Chapter 71: The Alpha’s Sentence!

Every seat was occupied inside the Hall of Ashes.

Each of the eight elders of the council sat in their designated seats, their faces carved out of stone.

Ravaryn occupied the centre.

His ancient eyes never left the Alpha standing in front of them

Malachi Astridge.

Straight-backed.

Expressionless.

Untouched by the whispers flooding the hall.

He simply stared ahead at the ancient wolf crest carved into the stone floor as though searching for something inside it that did not exist.

Around them, nobles filled every row and warriors lined the walls. Even servants had gathered near the entrances, desperate to witness history.

At the centre of it all stood Della.

She stood quietly between two guards, her fingers folded before her despite the faint trembling running through them.

Elder Ravaryn rose slowly, the ancient hall falling into absolute silence as his gaze settled upon the Alpha seated before him. "Some days ago, the council presented you with two paths, Alpha Malachi. There is no need to repeat them. We are gathered here only for your answer."

The silence that followed stretched unbearably, but Malachi didn’t move.

Didn’t breathe.

Didn’t blink.

Alas, Malachi looked up at all of them, and every eye followed him.

Every elder.

Cassian.

Leopold.

Beatrice.

Selene.

Even the servants holding their breath against the walls, and yet, his expression revealed nothing.

Not grief.

Not anger.

Not hesitation.

Only the cold face of a ruler.

"I have made my decision," He said, his voice carrying effortlessly through the Hall of Ashes.

Della’s hand tightened so hard she might just break her bones.

Please... please have mercy.

Don’t choose... don’t choose.

"Adelaide will be officially made my slave with immediate effect!" Malachi finished.

For one suspended heartbeat, nothing happened.

Then the chamber erupted.

Several elders released relieved breaths while others nodded in open approval, and murmurs rolled through the hall like distant thunder.

Selene lowered her head to hide the triumphant smile spreading across her lips.

Beatrice quietly closed her eyes as though thanking fate itself, and Leopold merely watched his brother without expression

Only Cassian looked as though someone had driven a blade straight through his chest.

Della never looked away from Malachi.

Not once. She had promised herself she wouldn’t cry, because she already knew what he was going to choose. He had already given her a heads-up!

She failed to keep the tears away despite that.

It slid silently down her cheek.

Malachi saw it, and he wished he hadn’t. Something inside him lurched so violently he thought, for one impossible moment, that his heart had simply stopped.

His jaw locked, and the muscles in his neck tightened until every tendon stood out beneath his skin. Inside the sleeve of his ceremonial robes, his hand slowly curled into a fist.

Harder.

Harder.

Harder still.

His nails tore through skin, and warm blood gathered in his palm.

He didn’t feel it.

Or perhaps, he welcomed it.

Because it was easier to feel flesh splitting beneath his own hand than to acknowledge the far greater wound opening somewhere deep inside his chest.

No one noticed.

"A wise decision, Alpha." Elder Ravaryn nodded, a smirk touching his face almost imperceptibly.

Wise.

The word echoed through Malachi’s mind like mockery.

They continued to speak, but he heard none of it.

He heard none of the approval.

None of the praise.

All he could hear was the quiet sound of Della trying not to cry.

It was destroying him.

Yet his face remained carved from stone.

"Proceed," Ravaryn ordered, and the guards immediately stepped toward Della.

She didn’t resist.

Didn’t beg.

Didn’t plead.

She simply lifted her wrists as though she’d already accepted that this was all she had ever been allowed to become.

Malachi almost moved.

Almost.

His body betrayed him for the smallest fraction of a second, one foot shifting before he forced himself perfectly still.

Selene noticed the movement, and her eyes flickered toward her brother before narrowing ever so slightly.

The cold iron chains clicked around Della’s wrists, then her ankles, so heavy that she stumbled from the sudden weight, but she quickly caught herself before falling.

The sound...

Those chains...

Malachi would probably hear them in his nightmares for the rest of his life.

Ravaryn’s voice cut through the chamber once more, "The Mate bond between the Alpha and his mate must now be severed."

Every sound disappeared as he said the words, and even every breath seemed to stop too.

Malachi turned and looked directly at Della for the first time since that morning. He’d been avoiding her direct gaze. He’d been avoiding everything that had to do with her.

He’d use the rage from last night to fuel it all, so when he stared into her eyes right now...he channelled even more of that rage into his veins.

Della was already looking at him before he did. There was not even a single accusing look in her eyes, nor anger or fear. She simply looked... heartbroken.

And disappointed.

That was infinitely worse.

His throat tightened so violently he almost couldn’t speak. But he had chosen, so he forced the words out anyway.

"Adelaide Astridge..." He began, his voice as steady as a rock, and as powerful as it’s always been. Only the blood dripping unseen from his clenched hand betrayed the cost of speaking.

"From this moment onward, whatever existed between us ends here."

She closed her eyes.

He continued because stopping now would only make it harder, "I, Malachi Astridge of Eclipse Crown Pack reject you, with the whole pack as my witness!"

The words were like an erupting volcano in her heart, and the moment they finished leaving his tongue...the pain descended on her.

It exploded through her chest so suddenly that her knees buckled beneath her, her entire body arching as though something invisible had driven straight through her heart while every breath became impossible.

Her fingers clawed helplessly against the chains digging into her wrists and a broken cry escaped her lips before she could stop it.

The hall watched the pain swallowing her whole, but nobody moved.

Some elders merely observed, while others nodded coldly.

Rowan almost took a step forward, his gaze drifting between Della and Malachi, wondering if he was just going to stand there and watch.

Della tried to breathe, but she couldn’t. She sucked in air, but it was as if she no longer had lungs. Darkness flooded the edges of her vision, and her heartbeat started to become slower.

Slower.

Then, nothing.

Her body went limp.

If not for the guards holding her chains, she would have struck the stone floor.

A servant from the healing wing hurried forward to check her pulse. She was no longer breathing, and they had all watched the warmth in her eyes disappear before her eyes closed.

She should be dead.

No Rotblood can survive any form of rejection, especially one coming from an Alpha.

"She’s alive." The servant said out loud, and murmurs broke out again.

How was she still alive?!

Was she that desperate to live and continue to suffer?!

Even the Elders looked between themselves, confused.

Malachi remained standing where he was, immovable, and expressionless.

Only inside his sleeve, where no soul could see, his fist remained clenched so violently that blood now ran freely between his fingers, soaking into the black fabric until the sleeve grew heavy against his skin.

Still, he did not loosen it.

Because if he did, he wasn’t sure he would be able to stop himself from tearing the entire Hall of Ashes apart.