Chapter 31
Persephone
Over Two Thousand Years Ago…
“Delos?” I call, confused as to why my familiar ran off into the hedge maze. He usually accompanies me on my stroll through the eternal gardens, but he caught sight of something in the distance and bolted after it on his cloven hooves. For a deer, he’s rather predatory.
I’m not sure that’s what Diana had in mind when she created him for me.
Or maybe she did.
She works in mysterious ways, just like most of Alpha kind.
I exhale slowly, thinking of my Alpha and how I miss him. My mother called me home for the harvest, claiming the realms need my gift for life. But something feels different about this visit.
I can’t quite determine the cause of my concern, and I didn’t dare voice it to Hades. He would have insisted on accompanying me. However, now I’m kind of wishing I had said something, perhaps asked him to spend the first week or so here with me.
Only, that would have been selfish. It’s too sunny in this place for him. Too alive.
Sighing, I pause by one of the blossoming fire lilies, this area of the park one I created to honor my love for Hades.
Because we have a myriad of these in our palace gardens. I tend to them often, always ensuring they’ll survive in his otherwise cold environment.
I planted a seed shortly after our mating.
And that seed multiplied into hundreds of sprouts, one for each kiss. Each touch. Each kno—
A chattering noise echoes in the distance, causing me to freeze. It’s… it’s not a common sound for this peaceful garden.
We’re all about nurturing and life here. A soft environment. Gentle and loving.
But that—
Delos appears, a panicked look on his face as he charges toward me.
“What’s wrong?” I ask my familiar, his terror hitting me straight in the heart. “What’s happ—”
I fall onto my rump, yanked backward by some inexplicable force.
And suddenly I’m being dragged by an unseen source. “Oh!” I scream, trying to claw at the invisible entity tugging me against my will.
Delos is instantly there, his teeth clamping down around my skirt to try to pull me in the opposite direction.
Only, an arrow sails into his side in the next instant, ceasing his movements.
My eyes widen.
A silent scream parts my lips.
And Delos… Delos goes impossibly still.
No, I think. No!
He’s mine. My familiar. My soul’s entity.
How is this possible?
Why?
I… I feel his last breath as though it’s my own. Which makes no sense. He’s not… He’s immortal!
Tears flood my vision.
This has to be a nightmare. A horrible dream. I just need to wake up. To… to… Hades! I scream, wishing our mental bond worked here.
But part of the agreement between him and my mother required me to be completely isolated in this garden. “Your deadly touch cannot infiltrate our lively essence,” she once told him.
That’s the other reason I didn’t tell him about the strangeness I felt for this trip. Because even if he could join me, he would’ve been forced to tamper his energy and suffocate his deadly aura.
My Hades deserves to thrive. To live in his own way. To be the Alpha he’s meant to be…
But oh, I wish I could reach him now.
Delos, I whisper, my deer vanishing before my eyes as I claw at the earth around me, fighting the invisible entity at my back. What’s been done to my Delos?
“This is for your own good, child,” my mother says against my ear.
I still. Mother?
The world vanishes from view, my vision turning unexpectedly black.
And then white.
Too white.
Blinding white…
“Oh, Persephone,” my mother whispers, her voice breaking. “I wish I could have warned you, but I knew… I just knew he would hear. That monster and his bite. His forced bond to my precious jewel. So many of you have suffered. But nevermore…”
I don’t… I don’t understand, Mother, I long to say. But I… I can’t feel my mouth. Or my hands. Or even my heart. It’s all… it’s all gone.
Every link. Every fiber of my essence. My very form.
What have you done? I ask my mother. The Goddess of Fertility. The one I’ve trusted all my life. The one who birthed me. Raised me. Vowed to protect me…
“Oh, sweetheart, I’m not doing this to be cruel.
I promise this is for the betterment of Omega kind.
You won’t hurt here. You’ll be safe. Forever encased in a sanctuary the Alphas can never breach.
” Something passes through me, the energy both familiar and foreign.
“None of you will ever have to suffer again, Persephone.”
I shudder inside, unable to speak or to demand that my mother think about what she’s doing. What she’s done.
I can’t feel Hades at all.
At least in the garden, I could sense our bond via the mark on my neck.
But now…
Now I feel nothing.
Hear only my mother’s voice.
See… see an unending white light.
“One day, when it’s safe, I’ll try to resurrect you,” my mother tells me, a choked sob underlining that final word.
“But until then, I’ll… I’ll be here to watch over all of you.
Protect Omega kind. Ensure no Alphas ever enter this space.
I’ll do whatever it takes to save you, just as I’ve always vowed. Since Jove—”
She cuts off, the emotion thick in her voice, just as it always is when she mentions my Omega father. I’ve never met him, as he’s being kept by some of the cruelest Alphas in existence.
He’s a rare male Omega, his power vast and unworldly.
My mother used to help him through his heat. Or… or perhaps engaged in some of the wicked games with the others.
I’ve heard she was once in league with those horrible Alphas.
But my existence changed everything.
And I think a part of her mourns what has been done to Jove and other imprisoned Omegas.
She’s always spoken about wanting to free all Mythos Fae Omegas, telling me that Alphas don’t deserve my kind and never will.
It was her biggest argument against Hades. I’ve tried for years to tell her he’s not like the others, but she’s never listened. Never wanted to believe me. I… I thought time would prove his intentions to her, make her realize that not all Alphas are created equal.
But it seems I was wrong.
She’s been planning this for a while.
I can see that now. Realize all the poisonous thoughts she’s expressed over my decades of life. Her desire to create a safe haven for Omega kind.
However, what she’s done is create a different sort of prison. A plane where our souls will forever reside unless she allows us to be reborn.
Using Hades’s power, I suddenly grasp, my mind threatening to fracture with the thought. Oh, Goddess above… she’s using my link to my mate… to his resurrection… This can’t… Mother, you can’t!
She clears her throat, her emotion palpable and surrounding me in a sea of sadness.
“I love you, Persephone. I’ll make sure you can’t feel anything. It’ll be… it’ll be like you’re sleeping, all right? And when you’re reborn, you’ll only remember your former life, none of the stillness. Not even this moment. We’ll start anew. Live somewhere safe. Build our own garden of happiness.”
I can tell she’s crying, her grief evident in her voice and her aura.
“This is what I have to do to protect you all. To save Omega kind. Deep down, I know you understand. And one day, you’ll thank me. When we’ve built a dimension or a plane where Omegas thrive without Alpha interference… you’ll be pleased. I know it.”
Another sniffle.
Then she clears her throat, and I suddenly know there is nothing I can do to stop this. Nothing I can do to change her mind.
Hades, I think, wishing he could hear me while knowing he can’t. I’m so sorry, Hades. I’m not strong enough to fight her. To stop her. But I should have… I should have known.
Now I’m pretty sure I’m crying, too.
But for a very different reason from that of my mother.
Fates, if you hear me, and if I may, I ask for one gift.
Even though I’m undeserving, I ask… I ask that when I’m reborn, you give me the strength I need…
to fix this. To be a better mate to Hades.
An equal. A worthy Omega. A being capable of fixing what my mother has done.
That’s all I desire. Another chance… to right this wrong.
It’s a broken prayer, one I doubt will ever be heard.
However, all I can do is hope.
Because there’s nothing left for me to do. My vision is darkening now, the plane taking hold of my soul.
I’m the anchor, I think, understanding my mother’s sorrow. Her apologies. Her promises to keep me in a forever oblivious state.
Because my soul must remain whole for this plane to thrive.
In an instant, I grasp every pivotal aspect of what’s happened. Every nuance. The way my mother was able to use my power and my link to Hades to create this “sanctuary.” How she wove it all together in a unique life cycle… underscored by death.
Hades is the key.
He’ll forever sense me. Know that I’m alive somewhere. Because I will be… in spirit.
Maybe he’ll find me.
Maybe he’ll save us all.
Or maybe… maybe fate will give me that chance.
When my mother… one day… resurrects my soul.