Chapter 139
Chapter 139
Auren POV
“No!” I cried out, kneeling beside him with both Tamara and Bradley.
The shadows hissed and snapped right in front of my face. I jerked my head back in horror as my eyes widened. While one shadow stayed right in front of me, the others circled all of them, slowly, touching us here and there. I could feel the oppressive magic, the cold slither. Scared that they would affect my pups, I placed them on the ground carefully. They looked at me as if wondering what their mommy was doing, but then their attention was caught by the shadows they had caught in their hands. They started to play with them again, giggling. They were just not afraid.
My eyes went to Lucien over whom the shadows had crawled over. His body was now covered with them, bits and pieces emerging when the shadows moved. “Please,” I begged them. One then stilled right over his heart. Suddenly, it rose sharply about a foot tall. “No, please, no!” I screamed, scared as hell. Was this my mate’s last day? What was his mistake? “He was only trying to protect me,” I said. No, I begged. “Please be merciful. He has always respected you. Don’t take him away from me!” I tipped my head up toward the sky as tears streamed down my eyes. All at once, the sun was covered with dark clouds. Thunder clapped far in the distance. It felt so ominous, so final. My lips quivered. “Please, Moon Goddess. I have just found happiness. Let me stay like this…” I clasped my hand and prayed to her hard, like my life depended on it.
My gaze returned to the shadow that was on Lucien’s chest. It started morphing into a shape. Like that of a woman. My breath hitched when a face appeared. It was that of a woman. I was petrified because I had never seen such an occurrence in my life. She looked at me with fiery eyes that burned orange. “Wh–who are you?” I stuttered, unable to believe what was happening.
She hissed, “Naaa–qiiii–aaa.”
I gulped as I stared at her. Her eyes went to my pups who were still giggling as they played with other shadow wolves. The embers in her eyes turned into emeralds as she watched them fondly. Few moments later, she turned to Lucien. I was expecting her to strike, but the strike never landed. She lowered her face over his chest, and licked the blood from his skin.
Naqia rose to her full length, the blackness of her shadow turning misty white. She glowed–the soft golden light spilling all around her. My gaze went to Lucien’s chest from where all the shadows began receding. And it is then I saw. The vines began to recede. They disappeared. I choked on a sob as my hand rested on his chest.
Naqia looked at the pups and glided back toward the altar, her face toward us. All other shadows followed her except the ones who were caught by my pups. They wanted to break free as they whimpered and wriggled, but my pups were not in the mood to leave them.
All of them gathered around her in the shape of wolves. Her voice echoed through the air, through my bones.
“The blood has been tested. The line has been redeemed. The curse is broken.”
Excitement buzzed through me. Really?
Then she looked at the twins.
“The heirs are untouched by betrayal. The chain ends here.”
Oh. My. Goddess. Was this really happening? I watched them all with wonder in my eyes. Was the centuries old curse finally lifting?
The shadow wolves turned, curling back to the altar, as I watched them mesmerized. They slithered into the middle of the altar inside the crack. But the last two still remained. The shadow wolves looked up at me with their smoky eyes, as if begging me to rescue them from my pups‘ tiny but relentless grip. Tamara moved her hand rapidly, giggling as she thrashed the shadow wolf with its tail in her hand left and right.
I couldn’t stop smiling. Slowly, I pried open her hand and then Brad’s. The last two shadow wolves quickly slithered to the altar. But they paused in front of me.
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12.30 Inu, 17 Apr
Chapter 139
“Protect them,” they whispered in unison. “The balance has shifted.”
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And with that, they crept inside the altar. As soon as they had all gone in, miraculously, the stone of the altar started shifting back in its place. It groaned as it came back to its original place. I watched it incredulously with my breath lodged in my throat.
Lucien stirred beside me, groaning softly. He blinked open his dark eyes, dazed. “Auren?”
“Lucien!” I sobbed and kissed him hard. “You’re back!”
He smiled weakly as I leaned over him, my hair falling around his face. “What happened, love?”
I laughed through tears. “We are free.”
His brows furrowed. “Free? From what?”
I leaned my forehead over his as I just couldn’t stop crying. This felt like the greatest victory of my life. Nothing–Sable, Julie, Rizv, Bram, Maris–nothing was bigger than what happened today.
My pups let out a cry from the side. I snapped my head toward them and lifted them in my arms. I kissed them all over as Lucien got up. Tarian, Shaman, Vivi, and all others gathered around us. The Shaman was looking at me with reverence.
“You’ve done it, Luna Auren,” he said, his voice choking.
Tarian and Vivi also looked at me with awe.
“What happened?” Lucien asked as he looked around him, his eyes widening when he realized that we were at the ́ Eldermere ruins. “Why are we here?”
I was so relieved by it all that I handed my kids to Tarian and Vivi and then hugged Lucien tightly. “Silly, you wanted to leave me? Did you think I would let you go?” Then I peppered kisses all over his faces as he still looked surprised. I just wanted to be sure that he was still here with me. He wrapped his arms around me as I kissed him nonstop. I heard Vivi chuckling but she walked out with my pups in her arms.
When I was done kissing him, I cupped his face. “The curse is broken,” I said in a hoarse voice.
His eyes widened in surprise. “Broken? How?”
I placed my hand on his heart. “Your tattoos are gone.”
His gaze snapped to his chest and his surprise was over the roof. “How did this happen? There are no thorny vines left!”
I kissed him again on his cheek. “I’ll tell you. Come home.” I got up and gave him my hand. He took it and stood up. I glanced at the Shaman, and thanked him silently.
