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Again.
Weaker.
I leaned closer, holding my breath, willing it to beat one more time.
It didn't.
The light in Lyra’s dark eyes didn't just dim; it entirely vanished, leaving behind a beautiful, empty glass.
Inside my head, the mate bond didn't snap. It was worse. It simply went entirely silent. The roaring, brilliant fire of her presence was abruptly extinguished, leaving behind a cold, echoing void so massive and dark that it felt as if a physical part of my brain had been violently torn away. Outside, the air grew cold. The scent of her—the sweet, sharp smell of the forest and the stars—was instantly replaced by the metallic stench of static and blood.
She was gone. My mate was gone.
The woman who had taught a monster how to feel the light was a heavy, lifeless weight in my arms.
A strange, terrifying numbness washed over me, a stillness so absolute it was louder than the roaring machine. Slowly, I closed my eyes. I gathered her limp body up, burying my face in the crook of her neck, ignoring the blood that painted my jaw.
With one final, catastrophic breath, I threw my head back and let out a sound that was no longer human, no longer alpha. It was a shattering, ancient death-wail spoken entirely in our old tongue—a desperate, bleeding prayer to the creators of the world.
"ALU'UN! REA'KA VRA TI!" I screamed into the uncaring white beam, my voice cracking into a ragged, broken sob as I cradled my dead mate in the ruins of the earth. "TAKE ME WITH HER! OR BRING HER BACK!"
Chapter 68
Lyra
The pain was the first thing to fade.
It didn't vanish all at once, but rather untethered itself from my mind, drifting away like smoke rising into the canopy. The burning glass in my lungs, the crushing weight of Sila's hand, and the sharp, freezing sting across my throat simply... ceased to matter.
Suddenly, I wasn't in the sulfurous, blood-soaked cavern anymore.
I was suspended in a great, echoing expanse of blinding golden light. It felt exactly like the hot, roaring safety of the mate bond, but magnified a thousand times over, stretching out into a beautiful, infinite void. Before me, the light began to coalesce, shifting and shimmering until three towering, ethereal figures materialised from the glow.
The Eternals.
They had no distinct faces, yet they possessed a terrifying, ancient majesty that made the core of my spirit want to bow. They didn't speak with voices, but rather projected a heavy, resonant symphony of thoughts directly into my consciousness.
Your journey is done, child of the stars, they whispered, their collective presence vibrating with a profound, timeless reverence. The bloodline has answered. The anchor has been set. You played your part, and you did it well.
A deep, heavy weight pressed into my chest. No, I thought, my spirit frantically thrashing against the peaceful pull of the light. Please. If I'm dead, let me go back. You have to let me go back.
The prophecy is fulfilled. The first thread is tied. The centre figure echoed, its form rippling like water. The tapestry has only begun.
I don't care about the god damn prophecy! I screamed into the void, tears of pure spirit weeping from my eyes. I want to go home! Please, just let me go home!
I didn't mean Earth. I didn't mean the canopy, or the camp, or the safety of a house. I meant him. The fierce, golden-eyed alpha who had rewritten my entire existence. Kaelen was my home. Without him, I was just a speck of dust floating in an uncaring universe. Take me back to him!
The Eternals didn't answer with words, but a wave of ancient, solemn understanding rippled through the golden light. Suddenly, the expanse didn't just embrace me—it violently pushed me.
Gasps.
Air—sulfurous, metallic, and heavy as lead—slammed back into my chest with the force of a shattering glass window. My lungs convulsed, a ragged, wet wheeze tearing through my chest as my eyes flew open.
The blinding, volatile white glare of the transmitter filled my vision, dancing with manic spots of green and black. I was still cradled tightly against a massive, solid chest. Kaelen’s arms were wrapped around me so fiercely that his armour bit into my ribs, his face still buried in the crook of my neck as his shoulders heaved with violent, silent sobs. He hadn't noticed yet. He was still trapped in the absolute darkness of his mourning.
With an agonising, monumental effort, I forced my uninjured left hand to lift. My fingers dragged weakly up his chest, scraping faintly against the metal crest of his armour before resting flat against his cheek.
Kaelen went entirely, deathly rigid.
