Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
Aster
The drumbeat stops. No one else makes a sound. They’re all processing what I just told them. Aiden’s eyes blaze, but he remains still, his face a ferocious mask.
“The Warden and the last Seeress developed the Alpha Rites to choose the next alpha because Odin could not produce an heir.” I point at the Warden, whose mouth is open as if he’s being strangled.
His clown makeup makes his angry face look ridiculous.
“The Grandmothers marked the next alpha as the first-born pup after the Alpha Rites. Odin believed that pup was Aiden, but it was not. Liora’s son, Noah, was the first-born. ”
“Lies,” the Warden shouts. The sound is lost in the rippling roar of all the wolves present, clamouring for the truth. “She’s lying!” His voice cracks. Anyone looking at his expression would see his fear as he takes in Noah, as if for the first time.
He’s been looking for the wolf with no ears for years and still didn’t recognize he was Noah.
“I am the Seeress.” I grip Noah’s hand for strength. “I walk beyond the veil. Listen to my words or suffer the consequences.”
“Oma wanted to kill the first-born pup because he was born without hearing, but Liora sneaked him out, and the Warden looked the other way.”
“Seize them,” Aiden orders his red-eyed wolves, flicking his hands towards the Warden and us.
The enforcers secure the Warden but stop short of the dais when Noah growls.
Hugh stands between us and them, his teeth bared and tail lashing his legs.
The enforcers can’t see him, but they must feel something strange and dangerous because they stop in their tracks.
“Stop!” Noah’s voice carries the timbre of Alpha Command, and the enforcers freeze. “I didn’t come for your pack. I don’t want to be alpha. I just want to leave with my mate.” His eyes search mine, as if looking for my agreement.
Of course, he would doubt me after what I told him when we parted.
I nod.
His eyes shine. He turns back to Aiden. “Let her go, and you’ll never see us again.”
“I am the chosen Alpha,” Aiden snarls at me. “I am Odin’s son.” He has to save face in front of the pack.
I face him, speaking more softly. “He tried to make you as cruel as him, but you get to choose.” The crowd’s murmurs die away until there’s silence in the Cradle.
I say to all of them, “We all get to choose. If you choose cruelty, then life will not be kind to you. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
You can choose to make this pack better. ”
No one makes a sound. Noah’s moved to my side, still holding my hand. Supporting me, as he always does. I can feel the power of the tiara pulsing around us. It feels like a prowling animal, ready to strike.
Please let them listen to me. Please allow my mate to live.
“The Adalwulfs will reign now and for all time, with me as their Alpha.” Aiden fixes his eyes on Noah. “Fate has delivered me a solution. Once I sacrifice the true Alpha, then I will be next in line.”
NO! Power surges through me in a rushing tide. It’s white hot and so intense, my eyes water and my teeth ache. A vision rises up in me, straight from the Grandmothers. A Seeing of our pack’s future if Aiden leads us where he wants to go.
Show them, the Grandmothers whisper. They’re all talking at once, their voices adding to the vision, making it unstoppable.
I’m caught in the psychic tsunami, but Noah’s arms around me keep my feet on the ground. The mark on my shoulder spreads warmth through me, helping me find which way is up and which way is down.
Deliver the vision, child. Now!
My own eyes flash bright when I snarl at Aiden, “You wanted a vision? I’ll give it to you.” I touch my free hand to the tiara, feeling the burn. “Take it. Take it all.”
I push the vision towards Aiden and the entire pack. Images of violence and war, our pack lands ravaged, mothers crying over slain pups, red-eyed wolves everywhere. Aiden commanding an army of red-eyed enforcers, his own eyes glowing black like a demon’s. New York City in flames.
Aiden stiffens and jerks, his eyes fixed on the unseen.
It’s like lightning struck. Not from the moon, or the sky, but from my own mind, intensified by the tiara.
Wolf after wolf convulses, their minds’ eyes filled with the horrible images.
The entire pack jerks in unconscious movements, the way I do when in the grip of vision.
I howl, letting the power rush through me. I hold the vision, and Noah holds me, and our Alpha Bond sends power pulsing through the entire pack in a surge so strong it sends Aiden and the Warden to their knees.
My teeth grind together. The only thing keeping me upright is Noah’s strong body at my back. I sag into him, letting him hold me.
I got you, he speaks into my mind. His voice is warm and gentle, a relief after the vision scoured my insides. I feel like I just gave birth.
I did it. I let my vision into the world.
It’s done.
It’s just begun, child.
The wind whips around the Cradle. Pups cry and grown wolves moan.
The only sound is a clacking sound overhead.
The wind whipping around us is from the blades of a black helicopter, descending upon us.
“That’s our ride,” Noah says.
That does it. I go limp, letting him lift me in his arms. I’ve got no more energy. I’m done.
Something descends from the belly of the chopper, falling through the air in what feels like slow motion.
It’s a long rope ladder. At the top, a slight figure clambers down a few rungs and waves.
“Hi, friends!” she calls. She balances with one hand and foot on the ladder, completely at ease.
“Looks like you’re having a great creepy ritual and all, but it’s time to skedaddle. Hang on and we’ll pull you up!”
The chopper dips lower until the ladder drags on the ground near the dais.
“Hang on,” Noah orders. His muscles flex as he leaps down and rushes towards the chopper.
There’s a blur, and a wolf appears between us and our escape.
Aiden. And he has a knife in his hands. He howls, raising the blade, aiming for Noah’s throat.
Hugh leaps between us and the blade.
A final surge of lightning flashes from the tiara. I cry out, directing the flow of power as best I can. It blasts in a smooth channel right into Hugh, making his eye sockets blaze bright with amber fire.
The ghost wolf leaps, whirls in midair, and turns on Aiden.
I expect him to run through the alpha like he did the Warden, but when his paws hit Aiden’s chest, I hear a thump.
He crashes into Aiden as a fully corporeal form.
Taken by surprise, Aiden tries to fight, but Hugh’s already knocked him to the ground.
The former ghost wolf opens his jaws and vomits up a ball of blue light straight into Aiden’s face.
Aiden’s body starts to convulse.
Noah doesn’t hesitate, he runs for the ladder. I cling to his neck, so he can free his arms and climb up a few rungs.
“Stop them!” the Warden shouts. He frees himself from the red-eyed wolves and starts to run towards us.
A dark-hooded figure leaps from the crowd and attacks the Warden. Tucked against Noah, I can’t see what happens, but in the end, the Warden goes flying into a flock of enforcers, who clamp their arms around him.
The hood falls away from the shadowy figure’s head, revealing Sully. Somehow, he must have infiltrated the pack in time for the ritual. “For Moira,” he snarls at the Warden. “Next time, I won’t miss.”
He makes a beeline towards the ladder, leaping atop the dais and grabbing onto the lowest rung of the ladder just before it swings out of reach. This makes the ladder swing, which makes my stomach swoop. I duck my head, focusing on Noah’s strong arms around me. He’s got me, he’ll never let go.
Above our head, Esme cackles and whoops as the chopper lifts us higher and higher to freedom.
The wind buffets the heck out of me and Noah, whipping my hair over my face. I peek through the strands, sucking in cold air to fight the fear of being suspended on a flimsy rope ladder several hundred feet above the ground.
Below us, the Celestial Cradle glows with the golden light of the torches lit for the ceremony. It gets smaller and smaller as the helicopter gains height, until the wolves look like scurrying ants and the torches are mere spots of light.
And then we’re speeding away over the dark forest, leaving behind the pack lands that were my home for so long.
But no longer. I’ve given up my role as Adalwulf Seeress, forever. I’ve left my pack, my birthright, behind. That life is over, and this is goodbye.
“You all right?” Noah murmurs in my ear. I cling more tightly to him, and he gives me a reassuring squeeze. I press my face to his bare chest, inhaling his woodsy scent until calm rushes through me. Whatever my destiny, whatever happens next, I’ll face it with Noah.
“You lovebirds okay?” Esme shouts.
“We’re okay,” I shout back. We’re okay, I mouth again to Noah. He grins, and my mating mark throbs, reminding me I’m his. Reminding me that whenever I’m with him, I’m home.