A Gift from the Goddess

Chapter Sixty–One 

“...What did you just say?” I asked, my voice thick with disbelief. 

“I said they‘ve declared war,” Alexander repeated. “They‘ve said that if we don‘t release Caius before sunset tomorrow that they will officially announce their intent to bring him home by force.” 

Less than twenty–four hours. I had less than twenty–four hours to free him or we would be initiating a war. 

...And it would be my fault. 

“It‘s not enough time,” I whispered, the panic rising inside me once more. “...It‘s not enough time... It‘s not enough time.” 

I took a step backwards as my mind continued to whirl. This was it. Everything had been leading to this moment and it was finally here. 

“Is there anything else I need to know?” Aleric asked him. 

Alexander frowned as if he‘d expected him to have a different reaction.“... No? Just that we received a letter from the Silver Lake just now... —” 

“You can go then,” Aleric interrupted. “Thank you for telling me as soon as possible.” 

“What? ....Uh, yeah, okay...,” Alexander said, confused. 

He took a few steps backwards, still unsure as to why he‘d been dismissed so quickly, before finally turning around to leave. 

As soon as Alexander was out of sight, Aleric immediately turned his attention to me. 

Everything was spinning, making it hard to focus. What could I possibly do to stop this now? Maybe confronting Thea myself and trying to get her to confess again? But no... that energy inside me had become disconnected, like a flickering light whenever I tried to grasp it. I remembered how sick it made m e last time and didn‘t think I could force anyone to follow my orders right now even if I wanted to. A parto fme knew that doing so would be reckless... potentially deadly. 

“Aria,” Aleric said, his voice cutting through my thoughts. It was enough to make me look up to him, meeting his gaze directly. “Breathe. In and out.” 

As he said the words, I realised my breathing had become shallow, my concentration on thinking taking priority. Slowly, I breathed in deeply and back out again. 

“You‘ve got that same expression that worries me,” he said. “The one where I leave you alone to calm down, only to find out you’re acting completely insane a few days later. We don‘t have time for that anymore. I need smart Aria right now, not self–destructive Aria.” 

He was right, I needed to slow down and think properly. Confronting Thea myself was far too risky and 

almost certainly wouldn‘t work out in my favour. 

And so, I closed my eyes, my breathing still shaky, but I did my best to focus. 

I went over it all in my head, thinking through the different possibilities, the different outcomes... but with the limited time we had left, there wasn‘t much we could do. 

Shaking my head, I frowned. “There‘s no time, Aleric... our best hope is that Jonathan accidentally reveals himself tomorrow or Thea slips up.” 

“... That‘s cutting it pretty close,” he said. 

“I know... which is why I have one more solution as a backup plan that is almost guaranteed to work.” 

He crossed his arms, his brow furrowed. “If it‘s quaranteed then why don‘t we just implement that one first instead?” 

I bit my lip, unsure if I should tell him. I already knew what his reaction would be. 

“Well... because..,” I started hesitantly. 

His frown deepened for a second before finally, he understood what I meant without me even needing to finish. I could see the recognition on his face when he realised what I was planning. 

“No, no way,” he said, a tone of finality in his words. “You‘re not doing that.” 

“Aleric, I don‘t have a choice.” 

“You‘re throwing your life away,” he argued. “Everything you‘ve worked towards, everything you‘ve fought for. You‘re going to give it up for him?” 

“I‘m not giving it up for him... I‘m giving it up for the pack. Both packs. I‘m giving it up to save innocent people.” 

“Aria, think this through clearly.”

people die for my mistake. If the worst–case scenario really does happen... I‘m going to confess. There is no other way. The side effects of my punishment do not overrule the lives of innocents. You‘re the one who needs to think

many wars already and knew too well the destruction they left behind. This time the cause wasn‘t even for power or territory... it was over releasing an innocent man.

reason. “Aleric, if you really cared about the Winter Mist, and I know you do... you‘d let me do this. Please don‘t

save you from that, Aria. You know as well as I do what the punishment for treason

I reassured. “He can‘t. He‘d chain me to a pole for the rest of my life before killing me. He likes the status

doorstep demanding their Saintess‘ freedom. You‘ll become a martyr

here. First, I‘ll call an emergency meeting scheduled for just after lunch tomorrow. In the morning before that, we‘ll see how Jonathan goes with

said flatly.

plain refusal bristled my temper once more. “Aleric, what the hell is going on with you? Is this really due to dealing with the devout follower backlash or is this about something else? is it Cai? Do you really

giving up

what? What were you going to

“Nothing. Forget it.” 

Chapter Sixty–One 

not bothering to hide my irritation. “I say something or do something and

left unsaid. Would you like me to teach you

avoiding a smaller confrontation. Wars don‘t solve all your problems, Aleric. What are you really afraid of here? Is it that you‘re insecure over whether I‘ll usurp you one day? Gather followers of the Goddess around me and take over what you feel you‘re entitled to? Let me give

give Alpha commands,” he retorted harshly. “You can‘t just pick

wanted to argue back but he was right, I had overstepped that line. Instead, a moment of icy silence hung between us, neither of us wanting

you first,” he said quietly in defeat, running a hand through his dark wavy hair. “Just... do what you think

both in the wrong here, I knew that. We had burnt ourselves out with this investigation the last few months, spreading our free time too thin with all the additional work it brought us. It was no surprise really that we were both now in each other‘s faces the second that war was finally at our doorstep. It was a cocktail for short fuses

ahead had their own obstacles, their own pros and cons. And whilst it felt as though Aleric‘s opinion on this right now seemed off, I had to give him credit where it was due. If it hadn‘t been for his support over these last few months, I would have been worse off and probably

decision. After all the time and effort we‘d put in, it was now just as much Aleric‘s choice as it was mine since it was technically his life on the line as well. He‘d lied about my involvement and had been helping me during all of this mess. If he was found to have been withholding information,

mumbled. “It‘s not like I want to do this, Aleric. Just... trust me. You‘ll have my support with whatever happens afterwards,

sighed, rubbing tiredly at his eyes. “Aria... that‘s not... Yep. Okay, sure. Thank

we‘ll catch Jonathon tomorrow and be dragging his

“Hopefully.” 

he wasn‘t exactly pleased with the outcome, but I was happy that he seemed

the car. “I‘ll drop you off at the packhouse on

he asked, starting

Chapter Sixty One 

knew exactly where I needed to go next. Only it wasn‘t somewhere I

to go prepare for the worst–case scenario,” I replied.

feet leaving an echo as I went. I‘d come here frequently enough that I was now familiar

James barely knew me in this life when compared to the last but my respect for him had

me, inclining his

nodded back in acknowledgement. “James. How is the

“Same as always.” 

and instead opened the door, accompanying

they fell on a pair of familiar gold ones staring right back

time that this wasn‘t real… but I couldn‘t. Not here, not today, and definitely not over the last few months, had I been able to do

how are you?”

since coming here but I knew it had to be hard. I could see the circles forming under his eyes and how he‘d lost a little bit

“It‘s good to see you.”

his voice almost made me lose my composure. I could see in his eyes what he was really telling me and it

cleared my throat and tried to refocus.

Silver Lake but, seeing him now, I couldn‘t bring myself to do it. He would know what that meant, what two paths would potentially

there,” I half lied, taking a seat at the

it at least feels a little less... prison –y. Kind of feels more like home arrest now… if my home was a white cell

slightly but I couldn‘t bring myself to give him a smile at his attempt

so much I wanted to speak about. It was torture. He was right there in front of me, within arm‘s length, and I couldn‘t even touch him.

mouthed to Cai silently. James was at the door within listening range but my back was facing him.

he saw just how sincerely I meant that.

at me with concern, as if he was sensing exactly what I was feeling, and inside I could feel that

having the strength for this anymore. I felt overwhelmed, like I couldn‘t breathe. “I

up when his hand