Chapter 624
Chapter 124 : Pain of the Aftermath
*Oliver*
Xander was a f*****g mess in every way.
He was just staring at me as he sat on the cot, his eyes narrowed on my face as I did my best to explain what had happened, what I’d done, and why.
I could barely form the words. He wasn’t the only one who had lost their mate. He wasn’t the only one who’d lived, while the other part of their soul was left behind in a realm that no longer existed.
I hadn’t had a choice. It was Lena’s life or the lives of many… hundreds of thousands of lives, to be exact.
I knew in my soul that Lena would’ve wanted it this way. She made that decision for herself the moment she gripped that pale yellow stone in her hands and whispered beneath her breath to spare Xander’s life in place of her own.
I had been furious. I leaped for her but crashed into the blood-soaked ground in King Nikolas’s castle, and Lena had been gone.
It was Narcissa who whispered frantically in my ear, her long silver fingers wrapping around my upper arm. “We need to go, wolf prince. You are the one to end this.”
Me. It was going to have to be me.
A single whisper from Narcissa swept our group from the castle to the entrance of the portal in a split second. All around us the Death Walkers, those gray and molting vampires, turned to ash and dust. Their king’s death had spurred a massive die-off in that realm, but I didn’t have a moment to ponder the significance of it, not at the time.
I felt her then, my mate. It was a desperate tug on the weak bond I’d felt in my heart my entire life. I hadn’t even had a chance to lay eyes on her. I hadn’t spoken a single word to her. Until that point, her existence was just a fleeting hope in my heart. I had hoped, wished, that one day we’d meet. Maybe after the war, or even during.
She was still there, in that realm of blood.
Save one, or many?
I looked up at Xander,
Colton, and the rest of the warriors Lena and I brought through the portal brought you back to our realm. I watched them pass through. Queen Kiern was forced by Narcissa to cross over as well, and she did, tearfully, begging Narcissa for more time. I don’t know how long we stood there as the last of the lower vampires
my head to
royal guards, by the looks of it. They crossed through, and they were the last to come. I waited for what felt
“Why did you wait?”
cry. My body and mind were numb, emotionless;
shifted his weight, flexing
realm. She said there would always be conflict between the
“You were going to–”
the portal
his face void of expression but darkening around
it all. I made him a deal. I said I would get my people out before he ended this. I’ve done my part. You must
in front of me pleaded with me, begging me at one point on
continued. “Your rule will be nothing but peace
joy,” I had replied, growing furious at her bribery, “if I have no mate to rule beside….
cannot suffer
a chord with me. I thought of my mother, my father… my brothers. Will would likely not even care,
lost their only daughter–their
notion that it needed to be me to break the news, to tell them the truth about what Lena had done, for all
bond tug one more time as I looked over
hybrids were attacking the refugee camps and our warriors were doing their best
she had loved. She’d never been their
king in the realm of blood, why not here? Was it because the portal was still open? Was it that the last remnants of the magic that bound them to the
toward Crimson Creek, her silver dress billowing out behind her. Warriors stood in shock as she passed, their weapons
embraced in crushing grief. We had years of rebuilding and recovery in front of us. We’d have countless dead to bury, countless children to
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