Page 4 of Broken Mate

“I had to protect my family first, and the Council is… unforgiving, as you know. I couldn’t risk my pack, or—” His gaze flicked, almost unwillingly, to Jack. “—anyone else I cared about. Witches can be particularly creative with their punishments; our relationship coming out then would have been worse than an execution.”

Sariel’s sudden understanding resonated so strongly with that sentiment that it rattled the bond. I barely held back my sigh.

“I’d have been stripped of my magic, more likely than not.” Jack was checking for dirt beneath his nails, as if this subject matter was of no consequence. “Witches who get cut off from the source don’t live very long, anyway. Especially not those my age. Still, rapid aging would have been a kinder way to go than what they tried to do to you two. Pitting people against one another is how they maintain power, and… it’s unfortunate we keep having to play their game.”

Something told me that that was as close to an apology as the blond would get, but it didn’t matter.

I sighed again upon realizing that we weren’t going to be able to hold onto that grudge. After all of our misadventures, we were intimately familiar with the things one would do for the people they loved, and something told me it was only going to get worse before it got better.

“We get it.”

Elias nodded to me when I begrudgingly admitted it, looking relieved that I was prepared to let bygones be bygones. I didn’t know if we would ever trust him fully, but for the moment, we came to a silent agreement to letthatslight go. Even if he’d disagreed with our execution, he’d been outnumbered, and knowing now that Jack had been in very real danger of being hurt orworsetugged at my heartstrings, playing them like a harp.

Auren cleared his throat when another silence dragged on. I was almost positiveAshe was mocking him when he cleared his right after. Maybe that bond was onto something.

“An alliance, you said?” the Resistance Leader prompted skeptically, and our moment of connecting with the Upper Councilman was over.

Elias turned back to Auren and took in a deep breath, obviously prepared to plead his case.

2

AND NEW ALLIES

SARIEL

"Iknow that it's more or less what we've been doing anyway," Elias started, prompting a collective inhale from our circle, "but I want to take it public. What the others on the Council are pushing is wrong, and not accepted so readily anymore—just look at Aria and Sariel. With the war ongoing, they haven't been able to push their anti-hybrid agenda as strongly, but people remember you two."

That made sense since Aria and I were the first two known hybrids to slip out of the Upper Council’s grasp.

Elias was looking at us like we held all the answers. I sighed when my mate shuffled uncomfortably.

After giving me the speech about helping in any way we could, I knew she'd been frothing for the opportunity to do anything worthwhile. In the Free Kingdom, she'd been training under the assumption that she would have to fight for her life or one of our friends, but the longer we stayed tangled up in this mess, the more it looked like she was going to be some kind of symbol for hybrid-kind.

"You've been helping the Resistance?" Johnny sounded as skeptical as I felt.

Auren let out a sigh of his own. "Yeah, he's been helping."

I was shocked, even though I shouldn't be.

"He's been feeding us intel for years—Kiyomasa helped install him, and in exchange, he's been feeding us intel on when and where the Council is planning to attack us. Though hehasbeen slacking lately."

There was a growl from the shifters that came with Elias, and Jack rolled his eyes. "We were under fire from all sides.”

"I believe it. You've all gotten yourselves into a difficult situation."

The witch pursed his lips, having nothing to say to that. I was still hung up on the fact that my brother had been working with Elias Olskin—a man who had been planning to let me and my mate die, justified or not.

Are you upset?Aria asked tentatively, but I shook my head slowly.

No, just surprised. Auren keeps everything close to his chest.

She gave my hand a squeeze as I processed that fact. My brother would probably remain an enigma to me since we'd spent too long apart in our formative years, but that didn't mean we couldn't build a bond as adults.

Aria was beaming at me when I gave her a glance, making me smile.

"So you've always been pro-Resistance, huh?" I asked, and Elias shrugged.

"More or less. I think it's ridiculous to paint all people with one brush; not all hybrids are bad, just like not all angels are good, and not all vampires are monsters. My family has always known that."

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