I lay there and remember everyone and every moment of this wretched life. My aunt Rae and her miracle babies who are growing up without a mother, the teenage pack with little Cora, the omega and her brave little alphas who died because they wanted to live. My neighbours, who smiled and ate around barrel fires. Alec’s frown. Marshall’s last words. Mia’s innocence. Charlotte’s strength. Ava’s devotion. Theo’s sacrifice. That old man and his choice to give up his life. Taryn, my friend.
My mother.
Mordecai.
Jarek. They died for this because they believed in this.
That it could end.
I push myself up onto my knees. My head is light, and my eyes burn, but a fire roars in my chest where the emptiness was.
If I want to see them again, I need to kill this bitch. To save my alphas, I need to destroy a goddess.
So be it.
Chapter 67
Where are the gods?
The fighting has stopped; they’ve just lost one of their own. I can see them faltering. Bear looks at me and shakes his head slightly. I don’t care. The Resistance backs away and then runs. The beta pledges and guards chase after them, disappearing into the city.
There are still a large number of black-robed betas here, but there are even more black-robed bodies on the ground.
I don’t care about any of it.
My entire focus is on this bitch who stole my happy ending.
“What are they doing? Where are they going?” the goddess screams. She looks around, sees her Fang dead on the floor of the stage. Her High King is gone; his face is a mass of blood and muscle. I think they stomped on him.
She paces furiously, jerking her stolen body this way and that.
“Get them!” she screams, and a whole heap of the betas who were standing around scatter into the streets, taking off after them.
I swipe at my cheeks and stand up straight, watching her with narrowed eyes. There are still too many up here. Thirty guards and about half a dozen pledges, but I don’t see any marquesses or barons. The only ones are lying lifeless on the cold ground where they belong.
She paces, becoming more and more agitated as the minutes pass.
“Fine, I’ll fix it,” she mutters.
She stands up straight, and I watch as her thighs twitch and tremble. She paces to her Warden and stares at him intently.
“You did exactly as I suspected you would. Your loyalty is only skin deep, and I can’t have you doing that.”
Her face contorts as she stares at him.
“Recall them,” she snarls.
A pledge jumps to a massive horn that’s on a platform. He grips it with one hand, takes a deep breath and blows into it. The deep mellow sound is amplified by her power; it makes my eardrums shudder.
She folds her arms over herself, and I see the streaks of blood and clear body liquid running down her body.
“Bring me another.”
I let out a frustrated sound. She ignores everything as a terrified girl is dragged up the dais. She screams when she sees what’s going to become of her. I wonder if she’s aware that the goddess will cannibalise her from within.
Kill her.
I have to kill her.
