A Gift from the Goddess

Chapter Seventy 

.... With a sudden lurch inside my chest, my eyes flew open. I was gasping heavily, trying to compensate for the suffocation that had afflicted me only moments earlier. 

... Except I wasn‘t mounted on the glass shard anymore…. 

I was in my bed. 

My hands frantically grabbed at my body, inspecting for any sign of damage... but there wasn‘t any. 

So it wasn‘t real? But I had felt it. It couldn‘t be a dream. I know it wasn‘t a dream. 

But it ended up easier than expected to figure out exactly what had happened. 

The nausea hit me first, forcing me to throw myself over the side of the bed and empty out the contents o f my stomach. Then the ringing in my ears followed... then, finally, the bloody nose. 

...It was a vision. Easily the longest one I‘d ever had; the realest one I‘d ever had. Somehow it had been strong enough to show itself even with my collar, now punishing me with the worst side effects I‘d ever had to date. 

My head still struggling to clear from the trauma of what I‘d just experienced, I tried my best to focus on what I‘d seen. But the shock of the situation was hard to overcome. 

...Because the reality was.... I had died. 

I‘d died because I‘d tried to stall for time and fallen as a result of an accident. A goddamn accident. The idiot had fucking butterfingers and killed me. 

Somehow it had felt seamless though, as if I really had just woken up before it all played out. So when was all of this meant to happen? A day? A week? A month from now? 

But I didn‘t need to wait long before I got my answer. 

... Because suddenly I could hear the sound of my front door clicking open, and a familiar creak groan out into the silence. 

They were here. Right now. 

Okay, it was time to think fast. I knew what went wrong and what I could avoid, I also knew what their intentions were. There was no need to call out or make my presence known, and I already knew now that I was helpless to defend myself given their size and strength. 

But my body ached as though I really had just been thrown out of a window, my head pounding with a migraine worse than any other. Whilst I had more options available to me this time, there was no way! would be physically able to accomplish much. Hell, I doubted I‘d even be able to wriggle free this time. 

No, there was no way I could defeat him… but I knew someone else who could. 

I had been only seconds away last time from being able to achieve the best strategy available to me, seconds that had been wasted trying to confirm who was there the first time. But I didn‘t have that problem now. 

Inhaling as much as I could, I screamed out into the night. Screamed for the one person who I knew could save me. 

“ALERIC! ALERIC, HELP! PLEASE!” 

The pounding of feet quickly rushing towards my room was the first thing I heard and i knew it was the intruder. I was sure he was probably wondering how his cover had been blown so quickly. 

Chapter Sevenly 

Without waiting, I dropped to the ground and crawled under my bed; though a much tighter squeeze than I expected. He would be able to find me here, I knew, but literally all I needed was a few extra seconds. Just a couple of seconds for Aleric to find me. 

My bedroom door then flew open and the man appeared at the threshold. I couldn‘t see his face but I could tell he was searching for me, probably attempting to use his heightened senses to help locate my position in the room. Silently, I held my breath, but I knew even the tiniest of sounds, the smallest of movements, would be easily picked up on by him. 

In the end, though, it wasn‘t enough as he soon appeared in front of the bed and reached down to grab m e from under it. 

“Let me go!” I screamed, weakly pushing away from him to no success. 

With no time to bind my mouth this time, he proceeded to just quickly throw me over his shoulder and run for the window. I struggled, wriggling as much as I could, but my movements were completely ineffectual against him. Like I had thought, my body really was far weaker than it had been in the vision. 

as we made it to the window, the front door then suddenly burst open, and the dim outline o

“ARIA?!” 

please!” I screamed back.

want to die again, please...‘

‘Please...‘ 

his hand was on the man‘s arm. He was just about to open the window before Aleric appeared. Just a moment

just catch sight of how Aleric had broken the man‘s arm like a toothpick, as if it wasn‘t attached to one of the largest, most muscled werewolves I‘d ever seen. But it worked. The intruder doubled over, cradling his arm to his chest as he

in pain.

me off the guy‘s shoulder, my body still shaking from the adrenaline pumping through me. I wanted to cling to him for safety but I knew I would only be getting in the way.

ground the second Aleric released me, the top of my head only narrowing

back!” he ordered, grabbing the guy‘s arm and throwing him to the ground away from

toss him with such ease, I had no idea. But it was effortless for him, as if he were tossing a bag of sand rather than a man twice the size of

scene unfolded before m e. The man was still struggling with the pain in his arm but had managed to get to his feet...

wasn‘t the best idea. If

The man was growling, snapping, maybe even trying to shift... but, really, everyone here knew it was over. The difference in power between

fond, Aleno pulled it back his dans chatting to protrude

“Aferd, wat dort 

through the throat, instantly making humbled out

sacrumpled on the floor still in shock I was alive. I was alive. It felt live an eternity since my life hadnt been in danger, having just experienced

recoiled from his state normally, but now I clung to him for life, try body still staking I dont tatter that he‘d just killed the guy and was getting me coated in blood too, I just needed to feel the contot only be could provide

still hear from everything that had transpired

nodded stiffy, mowing that my blood was from the vision

“I’m okay” 

s uite bath of us needing the time to calm down and feel reassured the other was okay But before

yet,” I

to process the different thaumasrdjust gone though t once To be honest, I was surprised I hadn‘t passed out yet My adrenaline was slowly meaning of the aching in my body only getting wobe and itly mind was still selambing to cope with angel slowly dying only

I won‘t‘ he said before gently powing

held me, letting me have my moment of feeling safe event was just to a

warriors finally came upstairs and found us, huddled together and now both covered in

Miss Chrysalis,” one of the

in the voice

simply pointed towards the window where the man‘s body laid

and started inspecting the scene beginning the investigation

have heard anything until Aleric broke the deadows and made me more grateful

for questioning and 

i quetiy ctumed in “We should have taken him gotten answers

He chose death the minute he touched you.

his head Alla”

kill me,‘ I added in my head, a shiver going

Chapler Seventy 

could finally bury this memory along with the rest of my traumas? A memory that wasn‘t even real but just

cold?” he asked, mistaking my reaction.

it wasn‘t a lie. Maybe between the shock and the blood–soaked clothes,

“Can you walk?” 

though I wasn‘t sure if that was even true.

with a blanket. There was a short conversation with the warriors about what had happened and a few orders to scout the area for anyone else, but soon enough

he left the quarters and started walking through some hallways, I didn‘t snap back to reality though until

his

shower and sleep in here tonight. Tomorrow I’ll

his room?

I caught my first ever glimpse of inside his living area. A place I‘d never been allowed in the

you coming in?” he asked after I just stood there, unmoving