Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Snow could see the pain on all the alphas’ faces.
It was daylight, but they weren’t chopping.
They were suffering because of him. And they might suffer more before the sun went down.
The wizard coiled power into one hand. When he reached forward with his power, Snow pulled the hand down.
The bolt of energy slammed into the ground in front of Vor’s charging feet.
The wizard flung Snow across the meadow, sending him sailing.
He hit the ground painfully, an “oof” escaping his lips as the air was knocked from his lungs.
After a couple of seconds to drag in a breath, he turned to see the wizard battling them all.
Lightning flew from his fingertips, hitting the alphas before they could reach him with those silver axes of theirs.
Some of them landed on their knees, their faces masks of pain.
Snow ran across the meadow. He’d pick up an axe and join in their stead.
He hefted Lazlo’s smallest axe, but he could barely move under the weight of it.
Still, he pushed, forcing himself to move closer.
Before he could draw it back, a blast of energy hit him in the chest, sending him reeling.
But it wasn’t as strong as the one that sent him sailing across the meadow.
He sensed the wizard was slowing, fatigue settling in.
After the blow the Prince Consort had delivered, perhaps eight against one were good enough odds.
Snow gathered Lazlo’s axe again, just as a deadly scream rent the day.
Black smoke filled the meadow, turning day into night.
Snow looked towards the wizard. Vor’s axe was plunged into the middle of the wizard’s skull.
Blue lightning arced between Vor and the wizard, both of them shaking violently.
Both fell to their knees, a roar bellowing from Vor’s lips.
Snow dropped the axe and raced forward. Shen grabbed him, pulling Snow away from Vor.
“You won’t survive the lightning,” Shen said against Snow’s ear.
“Pull them apart!” Snow screamed, but no one moved.
The lightning stopped, and both Vor and the wizard collapsed. Night returned to day, the sky bright blue once more. Snow tore from Shen’s arms and dropped to his knees beside Vor.
Vor’s dead eyes looked up at him, unseeing.
“No,” Snow whispered. He slapped Vor’s cheeks. “Wake up, Vor. Wake up!” A sob rose up his chest. “Gods damned you, wake up!”
Snow shook Vor by the shoulders before laying his head on his mate’s chest. He heard no heart pumping away inside. Lifting, he plunged his fist down, determined to restart the damned thing if he had to. Over and over, he punched Vor’s chest, trying to make his alpha’s heart beat again.
He’d give his own heart if he could. Otherwise, it would only shatter into a million pieces without his mate.
“Snow,” Shen said behind him, trying to pull him off Vor.
“No!” Snow screamed, tears streaming down his face. “Nooooooooo!”
“He’s gone,” Shen said, his voice catching midway.
“He can’t leave me,” Snow shouted. “I won’t let him!” Tears blurred his vision. The roar in his voice was lost as a sob rose up his throat. He whispered the same statement again, but it sounded so sad and small the second time. “I won’t let him.”
He had no idea how long he attempted to revive Vor. The sun fell lower and lower in the sky by the time he finally collapsed against his mate and sobbed. The sound of horses nickering behind him and the clomping of hooves barely drew Snow’s attention.
Snow’s father appeared in the meadow, surrounded by his King's Guard.
His father leapt from his horse and raced across the meadow, lifting Snow into his arms. “You’re alive, my son.”
Snow didn’t feel alive in that moment. His heart had stopped beating when Vor’s had.
“Your Majesty,” one of the King’s Guardsmen said nearby. “The Prince Consort is dead.”
“I know,” Snow’s father said. He stepped back from Snow and looked down. “I felt it the minute he died. The spell he had over us all is gone.” Tears shone in his eyes. “I can see clearly now.”
Snow stared up at his father. He’d have given anything to have the father he remembered back, but nothing mattered anymore without Vor.
“Snow? What’s wrong, my son? The spell is broken. We’re free.”
“I’ve lost my mate,” Snow said, his voice sounding hollow to his own ears.
The king looked down at Vor lying on the ground beside Snow. “A brute? You’re a prince, Snow.”
“My brute,” Snow said, tears falling again. “The gentlest, sweetest brute… who loved me as much as I loved him.”
“Snow…”
“My heart is gone, Daddy,” Snow whispered, tears streaming. “He took it with him.”
Shen knelt behind Snow and wrapped both arms around him. He could barely feel the touch as numb as he was.
“You will recover,” his father said before clearing his throat. “We should head home before the sun falls. This wood is full of all kinds of strange creatures.”
Snow wanted to refuse. The castle no longer felt like home, but that was because Vor was his home. With Vor gone, what did he do?
“Snow?” his father asked. “We need to go, my son.”
“We take him,” Snow said. “My mate… and we bury him beside Papa. Otherwise, you can go without me.”
His father gave him a stern look, appearing like he wouldn’t agree. After a few long seconds, he sighed and nodded. “So be it.” He turned to his Guard. “Put him on a horse. We’ll give my son’s mate the funeral he deserves.”
Snow turned to Shen. “I don’t want to be alone.”
“And you shan’t be,” Shen said.
“You’ll come with me?” Snow asked.
Shen offered a soft smile. “There’s nowhere else I need to be more than at your side right now.” He rose and offered his hand to help Snow up.
Snow rose but wobbled on his feet. Shen scooped him up with ease and carried him closer to Snow’s father.
“And who are you?” the king asked Shen.
“He… and the others standing in this meadow… are the alphas who saved me after your mate attempted to kill me,” Snow snapped. “They offered me sanctuary. They fed me. And they fought the wizard, tempting their own deaths, to protect me.”
“Not going to lie, I fought for me own freedom,” Greer muttered. “It wasn’t ‘bout protecting no prince.”
Hwa punched Greer in the gut and leveled a glare. He then eyed the king. “Most of us fought to protect Snow. And we’d do it again, happily. Without him, we might not be free of the wizard’s curse.”
“Are you?” Snow asked Hwa. He glanced around the meadow at the others. “Has it been lifted?”
“I don’t feel the weight of it any longer,” Owan said. “If we can pass the boundary and leave this place, we’ll know for sure, I suppose.”
“Then let us be off,” Snow said. He turned his attention back to his father. “They’re coming with me. They gave me their life. The least we can do is offer them the sanctuary they afforded me.”
“Of course,” the king said, frowning. “The men who protected my son are welcome in my castle.”
Weary, Snow rested his head on Shen’s shoulder and closed his eyes, never having felt more exhausted in his life. “We bury my love beside my papa.”
“Yes, my sweet prince… anything you wish,” Shen said before walking across the meadow, carrying Snow to a waiting horse.
He settled into the saddle in front of Shen.
Hwa and Owan helped the King’s Guard to lift Vor’s lifeless body onto an unmanned horse.
None of it seemed real. Just that morning, Vor had held him tight and said he loved him.
He couldn’t be gone. It had to be a nightmare, and soon enough, he’d wake up.
Greer walked over and stopped beside the horses. “Snow… I, ah… a castle ain’t the place for me. I’m no hero, love.”
“I won’t force you to come,” Snow murmured, struggling to keep his eyes open.
“I wish it hadn’t turned out like this. Vor was a right pain in me arse, but he didn’t deserve this.” Greer shrugged. “I’ll be seeing you, I guess. Take care, Snow White.”
“You, as well, Highwayman,” Snow said to Greer.
Greer saluted him and marched off to parts unknown.
“Us, too,” Lazlo said, clinging to a wounded, bloodied Klaus. “We won’t be following.”
“No,” Klaus said, shaking his head. “We should see that he’s buried properly and say our goodbyes. Then we can leave.”
“I’d rather remember him alive and well,” Lazlo said.
Tears shone in his eyes. “He was a good man.” Lazlo drew in a shaky breath.
“Nay, a great man.” Lazlo brushed away a tear.
“Vor accepted me as I am, and something has always told me you all followed his lead. I sensed your uneasiness at first, but Vor was always in my corner, from the start. Had he not been, I think my life in that cottage would’ve been much harder than it was.
” A tear streamed down his face. “Because of him, I got to taste real freedom.” Another tear fell.
“A freedom men like me rarely see.” Lazlo turned to face Snow.
“I can’t see him put into the ground. I can’t.
I’d much rather remember him for what he was and what he gave me. I hope you understand, Snow.”
Snow reached out and took Lazlo’s hand. “I do. I understand.”
Lazlo kissed Snow’s hand before turning into Klaus’s arms. Klaus gazed up at Snow, his eyes shining bright.
“He was right. I was jealous of him. I was entitled and a brat.” Klaus’s lips flattened into a thin line, and his jaw tensed.
“I’ll never get a chance to tell him he was right or that he finally got through my thick skull.
I wanted to talk to him, but I kept holding off, waiting for the right moment.
It never came… and now he’s gone.” Klaus’s face twisted with sorrow. “I’ll never be able to tell him.”
“He knows,” Shen murmured. “We’ve all seen the change in you these past weeks. Vor even mentioned it to me, glad you may have finally gotten your head out of your ass.”
Klaus snickered. He wiped his sleeve over his eyes and forced a smile. “Though, I will say he’s a liar.”
Snow stiffened.
“A liar, hmm?” Shen asked, as tense as Snow was.
“He said he wasn’t a leader,” Klaus said.
“He was a liar, because he was born to lead men. It came to him naturally. He did what needed to be done, not for the glory, but to ensure we all had our needs met as well as they could be in this hell we’ve lived in.
” Klaus wiped his eyes again. “He showed me the kind of man I want to be.” He gazed at Lazlo and smiled. “The kind of man you deserve.”
Lazlo rested his head on Klaus’s shoulder. Klaus pressed a soft kiss to Lazlo’s forehead.
“Where will you go?” Shen asked.
“Perhaps we stay,” Lazlo said. “I know it was our prison, but we were free here in a way we can’t be outside this place. Maybe there’s still a little magic left in the cottage, and Klaus and I can continue what we started here.”
Snow fought back tears. “I hope you can.”
Lazlo smiled wryly and looked away from Snow, pain in his eyes.
“You just hope the root cellar is still bewitched,” Klaus whispered.
“I do indeed,” Lazlo replied, grinning. “If we’re not worried about hunting and gathering, we have more free time to enjoy one another.”
Klaus’s brows rose. “I like the way you think.” He clasped one of Lazlo’s hands in his. “It’s one of my favorite things about you.”
Lazlo turned his attention back to Snow, his smile fading. “I’m sorry. That was cruel of us.” Tears gathered in his eyes. He pulled his hand from Klaus’s. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t hide your affection on my account,” Snow whispered. He cleared his throat and smiled. “Knowing you two might get your happily ever after, here of all places, brings a light to the darkness here. I hope it burns bright for the rest of your days.”
“Thank you,” Lazlo murmured. He stepped forward and clutched Snow’s ankle. “He was a great man, and he loved you, Snow. Anyone with half a brain could see the way he looked at you.”
Snow nodded, not sure what to say to that. He fought back a sob, coughing to cover it. The only thing inside his head was screams and denials that Vor was gone.
“Take care,” Lazlo said to him. He turned to Shen. “Take care of him.”
“We will,” Hwa murmured.
Greer, Lazlo, and Klaus turned and walked back towards the cottage. Snow’s father and the King’s Guard urged the horses towards the castle. Snow’s gaze fell on Vor’s body and wouldn’t move until they reached their destination and his mate was taken to be prepared for a funeral.
Later, after Shen and Hwa had bathed him—and Owan had braided his hair—he lay in his big bed with the three alphas, feeling more alone than he could ever remember. He loved these men and knew they’d protect him, but their presence couldn’t fill the void within him.
None tried to.
They simply held him when he cried and offered him a safe space to grieve what could’ve been.