Chapter 40 Chapter 40
The room was still and full of a chilling aura. Suki remained patiently silent as Brendan slowly came close to the end of his story.
“…The rest you already know. Zale convinced his father, the Alpha of this mysterious pack, that he could see good in me, that I had potential to be a good werewolf and redeem myself if I was given a chance and the right upbringing. Somehow, his father liked the way he stood up for what he believed in and agreed to help guide me.
“I was ready to reject the offer, but I was also so desperate and scared to be alone. So I went with him and swore to the Alpha that I would follow his rules and do what I could to better myself. For the first time in a long time, I thought I could be happy. I had a place I could call home again. The people of the pack would hate me, and I’d still be cursed with the title of a Rogue, but I’d have a bed to sleep in, a roof over my head and a full belly again. I was grateful, and even if I was hated, over the years, I grew to embrace the hate.”
Brendan cleared his throat. He sipped on the tea he had brought for him and Suki to share. It’d been a long time since he talked so much; most people don’t want to hear what he has to say. He felt out of his comfort zone talking so much.
He concluded his story. “The next day, I walked through the town with Zale as he showed me around. Everyone was purposely steering away from me, but I didn’t care. The surroundings felt weirdly familiar, but I couldn’t put it together until I saw that same girl from the library that I spoke to all those months ago.
“My heart sank as she walked in our direction. The second I saw her, I knew I had ended up right back in the place that had turned my life upside down. Worst of all, the girl who had made my heart flutter for the first time, when she looked up and saw me, had only fear in her eyes. She didn’t recognise me. All she saw was the monster I was painted to be. The guard beside her pulled her away, but I caught that sad stare she gave Zale, her now former friend, that she had lost due to being associated with me.
“I wanted to tell Zale everything; I wanted to be honest with the one friend I had here. But if I told him, I knew I would have been shunned from Moonstone, too. So I decided to keep it a secret, serving my life here as punishment for whatever involvement I had in all the suffering caused. At the same time, I swore to get to the bottom of what really happened, to try and prove my innocence, but the deaths were kept so private and never shared with anyone, and I couldn’t find anything to save me. So I did my best to live as normal a life as possible. Then eventually, I met you… again.”
The entire time he was telling the story, he refused to look at Suki. Brendan was afraid to see her reaction. Would she believe him? Or would she be another who would paint him as the monstrous villain everyone else saw?
When he finally looked at her, he caught a tear sliding down her face as she stared at him in complete shock.
“How… How do I not remember the first time we met in the library when we were kids?”
Brendan shrugged, “I think I was so anxious about having to be hidden that day that I must have subconsciously used my power to conceal myself from you, not entirely, but more so that you saw me as just a plain, easily forgettable face passing by. Plus, it was so brief, just before the death of Reynard’s parents, that… it probably didn’t seem important in the grand scheme of things.”
Suki leaned back against the headboard of the bed, shaking her head in disbelief, deep in thought. “When we met for what I thought was the first time, and we experienced the mate bond, did you…?”
“Know it was you? No,” he shook his head, “not right away. We’d grown up and changed over the years. The fear you had towards me only confirmed that I should stay away.” He inhaled deeply before continuing, “When we experienced the bond, and you stumbled to the ground, I almost lost control of myself as these new and old feelings arose. I hadn’t even realised I was on top of you until I locked onto your eyes. They were eyes I could never forget, which is why I needed a moment to stare into them and soak it all in. You don’t realise how happy I was to know I was worthy of having a mate, and to find out it was you?” He exhaled a half-laugh, smiling, “I thought maybe the Moon Goddess hadn’t fully given up on me.”
Suki swung her legs off the bed, her eyes flickering between his. She sighed, “I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything.” Brendan looked down at her wrists, seeing how close their hands were to each other, and yearned to hold her hand.
Feeling his urge, she took his hand in hers. “It’s just a lot of information to take in. I want to believe you, but…”
Brendan squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head away. “It’s alright. I knew you might not believe me. No one else does after all.”
Placing a hand on his cheek, she murmured, “No. It’s not that I don’t believe what you said. It’s that I have more questions after all this. Who betrayed you? Your brother? Those men with him? And who were those men? How did they vanish without a trace? And is all of this tied to the threat that witch saw against werewolves, or tied to the reason why I’ve bonded with both you and Rey, or is it a coincidence?”
“Your guess is as good as mine, Suki,” he whispered, leaning into the warmth of her hand. Sitting up straight, he snapped his fingers, making her shackles vanish instantly.
She looked at her wrists, feeling the warmth return to her as the cold shadows were no longer pressing against her skin.
“A promise is a promise. I told you my story, you’re free to go.”
Even though she believed him, she had to test it for herself. She pushed herself off the bed and hastened over to the door, pausing at the open space and slowly pushed her hand through the doorway. No invisible barrier was stopping her.
She smiled faintly in relief; she knew she could trust him. A soft gasp escaped her mouth as she felt Brendan’s presence behind her. It was chilling but also inviting at the same time.
He placed a hand on Suki’s waist and breathed against her neck as he spoke. “You’re also free to do whatever you want with that information; you have the perfect ammo to get me banished from the pack for good.”
“I don’t want you banished,” she whispered. “I want to help you clear your name.”
“What’s the point? There’s no evidence.”
“There was no evidence you could gain access to, not without Rey at least.”
Brendan sighed, “He won’t want to help me once he knows the truth.”
Suki turned to face him. “You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do,” he said, annoyed, gripping her waist.
She winced but held her ground. “Don’t do that. Don’t push me away, not now, I’m here for you.” She placed her hands on his chest, noticing small puffs of smoky shadows trailing off his shoulders.
He growled, “Why? Why are you here for me?”
Her heart thudded. The answer was obvious, but she could see a pain lingering in his eyes, something more twisted than she had seen before. She leaned into him and spoke softly, “Because you’re my mate–” she gasped as he pushed her against the wall, hard.
“You’re my mate?” Brendan scoffed, pressing his hand on her chest. “You say this so often.” He moved his face close to hers, whispering, “Yet you won’t let me mark you.” His eyes shifted in colour, as if his rage was pushing his wolf through, but Suki knew better. It wasn’t his wolf; it was the darkness of his shadow magic.
Suki swallowed thickly, “You know why.”
He huffed, “Of course I know why, but it doesn’t make it any better. Come on, Suki, we all know Rey is the better choice, so pick him already, before I decide to take you for myself.” His eyes darkened – truly darkened, as if the shadows had taken over and enhanced his rage.
Her eyes widened, and her breathing stuttered, “Brendan, relax. You’ve been reliving all these dark moments of your past, reliving all the feelings and trauma.” She tried to push him back to make space between them, but he was locked in place.
When she pushed harder, Brendan grabbed her wrists and pinned her arms against the wall. “I want you, love.” He gazed down at her neck. “I could claim you now, it would be so quick and easy.”
Tears welled up in her eyes. “This isn’t you. You don’t want to do that.”
Licking his lips, he dragged his tongue over the teeth where his fangs were fighting to break through. “Oh, but I do…”
“Your emotions are clearly heightened even more from your shadow magic, don’t you see that?”
“One bite, love. Just one bite and you’d be mine.”
She shook her head. “Please…”
Brendan’s fangs broke free fully, and his mouth darted for her neck.
Suki cried out, “No!”