<h4>Chapter 434: Ripped that council apart</h4>
Under themand of her Alpha, Juniper couldn’t resist any longer. Against her will, the words escaped her trembling lips.
"I—I, Juniper Vittileo, ept the rejection of Prince Dominick Sinir."
A searing pain tore through her chest, radiating across every nerve in her body. Her knees buckled as a sharp cry broke from her throat, echoing painfully through the grand hall. It felt as though her veins were ame and her bones cracked beneath invisible pressure.
But even worse was what Dominick felt. He had never imagined their bond would shatter like this. He had once dreamed of spending his final breath beside her, but now that dream had turned to ashes by both their hands.
With a hollow heart, Dominick turned to leave, intending to lock himself away in the istion of his chambers. But her broken whisper stopped him in his tracks.
"Nick..."
He froze but didn’t look back. "We have nothing left to say to each other," he said. "Leave this pce by evening. Because I once loved you, I’ll spare you from any punishment. But don’t ever appear before me again, Juniper. I simply... hate you. That’s all that remains."
He walked away, hand pressed against his chest as though trying to hold together the pieces of his shattered heart. Tears burned in his eyes, but he wiped them away in silence. Her scent, which was so intoxicating and was once his home, had vanishedpletely.
He used tough when others spoke of the agony of rejection. But now, living through it himself, he finally understood how unbearable it truly was.
His steps faltered midway down the corridor, and he copsed against the cold wall. He finally broke into tears. The muffled sound of his sobs filled the empty hallway.
"I lost my mate," he whispered through tears. "I... I wish none of this had ever happened."
He struck his chest with a trembling fist, as if the pain there could give him answers. Was it his own hesitation about sharing the wedding day solely with Juniper that had doomed them, or was it her greed?
"Why didn’t I see it? Why?" Dominick murmured, his voice breaking as tears streamed freely down his face.
They had spent so many years together, bound by love, by destiny, yet neither had truly understood the other. How could it all have broken so easily? How could something so sacred have turned to dust between their hands?
"Brother Nick!" Amelie’s voice rang through the corridor, and he quickly straightened himself.
He saw her with Noah in the stroller and quickly wiped off his tears after looking away.
"Are you alright?" Amelie asked as she hurried toward him before taking a stop.
"Yeah, I’m fine," Dominick lied. "I-I will talk to youter, Amelie." Without waiting for her response, he vanished from her sight, teleporting to an unknown ce.
She furrowed her brows together in worry, realizing something big had happened.
"Ma!" Noah’s sweet voice reached her ears, bringing Amelie’s focus on her.
~~~~~
"Why the hell did you intervene?" Gabriel bellowed at Casaio.
Casaio stayed unnervingly calm. "You’re forgetting Juniper is a daughter-inw of this house," he said. "And she’s very good at shifting me. We have to be careful around her, she’s been unhingedtely. Until she’s safely here, we tread lightly."
Gabriel pressed two fingers to his temple, furious. "Cas, I’ll kill her before that happens."
"Nick loves her," Casaio shot back. "Don’t say that. Do you think I’m not angry? So much has already happened. If you hadn’t arrived when you did, I—I was ready to leave the pce and the kingdom."
Gabriel’s hands went to Casaio’s cor, yanking him forward and making him startle. "You can’t be this weak," he snarled. "Why would you have left the pce? You should’ve ripped that council apart for your mate. Stop being soft. Be ruthless with those council members."
Casaio grabbed his hands and lowered them.
"Killing isn’t a solution for everything. How would that have been even justifiable? Also, you are forgetting that I’m not like you," he asserted.
Gabriel took a step back. "The pce is always full of dramas. I want this one month period to get over soon, so that I can live peacefully with Amelie and my little bun at San Ravendale," he murmured. Just the mention of them ended his anger.
"Let’s go to the drawing room. I need to thank Luke foring," Casaio said, then paused, ncing at his brother. "But before that, I want to thank you. If it weren’t for your timely intervention, everything in my life would’ve fallen apart again."
"You don’t need to thank me," Gabriel replied curtly.
"Really?" Casaio asked, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
Gabriel gave a quiet hum in response.
Shaking his head with amusement, Casaio smiled wider and sped his brother’s arm, gently guiding him toward the drawing room.
When they entered, they saw their parents already deep in conversation with Luke Hunter. Casaio released Gabriel’s arm and stepped forward.
"Thank you, Luke, foring here," he said warmly.
He passed a smile to him before gazing at Gabriel.
"Shouldn’t you be thanking me?" Luke asked with a half-smile.
"Wasn’t it your dream to meet me once? I just fulfilled it for you," Gabriel replied dryly, his toneced with mock arrogance.
Raiden and Mabel exchanged nces, silently questioning how these two had ever be friends. Their banter sounded far too easy, too light, for men who once considered each other as rivals.
"It was," Luke admitted, crossing his arms, "but I imagined it would be on a battlefield."
"You were lucky then," Gabriel shot back with a faint smirk.
Casaio blinked, looking between them in confusion. "What’s going on here?" he asked, utterly lost.
"Nothing. I’ll leave all of you here," Gabriel said and took his leave.
"Gabriel, think about the offer I made to you. Contact me when you will be done thinking," Luke asserted.
"Sure," Gabriel answered and walked away, leaving four of them in the drawing room.