Chapter 39
Elariya
“ In Any Lifetime”
Istood beside Wolfe on the castle grounds, watching the dragons disappear through the shimmering tear in reality he'd opened for them.
The portal hung in the air like a wound made of starlight. Silver light bled from its center, mixing with threads of deep purple that twisted together like ribbons in the sky.
Through its ethereal surface, I could catch glimpses of another world. The magical realm. Wolfe's home.
My home now, too.
The version of me who had written the journal would have been very happy with this ending. I was speedily catching up to her.
We’d just bid my family goodbye. They were heading back to Stormfell through their own portal. And I was at peace with leaving them behind and stepping into this new life with Wolfe.
“Ready to go?” he asked, stretching out a hand to me with a smooth grin on his handsome face. An eagerness shone in his eyes that warmed my insides. It was a softer look from what he’d shown minutes ago when he’d returned after seeing Thayden.
He hadn’t said anything about that. And I didn’t ask. Much as I wanted to know what happened, I wanted to get away from here more.
“Yes.” I took his hand.
His fingers closed around mine, steadying me as we stepped forward together into the swirling light.
The moment we crossed the threshold, magic rushed through me like a tide. The air changed, becoming thicker and richer, humming and singing with power that made my skin tingle and my pulse quicken.
I expected to emerge in one of the grand halls of Vyrenth Hollow, or the main courtyard. Instead, we stepped into a bed chamber.
His.
Wolfe released my hand and I moved forward, walking deeper into the room.
The space carried his presence like a signature. The dark wood, deep blues, and the scent of winter air was indefinably him. The recognition made my chest tighten for more than one reason. Coming here meant it was our room now. Not just his. Soon this space would feel like me too.
I gazed out the window. It seemed night had approached in this realm long ago. There was a stillness in the air, a gentle pause that soothed me.
Wolfe shuffled behind me. “Still hate me?”
I turned to face him, slowly.
He looked me over when our eyes met like he was trying to figure out his next steps.
Hate him?
No.
I never hated him. I was just afraid. Afraid of everything.
“It’s less.” I decided to go for a lighthearted approach.
It worked. He smiled. Dimples appeared in his cheeks and a spark brightened his eyes.
“Less than what, Ziyka?”
A little smile made its way across my lips. “I hate you less than when you decided to keep me here. And much less than when you decided to send me back.”
He blinked once, looking like he was actually trying to decipher my answer. “Okay, looks like we’re making progress. What else do I have to do?”
I shook my head. “Nothing. Nothing at all, Wolfe Nightblade,” I replied in a heartfelt tone that said I knew he’d already done everything for me and so much more.
“That’s great. Because we have five days to consummate our marriage. It helps if you don’t hate me.”
Heat flared in my cheeks, spreading down my neck. Five days.
I stilled, and the swooping sensation in my stomach made me giddy. How silly of me not to have thought of… consummation. Wolfe was my husband now.
“Five… days?”
He nodded. “Veil Law. Unions must be sealed with a bond. If not, it becomes void.”
Void? No. Neither of us was going to let that happen. So…that begged the other question.
I held his gaze. “Is… that what we’re doing tonight.”
He walked toward me, taking slow steps. When he reached me, he leaned in close, close enough that I could feel the warmth radiating from his skin and the scent of him.
If he said yes, I wouldn’t pretend I didn’t want him.
This was the guy I’d given my innocence, my body already remembered him. My mind would just have to catch up.
“No,” he muttered, surprising me. Then he caught my chin and angled my face so that my bruised cheek caught the light.
Emabelle’s cosmetic coverage had done its job well today, too. I’d woken to find the bruise worse than it had been yesterday.
“Why?” I breathed.
“He hurt you.” His fingers ran down to my neck where Thayden’s finger marks were hidden.
“You can see it?”
“Yes. Remember the Fae have impeccable sight. But… with you, I can see beyond the bruises, to the pain.” Sorrow filled his eyes.
“The air in the realm will soon heal you. By morning you won’t even have to hide the marks.
But you won’t forget him tonight. When you’re with me, I only want you to be thinking of me. Not him. Not even about his cruelty.”
He was right. Thayden still lingered in the back of my mind like a shadow I couldn’t shake. And… the idea that he wanted every piece of my attention stirred something fierce in my chest. Something in the way he claimed that space—claimed me—didn’t feel like control. It felt like protection.
I didn’t just understand what he meant. I wanted it.
“Thaden was… awful.” A shudder coiled through me.
Something deadly flickered across his features. His jaw clenched, then his eyes turned black as a starless night, as his shadows bled into them.
Dark veins streaked down his cheeks mapping his fury in a web of intricate patterns. It made him look more demon than Fae.
“He knows what will happen if he ever touches you again.” Wolfe’s voice was low, with an undertone of menace lurking beneath.
I sucked in a quick breath. “You said something to him about it?”
A cruel smile spread across his hauntingly beautiful face. “He hit you, so I hit him back. Just harder. He won’t be able to cover his marks.”
My lips parted. I couldn’t hide my surprise. Nor the satisfaction that rose within me.
I tried to imagine how Wolfe dealt with him. I hoped he did it in his Deathwalker form—knowing him he probably did.
Thayden would have been terrified.
Good. That fucking bastard deserved to be terrified. Gods, how I hated him.
“Thank you,” I whispered, holding back tears. No more crying for Thayden. No more. He wouldn’t hurt me the way he had ever again.
“You don’t have to thank me for that.” Wolfe stroked my cheek, then allowed his hand to fall back to his side as his shadows receded and he became himself again.
“I will always protect and defend you, no matter what it cost me. But I had to admit putting the fear of the Gods in him was undeniably satisfying. Especially because he told me nothing useful when I asked him about the attack. I didn’t think he would, but I’d hoped fear would make him talk. ”
“What are you thinking about that?” I asked.
“I’m not sure yet. But I’ll find out. I’m sure he knows something though. I can feel it in my bones. And I knew he was lying. That was enough proof of guilt. I only allowed him to live so I could watch him. Might lead us to another trail.”
“I hope so.”
He held my gaze for a moment and sighed.
"I never wanted to send you back, Elariya.
" The admission sounded rough in his throat.
"I believed returning you to your family was the safest path forward.
It gave me the chance to confront the mortal politics openly and it was better to do so in their realm.
I knew I could control the situation and send a stronger message that protected you and your family. "
His voice hardened when he continued. "I never believed Thayden would actually hurt you." Each word echoed his bitterness. And guilt. "If I had known—if I'd suspected for even a moment that he would lay a hand on you—I would have burned that entire realm to ash before I ever let you leave my side."
The raw promise in his voice stirred something deep in my soul. “You weren’t to know. No one knew. Everyone said it was like he’d… changed.”
He dragged in a slow breath and gave me a poignant stare. “Because you were with me. So, he punished you for it.”
He shared my thoughts and it was obvious now that we were talking about it. “You’re right.”
“You’re here now.” The light returned to his eyes.
“I’m here now. Thank you for everything you did for me and my family.” I’d never stop thanking him. Wolfe had even gone out of his way to reassure my mother when the matter of my father came up.
“It was my pleasure, and my honor.”
His words lingered between us and I thought of the shackle.
“I felt the tether vanish when you removed the shackle,” I admitted quietly. “I felt lost after.”
Wolfe’s expression softened. “Eventually it would have stopped working and you wouldn’t have been able to feel anything at all.”
“I hadn’t meant to do that.”
“I know.”
“I wanted to keep it because you gave it to me.”
“This is better than the shackle.” He took my hand and turned it gently in his. Our eyes fell to the ring resting on my finger. “It says you’re mine. My mate.”
I smiled. “I love it.”
“Good. In time,” he said , his voice tender, gliding his finger to the Velastra mark, “you will feel this too. And when you do, we won’t need anything to tether our hearts. Our love will be enough.”
I smiled back at him, but a darker thought slid into place.
“Tomorrow, I’ll have fourteen days until my next reset.
If it happens… I won’t remember you. I won’t remember any of this.
” My throat tightened. “And even when you tell me what you did, I won’t feel the way I do now.
Yes, I’ll be grateful. Maybe even more than grateful. But I won’t know you.”
I swallowed. “You turned realms upside down to get me back, and I have nothing to offer you. This will happen again. And again. Until we find the ring. You can’t be okay with that.”
His gaze didn’t flicker. Didn’t soften. It deepened, like he was watching something sacred, not fragile. “Maybe,” he began, his eyes still fixed on mine. “Maybe you bewitched me, mage.” The edges of his mouth quirked into the briefest of smiles.
“Maybe I should try to fix that.”