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

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

too 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. A man accused of my own

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

sentences you to death? What then, huh? I can‘t save you from that, Aria. You know as well as I do what the punishment

can‘t. He‘d chain me to a pole for the rest of my life before killing me.

You‘ll become

an emergency meeting scheduled for

said flatly.

backlash or

don‘t... whatever.” He sighed in frustration, giving up on whatever he wanted to say and

What were you going to say?”

“Nothing. Forget it.” 

Chapter Sixty–One 

not bothering to hide my irritation. “I say something

when some things are better left unsaid. Would

innocent people for the sake of 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

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

had overstepped that line. Instead, a moment of icy silence hung between us, neither of us wanting to concede. Finally though, his eyes softened,

a hand through his dark wavy hair. “Just... do what you think is right, Aria. We‘ll deal with whatever happens after when we

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

decision here. Both paths 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

side for this 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, I was sure Tytus would not be

sorry, too,” I mumbled. “It‘s not like I want to do this, Aleric. Just... trust me. You‘ll have my support

“Aria... that‘s not...

be okay,” I said with a small smile. “Maybe we‘ll catch

“Hopefully.” 

I could see on his face that he looked as though he wasn‘t exactly pleased with the outcome, but I was

should probably head off then,” I said, motioning towards the car. “I‘ll drop you off at the packhouse on the way if you want.”

going?” he asked,

Chapter Sixty One 

I needed to go next. Only it wasn‘t somewhere I wanted to

off to go prepare for

long after that, I found myself walking down a cold hallway, my feet leaving an echo as I went. I‘d come here frequently enough that I was now familiar with these walls, but their contents had continued t o be a source of pain for

when compared to the last

me, inclining his head slightly in respect.

nodded back in acknowledgement. “James. How is the prisoner today?”

“Same as always.” 

didn‘t say anything further and instead

into sight, my eyes immediately darted around, searching until they fell on a pair of familiar gold ones staring right back at me. He was seated at a small

and definitely not over the last few months, had I been able to do anything remotely close to that. We

you?” I

my sense of guilt always hitting me hard whenever I got to see him. He hadn‘t hinted at any complaints even once since coming here but I knew it had to be hard. I could see the circles forming under

replied. “It‘s good to

I could see in his eyes what he was really telling me

throat and tried to refocus.

know what that meant, what two paths would potentially be waiting for me now. But, more importantly, he would know that this was goodbye. Regardless of how it went, tomorrow Cai would be free. I‘d make

you‘re still hanging in there,” I half lied, taking a seat

prison –y. Kind of feels more like home arrest now… if my home was a white

to give him a smile at his attempt

speak freely with him and yet there was so much I wanted to speak about. It was torture. He was right there in front of me, within

at the

he saw just how sincerely I meant that. How much weight I really meant behind those words.

as if he was sensing exactly what I was feeling, and inside I could

this anymore. I felt overwhelmed, like I couldn‘t breathe.

his hand suddenly