Chapter 57 #2
Frustration bubbled up inside me like molten lava, burning and acidic.
My pack was in real, imminent danger. My instincts were telling me this was all coming to a head—it wasn’t just the ODL coming for us tomorrow night.
The pixies knew the ODL’s movements because of their council ties.
And now with Narcissa most likely alive and coming for the omega stone?
Speaking of the stone, that raised a question Lisanne hadn’t mentioned. “Priestess, how would Narcissa know where to find us, or any other packs for that matter? She died in the sixteen hundreds. She doesn’t have a smartphone and Google Maps.”
“Given the red tinge still on it, she knows where it is. Wherever she’s been all this time, it wasn’t far enough to sever her connection.”
“So it’s her we’re already fighting,” Brielle murmured, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. “We’re strong enough to maintain the connection, but we haven’t been able to remove the taint.”
Lisanne nodded, seeming unsurprised. “That’s because it’s not a taint. It’s a second connection. The bond between an omega and the stone is deep. I don’t know that it’s soul-deep like the mate bond, but it’s meant to be connected until your natural death.”
“Natural death? What does that mean?” I asked.
She exhaled sharply, glancing quickly up at the ceiling and mouthing a prayer to the Goddess. “All wolves eventually die of old age if worse doesn’t befall them sooner. We are not immortal like the undead or the fae.”
I nodded, not sure why she was telling me basic wolf biology.
“But in my time with them, I saw wounds heal that shouldn’t have.
There are sacred scrolls in the enclave that only the head priestess may handle due to their age.
But after all that I saw and reported, the former head priestess bent the rules.
We reviewed them together to confirm what has long been held as a suspicion.
I should not tell you now, but Goddess help me, I can’t bring myself to send our best hope for survival into the battle unarmed.
What I have to tell you cannot, under any circumstances, leave this room. ”
“We understand.” I answered for everyone because it felt like the whole room was holding its breath. I’d never even heard of these scrolls she referenced, let alone know what ancient knowledge might be hiding in them.
I didn’t let myself dwell on the fact that she thought we were deeply screwed if she was sharing it.
“There is an unconfirmed theory written in the scrolls.” She paused, breathing deeply.
“That an alpha-omega pair in possession of the stone can be killed only by time or each other’s hand.
Based on what I saw while with them… I believe it to be truth.
I refuse to believe they’re unkillable, because it’s unnatural for wolves. ”
Silence permeated the room, everyone processing what she’d just revealed.
“What happens when two pairs have a connection with the stone?” Brielle asked, sounding a little faint.
“No one knows. It’s possible that both of you have the protection, but it’s equally possible neither of you has the protection.
Either way, we cannot let them regain control,” she said with a shudder.
“Amplification of her war gifts will only result in extraordinary bloodshed. I’ve seen it before, and I don’t want to live through it again. ”
“So you’re saying the only way to take Narcissa and Bran out is if we convince them to turn on each other,” I said, thinking aloud. How the fuck did we manage that?
Even if we got Bran to see reason, to see the harm he’d caused in Narcissa’s name… to kill her was to kill himself. Literally, bonded pairs died together.
There was a reason most mates lived in harmony the rest of their lives. Our lives were intertwined unrelentingly by the mating bites. To harm your mate was to harm your own flesh, your own blood.
It was sacrilege.
Granted, based on what Lisanne had shared about their depraved war crimes, they didn’t mind a little sacrilege.
“I don’t think trickery will work. She’s incredibly cunning.
It would have to be an accident, or… well, he would have to choose to turn his blade upon her.
” Lisanne shook her head as if knowing the futility of that train of thought.
“I don’t know how we’ll manage it. Our best hope is that they are indeed unprotected while you have the stone.
However, if it’s as I fear, you will be equally vulnerable when you go against them. ”
“There’s no good way forward here. They’re all disasters.”
“Why is there never a good volcano around when you need to toss a villain into it?” Leigh tried to lighten the moment, but the joke was weak, and nobody laughed. We were all living our worst nightmares, playing out every possible way we could die, be torn apart, or destroyed.
“Maybe not no way,” Shay whispered.
“No, I won’t allow it.”
“Dirge,” she protested, shooting him an exasperated look.
“You can say anything you want—I veto it, and they will too when they hear it.”
She sighed. “Nonetheless, I’m going to tell them. It may be our only option.”
Dirge growled, upper lip lifting to reveal pointed canines, his wolf’s eyes lighting up with flecks of red.
“Easy, big guy. I didn’t say we were going to do it, just putting all the information on the table.” She laid a hand against his cheek, and just like that, the red disappeared.
“Whatever it is, if he reacts like that, I vote no,” Leigh interjected. “Just on principle. We won’t let you sacrifice yourself for anyone else, Shay.”
She shook her head, a sad expression dragging her features downward. “No, it’s not that kind of sacrifice. It would be a sacrifice, but… no. Basically? I can temporarily give someone else my immortality.”
The room went still. “What?” Fiona spluttered. “You’re immortal immortal?”
Shay nodded, taking the question seriously. “I’m half greater fae, and from what we learned when we visited the court, the royal line is immortal, no matter if they’re half, quarter, or even less fae. The magic is so strong, you’ll be alive forever. In most cases.”
Dirge growled again, but Shay grabbed his hand. “It’s possible for a greater fae to choose to gift their immortality to another. But it comes with a price, and that price is that fae being trapped in the fae realm forever.”
I gasped, and so did several others.
“I know. Like I said, it would be a sacrifice. We’d be trapped for good.
My mother made that choice to save my father’s life.
Unlike two wolves bonding, a wolf and a full-blooded greater fae do not have a soul bond that automatically grants him immortality.
He was mortally wounded in the wars, and she chose not to live without him.
They’ve been confined to the fae realm ever since.
Well, he can leave occasionally. Once every ten years. ”
Her sorrow was palpable, and I wondered why they’d ended up leaving her on earth, knowing they wouldn’t be able to see her. It was an awful, awful choice, but I had no doubt it had been made for a reason. It felt rude to ask, though, when she was obviously struggling to share as much as she had.
She was brave. So damn brave to even offer, knowing the price she and her mate would have to pay. I thought I was isolated in the enclave, but I’d had my sisters. I couldn’t imagine being gone from my own kind forever.
No chance to come home, no backsies.
Kane walked over slowly, pulling Shay into a hug, then turning and repeating the motion with Dirge, before putting a hand on each of their shoulders.
“While we love you for offering, neither of us would ever take you up on it. We would never exile you to the fae realm. Your worth to this pack is immeasurable, and we want you with us. Unto the very end.”
Goddess, it was awful. He sounded like a man facing down his executioner.
Granted, I understood it. Lisanne had dropped absolutely crushing news and a whole heap of uncertainty. But there had to be a way. I gazed out the window and up, to where the moon hung fat and low in the sky, not quite full.
What is your plan, Goddess? Show us. Show us how to win, to survive. Show us the way.
I uttered the prayer silently, but I meant every word. We needed a miracle.
“Thank you, brother.” Dirge wrapped an arm around Shay’s waist, pulling her into his side as if he could keep her from making any more promises if he held her close enough, protected her hard enough. I understood the impulse even as I knew it wouldn’t work.
But we held on anyway, because what was the alternative?
I was never fucking letting go, not of this pack, not of these friends who’d become my family.
I loved them all, and I would stand in the gap for them as long as I was still standing, maiden’s uniform or no. It’s time to get back to work.
Realizing there was nothing more to accomplish by discussing things to death, I turned to Valens. “I need a weapon. Help me pick one?”