Ditched Cheating Alpha, I Led My Daughter to Life's Peak novel Chapter 81

Axel gives me a hard look. "I'd never leave you with a guy I didn't trust to take a bullet for you. If I even thought he might-"

I put a hand up. "I get that but... I don't know."

He keeps pushing. "Besides my brothers, obviously, he's my closest friend. It's important to me that you two get along. It's important that you don't just want Carson's beta."

Oh here we go again. "Okay, okay. Fine. I guess... I just don't even understand why you picked him."

His head snaps towards me.

I put my hands up in defense. "I mean he's so different from you. What made you think he'd be the right beta for you over someone... gentler like Ethel?"

He shrugs. He thinks for a while. "I guess I realized that nice words can only get you so far. Sometimes a leader needs to be direct, physical to lead and get the job done. Brute strength can work wonders. He gets that."

I nod. "That makes sense."

That makes him smile, and we start walking towards the exit of the building. "It does. It's the quality I most admire in Carson and Aiden. They're so... grr." He puts out claw hands and laughs.

I laugh too.

He says, "Someone doesn't like their order? They just punch them and that's that. I go into a long winded explanation trying to prove myself. Prove my point. Prove everything all the time." He looks down. "I wish I didn't always feel the need to explain myself. I wish I didn't always think so much and could just... do things." He hesitates then looks at me like there's so much more he wants to say.

I shake my head. "I like that about you though. You don't just order people around. You explain to them why things are the best for them. It's like... you respect people's ability to think for themselves."

He thinks about it for a while and then smiles. "Yeah I guess. Maybe, but I never thought about it like that." He holds the door open for me as I walk out towards the front of the school.

I look behind me. "Well, how do you usually think about it?" I freeze when I see his face.

He looks pensive, almost bitter. He's trying to keep a smile on his face, but he's failing miserably. He stops walking and I start to pass him on the sidewalk. I stop, looking behind myself to see him.