Rejected by the Alpha, Claimed by his Brother

Warning: Mature Content Ahead.

Dear Moon.

I flopped back against the pillows, the heat crawling up my neck like I’d just been roasted alive. My hands hovered awkwardly over my body like I was about to attempt surgery without a license.

He stood beside the bed, arms crossed, watching like a coach at a recital. My heart hammered so loud I thought it might jump out of my chest and run for cover.

"Look at the way he waits," my wolf murmured, purring low in the back of my mind. "Only a true Alpha holds back his own hunger to feed yours first. That’s the kind of male who leads a pack. That’s the kind we deserve."

I paused, hands trembling. I wasn’t sure where to start. My fingers brushed uncertainly, and I flinched at the sensation.

"Don’t overthink it," he murmured, standing by the bed now, eyes trained on me with an intensity that made my skin buzz. "Start slow. Just touch. Explore. Like you’re figuring out what makes you melt."

Melt? I was already pudding. But okay. I could... try?

My palms skimmed my sides, and I found the gentle curve of my waist. My touch was hesitant at first, like I didn’t trust my own hands. The candlelight flickered across my skin, painting me in warm gold and soft shadows. Everything felt surreal—my hypersensitive skin, the charged aut, Axel’s presence that felt like a magnetic hum in the atmosphere.

I swallowed hard and let my fingers skim up, over the swell of my breasts. A soft, startled breath escaped me. I didn’t expect it to feel like that—like my own touch was new. Like I’d never met this version of me before.

Axel didn’t move. Didn’t speak. He watched me the way a man watches a miracle, like he couldn’t believe this was real either.