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.
have nothing… to
me up, but the jostles to my body only sent fresh waves of pain through me. Small whimpers left my lips at the movement, but I didn‘t have the strength to
a hospital,” he said desperately. “We need to
then quickly intervened and pushed him back.
to his shoulder. “It‘s done. We can‘t... she won‘t make it. You’re only going to
Cai said, his face contorting with pain. “I can‘t let her die like
instead pulled him closer, forcing him to
survive. She lived through
So cold now.
was feeling so
fireplace, wrapped up tightly in a fluffy
could... close my eyes for a
that be
to hold
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. There was no worse outcome ihan if my death were to
then shone brightly to my left, stealing my attention from the two men I adored. A light heralding the
slowly, her gaze watching me as
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her blood. This new
cruel, merciless
out in greeting.
ounce of expression or concern for her public attendance. An odd sight
explained once Aleric and Cai began looking around, trying
laws; that she could not interfere with the living... only the
| continued,
nodded her head, crouching down beside me. Even in my dying breath, I could feel the effect of her presence.
to be at peace, child,” she whispered soothingly.
that, she touched my forehead, a wave of tranquillity spreading through me as she did so. An invitation urging me
arguments. I simply
everything went
a long, satisfied stretch in bed, feeling more
much that I could barely keep track of time anymore. Was it a Tuesday? Morning? Night? I didn‘t know. All I knew was that my last week had been spent with
my room, walking down the stairs to the only place I
softly, standing in the doorway of the
the drops hitting the roof in a soothing way. The clouds outside were also darkening the sky enough that, once again, I
His eyes reminded me of
he answered. “Did you have
since there wasn‘t much of that happening... but it was
“...Is that so?”
at the book in his hands, but instead he reached out and pulled me into his lap, forcing a squeal of surprise out of me at
sit comfortably against his broad chest,
‘This isn‘t right.‘
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One Hundred
why
course, this was right. I couldn‘t think of anywhere
quickly cleared my throat and shook off the thought,
of my books,” I said, reading the words on the page.
this
as I tried to chase
sat like
days had been a blur, but I couldn‘t recall doing anything quite like
to churn, a wave of
a voice alike my own then spoke inside
Thea? Had
and there isn‘t much else to do for entertainment around here...,” Aleric said, speaking like he hadn‘t just noticed me abruptly pause. Almost
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TNjiKm5vTeX4lULBnKCQUhjxZhOBPpv/yEr/GBmg9XiIVDRnmeAsEQNvi4zF58hTIH8f79UQ1lot0KByLrM2MpSf/e9oN8yZ+aXNAz7sTRwclF+UWb45rdkIMnXsUsPBycoOuMDXajy2Gi/zTgi0nDGu1c6VivSUyd8aM3TKVVrZIfPb+s+4y3Z49jy17okQo2agcdEZ/t1tQzQl3r4vv+QQuxQac87THmV0WpjEvcqQDFH+04uJKOCTQsOxazXoQ1K5wL+JDfa1lzfcdntvecaGQqdlLMQZpJo9FZsKYLwrDM5+xjz0IuI/IIDdKO26yJ1+sdx8XZjjjv83lR4Rrrg+O1pNjcSmOtiRInZeEg+sALz5yGF70bvZIX0hMOD+F4Si4P093lXd3SjGvdAvEsgYLFQQpWZaoFQx48HnZUPyEZFmpI4iVl7GHhR1n4Ue6jmIzEBHJ+wdhPmX8SjI9CFgCa6vDloOr4bxXlKY2Z9CYAW7si1Epsq6FaKKEth3alBE+jKs7S3BkgMLLEWI7enXZdo6QwKwMie2Hsa+kDaR2iz+/77AfFOveo0VL2pug0Hv7fbjBm/7PXdcFQwnDHQzbQUmY6Vk6toMWX1qUE4SvN+tz4DoqzAzuDSazEkCoHRkK47M4m1mzLjclH5lJ9WTN93wzlyqhpw/9AFZq7CzO9dYObWKJHW7MW1Mo1NJzQmv4j/vbsDlIS3YhmKzwjOGFeVpuTkyE/B/mFFhFugPWAzRi+9x4AXEx+rk7JW3PvsFg2sAlS+B8Oes4F24l1+6ZxhrJTyGUBnU7r84m3i97RxyhPVvBcveOJEnOQwAUDcjCtUiDxqCdNJ32qmKK2kRa/XDYOyM2kEZDKnTmS+eBsMu9S8P40OPluUcdM3RnMGoLDs8sUDlOyIi1pXd4XcG2IIaLamK0xWHyMNWw/TVD15AmrSbbfCkYxPvDdKcgDDzKoySPYVdHjjP35uIvbukrUNcF4foJvVhVx1ZIgRByHJvbsyGDP4mvAY/WIGXBRQ4Wk11Xkx4SY0dctaz+OHK+SGzynjo+pL+0qtL8Q1J6g2RhiJIjWnkN/lafLwXhyInXMMt9YnbghA2SwlI6pDNigU8Y1RuvaeqquC9U5LJiy6mfk9IfYVUCNQZL2SZHw7++qUzlziAg+klVQaDGnjOQRDbPxZjHXLWTfC6YDA/zlmTOqaxgQ/DTdMJUdnvCg1U6SKKMJTSLn5+ARoz2U/vSiypr4CCaj4vdJzxyA9sejPBd3QmyMSgqZrIAZlN9bMZ+7QzxvxwVtP5c4zP5l8ZTjMZl8dsY6sFtgkDgn6A3Ra9vh9TpstUTn/xK+at2XQcx/eGijUPS2j/vIlkaOOfLvn2P8O+YFNvMkVXRoxnevi0NwTdUNZRbh4W3nbXxviKWFxw4xdU8HrcI5Kik4Wgg5CFxcHuPuClnbi/ca3riPtVQ5zt/95U8/qCADitpZrHPf9L3mHECnhpHOTdXrXhgO5ZCzKlt4bk3seDZWLOlI1JKQRCg6sHJiqDvE7FqdJKum2qmXEjBPBrgjsEfO5r4mFB4lzfy6A5GofxpA7XCMxbUWlegp3PqBuIE9ecF2KX53A0lBiQ9pm6otVyFncxP+1M6dWNrFOuv1GX5IYyISmyEf073Re0095DNhFR0jlEuSiI45zd1Qb77CsX3Uy5SRGy7pNpayIivLooeGGcbm9k+NZcufamk1lDUakT6Vrq2CSqeylTPhlWsBdwIlp54J66EZ/OYQyF/4d2LfHAQoTVGLV8x/nKCdL6Gpwg5CvrqYuT8JvJ6hYQ4u5sxEgTxBXc6KUEnIi1vnm/Viyw7TCelasl9jh03uBQRaF1ScCfLuxWdVdyvjBJDNQXXt/UUCikqSzvzazQxGhNM7q1p+3W5sX4TJnsLkaj3kMlP1d0t9o0oU1CiGcScJWDbcvlj32U+r4rjst3aUCPJLY2vYKmH1PYU+L5o9I98u2HCVY6D8cwUr1OVeBlpZks1VnZ1BlR0UmyfLEgXFek/gC27gMXfH1+garSH+P1H0jxCWhT6J68EYj4PqXzGf6iuGBsKR0LRT2byUxIcXpK9/e//3AgBgm48v3v0A1Bvpgew+ntwSkuzK59QEk5VpDI7k29wZU4JyErTZwijGOcG40H1etFgPfaJekRPKMFqTsoL5UDqERgcRPLyHdhscMm3BjDox/kH1/zZCZP40u68VMxJfFOT3oHBoflGvpr4FOeTzVZNW4DWPVhZhJqvX9H8pZOYndBmtKgu+Qozpgvri7raNxdM79lWQnghusVAw9gKOiinElY+5pdRdACsnQUoxaqvJlVrPozUaJd6voj74rP1T0rbM9Acpg++7S/axdlU+YZXgf8nGLPWxpWGotZCm/NQHG6QZg7cn6ez79GZbBeu6jUmtpe5goEV/TxBzVjyW3TiZ5Xeen8zsRM+ANU8C0Vg6nrYkymYPqG+tHGtMfXQQVeD3aFYSIpk/6ktyd7lvbKxFTqly1N0dpi3r9oSXVjU3z9x7+9jMJe/ulB38nAlsqnz4LPUZXI9fCQfyoS1+cRubaf8h7UJ3y/KLIlqQ==
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