𝐒𝐋𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐍: 𝐃𝐞𝐧𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐲

TWENTY-SIX: Brady's Surrender [4/4]

BRADY'S POV 4/4

My spirits were riveted by painful hostility and irritation that drove me to curse myself for being practical with the situation at hand. I'd gotten what I always chased after on a silver platter. However, it wasn't everything I desired or close enough for that matter. But the principle behind my practicality was that Malik had fought me all his life. Despite where the stars aligned themselves, he'd never been mine or given me the grace to try.

At the poignant logic, I fisted a perturbed hand through my hair as he and I ascended the staircase to the court's stage. In full view we saw Jenna towering over our pack Oracle's crouched body; palms clamped, lips moving in an ancient hymn, I'm sure had both sets of my grandparents rolling in their graves.

The crowd was mute and her witches were in a precise circle, the lot of them in dark robes that blanketed every part of their frames. An appropriate aesthetic for their sinister magic. Sink or swim the end was inevitable, so I braced for my drowning and stanced for it to be done now, for I would never be ready.

The hymning slowed, a verse in a plea was held to the moon by the two of them. After that, Jenna's witches dispersed out of the circle and levitated back to their seats. Malik's breath hitched with an anxious note and my soul ached with intense, liquified grief.

The Oracle raised her head to acknowledge our presence, with study. Her mouth pursed in a frown before she swivelled towards me and bent in submission, "My Alpha."

Sound carried as the crowd accompanied her bow, as I sought the direction of all lined personnel leading to my parents. My mother had spelt out that she did not advocate my surrender, regardless of reasons. My Dad had taken a minute to measure my decision and although he was not sold on the idea. He had at least taken the case behind me. Because for the past few days, the Council had been holding pack stability meetings and debates. About our future and the risk of liaising with the enemy - Jenna and witches, in general.

The existence of witches was a well-contained secret rigorously kept from our kind for a reason. So, yes, I empathized with their apprehensions, but they were factors they were not including in the equation.

After multiple talks with Dad and his personnel, they comprehended the pressure of the situation from my end. That is how his delegate had resolved debate with the senior council members. To a point where in the outcome, they all concurred that an Alpha with a reluctant, contrary mate was a poorer fate for the pack. Than an Alpha with no mate or a replacement mate. At least Jenna's help could ensure my Alpha a full merge that, yes, would never be the same as a mate's energy. But it would be close enough, with Malik's wolf merged with mine within me.

I searched the reserved area and found my siblings on their knees. Unlike the crowd, their glossy eyes were on me, with pity. Every one of my family threw me a curt nod, which I received straight to my heart with hope in the abundance of their support.

After The Oracle, my lead personnel were the first to lift off their knees and direct supportive nods at me as one by one they strode off the podium. With Tyler in the lead.

I felt a presence to my left and tried not to soak in Malik's guilt-ridden appearance and scent.

It was foolish to believe that perhaps he had feelings for me. But the trust, as bitter and emotional it was to face. He had expressed, in his essence, that he didn't like me as a person. Let alone as a lifelong partner in the way that mattered. We were of the moon; sex meant little to us as it did to humans. There was nothing to read into what he had said in the throes of passion. Especially considering it was his first time to experience love expressed physically. I let that sink in as I approached the fire that had been lit by Jenna's witchy fingers at the centre of the tall platform.