Chapter 74: Chapter 75

Harley:

My wolf had accepted our fate. She kept her jaw locked on the head of Eros, crunching and chomping in any way she could, knowing that when we do finally land in the abyss, we will have to try to kill him for good.

“Do you trust me?” I asked her.

“You know I do, crazy.” I could hear the sadness in her voice over the loss of the life we were supposed to have had.

My thought is that if I can travel into The Nothing with my b***d pumping through me… so can my sword.

“When I say so, I want you to let go of Eros and use your hind feet to push away from him, jumping as far upward as you can. If we get lucky, it will put enough distance between us and if my plan works… well don’t get your hopes up, but if it works we will be freed from this hell hole.” I told her, wishing I could run my fingers through her fur and comfort the storms that are raging in both of us.

I wasn’t resigned to this fate yet, and I wouldn’t accept it without a fight and I don’t want her to either. We fight until we die, that is how it has always been.

“Now!” I roared at her, pleased with her quick action.

She did as I asked beautifully, pushing away from Eros with every ounce of strength in her hind legs and the moment he was far enough away, I shifted into my human form, calling to the sword. Her howls busted through the darkness that was clouding my brain the moment the blade manifested in my hand, vibrating with as much enthusiasm as I had. I quickly swung the blade, fracturing the realm under my feet.

“Be with us, Selene.” I prayed as we were flung into a new space in time, leaving that bastard bird of a God locked away inside of The nothing where the gods had intended for him to be.

Alistair:

“Selene, get your f*****g a*s down here or so help me god I will rip the realms apart until I find you!” I yelled.

Harley had sacrificed herself for her people and here we all stood either in tears or ready to go to war again to get our queen back and Selene couldn’t be bothered to speak with us about something that she probably knew was going to happen from the beginning.

“Why would she do that?” Atlas looked to his twin for the answers that none of us had.

I knew he was talking about Harley’s decision to tackle Eros into The Nothing, and as simple as the answer is, it is too painful to even say out loud.

“She was always a warrior first, brother. Us, her people, her kingdom always came before anything else. She saw a way out. It was an easy way to save everyone all at once and she didn’t care that it meant risking herself because everything that she loved would be safe because of her sacrifice.” Axel’s words broke me and swelled my heart with pride at the same time. Everyone here has the same mindset. Fight to the end. Harley’s mindset was different. She spent the whole time knowing that if the opportunity was given she would be sure to take it if it meant ending it with as few deaths as possible.

“What do you boys need? I need to get back.” Selene said unamused.

“What the f**k do you mean? Harley just flung herself into The Nothing to save everyone’s asses including yours!” I roared.

Her lips pulled back, revealing a smile you would expect of a goddess, and it made my b***d boil. How dare she be amused that we have lost the one person we love the most and the one person she relies on to continue our existence? She f*****g smiled.

“Are you smiling right now?” Axel growled, fueled by the same fury and grief that I was feeling.

“I am. Harley is fine.” Her arms folded over her chest like we were the most boring people in the world to her, but I couldn’t focus on her smug a*s attitude because she just said… our Harley is alive.

“Where is she?” Axel’s patience was as thin as mine and I was ready to choke the moon goddess out to get to her.

“She is safe. But she is in bad shape. The best place for her and her healing will be with me right now. She will be blind in her left eye. Unfortunately, I can’t fix that because of the blade that Eros used. I couldn’t heal it. She has some major injuries and the longer she is in the holy realm, the better chances she will have of making a full recovery.” What is with this b***h’s smug tone? We are Harley’s mates. We can help her heal fine here.

“Bring her back, now,” I thundered.

“That isn’t an option right now, I am afraid. What I can tell you is, that I will bring her back in three days. That should be all the time she needs to heal entirely, and I also need to speak with the four of you when I bring her back to you.” I didn’t hear anything after her telling me no and my b***d ran hot.

“Enough, Alistair. We want her back as badly as you do and, while I think there is a whole lot of bull s**t that the goddess isn’t telling us, I do know one thing for sure. She could strip us of our bond entirely if she were to choose to. We need to be careful.” Atlas said, taking my shoulder into a firm grasp.

“Harley will be in heat in three days’ time. If I don’t keep her in the holy realm to heal, she will not be physically able to get pregnant or carry a child.” There it is. She wants to keep her away from us for three days so she can ensure that their damn never-ending battery pack is created.

“Who says any of us are ready for a child?” I asked her.

“It isn’t up to you. Things have been written long before now.” She waved her hand, disappearing, but she let her voice be carried on the wind to us.

“Have this place cleaned up by the time I return to you, with your mate.” Was the last thing she left us with.

We stood there dumbfounded and mad as hell. Every obstacle imaginable has gotten in the way of us being with her and I have had enough.

Harley:

With a violent fall face first, I got a mouth full of dirt, landing into a field of wildflowers. Everything hurt so badly that I just lay there. Eros’s sword was still stuck in my side, and I could feel it digging into the bones of my rib cage. With my adrenaline slowing and the comfort of knowing my loved ones were safe, I almost cried out in pain. I settled for letting the tears I was holding fall from my tired eyes, too fearful that if I took too deep of a breath, I would puncture a lung.

I stood trying to reach back and pull the blade from my side. Finally getting it out, I tossed it and myself back to the ground. The world spun violently, and I don’t know if it was the swaying of the earth or if it was the wet sucking sound that could be heard from all around me as I pulled the blade from me but one or both were threatening to make me puke.

“You were incredible, child.” I turned upward as b***d filled my mouth to see my goddess before me.

I had prayed for her to be with us, but I didn’t know she had listened. I reached my hand out to her, hoping that if this were it for me, and she was there to take me home, her touch would comfort the ache that was consuming my entire body.

Her warm hand took my cold and bloodied one and that warmth spread all throughout my existence. I closed my eyes, feeling every ache, wound, and drop of exhaustion leaving my mind and body. She was healing me. Overwhelmed by no longer fighting for my life, sleep took me away. I was falling in and out with a swaying motion. I was leaning against something hard and solid and whoever it was smelled like fresh-cut grass with a mix of masculinity. Something about the stone wall packing me made me feel safe and with that thought, I was once again taken by sleep.