chapter 75

Ari's POV

The bedroom faded away, dropping me in Gemma's realm, but she wasn't there. The earth had lost all of its green. It looked like it was all dying. That blue figure that had been in the sky was still there.

The primal roar that ripped from my throat seemed to shake the foundations of the realm. My vision was, blurred by a potent cocktail of rage and the drugs. Disgust and hatred battled with a primal confusion within me.

"Help me!" I screamed. "Someone--"

Lightning struck in front of me, throwing me back. I hit a large boulder and nearl threw up from the pain.

What was happening. Gemma's realm was the one place I shouldn't have been hurt. I looked up and saw a blinding light where the lightning had touched down. As the light subsided, a colossal figure materialized, its form shifting and wavering like smoke on a restless wind. It glowed blue. It looked like a warrior, clad in archaic armor that shimmered with an otherworldly blue light, a weapon that crackled with raw power held loosely in its hand. This was no man.

This had to be the war god.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"I'm A-Ari," I rasped, the word a guttural plea that tore from my ravaged throat. "Help me."

The towering figure turned its gaze towards me, and for a moment, I felt a flicker of recognition, a connection that transcended time and circumstance. But then, just as quickly, the recognition flickered out, replaced by an indifference that chilled me to the bone. My stomach plummeted.

"You had the nerve to call me?" The warrior boomed, its voice a chorus of thundering echoes. "Your struggle is not mine."

Disbelief slammed into me, a fresh wave of pain eclipsing the physical agony coursing through my veins.

"But… But I'm your descendant," I stammered. "Your child--"

"Maybe. And?" The war god interrupted, its voice devoid of warmth. "I don't care about your struggle, or you. I only want children strong enough to stand at my side." He scoffed. "You are broken. Worthless. You may have inherited my power, but you are weak."

The war god's words, devoid of empathy, felt like a crushing blow. I'd hoped he would be my savior from this. To help me. But... how could I be surprised to find that my real father, or however it worked, also didn't give a damn about me. A primal loneliness echoed within me, a despair that threatened to consume me whole.

"That's not true."

He scoffed. "You had years to escape that woman and her husband, and you did not. Too weak to chance death. Comfortable in your circumstances? It is only when you realized you were pregnant that you thought to leave really." He laughed. "Not only are you weak, but you're delusional too."

He chuckled and leaned down. "Would you like to know a secret, silly girl?"

I sniffled, my shoulders heaving as my mind raced.

"You're not defective," he said. "Or different... What do you think that means for you and your children?"

My heart leaped into my throat. I shook my head. He laughed.

"Perhaps now you'll have the sense to grow a spine and do what needs to be done."

I shook my head. "You're lying! You're lying!"

"I could care less about you, your children, or your future. What reason would I have to lie to you." He scoffed. "I simply thought it best to enlighten you."

"Von..." I gasped. "Von is--"

"Just as delusional," he said. He snorted. "Or rather, you have cast a veil over his eyes so thick, that not even a love potion could change that."

"What do you mean?"

He smirked. "Of all the powers you decided to activate... allegiance was your choice of weapon. Despicable as it may be... My powers cover all facets of war: espionage, collaboration... You have essentially used that power against him."

"No."

He chuckled. "Sloppily and dumbly, of course, but it is true. You used his loneliness as a weapon against him to secure yourself protection."

"That's not true! I love Von!"

He scoffed. "You know nothing about him. That's not love. It's lust and fear at most. Not that it matters. You should hear the way you sound on your real mate's cock. It's embarrassing."

I heard my pained moans and the way they twined together in a way that I couldn't make sense of whether or not I was in pain or...

Or...

My stomach lurched. I turned away from him as he started to fade away into a cloud of light. I sobbed, taking off through the decaying landscape. There was no sound besides my sobbing.

I was utterly alone.

That man couldn't be my mate. He couldn't be! No mate would treat me like this? I felt every shot of pain rattling through me. The sky turned red like blood.

The cubs were in danger.

What was I supposed to do?

The war god's indifference seemed so cruel. I was whirling. I didn't know what to think.

Did no one... Did no one care about me? Was what he said really true?

Without a conscious thought, I retreated deeper into the recesses of my own mind. Gemma realm started to fade. The darkness gave way to a clearing with a shimmering river running through it. Its water flowed with an ethereal glow. Drawn by an invisible force, I stumbled towards it, collapsing onto the soft bank as the cool water lapped at my feet.

Tears, unchecked now, streamed down my face, a torrent of grief and frustration. As I cried, a single, heartbreaking thought echoed in the vast emptiness of my mind: What was I supposed to do now?

The shimmering river went still. Tears streamed down my face, splashing on the water's surface. A ripple formed, distorting the reflection. Suddenly, it wasn't the bloody sky like before, but the sky over the castle.

It was Von's castle.

A jolt of something akin to electricity shot through me. Von. The memory of his strong arms wrapped around me, his voice a soothing balm against the ever-present fear, flooded my senses. He cared for me. No matter what the war god said I knew the truth. He cared for me, and I wanted to be with him. I wasn't going to just die here!

The war god's words echoed through my mind but I pushed them away.

i I shook my head. It couldn't be. People cared about me. Ember cared about me. Von cared about me.

We were mates. I know we are.

I wouldn't listen to what he'd said. Whatever the war god's plan is in telling me that, or if this was all just a hallucination from the pain, didn't matter.

I had to get out of here.

I had to get to Von.

My eyes snapped open. He was mid thrust on top of me, shaking and shuddering. My hands were free. Everything hurt, but I couldn't give up.

I locked eyes with the man. He smirked at me.

"Feeling good?"

I pushed at him, trying to get him off me, but he just laughed and held me down, still thrusting.

"I'm glad you still have a bit of fight in you," he panted. "it's always better--" I reared up and he slammed be back down. "When they struggle."

A searing pain lanced through my skull. The scent of the lab closed in around me. I smelled him and his assistant. The pain radiated through me.

I shove back against him, focusing on getting him off and out of me. The stone shuddered underneath us. Then, with a sickening snap, something broke.

It was the last strap holding me down.

He was stunned for a moment. Then, his eyes went cold. He clenched my arms tight and lifted me with a feral snarl before slamming me back down.

"I'll teach you," he hissed, slamming me down again. "You'll do as I say. You'll take my cock and give me that spirit, so help me--"

The pain swarmed and took over, then everything went black