Celina #2
Margot’s face crumpled completely at the litany of charges, her ice-blue eyes filling with tears she was too proud to let fall.
Braxton looked as if each word physically wounded him, his hands clenched so tightly in his lap that his knuckles had gone white.
Neither of them attempted to deny it. They sat in their guilt like prisoners who’d already accepted their fate.
“So how did Rennick convince you to do all this?” Osias continued, his voice never rising but carrying the force of an avalanche. “To betray the Alpha and son and brother that loved you unconditionally and protected you even when things were complicated?”
Margot was the first to break. “Rennick painted a picture of Braxton becoming Alpha,” she said softly.
“And I just love my son so much that I got blinded by Rennick’s manipulation.
” She paused for a moment and finally met Osias’s stern gaze.
“I never thought you were a bad Alpha, Osias. I just wanted Braxton to have the position to show he could be responsible and finally prove he was worthy.”
The logic was twisted, Celina realized, but she understood the maternal desperation behind it. How many terrible choices had been made by parents who loved their children too much to see the situation clearly?
“Mother, don’t blame yourself,” Braxton said suddenly, his voice thick with emotion.
“This is all my fault. I was tired of living in your shadow, Osias, and I just wanted to show the pride I wasn’t the screw-up everyone believed I was.
” He paused and met Osias’s hard stare. “I thought if we just played along with Rennick’s scheme, he could make it so nobody got seriously hurt.
We were just trying to make it so people saw you as dangerous and unstable, and the pride would see that you were blinded by love after you met Celina. ”
Braxton’s eyes held nothing but regret.
“Rennick made it all sound so reasonable, but now it sounds ridiculous and awful. Osias, I’m truly sorry for what I did, and for roping my mother into this mess.”
For a moment, Celina saw something flicker across Osias’s face. But it vanished as quickly as it appeared, buried beneath the weight of Alpha responsibility.
“You know the pride law,” Osias said, his deep voice carrying the finality of a judge delivering a sentence.
“You have left me no choice but to exile you both from the pride for your betrayal of me, and for putting my mate and our pride in danger. That is a line that cannot be uncrossed and punishment cannot be withheld.”
Braxton and Margot looked down at their hands, accepting their fate without protest. Margot’s tears finally spilled over, and the sight of them made Celina’s heart clench with unexpected sympathy.
Through their bond, Celina felt Osias’s heart breaking even as his expression remained neutral—an Alpha trying to stay controlled while doing what needed to be done for the safety of everyone he’d sworn to protect.
Unable to watch his silent suffering any longer, Celina stepped forward.
“Braxton, Margot,” she said, her voice carrying the warmth that had been absent from Osias’s formal pronouncement.
“I hope that someday we will be able to reconcile. Even being exiled, I hope that you will realize that your love for Osias matters more than any personal ambition ever did, and that your love for this pride outweighs whatever reasoning led you to buy into Rennick’s manipulation. ”
Both of them looked up at her with something that might’ve been hope, as if her words had thrown them a lifeline they hadn’t expected to receive.
“I understand what it feels like to be manipulated by Rennick, in the worst way,” Celina continued, her voice growing stronger.
“And I didn’t even realize until today how badly I was played by the man who swore he loved me for thirty years.
I understand that underneath the choices you two made are good people who still love Osias and the pride. ”
Braxton’s composure finally cracked completely. “I do still love my brother,” he said, his voice breaking on the words. “More than he will ever probably know and more than I ever said aloud.”
He turned to look directly at Osias, tears streaming down his face.
“I’m so sorry, Osias. I never meant for it to go this far. You did nothing but help me, protect me, and love me, and I was impossibly selfish and abused it. I know you may never forgive me for what I did, but I hope someday we can restore what I damaged.”
Osias didn’t speak, but Celina felt the glimmer of hope that flickered through their bond—fragile and uncertain, but real.
“I’m sorry as well, Osias,” Margot added, her voice thick with tears. “I never meant to hurt you or Celina. You are a great Alpha, and I know your father would be proud of the man you’ve become.”
Her words hung in the air like a benediction, and Celina felt Osias’s emotions threaten to spill over completely. Without another word, he turned and walked toward the exit, his control finally reaching its breaking point.
Celina gave one last look at Braxton and Margot—two broken people who’d finally seen the cost of their choices—before following her mate out of the town hall.
The heavy wooden doors closed behind her with a finality that echoed across the parking area as Celina stepped into the harsh afternoon sunlight, her eyes immediately finding Osias standing motionless beside his Ferrari, his broad shoulders rigid with the effort of maintaining control.
When he turned toward her, the sight nearly broke her heart.
Unshed tears glittered in his striking blue eyes like fractured glass, threatening to spill over despite his Alpha composure.
The man who commanded entire rooms with quiet authority, who’d built an entertainment empire through sheer force of will, looked utterly devastated.
His jaw worked soundlessly, as if he was trying to find words that didn’t exist for what he’d just been forced to do.
He’s holding himself together by threads.
Without hesitation, Celina closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him against her with fierce determination.
He didn’t resist—couldn’t, she suspected—and she felt the exact moment his careful composure crumbled.
His arms came around her like a man drowning, holding her so tightly she could barely breathe.
But she didn’t speak. Words would have been inadequate for this kind of pain. Instead, she poured every ounce of love, admiration, and unwavering support she possessed through their mate bond, letting him feel the depth of her pride in his impossible choice.
You did what had to be done, she projected silently through their telepathic link. You protected the pride. You were exactly the Alpha they needed you to be.
Gradually, she felt his breathing steady against her hair, his death grip on her shoulders easing as her love anchored him back to himself. The tremor that had been running through his powerful frame subsided, replaced by the familiar steel that made him such an effective leader.
“We need to go,” he said finally, his voice rough but controlled. “Rennick is still out there, and I don’t know what he’s capable of now that his plans have fallen apart.”
Celina pulled back just enough to meet his eyes, her hands framing his face with gentle reverence. “Then let’s go prepare our pride for war.”
The transformation in his expression was immediate—grief giving way to lethal focus, the Alpha fully emerging to face whatever storm was coming.