Accept your rejection
1079 Words
Hades’ POV:
“Reject Julia before I kill you,” I said, my voice low and venomous as I stepped between my brother and the woman he dared to hurt.
“Hades! How could you say such a thing?” our father, Elwin, snapped, rising from his seat with disbelief etched into every line of his aging face.
I didn’t even look at him. My blood was boiling. What I had just witnessed had ignited a rage so violent inside me, I wasn’t sure I could hold it back much longer.
“What did you say to her?” Rainer barked at Julia, his voice laced with fury as he advanced toward her.
Before he could get any closer, I grabbed him by the collar and shoved him back. I hadn’t even used half my strength, but he still stumbled, crashing into the edge of the sofa behind him.
“Hades!” Dad shouted again. “What the hell are you doing?”
“What you should have done years ago,” I growled, locking eyes with him before turning my attention to Julia. I gently pushed up the sleeve of her blouse, revealing the bruises mottling her delicate skin.
“Is this what happens in our house now?” I snarled. “You let women get beaten and pretend it’s none of your business? Did you ever lay a hand on Mom like this? No? Then why the hell is Rainer allowed to hurt Julia?”
My voice had taken on a darker, guttural edge. I could feel the change in my eyes, the burning heat of my pupils shifting color as the Alpha blood within me rose to the surface.
“Hades, please, you don’t need to—” Julia tried to speak, but I silenced her with a sharp look.
“Stay quiet. Let me do what no one else had the guts to do. Let me protect you.”
“She’s my mate!” Rainer shouted, rising to his feet. “Let her go!”
“Your mate?” I echoed bitterly, stepping between him and Julia again. “You mean the woman you abused? The woman so broken by your cruelty, she’s been thinking of ending her life? That’s not a mate. That’s a prisoner.”
Rainer’s nostrils flared. “You’re crossing the line, Hades. I am the Alpha of this pack, and Julia is my wife. Whatever happens between us is none of your concern.”
Then he turned his fury on Julia. “What lies did you tell him? Are you trying to tear this family apart now?”
That was it.
I dropped Julia’s hand and launched my fist straight into Rainer’s jaw. The crack of the blow echoed through the room as his head whipped sideways.
“No!” Julia screamed, rushing forward, but I was far past the point of restraint.
Mom tried to hold me back, but I didn’t feel her hands. I was already grabbing Rainer again by the collar, slamming another brutal punch into his face.
“That one was for every bruise you left on her,” I spat.
With a roar, I threw him across the room like he was nothing more than a rag doll. He crashed into the far wall and crumpled to the ground with a sickening thud.
I was on him again before he could rise. Crouching beside him, I yanked his head up by the hair, forcing him to meet my gaze.
“Hades, enough!” Dad’s voice thundered behind me.
But I didn’t listen.
Reaching into my jacket, I pulled out the silver dagger I had kept hidden. I pressed the blade to Rainer’s cheekbone, right beneath his eye, watching him flinch as the silver seared his skin.
“Reject her. Now.”
“Stop them!” Mom screamed, turning to Julia for help.
“Hades, don’t—he’s my—”
“Don’t say it,” I snapped at Julia, my voice trembling now with something deeper than rage. “Don’t protect the man who hurt you. Do you want to be his victim every day for the rest of your life? I won’t let that happen. I won’t let anyone break you again.”
“You’re his brother,” Mom pleaded. “Stop this madness!”
“I was his brother,” I said coldly. “But right now, he’s just a monster. And I won’t let a monster keep her.”
I leaned in close to Rainer, the blade slicing a thin line down his cheek as blood began to drip. “This is your last chance, Rainer. Reject Julia, or I swear I will end you.”
The fear in his eyes was unmistakable. I could feel the thunder of his heartbeat, the trembling of his body. He knew I wasn’t bluffing.
“I’ll do it,” he finally muttered, his lip curling into a hateful smile. “But I’ll make you pay for this, Hades.”
“Do what you're told,” I hissed, tightening my grip on his collar. “That’s all I want from you right now.”
And in that moment, I knew, I would go against blood, against the entire pack, against fate itself, if it meant saving Julia. She wasn't supposed to live such a life.
“I, Rainer Grimmheart, reject you, Julia Muller Grimmheart. Accept my rejection,” Rainer said in a loud enough voice.
Now, the decision was in Julia's hands.
“Julia, you can't reject Rainer. The grandparents of both the families wanted you two to get married,” Mom spoke to her.
“Julia, if you want to live, accept Rainer's rejection,” I said, turning my head to look at her face. There were tears on her cheeks and her eyes were misty. I saw the way she had clenched the sides of her long skirt as if she was too scared.
“Hades, that b*tch will never reject me,” Rainer said with a mocking chuckle and pushed me off. I had kept my guard down, but I was swift to move away from Rainer before he could harm me.
“Guards! Guards!” Rainer shouted for the warriors, who were supposed to take me to the dungeon. “Take my dear brother to—”
His words couldn't be finished as Julia spoke finally,
“I, Julia Muller, accept your rejection, Rainer Grimmheart,” Julia’s voice reverberated in the living room.
- Writer
