Half Were Mine novel · Chapter 22 of 24

Chapter 22: Exiled

On the solstice the stone hall was so full that wolves stood along the walls.

Jodie sat in the middle chair with two council members at her sides.

She wore her grandmother's green shawl, and she had pinned it with a plain brass pin.

Torsten stood at the far end of the center aisle, in the place I had asked him to take.

I stood at the foot of the stage, alone.

Four enforcers brought Rhett in through the side door.

He had lost weight. His shirt was clean, and his right arm was in a sling.

He looked at me before he looked at anyone, and I looked back.

"The council has heard the evidence," Jodie said, and her voice was calm. "The notebook. The forged note. The letters. The rosters. Does the accused wish to speak?"

"I do," Rhett said.

"Once," Jodie said. "Briefly."

He stepped forward to the edge of the stage.

For a long moment he said nothing at all.

"Bronwyn," he said, and the hall went still. "I have been wrong."

I kept my hands at my sides.

"I was afraid. I loved you so much that I stopped thinking. I did everything they say, and I did it because I could not stand the thought of losing you."

He took a breath that shook.

"I'm asking you to take me back. In front of everyone. I'll declare you tonight, on this stage, with the bracelet. I'll bite you here if you want, in front of the whole pack. I'll give you everything I took."

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