The Mark of a Beta

twenty- five

This chapter's a little late... I totally wasn't busy playing Super Mario Bros all weekend...

Cooper's POV

I wake up to the bed moving.

Okay, the bed isn't actually moving, but I forgot that I fell asleep laying on Axel. His head is turning from side to side, his breathing continues to remain heavy, and I begin to worry. I guess Axel is having a nightmare. For a moment, I'm hit with the strong emotion of fear through our bond. My hands begin sweating and my heart beats erratically in my chest from a feeling that isn't even stemming from my own brain.

Life-altering, pure, unadulterated terror is what I feel. The only time I've ever been that afraid is when I was being shoved down the stairs. I really thought I was going to die. For Axel to be projecting this fear so strongly through the mate bond, he must be dreaming of something terrible.

I can't let Axel remain in a nightmare where he feels this terrified.

I know that he doesn't like to be surprised, so I hope he doesn't react badly to me trying to wake him up. I know that shaking him hard would be the dumbest fucking idea ever, so I begin lightly shaking him at his shoulders. I don't yank on him too hard, but I need to be forceful enough to bring him back to the present.

"Axel? It's me. Wake up, okay? It's just a dream," I say gently, trying to bring him back to the land of the living.

He continues breathing heavily, but now he's saying something.

"No... Stop... Hurts..." he mumbles, and I can't take it anymore. Is he dreaming about his parents? He said they were long dead, but I can't even imagine the physical and psychological damage they caused him before they were out of the picture.

Hearing my mate beg like that, it brings a protective instinct out in me that rarely shows up. He needs to wake up, and then he can feel safe in my arms.

"Axel, wake the fuck up!" I shake him a little harder and his eyes dart open.

Before I have time to move out of the way, his claws slash at my face. I manage to stick my arm out before he makes contact, but he drags his claws from my wrist down to my elbow. He looks like he's about to attack me again when he blinks his eyes and looks around the room. He seems disoriented at first as he gathers himself, and once he realizes what he's done he looks down at his hand.

My blood covers his fingers and he could not look more horrified. He immediately looks at the damage he caused, then backs away from me and begins hyperventilating.

This is not my Axel. My Axel is confident, fierce, unapologetic. Not the broken shell he seems to be now.

"I didn't mean to-" He clears his throat, then once again puts a mask on. He buries his emotions down deep until I can't feel them anymore. All the fear from his dream, the horror from what he accidentally did, it's all gone. In its place lies a black pit of nothingness.

Axel heads to the bathroom and comes back with a wet washcloth. He hands it to me and I gladly take it and dab at the wound. I'm so busy focusing on his lack of emotions and the searing pain in my arm that I barely hear him say anything.

"I'll get Cole to help you."

He turns to walk out the door, but there's no fucking way I'm letting him leave me like this.

"You walk out that door and I'll fucking murder you."

Axel swirls around so fast that he looks like a blur to me. "You want me to stay?" He has this incredulous look on face, like he can't believe what I'm saying.