Chapter 29 Choice to make
Dravik's pov
“I don’t want to fight you, Dravik. You’re my brother, you can’t do this,” Jace shakes his head, blood still coming out from the corner of his mouth.
For the first time since I can remember, he looks unsure of himself.
“Let me fight in your place,” Brandon steps forward. “He wronged me, I deserve the pound of flesh.”
I turn to him slowly. I have known Brandon since we were boys, since when we still ran around the pack getting into trouble and scraping our knees. He is one of the few warriors who ever came close to matching me in combat. Strong, disciplined and Honest to a fault.
Too honest.
“You are sure about this?” I ask.
His jaw tightens, “Yes.”
“You are too close to it.”
“I know,” he says without hesitation.
I know what this is. He doesn’t want me to have to kill my own brother so he volunteers to do it himself. But I know him and I know no matter what Jace did, he would never deliver that final blow.
I glance back at Jace. He is watching Brandon now, calculating and measuring angles. That alone tells me Brandon might lose. Not because Jace is stronger but because he knows how to provoke. How to slip blades between ribs with words alone.
And with Brandon still fuming at the mouth, it’s easy for him to get pushed to the wall.
“So,” I say coldly. “Fight or leave.”
Jace hesitates. His tongue darts out to wet his lips. Then he scoffs, forcing a grin like a fool.
“I will leave,” he says. “Five years is nothing. More women for me.”
“You really need to shut your fucking mouth, Jace”, Garrick growled at him. “You have done enough.”
He wipes the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. “Fine,” he mutters. “I am going to pack.”
He turns and walks away.
“Brandon,” I say. “Supervise.”
“With pleasure.”
They disappear down the hall together, tension trailing behind them like smoke.
Garrick steps up beside me. “You know you will have to tell Hope this yourself, right?.”
“I know.”
“She will not like this.”
“I know.”
I reach inward, opening the link.
Are you free? I need to talk to you
Sure. Where?
She sounded normal, meaning Jace hadn't mindlinked her yet.
My office.
On my way she replies, cheerful as ever.
“She will fight you on this,” Shadow says in my head. “ And you know how you’re with her whenever you see her sad.”
I know.
Seeing Hope sad is one of my kryptonites. All she had to do was conjure tears to her eyes and I will say yes to whatever she wanted. The same way I said yes to her working in the hospital even though I think that's work below her status.
She skips into my office minutes later, smiling. Her smile falters when she sees my face.
“What’s wrong?”
“Jace is leaving,” I say.
Her smile vanishes. “Leaving where?”
“I banished him.”
“What?” Her eyes widened. “Is this a joke?”
“He slept with Phoebe.”
Shock flashes across her face, followed by disbelief. “Are you serious? Why would he do that?”
“It happened a while ago,” I say. “It only came to light now.”
“So you are banishing our brother for that?” Her voice sharpens. “My twin?”
“Do you know how many reports like this I get daily? He had warnings and warnings again and again. It’s time he learns his lesson. I can’t fault he is an excellent Gamma but sadly his reckless activities have outweighed his duties. Brandon wanted a fight to the death but Jace used his head this time and chose banishment. It’s just five years, he will be back before you know it.”
Her hands curl into fists. “Bullshit,” she yelled. “This is what you always do. You carry everything alone and shut us out. There are other ways we could have done this.”
Hope rarely raises her voice and when she does, it cuts into me like a blade. I hated to do this to her but I don’t have a choice.
“There is no other way that I haven’t tried.”
“Where would you have him go?”
I hesitated, “I don’t know.”
“You mean you don’t care?” She asks quietly, her eyes glistening.
“I care,” I say. “More than you think. But there is so much warning I can give him. You know if it’s anyone else I would have thrown them out by now but he took advantage because he is my brother”.
The storm on her face calmed a bit, she shook her head as tears began to fall but she wiped them away.
“I’m not ready,” she whispers. “I’m not.”
She turns toward the door.
“Hope.”
She pauses.
“You can stay in touch with him if you need to,” I say. “You’re twins, that does not change. But from this moment onwards, he is no longer part of the pack. You give him no information, no locations of where I am or anyone else’s . Nothing. Do you understand? ”
She nods faintly.
“I need to hear you say it, Hope.”
“I will not,” she murmurs.
“Good. I believe he’s in his room packing if you want to say your goodbyes.”
She drags the door open and I see Garrick standing outside. He pulls her into his arms as she breaks, sobbing quietly. The door closes behind them.
She will get over it soon, Shadow murmurs. You did what was right for the pack.”
Did I though?
I rake a hand through my hair, gripping my skull.
I do care about my brother. Of course I do, I freaking raised him.
I'm not a complete arsehole, so of course I gave him my favorite white BMW that cost me a fortune and also gave him enough money to last him a year before he can figure himself out. If he sells the car, the money should last another year or two. No pack that fears my name will take him in, so he is on his own now.
I am not cruel.
So why does it feel like I am?
“Were you really going to kill him?” Brandon asks quietly as we watch his car disappear down the road.
“I do not know,” I answer honestly.
If it were anyone else, I won’t even think about it.
“Phoebe did not go with him?”, I asked.
“No she didn’t. She claims she is pregnant.”
I turn to him, arching a brow.
He shrugs, “she said it’s mine, which I don’t believe for one bit, but she is trying to use it as a reason for us to stay together. Twelve years since we have been a couple, I can’t believe she threw it all away because of fucking Jace.”
His gaze drifts upward where we can see Auren sitting by the window.
“You did the right thing,” he turns to me. “Getting him out before he could get to her.”
The truth hits me with brutal clarity. That is all it would have taken to make me kill Jace. Finding out he fucked Auren. I'm willing to end a whole rival pack for my ex wife but never will I have ever thought of killing my own brother for her, but I would for Auren. It’s unsettling.
“Are you ever going to tell her?” Brandon asks.
“Tell her what?”
“The real reason you brought her here. Or is that no longer your plan?”
“The plan is still on, but it’s complicated…..”
“Because you like her now, I can see it. This isn’t just about revenge anymore Dravik, you knew that when you brought her here, something drew you to her. Maybe she is your fated mate.”
I stared at him, Shadow had said the exact same thing, which I can’t still wrap my head around because there is no way to tell, if she doesn’t have a wolf.
“How can you tell?”, I asked.
I have never felt what having fated mates feels like, never experienced one, none of my brothers too, only hope but of course the bastard broke it before she could experience it fully. My father chose a mate, my mother, before he cast her away to be with his fated mate, Garrick and the twins' mother.
I saw how it was between them even though I can never understand why he did what he did. He told me only one thing.
“You can’t fight fate, son. The goddess made it so”.
Well, tell that to Eron and Tristan that casted their own fate aside the first chance they got.
I hated my father for what he did, but I never took it out on my siblings when our parents died, though a part of me knows that’s why I still keep them at arms length.
I believe that's also one of the reasons Jace does what he does, pushing me to the wall, trying to see what I will do.
“You want her”, Brandon interrupts my thoughts. “That's how I know.”
I look back towards the window, watching the way the light lits up her dove-like face. She is breathtaking, of course I want her.
But I also want her to want me not because I saved her or because of a fucking matebond I don’t even believe in.
Fucking hell!