Chapter 148 148
Venessa’s POV
I turned my gaze toward Denzel.
He was fighting desperately to reach me, forcing his way through the chaos, but he couldn’t get close enough. The truth settled heavily in my chest I knew what had to be done.
“Nyla,” I called for my wolf.
But it wasn’t Nyla who answered.
It was Atabey.
Power surged through me, but it was unlike anything I had felt throughout my journey. This energy was different alive, intimate, as though it had always belonged to me and was only now awakening.
“Venessa,” Atabey’s voice echoed within me.
I clung to that sound, to the fragile hope it carried.
Fabian was still fighting at my side. Though badly injured, the devotion in his eyes burned fiercely. A true king in his own right. My husband. A general and prince worthy of his crown.
Yet it was only the three of us left to lead what remained of our forces.
Everyone else was gone.
And I knew it was only a matter of time before we followed.
“Venessa,” Atabey spoke again, her voice steady even as I severed another head from its body.
“I need you to make a sacrifice one that will cost you your life. Do you think you can do it?”
I almost wondered why she bothered to ask.
“Anything,” I replied without hesitation, desperation threading my voice. “Anything to save whoever is left. Anything to end this.”
“Good,” she said, releasing a heavy sigh.
“I have been grooming my champion for this moment, Venessa. I have been preparing you for this exact time when I destroy Eshera, and you survive long enough to make it possible.”
Her words pressed into me like destiny itself.
“I need you to get close to Tremaine. Hold him. I will push what remains of my life force what now resides in you into him. It will destroy him and his mother from the inside out.”
I absorbed every word in silence.
“You will both die,” she continued. “But the battle will be won. Those who remain will live long enough to rebuild. To heal.”
I had no choice.
Denzel had to survive. The Lycans who remained had to live. Fabian had to live. What was left of our people needed a future someone to tell the story.
This was for the greater good.
“Fight your way to him, Venessa,” Atabey instructed. “Touch him. I will do the rest.”
I obeyed.
Leaving Fabian’s side tore at me, but I forced myself forward. I carved a path toward Tremaine, slashing and beheading anything that dared stand in my way. My eyes never left him not even once.
“Do not come any closer, Venessa Gordon,” Tremaine warned, his voice cutting through the battlefield. “Or I will destroy your mate. I am only keeping him alive so you will have someone to love you when you finally choose to stand with me.”
I knew then this was my opening.
“Tremaine,” I linked him directly, pushing every ounce of control I had left into my voice. “I will disarm myself and come to you. If you spare their lives, I will follow you. I will join you.”
There was no immediate response.
My body was trembling with exhaustion.
“A deal is a deal, Venessa,” his voice finally answered. “I will save you from damnation. Your mate will live to love you. In return, you will serve me. Worship me. Rule beside me in a world without a sun.”
I already knew that outcome. Eshera despised the sunlight.
“I agree,” I said.
Something tugged sharply at my mind.
“I will clear a path for you,” he said.
I released my blade. Dropped the guns I had gathered during the battle. Completely unburdened, I moved toward him.
His soldiers didn’t touch me.
They stepped aside.
Cleared the way.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Denzel’s exhausted voice broke through the link.
“What I should have done the moment Tremaine stepped onto this battlefield,” I replied.
I felt his fear raw and consuming.
“Please, my love,” he begged. “Don’t do this. We’re still fighting. Let us fight until the end together.”
Tears streamed down my face.
Because I knew the truth.
The moment I touched Tremaine, I would die.
I would never hold Denzel again. Never see him smile. Never feel his warmth. And my death would fracture his heart beyond repair.
Still, I walked forward.
Toward Tremaine.
Toward darkness.
Toward my end.
“Your Majesty,” King Fabian’s voice reached me.
I turned and smiled.
He had finally accepted me as his queen.
“Be blessed, Fabian,” I told him gently, blocking him from reaching me. “Lead better than those before you. You are a true ruler, and Atabey will always honor your loyalty.”
Then I reached for Denzel.
“My love,” I said, sealing the link before he could stop me. “Do not forget that I lived. That we loved deeply and truly. We sacrificed so our sun would remain in the sky. So our world could stay beautiful.”
My chest ached as I continued.
“Love our children. Tell them about us. Tell them about the brave souls who fell here today the reason they will have a future. Tell them I did this with love.”
I closed the connection.
And then I reached Tremaine.
He smiled at me.
He stood nearly seven feet tall towering even in human form. His height alone explained why he never mingled among others.
His skin shimmered in metallic bronze. His eyes were pitch-black, a clear mark of the Lycan curse.
He was an abomination.
Something that should never have existed.
And I would make sure he didn’t remain in this world.
“Kneel,” Tremaine commanded, extending his hand toward me.
“This is our moment,” Atabey whispered.
I steadied myself.
Lowered my head in submission.
Eshera must have believed I was clinging to life never imagining I would use it as a weapon.
I took his hand.
Held it firmly.
Lowered my lips to kiss it
And felt the surge.
Atabey left me.
She tore through him.
Death wrapped around me as darkness consumed everything. My body collapsed, lifeless, to the ground.
I floated in endless void.
But I was at peace.
Because my world would be safe.