Chapter 71 When gods whisper #2
“When they died, they gave the humans two gifts, one was a complete reset of designations that evened the population back into a more balanced situation, and they gave them something to make them different from everything that came before. Humans needed to be different, they needed to be more. They couldn’t live in the shadows of their parents, their murdering ancestors; they needed to see beauty and believe in magic. They gave them that. All six of them.”
“But wolves?” the Alpha snarls.
“Clearly, you have never run wild through a field in fur, Alpha. You don’t see the joy in it. They saved two worlds. Now save them!” Theo demands.
He shakes his head.
I press my lips together and turn away. “They ignored my warnings, you know. When I first told them what would happen, they all just ignored me. You are doing it again. When you are a warrior, you take care of your weapons.”
The alpha snorts, but he looks to the side and catches the eye of the beta and omega.
“Really?” he hisses.
They shrug. “We are alive because of all that they did. Would it be so bad to give them lives that are happy and full of joy in between?”
He frowns. “But that’s not what they agreed to.”
“Reward them,” the beta says gently. “Maybe if we had listened? We put so many people through so much pain. They did save us.”
He purses his lips. “I will concede that I can justify Jarek, Mordecai, and Keres be rewarded.”
My gaze grows flinty. “And Legion and Walker.”
“No—”
The omega leans forward. “They never spent more than minutes together? They were cursed to be parted their whole lives? In every life?”
“Yes.”
She turns to the alpha, her eyes wide and sad. “Please.”
He stares at her for a long time, and we stare at him. I think he can feel the weight of us until he finally bends. “Fine.”
I exhale. That’s them sorted.
“Now, about the Anarchy Wolf.”
I step into the dark hallway and hold the torch high. It is a grim place, this dark prison beneath the Hall of Petitions. I walk down the row of empty cells, irritated by the lack of light and clean smells. I think they must have put him here and thrown away the key.
I guess they are afraid of what he can do. Like his love might destroy worlds again. How ridiculous. They should just send him back to his pack.
The cells are all empty, but one. When I see him, my heart stutters, and I want so badly to demand they open the cell and get him out of here. I have never seen anyone look so broken.
“Did he fight back?” I ask in a murmur.
“No, he let us drag him here, and he hasn’t spoken a word.”
Cadel, the Anarchy Wolf, is lying on his back, staring at the roof. He doesn’t blink, but every now and then, a tear runs down his cheek. He’s like a still ocean that is roiling with chaotic currents underneath, and all those currents point back to Keres.
I need to get him home.
Shaking off the arm holding me back, I shuffle up to the bars and hold them tight, staring at the god my human daughter loved so dearly.
“Strip him of his powers. Give him to the goddesses’ pack, tie him to her and make him human,” I say nonchalantly.
“What?” The High Beta is the first to speak, her robe swishing on the stone as she moves.
“It’s the worst kind of punishment,” I say quietly. “To fall.”
“We can’t do that to a god.”
“He went to Earth, breaking the rules, causing the beta to seize power and go on her murderous crusade. This God of Winter leaked the Ravage Virus. He is a threat. Strip him of his powers and give him to someone who can keep him in line,” I spit ruthlessly, willing with every fiber of my being that this plan works.
“Are you sure she can do it?” the omega asks. I think she knows my plan, but for whatever reason, she’s playing along.
“At the core of who she is, she’s the oldest. The wisest. If anyone can leash the Winter Wolf, it’s the moon herself.”
The Alpha god considers this for a long time, staring at the listless god, lying on his bed in the dark.
“Has he spoken?” I ask again. “Does he eat? Does he do anything?”
“Not a word.”
“Send him to where he can be useful; make him a weapon for good.”
I nod and wait for them to decide. The murmuring grows in volume, but I ignore it, right up until they go silent.
“We’ve agreed, but with one condition.”
I turn and watch them. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Cadel turn his head towards us, intently watching, looking far too much like a hunting wolf.
“He has to wear the chains. If she finds him, his power will be stripped. If she doesn’t, he’ll sit where we put him forever.”
It’s the best option.
“Agreed, and I know the perfect spot…”
Four hundred years later.
Taryn walks beside me; she refuses to go by her title. Most of them refuse to now. We are too human to be who we used to be and still too powerful to be human. I’m not sure what we are anymore.
The gods that survived wear shadows of what happened on their souls like inky stains. We feel it in the dark and on lonely nights. We reminisce and talk. They have forgiven me, and I actually feel closer to them than I ever have to anyone besides my human family.
“I miss my children and my alpha,” Taryn whispers. “Still,” she laughs, shaking her head. “I still miss them every minute of every day.”
I consider the offer to look into time to see how it would affect things.
“Would you like to fall?” I ask cautiously.
She wrinkles her nose, but her eyes are sad; the light in them shines less brightly these days.
“I don’t think I am capable of living in the human world without it breaking me.
But I didn’t know I could love so deeply.
To ache so fiercely. They are dust and gone now.
My children, the ones I held in my arms, grew and had children who had children.
I am forgotten, but they are not. I will never forget them. ”
I turn and pull her into my arms. She has become the family I lost, and I almost think of her as a daughter now. Seeing her hurting like this hurts me just as much.
“I wish there were something I could do to help.”
Perhaps I could get back into that massive room under the Hall of Petitions and put her back into a sleep, sending her back to Earth for another cycle.
But as soon as we revealed it, the gods had forbidden its use, locking us all out.
That’s where we were all those years. Our bodies cooled while our souls were planted inside humans.
Waking up and waiting for the outcome was the hardest part.
I didn’t dare open the door. One by one, they returned until, at last, Kendric woke up with a gasp.
When they found out we were spiriting, they forbade it and have since pretended it never happened.
We’d waited for years, watching the Resistance fight the remaining Beta’s Path.
We’d watched the cities being torn down.
Foreen was decimated and restricted. The world changed at the helm of the Resistance, who turned back, embracing the gods and finding and forcing the alphas, betas, and omegas to work together.
And then with a boom, the world repaired itself, and I had known then that it worked. Taryn had held me as we both sobbed for our children, watching as they built little villages, planted crops. As peace and law returned to a world that had been so long without it.
We’d won, but the cost was so high.
Taryn pulls back, forcing a smile that isn’t fooling either of us.
Sorcha jogs up to us, her dress hiked to her knees. Even though she didn’t come with us, the fiery goddess has become another fixture in my life. I think she’s still missing her brother but knows that she belongs here.
“Will it work out? Will he be happy?” she says urgently, gripping my arm.
I usher the two goddesses with me out of the foyer, away from the prying eyes of the Hall of Petitions.
“It’s done. They have been initiated into a cycle; the world is changed. It’s a whole different place. People embrace differences now. It is a time of great peace.” I pause, considering it for a long moment. “They will be so happy together.”
“And the Anarchy Wolf?” Taryn whispers. “What about Cadel?”
“He has been waiting for the last four hundred years. We can only pray that she finds him,” I murmur unhappily.
I lead them through the gardens, feeling an ache in my chest that is bittersweet. I am so proud of her, and I miss her so much. My arms still remember what she felt like. She is the greatest accomplishment of my life.
“My daughter will find her pack. She will find her happiness. I have no doubt in my mind.”
“What if she doesn’t?”
I close my eyes, feeling the warmth of the sun on my face. “She will. I know it. Kaida Keres will find her pack and heal her heart.”