Fated To the Alpha by Jessica Hall
Chapter 285: Jonah POV
I chased Kyan, but Kaif took off with him, and I knew why. He wanted to end it before he thought much about it, so he needed to retrieve the dagger. Kyan knew for Mara to live, Kaif must d*e, and he saw no other way out. His pain crushed me, yet I had wandered from the trail and was now struggling to find my way back. I headed back up the hill with no other choice, knowing it led back to the ruins. I didn’t want to wander too far and become lost. When I reached the top, I clutched my knees and tried to catch my breath.
Eziah and Marabella stood arguing with Katya, who paid them no mind as she looked at the grimoire she held. Kat’s eyes flicked to me before her voice was suddenly in my head.
“Take Mara,” she says, and I s*****w, trying to figure out what she was doing here and why she wanted me to take Mara. Kat then tosses the grimoire into the coffin, and I move toward the ruins. Slightly hesitant as I stepped inside the pentagram. The power emanating from the three of them was almost suffocating.
“I can do this, mum. Just listen to me,” Eziah pleaded with Kat?
“I am not doubting that, Eziah, but give me the stones,” Kat says, holding her hand out. I walk behind Eziah, and Mara and Kat nodded to me.
I swallowed, knowing what she was asking, and the moment my arms wrapped around Mara’s waist. She screamed and thrashed, twisting in my arms, trying to break free.
“No, no!” Mara screamed. Eziah steps away from Kat shaking his head when her hands clamp on the sides of Eziah’s face. “Hand me the stones,” her voice soft, yet the command behind them was b****l, and Eziah resisted, trying to fight off her command, but he was no match for his mother.
“Now get out of the ruins,” She says just as I pull Mara out. She collapses at my feet, dragging me to the ground with her as I try to hold her up.
“It’s okay, sweetie, I’m not going anywhere,” Kat tells her, fiddling with the stones and rolling them in her palm.
“You will never know peace. You will be forever cursed,”
“But none of you will. So that is where you are wrong. I made peace with this; I accept it, so neither of you has to, it isn’t goodbye I will still get to meet my grandchildren, still be with you while you grow into who you’re supposed to be’ Kat tells her.
“But you don’t have to do this. We can find another way, once you d*e you will forever trapped as the Moon Goddess,” Marabella sobs, and Kat stares down at the stones.
“This is the only way, you don’t have to like it, but you will accept it. You’ll let me do this for you. And eventually, you’ll understand it,” Kat tells her and my grip on Mara grew tighter as she cried, Kat would forever be trapped in the Moon Goddess realm once it was her time to pass.
“A mother’s love has no bounds and is endless, infinite. Your son will show you that. Kaif has lost enough, and so has Kyan, I want pace, Marabella. And this is how I find it. This is my sacrifice to bear because I won’t allow you to pay the price for my mistakes, and Dominic was my mistake; I didn’t just take his life. I ruined Kyan’s by not bringing him back.
I almost ruined yours. I won’t make that mistake twice, not when I can fixit,” Kat says turning to look at Eziah who just stood there looking defeated, his shoulders dropped and he hung his head.
“This is what will give me peace, give Kyan back his father and Dominic back his life. A small price to pay. It started with the moon goddess, and now it ends with her,” Kat says, and Marabella tries to get to her feet. Her mother’s magic slips out and I pull her against me.
One of Kat’s eyes turned black, the other gold, black, and gold tendrils slivered across her arms and face as she opened her arms, and I was blinded with light.
The noise echoed through the sky louder then a crack of lightening, louder than a bomb when she smashed the stones against one another. An explosion of power erupted out of her, and the ground shook violently. Marabella screamed, and Eziah fell to his knees when the ruins began to crack, the ground shaking.
I blink, shielding my eyes around the light to find the shadows standing around Kat, flickering. All the ghosts from the Octavian bloodline stood around her, and she opened her fingers, the stones turneding to dust, falling to the ground as they slipped through her fingers only to be swept away by the wind.
Kat closes her eyes and sighs before turning to the coffin and holding the sides. Marabella crawled forward on her hands and knees, as the last gigantic rock crumpled to the ground and turned to dust.
It was carried away with the breeze, along with the Octavian’s ghosts, their whispers carried on the breeze around us. Finally set free, the curse was broken. I could feel it in every cell my body. Marabella gets to her feet just as Kat leans over the coffin peering in.
“Thank you,” she whispers to Dominic.
“No, Kat. Thank you,” says a deep velvety voice, so clear and so smooth. A voice I hadn’t heard since the last time I saw the man alive. Kat flickers, her body shuddering.
“The realm is calling me back to clean up, but I suspect you guys can handle the rest,” Kat says, facing us. She smiles just as the man himself sits up behind her. Kat vanished, and Dominic gr0@ned. We all just blinked and stared at the man. He blinks and cracks his neck.
“You… Kyan…” Marabella murmurs, yet I could feel her urge to touch him. Like she couldn’t believe it what she was seeing was real. Mara was afraid this was one of her dreams. When she throws herself in his arms, hugging him tightly and nearly falling in the coffin with him.
“You have no idea how long I have waited to hold you, my girl,” Dominic says, his arms wrapping around her as he hug her. His movements were slow and sluggish, but his mind was sharp as a tack and his speech clear as a bell. Marabella steps back, wiping her tears, and Dominic looks around for Kyan.
“Where is he?” Dominic asks. He tries to get out of the coffin, yet his legs don’t want to cooperate as he tumbles out. I step forward, gripping his arm before he hits the ground. I help set him on the ground. Dominic s***s in a breath looking around with a sigh.
“Just gotta give me a minute. The body doesn’t want to work just yet,” Dominic says, and Marabella and I look at Eziah. Eziah stared at Dominic like he was seeing a ghost before feeling our eyes watching him. He looks at us, and Mara stares at her brother expectantly.
“What?” he says, looking between us before looking down at Dominic.
“Nope, no way, man, I am not making out with Kyan’s father,” Eziah says, and Mara bats her lashes at him.
“Nope, sorry, Daddy Dom, I don’t swing that way,” Eziah says, shaking his head.
“Please? You can’t expect him to walk back like that?” Mara pleads with her twin.
“I’m good, Mara. I just need a few minutes,” Dominic says, his voice stunning me again. However, Mara folded her arms across her chest, popped her hip and pursed her lips. Eziah growls and rolls his eyes before he sighs giving into his sister.
“Fine, and don’t even think about slipping in the tongue,” Eziah says, grabbing Dominic’s head between his hands. Eziah scrunched his face up before pecking Dominic’s lips so quickly that I almost missed it.
“Ah yuck,” he says, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. Dominic chuckles but gets more color about himself and shakes his head.
“That wasn’t necessary, but thanks. I think, because you’re a lousy kisser,” Dominic says before holding his hand out.
“I wasn’t even trying,” Eziah snapped at him. Mara grabs Dominic’s hand and I step forward, gripping his elbow and helping him stand on his feet.
“Now, where is that son of mine?” Dominic says, putting an arm over Mara’s shoulder. We turn around to head toward the trail, only to stop when we spot Kyan standing at the edge of the clearing.
“Dad?” he says, his voice breaking. Tears streamed down his face as he stumbled forward and Dominic staggers back as the shadows of his magic suddenly hit him.
“Kye,” Dominic murmurs.
Kyan POV
I was halfway back to the manor when I heard the crack, the sound so loud it hurt my ears, and I jumped. The wind rushed toward me like a wall from the forest behind me, making me stop when I felt my father’s magic erupt in me. His power burst from my fingertips, twisting and escaping through the air. I watched his magic float on the breeze back toward the forest, as light engulfed the sky.
Consuming the night and turning it to light. I watched as my father’s shadows moved toward the ruins, slivering across the gra*s*s. “Kaif?” I asked because he was so quiet I wondered if he was still with me.
“She broke the curse,” Kaif whispers to me and I could feel shock wash through him.
“Marabella?” I worried.
“No, Katya,” he murmurs. The shadows move across the ground, disappearing into the forest, and I run toward the treeline. The oppressive forest felt light, like the shadows and ghosts of my ancestors were no longer shackled by the errors of a past that held them, the torment and anguish no longer suffocating.
The forest almost seemed calm, like a weight had lifted allowing it to breath. Now it was blooming and rejuvenating as life returned.
The ashes and blood that tainted its soil now bleeding back into the earth, the spirits were no longer repressed, instead they are free. I followed my father’s shadows as they slid across the forest floor like a serpent, finding their way home.
Stepping through the treeline and emerging at the b****l grounds, the ruins were gone and the stars twinkled above along with the moon. I stood stunned, and my heart raced in my chest as I stared ahead.
My eyes deceived me as I watched the man stand. His magic moved across the ground, wanting to go home, and he turned to face me.
The lump in my throat threatened to ch*oke me as I saw his face, exactly as I remembered him. “Dad?” I ch*oked out, taking a step toward him in disbelief. He staggers back a step as he s***s in a breath as the shadows touch him, bleeding his power and life back into him.
His lips quivered, and his lips parted. “Kye,” he stammered. His voice made my heart jolt, and I stumbled forward. How I longed for his soothing voice, the voice that would read to me each night as he tucked me in bed, the voice that would soothe me when the darkness came for me.
My father’s voice, a voice I thought I would never hear beyond my dreams, yet prayed I one day would.
He moved his arm off Ella’s shoulder and staggered forward, and I ch*oked, my body moving before I processed the thought too. My body crashed against the man whose touch I would have given my last breath to feel again.
His arms strong as they embraced me, the same as I remembered, warm and promising to make everything better. If time stood still, I could stand in this moment forever. His arms wrapped tightly around me like they did that morning when he loaded me in the car to take me to Jonah’s.
Clutching me like I was his lifeline, only after his d***h did I realize he was saying goodbye. I had stared at him strangely, wondering why he didn’t seem to want to let go. And now I understood why, because I couldn’t bear to let him go either now.
“I missed you; I never stopped missing you, son,” he breathed against my neck his fingers in my hair as he held tight while my arms clutched his neck not wanting to let go in case I woke from this dream.
“I love you, I have always loved you, and I am sorry I left you, but I’m here now,” he whispered, and all I could do was nod, praying he would just keep speaking so I could listen to his voice.
“I’m right here, right here, son” he says soothingly. Hearing a sniffle, I open my eyes to see my mates. Both were crying along with Eziah, and I wondered what they sacrificed. What Kat sacrificed for us. Dad lets me go, and we turn to face them.
“Come on, kids, let’s go home,” Dad tells them, holding his hand out to Marabella. She takes it, and he tugs her closer, kissing her hair and reaching his hand pased her toward Jonah, who steps forward.
He rest his head on dad’s and I let out a breath seeing dad so accepting of Jonah like he always knew it would come to this, and Jonah was just another of his children like I was Andrei’s and Sages.
“I hear. I’m going to be grandpa,” he chuckles tapping Jonah’s face dotingly before he turns to me and chucks his arm over my shoulder, he kisses my temple and we make our way back toward the trail leading to the manor.
I glance back over my shoulder at Eziah; he nods to me, wiping a stray tear. “By setting him free, he set her free. He is one less skeleton she has to live with,” Eziah says, no animosity in his voice and I s*****w.
I peer over at Mara tucked under my father’s arm her arm behind his back as he fingertip brushed against me, he other hand holding Jonah’s. “Did either of your fathers claim Pops yet? I feel too young to be called grandpa, maybe Papa or pappy?” He muses.
“Oh and names, can I help I like picking names,”
“As long as it isn’t Daddy Dom,” Mara says, shooting her brother a look. I look at him and raise an eyebrow.
“Dude, don’t look at me like that; I kissed your father. I’m his Daddy Dom now,” Eziah laughs.
“And I must say he is a terrible kisser, have you heard of lip palm? I have been d**d 18 years, and my lips weren’t even that dry,” Dad says and I laugh at their banter. How everthing seemed so normal.
When we emerged into the fields around the manor, my father stopped in his tracks and gazed ahead. He peered up at the manor. “Home Sweet Home!” He whispers giving my shoulder a squeeze.
I looked at the manor for the first time since he left, and I felt it actually was. This place hadn’t been home in so long, but looking at it now, I knew it would be home again.
My family was complete, Kaif was free, the curse was lifted, and the one person that made this place home had finally returned. Yes, home, I thought. Let’s go Home.