CHAPTER 4 | A Deal with the Rogue
Bella’s head ached as she opened her eyes, unable to remember what just happened to her. Her electric blue orbs dilated in surprise, a set of satisfied emerald eyes were staring straight at her pale face. She tried moving away from him only to realize that her wrists were pushed against the wall, his smirking face was too close to her as she squirmed. She could feel the goose bumps from the man’s tight grip on her wrists as he was catching his breath while looking at her with unpredictable eyes.
“Who are you?” she asked, her eyes glaring coldly at Axel's mischievous green ones.
“Gosh, another impolite being. It must be an honor to meet two at a time.” He laughed, shaking his head in amusement.
“Move it, menace! They're on their way here,” she snarled at him, her eyes focused meters away. The guards were running to where they were at.
“Wow, talk about manners. You should really—ow!”
Bella kneed his abdomen, clamped his mouth with her hand, pulled him over to a tall bush, and made him duck. The guards were sweeping the area. Both of them sat still, her hands still clamped on Axel's mouth. He squirmed, his eyes teasing Bella that he would shout.
“Move… and you're dead,” a voice from above spoke. They both looked up. A guard was pointing his gun at them. A satisfied smirk was plastered on his lips as he looked down at the two with no trace of mercy.
Bella closed her eyes in frustration, but still managed to keep her cool. She was silently planning her way out of that situation which most likely would make her grandfather reconsider her dream of becoming alpha. Sevrio never wanted a woman to lead his pack. It was the main reason why he would always force Bella on dates – so the throne would have a chance for a man. Bella knew of his grandfather’s schemes, yet she had turned a blind eye to it. It was not like she was interested with marriage anyway. Simply rejecting her supposed ‘mates’ was her ticket to the throne. However, what she did today would not only take her chance of being alpha away, but would also embarrass her family – especially her alpha fathers.
“Wow, you finally found us!” Axel suddenly exclaimed when Bella had unconsciously loosened her hand from clamping it on his mouth. Bella immediately pulled her hand away and wiped it on her dress, her expression slightly disgusted as she was more scared of Axel’s microbes on her palms than at the guards with guns who were now surrounding them.
“Belladonna?” one of the guards asked, his eyes fixed on Bella. “Isn’t she the alpha’s daughter?”
All eyes were on her. Axel stared at her, not at all expecting that she was the alpha’s daughter. Now that he thought of it, she was too beautiful to not belong to any high-class family. As he stared, he noticed that her eyes were not the same purple ones from earlier. Her eyes were still cold, but colder now that it was the color of the cold arctic seas.
“What are you doing here, young lady? You can’t be his accomplice, are you?” the same guard accused, his forefinger pointing at Axel.
Axel stood up and dusted himself. He grinned as he placed a hand on the guard's index finger and lowered it from pointing at him. The guard only raised an eyebrow at him to which he replied with a playful smile
“Sir, it's disrespectful to point your finger at people. Don't worry, though,” he added. “I don't hold grudges.” He smiled; feigning sincerity as he slowly nodded his head. “You could, however, let us go peacefully to make up for your lack of manners. What do you say?”
“Tie them up,” the guard said coldly.
“Wait!” Axel backed away and reached for Bella's hands. “She caught me first. Isn't it right for her to jail me herself? She's your alpha's daughter after all.”
The guards stopped at his words and backed away from trying to tie the both of them. Axel looked at Bella meaningfully and she quickly got what he meant. He was not scared of the guards. He could fight with them if he wanted and run away as he pleased, but he wanted to escape as peacefully as possible. He did not want to face his uncle. He was sure that Mr. de Lima would believe that he freed his friends out even when he really did not. However, it already looked like he disobeyed his uncle.
“Is that true, young lady? Are you here to capture this rogue?” the chief of the guards asked.
“Why else would I be here?” she retorted. “I'll have a word with my father about this. How dare you try to accuse the alpha's daughter?”
The guards paled upon hearing her cold words. “We're so sorry, young lady. You should have told us right away. We'll take care of this matter for you. Please don't tell the alpha,” he pleaded.
“I'll jail this rogue myself. I'm sure you would beat him to death if I leave him in your hands.” Bella narrowed her eyes at them. “I saw a bunch of rogues escaping from a mansion earlier. I believe the reason why you're trying to take him away is to silence him of what he knows about your business.” Bella smirked in satisfaction as the guards began to feel nervous the more she guessed correctly.
“No...um...well," the chief guard stuttered.
“I'm jailing him for trespassing. I don't know why you're after him, but I will be sure to investigate about it.” She glared at them as she cuffed Axel's hands. “Let's go.”
The guards could not say any more and just silently watched her drag Axel back into the village. Axel did not dare look back while Bella just walked behind him cooly, her hands wrapped like handcuffs around Axel's warm hands. The guards only watched from afar as their shadows slowly faded into the night.
When they were finally out of the guards' sight, Bella released her tight grip on Axel's hands and walked faster. She was almost an hour late to her date. If it weren't for her love for music, she wouldn't have gotten herself in such a mess.
“What? No 'thank you'?” Axel said as he caught up to her speed. “After all I did back there? The least you could do is thank me.”
“You're welcome,” Bella simply replied with a wry smile. “All you did was act like a scared puppy. I did all the scaring,”
“Did you just call me a puppy?” Axel exclaimed, pretending to be shocked and hurt. “Well? Aren't you going to apologize? How shameless of you.”
Bella stopped and faced him, her face serious. “Just forget about everything. You and I never met. We never got caught by those guards. I don't know anything about your business here, about those rogues, and I never went inside that mansion. Alright?” She nodded her head at him while looking straight in his confused eyes. “Alright. Goodbye,” she said and walked away.
Axel grabbed her hand as she resumed her steps. Bella stopped and turned once more to face him. His eyes were gloomy as she looked at him. She raised her brow questioningly. Axel only let go of her hand and took his coat off.
“Your hands are cold,” he muttered as he placed his coat around her shoulders. “And so are you,” he whispered in her ears.
She slightly flinched at his words. Bella turned to look at his warm emerald eyes that were staring at her with pity. Their faces were very close to each other as they held their gazes straight into each other's eyes. Bella softened as Axel fixed her hat and straightened the coat he placed around her. What he said impacted her miserably. She knew she was cold, but hearing it out loud hit her different. It was not like she wanted to be cold. She just had to in order to protect herself and everyone around her.
“Yes, I am cold and shameless. So…” she trailed off. “I will not thank you, nor will I apologize. Just forget about this and leave our village quietly. No one has to know.”
“I don't always do things for free, you know,” Axel said, his eyes beaming in mischief.
Bella nodded and reached her hands out to her pockets, only to realize that she had no money with her. “How much do you want? Let’s meet here after two hours. I have somewhere to be.”
“Do I look like a gold-digger?” Axel laughed in amusement. “I don't take money as payment either. You gotta do something else for me, princess.”
“Do you seriously still want me to thank and apologize to you?” Bella asked him in disbelief.
“No,” he chuckled. “I want you to help me.”
Axel’s playful expression changed. His shoulders fell, a heavy feeling of sadness radiated from his pleading eyes. Bella felt the sincerity behind his dire need of help. She could not help herself but show him pity. She was known as a heartless and arrogant she-wolf, yet she found herself melting in mercy for the rogue before her. She reached out her hand to him, waiting for Axel to take it.
“Let’s never cross paths ever again,” she said with a heavy sigh. Axel was confused and hesitated to take her hand in his. “Let’s promise to part ways after I help you. Deal?”
Axel’s eyes beamed in joy as he happily shook Bella’s hand. “Deal!”