赤裸裸的滑稽故事

Knowing now that the fire spreading through his leg was the infection growing inside of him, Axel tried to keep himself calm. But after hearing what Roman planned… it was almost impossible to do.

He was thankful that Alice had taken the suppressant. There was no telling how this would affect her. But she wasn\'t safe yet.

If Roman was telling the truth and could control the fallen, what would happen when the infection took over? Would Axel be forced to kill her?

He took a shuddering breath, his heart sinking in his chest. He had tried so hard to protect her, to protect them all. But he had failed at the most basic level.

Even after all of Alice\'s warnings and his own experiences, Axel still thought that it would be a fair fight whenever he faced off with Roman.

He would win and take Roman to be punished, bringing him before the people of Winter, just as he had done with Granger.

He would be able to give Alice, Bell, and even himself the closure they deserved.

Roman moved away from Axel, slumping beside a tree where he could watch the change happen. He leaned his head against the bark and watched with tired eyes.

Axel couldn\'t help but notice how worn down he looked. The fire in his eyes had settled into softly glowing embers still moist from the tears he had shed.

The burning in Axel\'s leg flared and forced him to close his eyes, clench his jaw, and let out a deep groan.

"It\'s spreading…." Roman whispered. "Won\'t be long now…."

Axel opened his eyes, panting. He glared at Roman.

"If you gave a damn about Alice, you would kill me right now!" Axel shouted.

Roman\'s eyes widened, and he growled at the accusation.

"She\'s my mate, Roman! We\'re bonded!"

Roman got to his feet, his eyes glowing with anger.

"Shut up," he said.

"You don\'t know what this transformation will do to her!" Axel shouted, ignoring him.

Roman rushed forward, knife in hand, he stabbed Axel\'s side again. He snarled as Axel groaned but didn\'t shout or cry out in pain.

"All that matters…." Roman growled through his clenched teeth. "Is what it does to you!"

Roman pulled the knife back from the wound. Axel let out a breath he didn\'t realize he was holding. He panted as he rolled his head to the side.

"It won\'t be me that kills her…." Roman whispered with an angry smile, still leaning close to Axel\'s face.

"Yes… it will," Axel smiled. He was taking short breaths. He lifted his eyes to Roman, a fierce determination in them. "Even if you make me do it… she\'ll know… it wasn\'t me."

Roman\'s face twisted with anger and frustration.

"I\'m her mate," Axel spat. "She knows me, and I know her!"

Roman snarled and clenched his jaw.

"Your Goddess should have left us both alone!" Roman growled through gritted teeth as his thoughts turned to Bell, all those years ago when they first met.

***

She looked at him with such affection in those first days after the bond had brought them together. The sweet smile, the blush on her cheeks as her eyes searched for him across the room.

Roman had felt something for her. A strange attachment that he didn\'t understand.

He told Alice about Bell right away, about the connection he felt. But telling her only made his heart ache. Seeing the empty look in the doll\'s eyes made it clear that Alice wasn\'t there.

Holden had been changing her more and more. Each time he came to see her, she was gone or had become someone else.

It should have made it easier to forget her, but it didn\'t.

Returning to Autumn, Roman tried his best to let himself feel the connection between Bell and himself. He had even tried to care for her.

It didn\'t take much effort to let himself care. Being near her reminded him of the times he had been able to talk to his mother. He felt comforted by her presence.

Though he still thought of Alice and wanted her by his side, Bell was also important to him. Her smile was precious to him. Her laugh warmed him.

When she told him about the clinics, he thought of Alice and how he couldn\'t stop the experiments that Holden ran on her. But the blood draws in Autumn, those he could control.

He made sure that she was taken care of and that she and her mother were no longer used as blood banks.

For those that didn\'t like it or that saw fit to complain. Roman made sure they no longer had any need for blood.

But when her father said they had to wait, when he tried to keep her from him. Roman became angry. As Holden kept Alice from him, this man tried to get between him and Bell.

Still, Roman had tried to fight his anger. To be patient. Until the night Bell told him what her parents had said after he left.

They planned to leave, take Bell, and run away.

She was his. Promised to him, made for him. She was his!

But they would dare to take her away?

He wanted to tear them apart with his bare hands. But he didn\'t. Instead, he left. He went to calm down, to think things through.

He needed to talk to Alice. To his Alice, the real one that hid inside the doll. Only she could ease his heart.

But when he arrived at the lab, she was gone.

Holden smiled and told Roman there was no reason for them to meet again. Alice had learned her lessons well, and nothing was left between them.

Roman demanded to see her, but Holden laughed in his face.

Alice was gone, and Holden had ensured that she only thought of Roman as a monster.

Something inside of Roman broke.

He thought of his mother, jumping from the top of the building, carrying her broken body to the cave, and never expecting to see her again.

He thought of Alice, the child, broken and bleeding, smiling at that boy she had saved.

As he left the lab, angry tears ran down his face.

He loved them. All he had wanted was their love in return.

And then he thought of Bell.

That sweet smile that was directed at him and him alone. Her laugh that made his heart beat faster.

She was all he had left, and he wouldn\'t let her go, no matter what.