The Failed Rejection
Chapter 73

Braxton pov

It’s been two weeks and things were… better. Penelope and their bond was finally starting to repair itself. Lili’s visit helped his mate so much and he would always be in her debt. Lili waved him off. However, her mothers visit went a little different. His mates mother did help to clean, but wasn’t much with emotional support. The woman literally stated, ‘I don’t get what the big deal is, the pup was never alive.’ Penelope left the room sobbing and he had never been so close to hitting a woman before.

Pups/cubs are very special to supernaturals as we are less fertile than humans, and to a mixed pair like him and Penelope conceiving a child will be even harder for them. This loss is very hard on both of them.

Barb was on a flight back to Illinois the next morning not sure what she had done wrong. Penelope had told him between her sobs that her mother had broken mentally when her father died. Braxton was skeptical but agreed with her and called Jackson letting him know what happened. Jackson was furious and said he would deal with it.

Penelope had continued to go back to school throughout this trying time and was worried about her. He spoke to Lili about it before she left and she advised him to simply not interfere. Becoming a doctor has been her dream for as long as Lili could remember and it’s most likely her way of dealing with the loss. Brax nodded and did what he could as a mate to support her and her dreams. Brax helped her study as best he could, made sure she ate properly, and made her go to sleep on time. While it wasn’t much, it was all Braxton could do while Penelope was still healing.

Brax spent quite a lot of time on the phone for the last few days while Penelope was gone and the topic of discussion was the Crystal Pines Pack. Which is what the true name of the pack that the Rogue Alpha had taken over. Denali informed him that the pack was in dire need of an alpha. The entire ranked bears had been slaughtered and replaced by puppets loyal to Alpha Shawn. Braxton had been on the phone constantly with both his brother as well as Alpha Killian and Alpha Axel to try and sort the mess of a pack. Braxton also spoke to his father about the situation.

The pack needed a new Alpha and Denali who had been acting alpha for the past several weeks didn’t want it. The people loved him, Denali, Alanna, and even Penelope as their savors. The pack also found out that their Alpha line were the legendary white bears. Denali had been approached by several members of the pack begging him to stay on permanently and Denali turned them down. Despite his alpha b***d Denali never wanted to be an Alpha, he was happy as Beta. Alana was the strongest warrior in the pack and took great pride in being lead trainer.

The pack was also in dire need of money and that turned out to be the easy problem. Braxton mentioned it to Killian who told him that he could get the pack a million dollars to get back on their feet, and Braxton was flabbergasted. The werewolf council had been hoarding money for close to a hundred years. The money was meant to go to packs in need, to rebuild after rogue attacks, finicial assistance after floods or droughts. The packs each paid yearly dues for the council’s protection and aid since it’s inception over one hundred years ago. According to Killian the council kept the money instead of giving it back to packs like the Elders should have. Killian and the other Alphas were still figuring out what to do with the money.

The money issue was solved, but there was no alpha or beta to lead the pack. Denali stated that the pack had no one who showed any real leadership skills to take over as Alpha.

Braxton brought the issue to his family and the Crystal Pines Pack was close to being dissolved all together when he got a phone call from his brother Cam. Cam asked if he could take over as Alpha of the Crystal Pines pack.

Braxton wasn’t surprised by his brothers request as Cam always had a desire to prove himself. He was a strong Alpha. Braxton informed his brother that the decision for him to be alpha relied on the people of the Crystal Pines Pack. Cam and his mate made plans to fly to Ohio, but then suddenly Braxton was requested to fly back to help with the shift of power.

…

Brad pov

The Elders were publicly executed two days later. The video link was sent to every pack Killian could think of with the date of the execution added in the caption.

There was a massive crowd waiting by the gallows and as the Elders were hauled out people started throwing things at them. It was like a scene from a movie. Brad had never seen anything like it. Elder Brooks ordered the deaths and watched with a smirk as it was carried out. The crowd cheered loudly.

Killian and Liliana immediately left after the execution. Elder Brooks ordered the bodies to be burned, the monsters didn’t deserve a proper burial.

The only surprise that came from the trial was the Elder Brooks was the granddaughter of the last werewolf King. Killian talked to her before he left. She promised Killian that she would stay around and to lead the next supernatural council King Callum created. Killian didn’t seem that surprised, he just nodded and thanked her for the help.

That left Brad here, with this gigantic mess. He was exhausted and so were his men, they were all running on no sleep. But the sooner this was concluded then the sooner he could return home to his mate. Brad and his men just went through all the files of the prisoners on the cells and he was horrified for the amount of punishment these people received for the crime committed. Brad called Alpha Killian and gave him a quick run down and what he wanted to do. Killian gave him the okay.

“Hey Brad?” Ethan asked as they started walking down into the dungeons.

“Yes, hopefully we can grab some sleep after this,” Brad responded.

“No, I was wondering what will happen once this is all over,” Ethan said as they went down the steps.

“Well I’ll make sure and pay you before sending you back to you pack.”

“Do I have to go back?” Ethan asked as they reached the door of the cells. Brad looked at Ethan.

“No, I’ll talk to my alpha, I’m sure we can use you.”

“Thanks Brad,” Ethan said as they walked into the crowded dungeons. Brad put on a stoic face and spoke loudly to the silent room.

“All right everyone if your name is called, please step forward. If you rush the gate to escape you will be sho.t,” Brad stated and nodded to Ethan who opened the file and read off a list of names. When the list was concluded people stepped out,

“What about my son?” A few of the women asked.

“What is your name ma’am?” Brad asked.

“Hacienda,” the woman responded.

“Is he in here for a crime of his own?” Brad asked Ethan.

“No sir,” Ethan responded after checking his files.

“He may come with you,” Brad responded. Brad checked the other woman who wanted to bring their children and they were all innocent children.

“All right follow us upstairs,” Brad stated and the group of mainly women and children hesitantly followed him up the stairs. Brad took these people outside and they all looked around in awe. He knew how long these people had been in that dungeon, years.

“You are all free to go,” Brad said with a smile on his face.

“What!?”

“I don’t understand,” many of the women as well as men responded. Brad calmed them down,

“All right, sorry for being intimidating as well as confusing. The council has no updated pictures on anyone in their dungeons, we didn’t want anyone to try and get a get out of jail free card,” Brad said smiling. Everyone still looked confused, Brad grabbed the files from Ethan.

“Pria Smith what was your crime?” Brad asked and assumed the last name was assigned to this woman. A timid woman with a child spoke up.

“I stole food.”

“Clearly for your children, and you received a five year prison sentence, that is an extremely excessive punishment as at most it should have been thirty days. You are free to go. You can stay in the council packhouse for a few days to get your bearings, but before you go please get ahold of me or Ethan as we have money to give you for the injustice your suffered. This is also to help you get your life back in order.”

There was a lot of clamoring for the money, but more than half the people wanted to spend time in the council house. Ethan escorted them to their new living area while Brad went back to the office to tackle the harder files. Those accused of murder and the accusing proclaiming to be innocent.

He was just opening a file when he got a FaceTime from Violet. He smiled and quickly hit accept. Brad saw her beautiful smiling face and it made his wolf purr.

“Hey beautiful,” he said and signed as well. Violet smiled and then frowned, she signed ‘tired’ then a ‘question mark.’

“Yeah babe, I am so tired me and the guys are running on about four hours of sleep in two days. How are you?” Brad asked while signing when he could. Sadly he hadn’t been studying like he should so there wasn’t much signing. Violet didn’t seem to care as she had a huge smile on her face. Violet made the sign of baby and signed beautiful.

“Are you helping out with the twins?” Brad asked and she nodded. Brad was surprised but glad to hear that Nathan trusted his kids with his mate.

“That’s great, I know Lili is missing the babies fierce.” Violet then signed ‘when’ and ‘home.’ Brad let out a deep sigh,

“I don’t know babe, I am trying to get through all of this mess as quickly as I can. Hopefully I’ll be back next week.” Violet looked angry at him and then started signing at a rapid pace he couldn’t keep up with. The only signs he understood was, ‘why,’ ‘no,’ ‘else.’ While Brad didn’t understand all of it, he got the gist.

“Violet, I understand you aren’t happy and I want to be there with you. Truly I do, you are my mate, but this is something I have to do. If I don’t I won’t be able to live with myself, the things I have done…” Brad broke off and looked away. “I’m sorry, I love you Violet but I just have to see this through.”