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… to be sorry
the jostles to my body only sent fresh waves of pain through me. Small whimpers left my lips at the movement,
need to get you to a hospital,” he said desperately. “We need to
intervened and
to his shoulder. “It‘s done. We can‘t... she won‘t make
do enough,” Cai said, his
tightened and instead pulled him closer, forcing him to concentrate.
you 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.
So cold now.
so goddamn
of feeling where you want to curl up next to a fireplace, wrapped up tightly in a fluffy
eyes for
that be okay?
hold off for just a little longer..
grabbed 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. There was
then shone brightly to my left, stealing my attention from the two men I adored. A light heralding the appearance of someone I knew
as I laid on the deathbed
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was her blood. This new
cruel, merciless
out in greeting.
without an ounce of expression or concern for her public attendance. An
it was something quickly explained once Aleric and Cai began looking
what I already knew about her natural laws; that she could not interfere with the living... only
it... time?” | continued, struggling to
crouching down beside me. Even in my dying breath, I could feel the effect of her presence. Feel
to be at peace, child,” she whispered soothingly.
a wave of tranquillity spreading through me as she did so. An invitation urging me
No time for questions or arguments. I simply could only oblige the request, greedily
everything went
long, satisfied stretch in bed, feeling
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
I left my room, walking down the stairs to the only place I wanted to be
standing
soothing way. The clouds outside were also darkening the sky enough that,
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 were a living personification of my little
answered. “Did you have
don‘t know if I can call that ‘sleep‘, since there wasn‘t much of that
“...Is that so?”
in his hands, but instead he reached out and pulled me into his lap, forcing a squeal of surprise out
he positioned me to sit comfortably against his broad
‘This isn‘t right.‘
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Hundred &
frowning, wondering why that thought suddenly popped into
was Aleric. Of course, this was right. I couldn‘t think of anywhere else i‘d rather
off the
my books,” I said, reading the words on the page. “Only a
done this before.‘
it now. That feeling of déjà vu, freezing me as I tried to
sat like
I
stomach then began to churn, a wave of
and mine alone,‘ a voice alike
Thea? Had she found me?
speaking like he hadn‘t just noticed me abruptly pause. Almost as
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