Chapter 51: 52: Light at the End of the Tunnel

ALEX

“Just kill me,” Angel repeats. “Let me die. I don’t deserve to live after what I did.”

“Angel,” Ariel walks over to him, sitting in the chair next to him. “You don’t mean that. Don’t say that.”

“Yes, I do,” he says. “You’re right, Ariel. Erasing my memories has allowed the hunters to control my mind. Whatever voice is living inside my head is stronger than I am. I can’t stop him. He’s going to win out in the end.”

“No, he won’t,” Ariel says, “I won’t let him.”

“Yes, he will, Ariel. He already did. Please, just let me die.”

“The man doesn’t even want to live,” General Dave calls out, “and he admits to the atrocities he’s committed. May we commence the vote, Alpha?”

I nod grimly.

As much as I hate this part of the job, it’s time.

“All in favor of execution,” I say, “raise your hands.”

I look around the room and see almost every hand in the room shoot up, including Angel’s.

The only person on the committee who hasn’t raised their hand is Dom. I read in the contortions of his face that he’s torn about what to do. He is looking between Angel and Ariel…undecided.

But a moment later, he shakes his head and raises his hand. “I’m sorry, Ariel. He could have killed my daughter.”

“But he ~didn’t!~” Ariel protests. “Alex…please.”

Everyone is looking at me now.

It’s my job to pound the gavel.

To seal his fate.

But I can’t peel my eyes away from one face: Ariel’s, gripped with desperation.

And in that moment, I know that I can’t let Angel die. Ariel has a mission, and I need to help her fulfill it—I need to trust that she can.

So for the first time in my reign as Alpha and king, I take a breath and call out, “Veto.”

I hear a collective gasp from the council.

It’s always been in my right to Veto a decision, but I’ve never done it before...I’ve always followed their judgment.

This time, I am following the lead of my future Luna.

Ariel grips Angel’s hand, her face flooding with joy. But Angel looks like a man who’s just been damned instead of someone who’s been pardoned.

ARIEL

~Thank the Goddess.~

Alex is putting his reputation on the line for me, and I can’t fail him.

I look around the room and see the confused and disappointed faces of the members of the council.

“So you’re going to let him walk free?” Dave asks.

“No!” I answer for Alex. “He won’t be free. He will be under close supervision.”

“What do you need to help him, Ariel?” Alex asks me.

“I need to be alone with him.”

“No,” Angel growls.

“Yes,” I growl back. I need to stand my ground with him. To assert my power so he trusts that I can help him.

“Are you sure that’s safe?” Alex asks me.

I nod. “But if you’re worried, you could order guards to stand outside the door.”

Alex looks at Dave, who nods.

“We’ll go to the library,” I say. “It’s peaceful in there. And I think we could use a little peace.”

I grip Angel’s hand. “You ready to beat this thing?” I say.

He shakes his head, but the slight smile on his lip betrays him.

***

The door clicks shut behind us, leaving me and Angel alone in the room that’s lined from floor to ceiling with books. This library must contain all the knowledge of werewolf kind.

Angel looks at me warily. He seems to be waiting for me to make the first move.

“How are you?” I ask him.

“You really wanna do some fucking small talk right now?”

“I just want you to calm down a little.”

“How am I supposed to calm down?” he asks me. “I almost kidnapped a newborn baby today, and I don’t think you’re going to be able to ‘fix’ me. You weren’t able to before. What’s different this time?”

“The Moon Goddess is speaking to me again.”

“Maybe. But she’s still ignoring the fuck out of me.”

“I never told you how I got out of captivity, did I?”

Angel shakes his head.

“When I was at my lowest point…when I thought I would never see the light of day again…when I was lying strapped to a table dying, Selene came to me. She freed me from my prison...

“The Goddess appears when you least expect it. When all hope is lost.”

“I’ve reached that point now, Ariel. Where is she?”

“I was asking the same question for a while. My powers don’t seem to work on repressed memories. You’re living proof of that. But maybe I just haven’t had my head in the right place.”

“Why do you say that?” he asks me.

“I’ve been out of touch with the Goddess,” I admit. “I was working through my own grief, mourning the loss of the life that I could have had if I hadn’t been kidnapped by the hunters.”

“I’m haunted by thoughts like that,” he says. “Every damn day. Who the hell was I? What would I be doing right now?”

“Don’t go down that road right now,” I say.

“What I’ve realized is that getting taken by the hunters was actually the best thing that has ever happened to me. It made me the person I am today, with the life I have now. And it’s given me the power to heal you.”

“So…” he replies, “what are we gonna try this time?”

“I’m going to attempt to trigger another outburst in you—”

“Come on—”

“Trust me. This time, with my hands on you, you’re not going to spiral out of control. I will keep you contained.”

“And what if it doesn’t work?” he asks me. “What if I attack you?”

I look behind me. “Dave?” I call out.

Immediately, the door flies open, and General Dave pops his head in.

“All good,” I say, “just checking to make sure you’re standing by.”

Dave nods and closes the door again.

“See?” I say. “I’m going to be perfectly safe. Now, let’s begin.”

I lead Angel over to a red plush couch in the middle of the room. “Lie down,” I tell him, and he obliges.

“How are you going to trigger an episode?” he asks me.

I grasp the sheath on my belt and extract a blade. The moonstone one with a silver tip that Maria gave to me—the one that belonged to Alex’s great grandfather.

As soon as Angel sees it, his vision begins to narrow. I can tell that his blood is already beginning to run hot.

“Are you ready?” I ask him.

“As I’ll ever be…”

I place the tip of the blade gently on his arm, careful not to break any skin.

But he immediately begins to shake.

I take my other hand and place it over his heart.

Sure enough, as I do that, the shaking begins to quell.

It’s working.

I rub my hand over Angel’s bare chest as I keep the blade on him.

He starts to writhe in pain. As he does, I press harder with my hand, concentrating on soothing him.

I begin to hum a tune from my childhood that my dad used to sing to me. A folk song that he inherited from his dad.

At first, it seems to be slowing Angel’s heart rate. But after a few more moments, it’s no longer enough.

Angel starts to scream.

I want him to confront his pain. But I can’t let him become consumed by it.

“I know it hurts,” I say to him, clutching his chest. “But the pain is not inherently evil.”

Angel wails. I’m not sure he can even hear me, but I continue.

“Pain is a teacher. A harsher teacher than joy, but listen to what it’s telling you.”

His screams are growing louder. And they’re starting to sound more like howls.

~Oh no…~

~I can’t let him shift.~

And surely Dave will come rushing in at any second if the screaming doesn’t die down.

“Listen to the pain, Angel. What is it telling you?”

I drop the blade, and it crashes onto the ground.

I place my other hand on his stomach. As I do, I begin to feel the torture he endured.

It feels so similar to my own memories of captivity.

The agony.

The hopelessness.

The desire, above all else, to just die.

To end it all.

I close my eyes...

~But instead of becoming shrouded in darkness, I see a pure white light.~

~I see the outline of a figure in the distance.~

~She doesn’t speak to me, but I know it’s her. Selene.~

~I know that she is with me, supporting me, leading the way.~

~Suddenly, the desire to die is morphed into a strong will to live.~

I open my eyes again and see that Angel has stopped writhing now.

Instead, he seems paralyzed. Almost as if he’s in a trance.

“What do you see?” I ask him. “Talk to me. Don’t get lost in the visions.”

“I remember—” he begins.

“~What~ do you remember?”

“I remember being blindfolded. Being knocked unconscious. Waking up in shackles.”

“What else do you remember?” I ask. “Anything new?”

“The Silver Soldier. His pierced face. His grimace. His mouth is moving. He’s saying something to me.”

“What is he telling you to do?”

“He wants me to take the baby.”

“Dom and Helena’s?”

“No. Xavier and Natalia’s.”

~Oh Goddess.~

~This is it.~

“Where does he want you to take the baby? Can you see the place?”

“Yes,” Angel says. “I can see it. I can see it.”