As soon as the others stepped aside, I made my way to the courtyard. I could not run, but I limped and waddled as fast as I could through the stone and rubble. With each step I took, I became more aware of his presence. Smoke and pine, getting closer. I tuned out all the werewolves around me, working to rebuild everything that the battle had destroyed. There was only me, the courtyard, and his scent.
That was when I saw him. Flanked by two soldiers, same as the day I met him. At the top of the very same stairs where I first laid my eyes on him. I was no longer a prisoner. I was here of my own accord. I fought desperately to be here. To be with him.
“Alpha!” He turned his head. He saw me too. He looked as though he had seen a ghost. Completely frozen. His gaze upon me, unmoving, for far too long. “You should be resting,” I said. “Your injuries were too severe.”
It wasn’t immediate, but eventually, he moved. His eyes never leaving mine. The colour of blood. The colour of fire. His feet moving, but his face remaining still. As if in a trance, he took step after step.
Smoke in my lungs. His hand on my cheek, gently. A barely-there touch, as if checking if I was real.
“How?” he asked. His voice low, private, revering. “Victor took you,” he said. I grabbed the hand that was on my cheek and squeezed it tightly.
“I ran away,” I said. “The prince is dead.” Axel took a step back, assessing me.
“How?” he asked again.
“His brother did it. He killed the prince to set me free.” Axel frowned as if confused. His eyes went wide for a second. A flash of recognition in his eyes. “Jareth is alive?” I nodded.
“He is alive,” I said. “He wanted me to tell you that he is waiting for your message.”
There was a sorrow in his eyes.
“Who is he?” I asked. Who is he to you, is what I meant.
“Later, omega.”
We stood there. Axel took in a deep breath. His eyes changed. I sighed. The adrenaline was wearing off. We truly saw each other then, for the first time since reuniting. Without the shock and the fear. That was when it dawned on him. Dawned on me.
He grabbed my waist and pulled me closer. His lips touched mine. Gentle but full of passion. I relaxed into it. His hand tangled up in my hair.
He let go to look me over. “Are you hurt?” he asked.
“Not really,” I said. “Not anymore.”
“I wanted to kill him myself,” he said. I chuckled. I was over the moon, seeing him again, when I thought I had lost him forever.
“I was planning to go to Tellevine to kill Emperor Victor. To kill his son first, right in front of him. I was going to burn them alive.”
I laughed. It wasn’t funny. It was absurd.
“I can take care of myself,” I said. I wanted to tell Axel everything. But this was not the moment or the time. I remembered then the people I travelled with. I looked behind me. The three werewolves were still near the entrance of the courtyard.
“Those people saved my life. Reward them for me.” I pointed to them. I met Hald’s eyes. Wide as saucers. I just smiled and waved at him.
The moments that followed were a blur. Axel announced a feast would be commencing in a week to celebrate my safe return. After we had time to rest. Time together. My alpha then carried me off to the infirmary to have me looked over by Inge. That reunion was somehow more tearful than seeing Axel again.
“Don’t you ever do something like that again!” Inge said. He scolded me harshly but treated my scabs and bruises with great gentleness.
News must have spread through the castle quickly, as soon, Espen ran into the infirmary. He nearly toppled over a soldier with a broken leg. He hugged me so tightly it hurt my sore bones. I couldn’t tell him to stop.
“I’m so sorry I couldn’t protect you,” he said. I told him I was the one who forced him onto the battlefield. That I was the one who had to apologise to him.
Once I was excused from the infirmary, Espen took me by the hand. Axel indulged the other omegas, standing by as they welcomed me, following close behind wherever we went.
“I am your omega’s maid, remember? I will take care of you.”
Not much later, I was soaking in a hot bath. Medicinal oils made the bathroom smell like heaven. The water bit into the marks on my wrists and the scratches on my arms, yet it was the best bath I ever had.
I took a moment to take in the bathroom. The cold stone and hot water. The dainty glass chair and plush pillows, added to Axel’s bathroom just for me. The luxury was no longer overwhelming. Everything filled me with warmth, with gratitude. With the feeling of home. I didn’t know when the Oaklands went from a foreign land to the place where I belonged. The first whispers of home entered my mind that night when Axel laid with me. When we created something all our own. But it solidified with my days spent in the infirmarywith Inge. With Espen braiding my hair in the mornings. With speaking of battles with Axel by the fire of his hearth.
