Chapter One Hundred & Three
Chapter One Hundred & Three
The ground came crashing towards me as I fell roughly down, unable to cushion the fall. All I could do was accept what had happened and feebly cover the wound at my gut; a futile dream of survival pushing me on.
A dream I knew would die as quickly as I did.
“Aria,” I heard Aleric yell, apparently having shifted back.
My breathing was shallow as my body started to become numb to the pain; a coldness slowly spreading through me.
...It wouldn‘t be much longer.
“Hey, there,” I said weakly.
A small smile crept to my lips as I looked up at the man I loved.
His face was wrought with panic, his eyes holding so much fear in them. And yet it was his wound that drew my attention the most. There were signs of infection on the skin, surrounding where it had been split open again. Since Thea had no intention of Aleric living for long, it made sense she didn‘t have him properly treated. He needed to get to the hospital soon.
“You... You should really... get that looked at,” I huffed out.
“Are you insane? You‘re the one you should be worried about right now,” he yelled back. “What you did was so stupidly reckless, Aria. Why do something so senseless? Why....”
I knew it wasn‘t me he was actually angry at, despite his words. He was just scared because things were ending this way
I wheezed at the air, finding each breath slowly harder to take than the last, but managed to still speak.
“I did it... to save you,” I whispered. “...I did it... because I love you.” 1
His teeth gritted as he furiously wiped at his face, failing to completely hide the evidence of tears there. A sight I never thought I would ever see in my life. Seeing him so suddenly vulnerable only made the situation feel more real.
That this was it. This was goodbye.
Knowing there was nothing further I could do to stop my bleeding, I brought my hand up and cupped his ‘cheek instead, feeling the warmth from his skin against mine.
“Hey... it‘s okay...,” I soothed. “I always knew... this day would come and... I just want you to know... that I don‘t regret it. You shouldn‘t... either.”
“Fuck, Aria,” he growled and grabbed my hand tightly to lean into, covering his eyes. “I don‘t know what I‘m going to do without you. I–I... I need you.”
I would have laughed at that if I could have, knowing that he would be perfectly fine without me. Aleric would live on and become the Alpha destiny had chosen for him, I had no doubt about that. I was just happy to have finally met the man he was always meant to be. The man I was meant to have spent my life with.
Without him, none of this would have been possible. It was only because of Aleric that I was able to fight back against Thea. Only he believed in me when I‘d lost my mind, and only he managed to help me see who I could still become despite my condition.
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Coapter One Hundred & Three
“You don‘t... need me...,” I said, ‘You‘ve got it... backwards.”
“Don‘t say that.”
“Aria?” another voice then interjected, though further away.
I recognised it as Cai‘s immediately.
His face soon appeared next to me, trying to look down with a similar expression to Aleric‘s, but having trouble focusing. It seemed that Thea‘s attack on him was still giving him grief, the effects of the blinding still evident
“Aria... I’m sorry,” he said. “I–I couldn‘t see. I didn‘t know what happened until it was too late.”
But I just weakly shook my head, knowing there was nothing he could have done anyway. This had ended i n the exact way I‘d predicted. It was the most probable outcome.
xact
- me.
fine... you have nothing…
my body only sent fresh waves of pain through me.
to get you to a hospital,” he said desperately. “We need to get
intervened and pushed him
“It‘s done.
I didn‘t do enough,” Cai said, his
on Cai only tightened and instead pulled him closer, forcing him to concentrate. An attempt
want to be more accurate. Aria sacrificed herself for all of us to survive. She lived through two lifetimes of hell, fighting for that very thing. Let her final moments be peaceful. She more than deserves that
So cold now.
was feeling so goddamn cold.
feeling where you want to curl up next to a fireplace, wrapped up tightly
my eyes
be
I should try to hold off for
onto Aleric in turn, the two needing each other for support. I was glad to see evidence of a bond forming, feeling relieved that maybe they would continue to get closer.
left, stealing my attention from the two men I adored. A light heralding the appearance of someone I knew all
gaze watching me as I laid on the
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blood was her blood. This new body only borrowed for her.
cruel, merciless master.
I rasped out in greeting.
me without an ounce of expression or concern for her public
once Aleric and Cai began looking around, trying to see
about her natural laws; that she could
continued,
in my dying breath, I could feel the effect of
to be at peace,
tranquillity spreading through me as she did so. An invitation
here though. No time for questions or arguments. I simply could only oblige the request,
everything went black.
long, satisfied stretch in bed, feeling more content than I had in
it a Tuesday? Morning? Night? I didn‘t know. All I knew was that my last week had been spent with Aleric in the
left my room, walking down the stairs to the only place I wanted to
you reading?” I asked softly, standing in the doorway of the living area.
raining outside, the sound of the drops hitting the roof in a soothing way. The clouds outside were also darkening the sky enough that, once again, I couldn‘t be sure what
windowsill, book in hand, and only looked up after I spoke, a small smile warming on his face as I did so. His eyes reminded me of the moss and trees within the woods when he looked genuinely happy, almost as if
he answered. “Did you have a good sleep?”
there wasn‘t much of that
“...Is that so?”
crept closer until I stood in front of him, intending to look at the book in his hands, but instead he reached out and pulled me into his lap,
he positioned me to sit comfortably against his broad chest, I‘d never felt so cosy an
‘This isn‘t right.‘
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Hundred
paused for a second frowning, wondering why that thought suddenly
Aleric. Of course, this was right. I couldn‘t think
and shook off the thought, concentrating back on the
of my books,” I said, reading the words on the page. “Only
done this before.‘
me as
like this
days had been a blur, but I couldn‘t recall doing anything
felt as my stomach then began to churn, a wave of anxiety
and mine alone,‘ a voice alike my own then
Thea? Had she
he hadn‘t just noticed
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