Page 18 of Alpha's Arranged Mate

“Who are you to speak against it?” Braxton demanded, never breaking his grandmother’s gaze. Before she could answer him, Braxton turned his attention upon the rest of his pack, many of them frightened she-wolves and children left practically defenseless thanks to his father. “The time of my father is over. None of you need fear any longer for the safety of yourselves or your family members. I shall rule with a fair and just hand, and my first act as your new alpha is to announce that you also need not fear Silverdale, its community or its pack. There is to be an alliance. Demon wolf and Silverdale wolf shall live in peace!”

Again his grandmother scoffed, and she spat at the burning floor, her spittle sizzling as it hit. “You expect me to trust those flea-bitten dogs?”

“I expect you to trust me!” Braxton snarled back at her, loud enough for all to hear. Several of the demon wolves whimpered, while others started to murmur. Though he couldn’t be sure, he wanted to believe that he was getting through to them.

“Aren’t you all tired of living in fear? Do you not wish for a new era of peace?” he asked them, and the murmurs grew louder.

“Do not listen to him!” his grandmother ordered them, and though several shrunk back for fear of her, Braxton could see that he truly was getting through to some of them.

“My father will never again see the light of day, until the witches of New York have found a way to burn him from all existence. Even hell is too good for him,” Braxton announced, spitting at the ground in a mirrored gesture of his grandmother’s. Stepping up to meet her once more, he looked her in the eye as he added, “That son of yours shall never again lay a hand upon one hair on the heads of a single one of my packmates, and if you have a problem with that, then you may take it up with me any time you like. But for now, you will kneel.”

“I shall do no such—”

“Kneel!” Braxton bellowed, and it was only when his grandmother’s eyes widened that he realized several of the wolves behind her had already begun to do as he ordered. Those in human form bowed low, kneeling down in fealty, while those in wolf form dropped their chests to the ground, flattening their ears to their heads and closing their eyes.

Holding his breath, he ordered hopefully, “Release my children.”

After some hesitation, the demon wolves who barred Diana and Duncan’s way finally stepped back, their heads bowed. His children wasted no time in racing toward him, and Braxton could see from the states of their faces that their time since his incarceration had not been good. Diana’s lip was bloodied and Duncan’s eye black.

Even as he held the two of them in his arms, crying at how much like their mother they both looked, Braxton turned a glare upon his grandmother and said, “If you harm one more hair on their heads while I return to complete this alliance, so help me, the pits of hell will be too good for you, too.”

At that, his grandmother finally seemed to take heed of his words and with a little reluctance, she dropped down onto her own knee, dipping her head as though she had seen fit not to try and challenge him again.

“Where is Bella?” he demanded, glancing around the open hellish plain they were standing upon. The ruins of some crumbled civilization sat on the horizon, the pits of hell falling away all around them, and from the looks of it, the only demon wolves who remained were all before him. Yet, he could not see the sister of his old mate, the aunt of his children. “Where is she?”

“I…I am here, Alpha,” came a small, weak voice as she stepped out from behind the blazing figure of one of their packmates who was in demon wolf form.

“Bella, you will take custody of the children,” Braxton announced. “You will take them back to the compound and await us there.”

“Yes, Alpha,” Bella said, dipping her head. She came forth, taking hold of both the children in her arms.

“But we want to come with you!” Duncan cried, while Diana looked as though she was trying her hardest to be brave.

Braxton’s heart threatened to break hearing the cry of his mousy haired son. Holding him at arm’s length, Braxton promised him, “We shall be together again soon. Until then, Aunt Bella will take care of you.”

He turned his gaze to his grandmother again. “And you shall stay away from them both. If they or Bella come to any harm, I shall hold you personally responsible.”

The older wolf simply nodded, looking contrite.

When Braxton stood once more, he called loudly, “A new era is upon us! Peace shall reign while I rule!”

He was surprised and honored when several of his packmates began to call, “Long live Alpha Braxton!”

“This is foolish,” he heard one of the men hiss under his breath.

Knowing there could be no tolerance for disobedience right now, Braxton turned on him and demanded, “What did you say?”

“I said, this is foolish!” the demon wolf snapped back at him, meeting his gaze without flinching.

“I never took you for one of my father’s pawns,” Braxton scoffed back at him. “In fact, if I remember right, you lost your wife and three children to his tyrannical rule.”

At that the demon wolf turned his gaze to the floor, and Braxton knew he had killed the final questioning.

He raised his chin once more to the skies and announced, “Demon wolves, welcome your Silverdale brethren. Soon we shall be one! I am to marry a Silverdale she-wolf!”

Gasps filled the air but before they could offer any kind of protest, Braxton repeated, “Peace shall reign!”

At that, all those before him turned their own chins up to the fiery skies and they howled, each one joining their voice to his own cry. He was surprised when Emily and Malia stepped forward to yell, “Peace shall reign!”

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