Chapter 143 143

Chapter 143 143


Venessa’s POV

Two months and two weeks had slipped by since the meeting with the alphas in the Blood Moon Pack, yet it felt as though time itself had thickened, stretching and pressing down on us with every passing day.

Training consumed us. It was relentless brutal even and alongside it, I made sure the shelters were fully stocked with provisions. If the war dragged on longer than we hoped, our people would not starve while fighting for survival. I refused to let that be another failure on my conscience.

The alphas who chose to engage Tremaine through conversation returned with nothing but grim reports. Their words carried no hope, no room for compromise. Some of their scouts had managed to locate Tremaine’s base, but none of them ever made it back. Without them, there was no way to trace the path or verify the intelligence. They vanished as though the forest itself had swallowed them whole.

Then Desmond received Tremaine’s response.

Join him or die.

It was a threat wrapped in inevitability, and it dragged us right back to the solution I had suggested from the very beginning. There was never going to be another way out.

Training intensified, but this time, a different kind of panic settled deep inside me. It wasn’t the physical exhaustion or the looming battle it was the gnawing realization that my time was almost gone. I struggled to accept it. Truly struggled.

My visions haunted me relentlessly. Everywhere I looked, I saw death our people falling, our lands soaked in blood. A complete annihilation. Total wipeout. And no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t yet see the path that would spare us from it.

Ultraviolet ammunition was prepared as quickly as our engineers could manage. Oversized bullets. Blades infused with ultraviolet light. It wasn’t perfect, but given the short notice, they had done remarkably well. It was the best weapon we had.

Tyrell had been gone for ten days, leading a covert operation to uncover Tremaine’s hideout. Jalisa lived in constant anxiety during his absence I could see it in the tightness of her movements, even during training. I wanted her to stay behind, to oversee the shelters, to be safe but she refused. In the end, I placed that responsibility on Tonya instead.

Jalisa insisted on training with us, and I allowed it.

She knew what was coming. She had seen the same darkness I had. She was ready to die beside Tyrell if it came to that, and the resolve in her eyes was unmistakable. It was the same look I saw in everyone’s gaze.

They all knew there was a chance we wouldn’t return.

Denzel. Rayon. Devon. Tyrell. Jalisa.

They were prepared to give everything. This was no longer about survival it was about eradication. We weren’t attacking in hopes of living through it. We were going to wipe them out completely. And if death claimed us in the process, so be it.

That resolve hardened into action.

Denzel froze his swimmers. I instructed Tonya on exactly what to do if we didn’t come back if Tremaine and Eshera were finally destroyed and our world was free. She had to understand what was at stake. She had to accept the possible outcome.

There had to be an heir.

Later, I sat alone in the bedroom, replaying everything I had tried to accomplish within my one-year limit. Tears blurred my vision before I could stop them. I had lived more in this single year than I ever had in my entire previous life and the thought of saying goodbye so soon shattered me.

I looked around the room, and my heart sank.

The memories Denzel and I had created… they weren’t enough.

He had recorded me since the day of our picnic and never stopped capturing every stolen moment, every laugh, every quiet breath between us. No matter how grueling our days became, we always found time for each other. But now, with the end looming so close, reality crashed down on me, and fear took hold.

I wished desperately for a miracle. A switch I could flip. A bargain I could make. Anything that would grant us more time.

There was nothing.

So we clung to what we had.

When I heard Denzel enter the room, I quickly wiped my tears. He sat beside me on the bed, and I leaned into him without a word. He kissed the top of my head and pulled me close, holding me as though he could anchor me to this world.

“My heart is breaking too, darling,” he whispered, his voice fractured.

That was all it took. I collapsed against him, sobbing.

“I want to stay, Denz,” I cried. “I don’t want to leave you. I don’t want us to die. This is too much.”

He didn’t respond. He didn’t need to. I felt the weight of his grief pressing into me just as heavily as my own.

When I pulled back, silent tears were streaking down his face. Neither of us could speak. I returned to his arms, and he held me again.

We stayed like that for a long time motionless, wordless. There was nothing left to say. We had already said it all, and language could no longer carry the depth of what we felt.

The truth was brutal: we would give anything to escape this fate, to live long and full lives together. But that future was not meant for us. And the reality of it stood stark and unavoidable.

Eventually, Denzel broke the silence.

“Tyrell found their location,” he said quietly. “He’s on his way back. He did it without being detected.”

I sat up slowly, fear flooding my eyes. Knowing where Tremaine was made everything final.

“Where?” I asked, my voice low, hollow.

“The thick outland forest.”

I frowned. “That was the first place we searched.”

He nodded. “Tyrell believes they wanted to be found. The war is upon us and they’re ready too.”

Nyla had already confirmed it. I lowered my head.

“So we converge in Verdanne tomorrow evening,” he continued. “At noon, we move into the outlands and launch the attack. I’m considering bombing the forest to force them out.”

I nodded. That had always been the plan.

“There’s one more thing,” he added.

I stiffened.

“Your father is arriving in Verdanne with the Lycan troops. He wants to lead the war.”

My heart lurched. “He’ll die,” I said frantically.

Denzel grasped my hands. “There’s nothing we can do. You may be a princess, but he is the king. He leads. Fabian, Donovan, Keon, and I will follow as his generals. That’s how it must be.”

I was speechless.

“The visions are still bad,” I whispered.

He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter anymore, Venessa. We have no choice. I’m ready to give my life for the greater good.”

“No,” I cried. “You have to survive, Denz. Please.”

Tears streamed down my face as I clutched him. “You have to live for both of us. Please.”

He nodded slowly but there were no promises in his eyes.

Only resolve.

He would fight until his very last breath.