Chapter Forty-Five - Oblivion
Balor's POV
I looked up at Reyna. She seemed extremely calm after the blow-up she just had. Maybe it was all the stress or the fact that it was all still so fresh that she didn't fully comprehend what I told her, what I had just admitted to her.
But as I looked closely, I noticed she had a glint in her eye that seemed oddly familiar. It reminded me of all the times when
Imelda and Nesrin would scheme about ways they were going to get me back for the pranks I had pulled on them."What do you mean?" I asked, not wanting her to change her mind.
"You say Ivan is still alive." I nodded.
Chapter Forty-Six - MatesReyna's POV"Are you sure you want to do this?" Balor asked. I stared out the window of his blacked-out range rover. Watching the trees pass us by as we moved down the backroads.We had decided that it was better to head right out after breakfast and set out to destroy the man who tried to kill Balor's family and me.I turned to him, giving him a nod. Most people would consider me to be just as psychotic as my father for doing this.Hell, most people would have had me committed as soon as I mentioned mythical beings being real.But this wasn't a delusion, and the fucker had it coming. He would pay for not only taking Vicky away from me but f
Chapter Forty-Seven - DesolationReyna's POVIvan's head snapped up at the sound of my voice. His eyes were nowhollow and sunken in. His beard was a dishevelled mess, his hair in need of a good wash. I might have pitied the man before me if I was a better person.I may have even felt an ounce of shame for what I was about to put him through. Maybe I might have even tried to understand what had happened to him to turn him into such a monster, tried to understand how he became so heartless and cold.But I was a long ways away from the girl I once was. She was lost the day she received the news of her sister's death. When she was told how her sister had been brutally raped before she was murdered, her body ripped to shreds.She could no longer be saved once the man who was supposed to help us. Support us. Lo
Chapter Forty- Eight - New BeginningsReyna's POVIt was hard to believe it had already been two weeks since Ivan was captured. The media went into a frenzy about it. Especially when Ivan begged them to believe he wasn't who he was said to be. The cherry on top was the statement he released when he pled not guilty to the charges. Claiming a wolf and his psychotic daughter framed him, I had a great laugh at the officers as they tried to take me in to prove his claims true or false.I even had a few reporters and news stations request an interview with me about it all. Most wanted to know how I felt about it all, especially how I felt about it being solved after I handed it over to a new detective.It even added another reason to the ever-growing list that captain dipshit was building against me to get me
EpilogueReyna's POVI let out a deep breath. The air here was so different. Fresher, purer than what I was used to. Even after six months in Vancouver, it took me by surprise."Now," Piper whispered into her earpiece.In one swift move, I jumped from my hiding place. My stomach flipped as I jumped from the ten-foot drop, landing right onto a brown wolf.I stabbed my needle of wolfsbane into his neck. He tried to buck me off, letting out a vicious snarl, but I held on tightly.The wolf flipped onto its back, slamming me into the forest floor. I let out a gasp, my lungs struggling to expand from having the wind knocked out of me.The wolf rolled off of me, preparing to lunge at me. But a blur of silver ju
Bonus chapter - A MessageBalor's POV So many voices whispered in the darkness—the haze too thick to tell whether this was a dream or a vision. I felt trapped. My body felt like it was weighed down but also nonexistent."She's coming."A voice whispered through all the noise"One shall fall. The other shall rise. In a fight of fire and ice, a Phoenix will be reborn."Another whispered a little louder. "Bound by life, only death can break the curse." A voice said from farther away."You must hurry if you wish to win. Accept the fate, and the end will come." They all seemed to hiss in unison.I tried to speak, but my mouth was sealed shut, my lips gone. Panic started to rise in me as I tried to fight the darkness. It was pulling me under faster and faster, hands and shadows swirling around me, grabbing and scratching at my skin and pulling at my arms and legs. Flashes of death crossed my mind. A woman, cloaked in shadows, sitting on the throne. Chaos throughout all realms spilling out i
Prologue I can still feel the shadows wrapped around me, the way they dug their claws into me. How cold and lost I felt in the darkness. I could still hear their whispers of temptation in my ears when it was quiet enough. A piece of me would always be missing, but it was something I would do again if I had to. My head was almost always quiet now; Ahmes hardly had enough energy to speak nowadays, but it was a price I had to pay to make sure the one I loved was safe. No one understood why I did it, mate, or not. The dark realms were forbidden, and only someone wholly insane or looking for death would willingly enter such an evil place. I looked up at Balor; he was the spitting image of our mother. His sapphire blue eyes burned into me as he waited for me to speak.
Chapter 1- Promises *Two days earlier* "She's coming, and when she rises, your entire family will burn in her inferno," I screamed as my body hung in the air. I couldn't move; I was frozen in place. Ahmes clawed to break free, but she was being suppressed within my mind by powerful magic. "When I break free, I will kill you. That's a promise." I snarled. The witch before me let out a manic laugh. His voice was low as he spoke. "When I'm done with you, you won't even remember your own name, mutt," I screamed as I felt the heat of his magic burning against my own. Then, suddenly, I couldn't scream anymore as I was plunged into cold waters. As I gasped for air, my lungs filled with water. Everything burned, and I was thrashing against the current that had pulled me under. I was drowni
Chapter 2 - Secrets "Nesrin, are you sure you still want to do this?" My mother asked as we finished the last of the preparations for my birthday celebration. I let out a yawn as I forced myself to sit up straighter. "Of course I do. With Balor finally back to talking terms with us and finding his mate, I want everyone to have the chance to get together." It wasn't entirely the reason I had to do this. We both knew that, but I could tell something else was bothering her. My mother bit her lower lip as she looked down at the papers in front of her. I could see there was something she wasn't telling me, something she wasn't sure she could. "What aren't you telling me?" I questioned. She would typically let her visions occur without a fuss, but if she saw something so horrible that it haunted her, she couldn't help but obsess over it, espe
Epilogue Three weeks later Damon The pressure of the crown was building as Alora and I settled into our new roles. My father was no longer here to keep the council at bay with their demands. But despite it all, I had found that I enjoyed this new life I had been given. The new responsibilities allowed me even more control over the Kingdom than the Captain of the guards ever could. All be it; I did miss the battle prep and daily training. But I still found holes in my busy schedule to take Alora out to the training fields at least once a week. I knew that eventually, our routine would become steady, and we would have more time to relax, but new rulers came with change and to have change, you needed to vote on old and new laws to pass. Alora and I had already made some big changes, like incorporating technology from the human realm into our daily lives to allow us easier communication with other realms. But there were still a lot of issues with the old ways of running our Kingdom
Chapter 49 - To Love and Cherish ErikPeace was something that was talked about constantly. During wars, it was what we fought for. While ruling a Kingdom, it was what we strived to maintain. But I had never truly known peace until now. The thought of finally being ridden of this pain inside of me, knowing that soon I would be with my love once again, was freeing. The final night with my family started out slow, but it eventually picked up and ran right into the night. There was laughter and tears exchanged around the table as we shared stories of my past and everyone got a chance to say goodbye, getting the closer they needed.And as everyone turned in for the night, I found myself alone again; unable to sleep, I found myself outside. I stayed up looking out at the stars waiting for the sun to rise. I closed my eyes, letting the warm breeze brush across my skin, engraving it into my mind. "So you really are going to spend your last moments alive, sitting in a field of flowers like
Chapter 48 - GoodbyesErikI watched as the sun set beyond the forest, the oranges and pinks of the sky blending together as the sun bid it farewell. It had been a long time since I had nothing to do, no responsibilities with the crown or of the guards. I thought it might help me move on from the hell that the last year had been without Athena, but now I realize that was a stupid notion. It was lonely, and the weight of losing my mate weighed heavier on my heart now than it did while I still ruled.I kept as busy as a retired King could, helping Damon when he needed to seek council or helping Apollo if he needed a hand with training recruits, but I knew that they both didn't really need my help. They just didn't want me to feel left out. Apollo was a natural at his role, and so was Damon. Despite what Damon said when he first discovered he would be the next in line to inherit the throne. He took to it as a bird took to the sky. He was a born leader and shined when he was in control o
Chapter 47 - Home Alora It had been a month since I had been crowned Queen of Gardenia, the days seeming to slip away as the kingdom welcomed the summer solstice and our ruling.I was busy learning my new role, Damon's father and Grandfather helping ease us both into the important roles we both now held. However, it was easier having Helga by my side. I was happy to have her as my royal advisor, and Rachel had said she was a natural already. I knew she would be, though; she always loved to take control and never gave up the opportunity to tell someone off. It was also working in my favour because Lord folic was so busy fighting with her that he always missed out on voting for new laws or changes to existing rulings. Damon loved it, and it made the council meetings less gruelling. It was absurd how many times we had to have a council meeting. At least once a day, and most of the things brought up were trivial problems. By the end of the day, I was just happy to get some alone time
Chapter 46 - The CrownDamon It felt like an eternity had passed as I waited in the royal chambers with my father. It felt even longer when we exchanged goodbyes at the throne room, and I waited at the dais while he sat on his throne. Melody stood in front of my father, a smile stretched across her face, glowing brightly. The room was full of people, some from the council, others from royal families, friends, family, and people from our Kingdom. All watching and waiting for the ceremony to begin.I was in a black royal jacket that was made with silver threading, and our family crest stitched into my left breast pocket. The wolves were placed proudly amongst the roses and the sword that separated them as they howled at the moon. My silver crown was placed on my head, but that would be changed once mine and Alora's vows were complete and only after the mothers accepted us as the new King and Queen to signal the dawn of a new era. Drake stood to the right of me, his mate, my mother's
Chapter 45 - Long Live The Queen Damon "Again," I commanded as Alora worked to keep the wings she had summoned to remain on her back. She had learned quickly how to handle the phoenix flames since she had already worked with the fire element. But now came the hard part, only half shifting. I did it all the time, especially in battle, morphing my nails into claws and elongating my canines. But nothing about that was easy; it came with time and practice, but Alora wanted to have it mastered. With the coronation and our mate ceremony happening tomorrow, she wanted to be better at it. Not only to prove to the council and our people that she was a worthy Queen but also to herself. I didn't want to be the one to tell her to slow down, not after she had spent so much of her life ruled under someone else thumb. But I had warned her of the risks of exhaustion and told her that when I saw fit, we would end the training for the evening.Alora begrudgingly accepted my condition, and I kept tr
Chapter 44 - Worship AloraI flipped through the pages of the phoenix book the jinx family had kept for generations. There was so much to process, like what abilities I now possessed because of what I was. It made my head hurt; there was so much to learn, so much to figure out. I was now different than normal fae; I was now a shifter. But, unlike most shifting fae, my order didn't communicate with me. Instead, it was a part of me; we were one and the same. I would still live an immortal life, only having one enemy that could stop me from ever being reborn, permanently ending my life. A Basilisk. A venous snake shifter that, like me, was rare, most believed them to be extinct. But now that I existed, one would be born, if not already—the universe now having to find balance in all forms. It was mindblowing the things I had already read about. For example, I could enchant items with my flames, similar to everlasting fire. But unlike everlasting fire, I couldn't break wards or spells w
Chapter 43 - WarningDamonI sat at the dais, my legs hanging over the edge as I waited for Cedric to arrive with the artifacts Alora and I asked for. Balor was right when he said the Jinx family would bargain for their priceless information. The smug look on their faces was wiped away and replaced with wide gaping mouths as they stared at the amulet in shock.Diana had muttered a curse under her breath. One I was sure she wanted me to hear because she said it so close to me. But I bit my tongue as I handed over the amulet, not wanting to risk them being stingy with their end of the deal.Alora was waiting in the Library, looking over whatever other books Audra had found for her. Now that Alora had her dream magic again, she was more determined than ever to find out what else she was capable of doing. I couldn't help but admire her for her devotion and eagerness. I was still reeling in from the mind-blowing realization that not only was Alora a rare Pheonix shifter, but she was also
Chapter 42 - Full CircleAloraIt's funny how even after you have overcome your deepest fears that they can still creep up on you. That was how it felt right now, anyways, as we arrived at the Dream realm. It was a ghost town, everyone seeming to either vanish with my mother's magic or flee as soon as they were freed from their promise to her. The streets were quiet, the ports empty, and the palace looked haunted. The golden paint was already losing its shine and fading with the faded magic. The windows were dark and unwelcoming as we approached the not-so-gilded gate. It was now that I felt the fear of my mother creep up on me. The well of my fears bubbled in the pit of my stomach. For decades I walked through these gates and made my way to my mother's throne room to report my findings and give her the things she requested I steal. The motions all felt so familiar, but with Damon by my side, they also felt different. I knew he could sense my hesitation as we approached the giant w