By the gods. He loved her feisty side, but this was more than that. Navigating when to push her and when to back the fuck off while she was pregnant had been more than a little challenging. One minute she was upset about orange juice, and the next she was perfectly fine and going about her day.

Or in this case, one minute she was making him feel like he could conquer the Underground, and the next, she was making him feel like an asshole for trying to keep her safe.

“Look at you how, kitten?” he finally asked carefully.

“Like you want something from me, but won’t give it to me. It’s making both of us miserable. And by Anala, I need you to want me right now, Axel. I just…need,” she sighed.

His entire body went rigid, and he took her chin, forcing her face up to meet his gaze. “You think I don’t want you, Katya? You think I don’t want to touch you, taste you, feel you around me? Because I know what it’s like to feel you come apart on my cock, kitten. I think about it all the godsdamn time. You think I don’t remember what it’s like to worship you?”

“Stop saying things like that,” she seethed, and gods, he was a dick because her eyes were clouding with desire just at his words.

“Katya, if I hurt you⁠—”

“I’ll burn you and restrain you with your own shadows,” she cut in. “Just please⁠—”

“No,” he growled, dropping small kisses on one corner of her mouth and then the other.

He felt her shoulders slump, and he knew she wouldn’t argue with him about this again tonight, but the word hadn’t been meant to stop this.

“You never need to beg me to want you, kitten,” he murmured, his voice low and full of the darkness that ran in his blood. “I’m sorry you thought you did.”

She sucked in a gasp as she pulled back, amber eyes searching his own. “You’re not going to stop?” she asked, and fuck, she was already trembling slightly beneath his fingers.

“Not as long as you promise to stop me if I⁠—”

He let out a soft chuckle as she dragged her fingers lightly down his bare chest before gently shoving him backwards onto the mattress. Then the chuckle turned into a hiss as her hands slid lower, down his abdomen to the waistband of his pants. She was teasing him though, as she moved them back up, sliding them over the planes of his stomach at the same time she repositioned herself.

It was then he realized she wasn’t wearing undergarments beneath his shirt.

“Clever kitten,” he crooned. “You planned this.”

“Knowledge and wit can win over sheer power if wielded with the same finesse,” she said breathlessly, moving over him, seeking and searching.

His hands landed on her hips again, helping her keep her balance. “Tell me what you need,” he said gruffly, mesmerized as he watched her move.

“I need you to stop protecting me and start needing me in the same way I need you,” she answered. “I need to know you love me. That it wasn’t an in-the-heat-of-the-moment decision. That it’s not just because I’m carrying your child. That it’s not because we were supposed to have a bond.” A tear slipped free, even as she continued to move over him, her bare center moving along his hard length over the thin material of his pants. “I need to know you still choose me, Axel.”

The last words were a whisper, and they shattered something in his soul. Because she’d tried to tell him. Tried to tell him all of this, and he was so concerned with keeping her safe from him, he’d missed being what she actually needed him to be. He hadn’t meant to, but the lessons ingrained in him his entire life had taken over, doing exactly what she’d accused him of. Relegating her to a place of doing what she was told, only he’d convinced himself it was to keep her safe.

Her hand slipped lower again, and he almost let her go. Almost let this new bold side of her slip that hand into his pants and pull him out, but he halted her movements where he still gripped her hips. More tears slipped free, but these were angry tears of frustration.

“You said you wouldn’t stop me,” she said, the words threaded with defeat and exasperation.

“I’m not stopping you, kitten,” he said, gently moving her off him and scooping her up. “I’m controlling the pacing.”

“What?” she asked, the irritation morphing into confusion as he deposited her properly onto the bed.

But he didn’t answer. He slowly slid his shirt over her body, letting his fingers scrape and drag lightly along her sensitive skin. Watched her chest hitch with a stalled breath at the touch. Felt his own mouth go dry at having her bare skin waiting for him. Taunting him. Testing every bit of his self-control not to taste her blood, although that desire was there. If he hadn’t drunk an entire bottle of blood this evening, there was no way he’d be letting himself do this, but she was right. She deserved more than being protected behind closed doors and glass windows.

She deserved to be worshipped.

He said nothing when he pushed his pants down over his hips, kicking them off. Then he crawled in beside her, gently rolling her to her side. She went willingly, this sudden give and take between them more intoxicating than anything. Anticipation of when she’d take control again lingered just beneath the surface, and he loved it.

He loved her, and damn him to the Pits of Torment for ever letting her doubt that.

Lifting one of her legs and spreading her perfectly for him, he nestled in behind her. Her head fell back against his shoulder, a soft moan falling from her lips as she pressed back against his cock.

“This isn’t going to slow down anything,” she rasped.

“No?” he teased, pressing a kiss just below her ear.

She shook her head, grinding back against him again. “Nothing will slow it down. I’m too close. I’ve been…”

“I know, kitten,” he whispered, running his nose along her jaw and down her neck. Breathing her in.

Then he let his fangs scrape the barest amount along her throat, and she froze.

“Axel…”

“I won’t,” he rasped, doing it again. “I won’t unless you let me. And not until I’m sure I can control it.”

She was silent long after he pulled back, running his fingertips down her bare arms, back up, along the side of her full breast. Feeling the gooseflesh he left in the wake of his touch.

“After the babe comes,” she finally breathed.

“Gods, you’re fucking perfect,” he murmured, gently kneading her breast in his palm, pulling another moan from her that went straight to his cock. “Are you throbbing yet?”

“Wh-what?” she gasped as he plucked at her nipple.

“I can feel how wet you are,” he said, rocking his hips against her ass. “But if you’re not throbbing here,” he continued, sliding his hand down her stomach and brushing his thumb along her clit, “I have some work to do.”

“Please, no,” she whined. “Just fuck me.”

“Such filthy words, kitten,” he chided, and she let out an honest-to-the-gods growl. “I’m not going to just fuck you, Katya,” he said, turning serious and pressing a kiss to the juncture between her neck and shoulder. “You said you needed me to prove myself to you⁠—”

“I didn’t mean…” she panted, her words trailing off as he brushed along her clit again before dragging his hand back up over her stomach and between her heavy breasts.

“You did, and you’re right,” he said. “So no, I’m not just going to fuck you, Katya. I’m going to worship you. I’m going to feel you, and you’re going to know that I am yours and you are mine. In this life and the next.” His hips rolled again, his tip nudging at her center but never entering, and her already short breaths quickened even more. “So tell me, kitten. Tell me how to love you.”

“I… Axel. ”

His name was a whine as he gently cupped her breast, and her hand flew up to clutch at the back of his neck.

“Yes, kitten?” he said, smiling against her neck as he rolled a nipple between his fingers.

She arched against him. “You love me when you truly see me,” she gasped out. “When I’m not just something to protect. When I’m not just a Fae⁠—”

“You were never just a Fae, Katya,” he said sternly.

“You make me believe that,” she said, panting now and her fingers flexing on his nape. “I need you to trust me to know when I need to be protected.”

“I do, kitten. I don’t trust myself.”

“But I trust you, Axel,” she said, arching again when he turned his attention to her other nipple. “You love me when you let me help you and don’t insist on doing things alone. You love me when you see me,” she said again.

He paused his ministrations, and she turned her head, letting him capture her lips. She was the one who demanded entrance with her tongue, and he gladly let her, growing impossibly harder with every swipe against the heat of her mouth.

“I hear you, Katya,” he said when they were both gasping for breath. “I see you.”

Her head fell back against his shoulder again. “You love me when you give me what I need,” she said between panted breaths. “And right now, I need you.”

He didn’t bother saying anything as he slipped inside her. He was done prolonging this as much as she was over it.

“Yes,” she moaned at the same time he hissed, “Fuck.”

It was the first time he’d been inside her since before he’d handed her over to Tristyn.

Months.

It’d been months of being terrified to properly love what was his. Never again would someone take something from him that wasn’t his choice to give. Never again would he be at the mercy of someone else. Not his father. Not Bree. The only one he’d go to his knees for was the female currently taking her pleasure from him, and for her, he’d give away his soul.

He thrust in again, and she hadn’t been lying. She was already there, teetering on an edge.

“More,” she whined, arching into him and guiding his hand back to her breast. “Touch me, Axel. Everywhere.”

No problem there.

His hands roamed, cupping breasts, sliding over hips, brushing along the crease of her thigh. Within minutes she was clenching around him, forcing him to follow her into the depths of ecstasy. She muffled her cry into a pillow while blinding pleasure ripped through him.

He waited a bit for them both to come down before he helped her clean up, and when they were back in bed, his naked body curled around hers, he dropped a kiss to the top of her head. Her breathing had already shifted, and he could swear she was asleep before her head had even hit the pillow.

He skimmed his hand over her belly, holding his palm flat. He could hear the babe’s heartbeat, the rhythm strong and steady.

And then there was the smallest of flutters beneath his hand.

“Kat?” he whispered.

“I know,” she murmured, clearly not as asleep as he’d thought she was. “You could have felt him a while ago.”

“You didn’t say anything.”

“I tried,” she said around a yawn, pressing back into him. “You were too…consumed. You wouldn’t talk to me.”

“Never again. I promise.”

She hummed, pressing even farther back into him as she slipped into a truly deep sleep. He meant those words. Meant that promise.

And as he slipped into dreams of his own, he made another promise. This one to his unborn son.

He promised him he would see the stars.

He kept his head held high as the doors of the make-shift throne room thudded shut behind them. Katya’s hand was clasped in his where she was to his left, while Theon stood to his right. But while Theon was dressed in his usual suit and tie, Axel had opted for something a touch more casual. He’d ditched the suit coat and tie, wearing only black pants with a black button-down, leaving the top two buttons undone. Something to show he wasn’t here as a Legacy to lord over them, but that he was still someone to reckon with. And the female at his side?

Gods, Katya was stunning in a black dress that hugged her figure and accented her belly, eliminating any possible doubt. Long sleeves and a high neckline that reached to her chin may have hidden flesh, but the deep slits of the sides that went to the tops of her thighs made up for it. Her flat sandals were gold with various colored gems along them, and the band on her finger shimmered in the low lighting of the room. She’d piled her ebony curls atop her head, a few of them framing her face, and if anything, he wanted this meeting over with so he could take her home and have a repeat of last night.

None of them faltered as they strode to the front of the room, stopping before the chairs that were clearly meant to portray thrones. They stopped as one, none of them even so much as dipping their chins as they met the stares of the Alpha and Beta.

The Beta was the first to speak, her chin propped in her manicured hand. A nail filed to a sharp point tapped her chin as she said, “I don’t know if you are aware of this, Theon, but this is your brother. Not our missing Shifter prince.”

Without missing a beat, Theon said in a tone that betrayed nothing, “It appears I didn’t need your assistance after all. I always find a way to get what I want, Giselle.”

Giselle’s light grey eyes narrowed on him, her wine red hair swaying above her collarbone. “Here I thought this was going to be a cordial visit.”

“It certainly can be,” he answered, hands sliding into his pockets. “I suppose that’s up to the two of you.”

“Enough of this,” Kylian cut in harshly. “You do not get to disrespect us in our own house, Arius Heir.”

“I have done no such thing, and I won’t need to as long as we can have a…productive discussion.”

“About?” the Alpha ground out.

“Allegiances,” Axel said, taking over for Theon.

His brother was here as support, but these needed to be his negotiations. Theon had offered to take over, and Axel could tell it had taken all his self-control not to do just that. But Theon’s place wasn’t in the Underground; this was his domain now. He needed to earn their loyalty.

“We are loyal to the Arius Kingdom, of course,” Giselle said in her ever-sensual lilt. “Where else would our loyalties lie?”

“You are loyal to the Arius Kingdom because you are forced to be, but I am not speaking of the Lords and Ladies who leave us to rot in the dark,” Axel replied.

“Us?” she asked, her full lips tilting up into a wry smile. “I did hear a rumor you had joined us for good, young…vampyre, is it now?”

“It is,” he said without so much as a wince. “So now I ask again, where does your allegiance lie?”

“Surely you are not asking us to turn against your family?” Kylian said, arching a brow, but Axel had spent enough time with them to know he was pushing for Axel to reveal his hand.

“Maybe not today,” Axel said with a shrug.

That had both the Alpha and the Beta sitting up straighter.

“Explain,” Giselle hissed. Gone was her lilt. Instead she sounded like the giant python she preferred to shift into.

“If anyone could negotiate with them about us being allowed to see the sky, I would think it would be a familial relation,” Axel said. “I will not be relegated to the dark the rest of my days, and I certainly won’t raise a child who never knows what the fucking sun is.”

Each word grew shorter and darker. He might not have his shadows anymore, but he was still a godsdamn St. Orcas. He’d still been raised to command a room. Still been prepared to rule. He’d hated his father for it, but fuck him to the After and back, he’d been raising him for exactly this. Now he’d take all those lessons and use them, just not in the way his father had planned.

Both of their eyes flicked to Katya, where she still held his hand, their fingers intertwined. But while Kylian’s gaze lingered on her belly, it was Giselle who said, “We’d heard you had taken a bride, but I didn’t truly believe it until you walked in here with her.” She settled back in her chair, once again resting her chin on her palm. “A St. Orcas son taking a Fae as a wife. Whatever did your father say? Or is that why you were sentenced here in the first place?”

His lip curled back, baring his fangs. “I wasn’t sentenced here,” he snarled. “I came here willingly.”

She huffed a sharp laugh. “Oh, you naïve thing. No one comes here willingly.”

“Naïve?” Axel repeated, stepping forward. He released Kat’s hand, but she moved with him. His brother, however, stayed back, letting him do this on his own.

It should have terrified him. Theon was always the one to take care of him. To shield him. But maybe they’d both finally learned that it couldn’t always be that way. That eventually he needed to find an identity outside of the family. Outside of Luka and Theon. And Theon needed to let him.

But he wasn’t alone.

Not as shadows slowly drifted across the floor, threads of flame weaving among them.

The Alpha and Beta were both wide-eyed, and Kylian’s knuckles were white where they clutched the arms of his chair as he said, “The babe is an Arius Legacy.”

“The babe is a St. Orcas,” Kat said, chin held high. “And is currently next in line after Theon.”

“That means nothing,” Kylian said. “The Arius Heir will have an heir of his own. He already has a Match.”

Axel felt Theon’s power swell at the words. It was subtle, but he knew his brother’s magic when he felt it. Knew his brother was working to keep it leashed.

“You can take that chance,” Kat said. “But everyone knows that even if that is the case, Theon and Axel are close. You truly think Theon will allow his nephew to remain here? That he won’t negotiate when he takes the Arius throne? And whose side do you wish to be on when that time comes?”

“You are a clever little thing, aren’t you?” Giselle said, studying them both with newfound interest.

“What do you wish of us?” Kylian asked.

“Your allegiance,” Axel said. “I’m sure you have heard whisperings of Bree’s plans. I wouldn’t even be surprised if she had already been here asking the same thing of you I am.”

Neither the Alpha nor the Beta moved or gave any indication that what he’d said was true, but he knew it was. While they’d been holed up putting together their plans over the last week, Bree had been planning this coup for decades, if not centuries. Fuck, the Shifters could even be part of it, but he had to try. For Kat. For their son. He cared more for these people than Bree ever would. She’d made it clear she wanted all of Devram, and the Underground was just her stepping stone.

“If she enacts her plans and we are forced to stand against her, I want assurance you will be on our side,” Axel continued.

“On the possibility of you negotiating our freedom with your brother someday if he holds the Arius Kingdom throne?” Kylian said with a scoff. “That could be decades from now, and with the way the kingdoms are divided at this moment, the Arius Legacy might very well not even have a kingdom in the coming days.”

“And what has Bree promised you?” Kat asked. “Power? Freedom? You think she will give you any of what she takes? You will be in no better position than you are now.”

“We will always answer to someone,” Giselle said. “Whether it be a Lord, a god, the stars themselves. We will not be faulted for choosing our alliances to ensure the best for our people. So what is it, exactly, that you are offering?”

“A choice,” Axel said. “Something rarely given to anyone in Devram. You’re right. I can’t guarantee a godsdamn thing, but I can vow to never stop trying.” He pulled a small knife from his pocket, slicing the blade along his palm and letting his blood drip to the floor. “Whether or not you join me, I vow to never stop fighting for the freedom of people who don’t deserve to be locked away in the dark. You are a threat to everything they have built. They know that. Bree knows that. She wants to use you for it; I want us to fight for the freedom to simply live among them. Not as beings beneath them, but as people worthy of that simple right.”

“Under your rule, then?” Kylian interjected.

“I have no desire to rule,” Axel said. “But I will certainly help lead if I am asked to fight for justice, and I’ll pursue it even if there’s no one at my side. I’ve spent more days these past years in the Underground than I have with my family. And yes, I was forced to at my father’s hand, but I wouldn’t trade it either. Because I’ve seen what they fear. A people capable of changing fate if not kept in cages.

“I don’t require an answer today. You know where to find me,” he said, once again taking Kat’s hand as he turned to walk away. He’d said all there was to say, and he wouldn’t beg, just as he’d never beg at Bree’s feet. Never again.

“What was the purpose of bringing your brother here for this exchange?” Giselle called after him. “Intimidation?”

Axel paused, looking back over his shoulder. “No, actually. He has his own matters to discuss with you, and until I know where your loyalty lies, I don’t suppose I have any reason to intervene on your behalf, do I?”

Her eyes went wide as they snapped back to Theon. Axel didn’t know what business Theon had with them. His brother had only asked him to trust him on this, and he would explain everything after the day was done. Axel had agreed. His only request was that Theon didn’t use coercion to force them to agree to an alliance. An alliance made by force wasn’t an alliance at all, and it would break at the first test. He needed the Shifters to choose this. True loyalty was born of choice, but in the end, he was still a St. Orcas. He was still death, but he was resourceful in a way his brother never would be, because he’d been forced to survive here long before he’d been forced to hide here.

He was still a villain; the Shifters could decide if he was going to be theirs.