Page 77 of The Alpha's Stolen Mate

It took a minute to get my hands in the right position over the nail to grab it. Sweat started to pour down my forehead, stinging my eyes as the seconds dragged on. I kept glancing over at the office area, but thankfully Axel was still rummaging around in a drawer.

Finally, I'd managed to grasp the nail in my hands and then struggled back into the metal chair before Axel got back. I'd been planning on trying to use the nail to cut through the rope that tied my hands, but Axel hadn't left me alone after that.

Now, my right hand was clasped over the nail, the metal cool in my sweaty hand. I'd forgotten about it because of Gabriel's arrival, but now this nail felt like my only chance at staying alive.

A very slim chance.

But I had to try.

“Why don't you just let Summer go?” Gabriel said and his jaw tickcd when he saw that Axel had cut me. “Once she leaves this building, I'll call the army off. You and I can fight things out once and for all. That way, you'll have a chance of walking out of here with your freedom. Just let her go.”

Axel let out a sharp bark of a laugh. There was a hysterical edge to it. He was completely losing his grip on sanity.

“Don't you want a chance to kill me?” Gabriel continued. “Isn't that why you kidnapped her in the first place? Let her walk free and I give you my word that I’ll send my army away. I swear to you.”

“Do you think that your word means shit to me?” Axel yelled.

I could feel his leg shaking in anger against my hand. His proximity made my stomach roll, but for what I had planned, it was necessary.

“What do you want for her to live, Axel?” Gabriel asked, his voice breaking at the end. “I’ll give you anything.”

“Nothing,” he said. “My plan had been to kill her in front of you all along. And after she’s dead, I’m going to kill you.”

“No!” Gabriel roared and began to rush toward us, his body trembling, his wolf taking over.

Now!

I wrapped my fingers around the head of the nail and slammed it into Axel’s right leg.

He howled with pain as the rusty nail pierced his skin.

There was a sharp pain on my neck, but I ignored it and threw myself to the right and used my momentum to roll across the floor. I whipped my head around at the sound of a loud growl that seemed to shake the entire room.

I stared mesmerized as Gabriel transformed into his light-brown wolf. Axel’s eyes widened and he threw the knife at Gabriel.

I gasped, fear clutching my heart in a vice grip as the knife hurtled through the air as if in slow motion.

Gabriel dodged to the side and the knife clattered to the cement floor.

Axel tried to shift forms, his nails lengthening and his body shaking.

But he was too late.

With a loud snarl, Gabriel leaped over the chair I’d just been sitting on.

All Axel had time to do was take a couple of frightened steps back before Gabriel collided into him and tore his teeth into his neck.

Axel was dead before he hit the ground. His head had landed facing in my direction, and his expressionless eyes were fixed on me as if I was still his target even in death.

Once Gabriel was certain that the maniac was no longer breathing, he shifted back into his human form and ran toward me.

“Summer! No!”

His green eyes were wide with fear, and he crouched down next to me, clasping a hand over my neck, attempting to stop the bleeding.

Until that moment, I hadn’t realized Axel had cut my throat after I stabbed him with the nail.

Chapter Twenty-five: Evidence

---