Chapter 139 My Angel | 032
AZREN
Noelle's still holding my face, her thumbs brushing my cheek. Her words come in waves. They're clear one second, drowned out the next by the roaring in my ears.
"...Sabrina... spell... made you distance yourself from me..."
The sentence lands in fragments.
I blink hard, trying to force the pieces together, but the headache in my skull vibrates, leaving me dizzy. A hot trickle slides over my upper lip. I taste copper.
Blood.
I lift a shaking hand to wipe it away, but more comes, dripping onto my fingers. Noelle gasps softly and reaches into her bag, pulling out a pack of wipes. She presses one gently to my nose, dabbing like I'm made of glass.
"Azren," she whispers, her voice cracking. "Look at me. Please."
I try.
Her face swims in and out of focus. The voices laugh louder, overlapping. I press my hands to my ears, wincing.
Noelle's hands cover mine, gentle but firm, pulling them down. Her lips move again, but the sound fades to a dull hum. All I catch is the shape of her mouth forming my name. I'm losing her.
The panic is quickly suffocating me.
She lets go of my hands just long enough to dig her phone out of her bag. Her fingers fly across the screen quickly.
Then she turns it towards me. The text glows brightly against the dark interior of the car.
"Sabrina cast a spell on you. She made you push me away. Please don't let her inject you again. Please."
I stare at the words, taking the device from her.
My stomach churns.
I close my eyes, repeating the words in my mind. My hands are trembling so badly I can barely hold the phone steady. Blood drips onto the screen, smearing the words red.
Noelle's fingers brush my cheek as I fight the buzz in my brain. Slowly, I open my eyes.
She's crying silently now, tears rolling down her face, but she doesn't look away. Her lips move again.
I can't hear her. But I can read the shape of her mouth.
'Believe me.'
The voices shriek in protest. I shake my head trying to knock them loose. Noelle's hands cup my face again, her thumbs wiping away the blood.
I drag in a ragged breath, concentrating on anchoring myself to her presence. The ringing in my ears recedes just enough to hear her whisper one more time.
"Please, Azren. Come back to me."
I stare at her, tracking her freckles and the gold flecks in her amber eyes. And suddenly it hits me.
I freeze.
The ringing in my ears cuts out as if someone just yanked the plug.
Dead silence.
And in that silence, the pieces click.
Sabrina's gentle coaxing every time I tried to push her away. The blank spots. The way I believed every lie she fed me about Noelle.
The way I pushed Noelle away.
Again. And again. And again.
A low laugh rolls out of me, and Noelle stiffens.
"Azren?" Her voice is small and laced with concern. "Are you okay?"
I don't answer right away. I cup her jaw instead, tracing my thumb along the line of her lower lip. She's trembling.
I lean in. And I kiss her hard.
I kiss her like I'm trying to crawl inside her skin. My tongue sweeps into her mouth, tasting her. She gasps against me, her hands fisting my shirt. I drink her in, feasting on her lips until I can barely breathe.
When I finally pull back, we're both breathing hard.
I rest my forehead against hers. "I remember," I rasp.
Noelle's eyes well up with tears of happiness.
"You believe me?" she whispers.
I nod. Then, I pull away just enough to reach for the door.
"Get in the front," I tell her. My voice is steady now. "Can we go for shopping some other time? I'm really, really sorry about this. I promise I'll make it up to you."
She blinks.
"Azren—"
"Front seat, Angel. Come on."
She nods and slips out, heading to the front. I slide behind the wheel, slam the door, and start the engine.
My phone is already in my hand. My sweet Noelle is still fussing over me, wiping the rest of the blood with the cutest expression on her face. She looks so determined doing it. It's such a relief that I have her.
“Where are we going?” She asks cautiously.
“I’m taking you back to school. You still have lectures you need to attend, right?”
She nods.
Taking a deep breath, I reach for my link with my gammas.
'Darrel. Blue. Find Sabrina. Track her phone, her scent, her fucking heartbeat if you have to. She's not to leave the city. Bring her to the estate. Alive.'
Blue's reply is instant.
'On it, Alpha. What's the charge?'
I glance at Noelle. Her hand is resting on my thigh now.
'Attempted murder. Manipulation. Treason against the Luna.'
'Copy that. We'll drag the bitch in by her hair if we have to.'
"You're going to kill her?" Noelle asks.
I pull out of the parking spot, the tires biting asphalt.
"Not yet," I say. "I want answers first. I want her to look me in the eye and tell me how long she's been poisoning me. How long she's been lying. How long she thought she could keep me like a fucking pet."
And then I’d savor tearing her apart limb by limb. I don’t tell Noelle that though.
My wife’s fingers tighten on my thigh. I cover her hand with mine. Then I speed up, the city blurring past us.
My head is finally clear. I feel...alive.
And I’m also very, very mad.
....
"How many classes do you have left for the day?" I ask Noelle a while later. I'm parked close to her department with her still seated beside me.
"Three," she responds.
She glances at me through the corner of her eyes. "Do you really...remember even now?" She asks in a small voice, and my chest tightens.
My angel must have felt so lonely and frustrated. So, I hold up a finger, wiggling it at her. She grins, entwining her pinky with mine.
"Remember my promise?" I tell her, and she nods.
"This is our thing now. I'll make up for everything I've done. I promise, baby," I say, and she smiles softly, her eyes shimmering.
"I want that date with Azren. And I want to go shopping. Can I call you mine too?" She whispers.
I grin, leaning in towards her. "You have my permission. If you do want your ring back, you'll have to earn it, though."
She narrows her eyes playfully. "Then no one will know that I'm married. You'll end up being jealous too."
"No, Angel. I won't need a ring to stake my claim," I whisper in her ear, biting her earlobe lightly. "You'll have my mark on your skin. You'll have my scent all over you. Anyone who tries to ignore that will end up begging for death. That...I can promise you."
She moans as I nip behind her ear, squeezing her thick thigh. "Jerk," she breathes cutely, and I chuckle.
She reaches for her seatbelt and unbuckles it. Then she presses her lips to mine in a chaste kiss. I watch her as she eases out of the car, her thick ass bouncing. I bite my lower lip, groaning.
I can't believe I'd nearly missed out on all that. Damn you, Sabrina.
'Horny bastard,' Aether muses, and I smile.
I watch my beautiful queen walk away, my heart racing. Suddenly, the sky looks brighter. The air smells cleaner. And I’m at peace.
Noelle keeps glancing at me and throwing that little shy smile at me. I would chain her to my side if I could. But I can’t do that. Not to her.
My phone vibrates then. I reach for it, unlocking the screen. There’s a new message from my dad. I’m tempted to simply ignore it. But then, I change my mind and tap it open. It reads:
DAD: Come over to the house. It’s urgent. Something’s wrong with your mother.
My eyes go wide, the hair on the back of my neck rising stiffly. Mum is only human. If anything happens to her…
No. I can’t jinx it. She’s fine. She has to be.
Just as I start to reverse, a familiar aura sizzles over my senses, every muscle in my body tensing up.
Was that… Haden?