chapter 86

ARIELLA.

With both his arms ripped from his torso, David remained on the ground, bleeding out. He knew that was done too, with that horror etched on his face. Eli wanted to go for his head next, but I stopped him. I wanted to finish him off myself. "Let me end this, Eli. I don't want the other vampires to blame you or any other werewolf. At least if it's me, they'll only hate me, the daughter of the Moon Goddess."

Eli growled in approval, which delighted me. But David was still trying to mock me. "You really think that you're something, Ariella? You're just a tool... Even these werewolves are just using you... Sooner or later you'll realize it..."

"Your words mean nothing to me now, David," I told him. "You could have saved yourself if you just listened to your brother."

"Who? Darius? That weak bastard? He has no clue of what he's preaching!"

I shook my head. "No, David. I think he does. And I could see him become a good king to your kind. He's much better than you in so many ways, but especially how he knows what it means to love someone so dearly."

"That's a lot of crap," he replied, laughing like a maniac. "That's a common line for fools like you. My brother is the biggest fool there is, and soon he'll find out how it feels to trust and get betrayed by you werewolves---"

"There will be no more betrayal because you will finally be gone." Those were the last words he heard from me because as I said that, the necklace I was wearing shone so bright that all of me became illuminated. Eli had to step back to protect his eyes as my body started emitting very bright light.

I was unaffected by it though. I feel powerful too, as if I had known that I had this power all along. I was releasing so much moonlight that it was only a matter of time before this whole forest shone like it was daytime. And I guess the light I was emitting could hurt my enemies since David was already yelling in pain and he started to disintegrate into dust-like particles.

David disappeared without a trace. His body got pulverized, ending his long reign of misguided wrath against the werewolves. I was afraid that Eli would get hurt by my light too, but I think he was immune to it. I think I can understand my powers better now. It looked like I could only harm the people who tried to harm me or my loved ones. Otherwise, I am just a regular woman, whose mother happened to be the Moon Goddess.

All that was left at the spot where David lay was a ring that glittered on the ground. I picked it up and realized what it was. "My memories. I finally got it back."

I turned around to see Eli finally transform back into his human form. Viel's body was only a few feet from us. He, too, was already dead and might have just missed my moonlight thanks to the tree that shielded him. Eli had successfully killed him too and now we no longer have enemies. I already wanted to celebrate, but Eli went unconscious as he returned to his human form. I quickly went to tend to him and I was glad that he was still breathing fine.

I went to take Viel's coat and used it to cover Eli's body. Using my super strength, I carried him back to the cabin where we rested for a bit. I slept next to Eli and savored our victory in silence. There was a strange feeling that pestered me though. I think I have been sleeping for a few hours already when I sensed that someone or something was near me. When I opened my eyes, I caught a glimpse of a woman's silhouette running out of the cabin.

I got up and followed her, but she was too quick and she disappeared in the darkness. I wasn't sure, but I think it was also me--- my other self that was with Blaire, Darius, and Lawrence at the abandoned building. I wondered what would happen to her now that I changed her future. But if she saw me, then I think she would disappear just like what my mother had warned me. But maybe that was the right thing to happen too as only one of us should remain. I can't grasp how time logic works anyway, but I guess I was successful as this is my future now.

Because Eli wasn't waking up yet, I got bored so I wore the ring. As soon as I wore it, flashes of images from my past had started coming back. I suddenly remembered a lot of the things that I forgot, but I can't say that I have retrieved all of my memories yet. Maybe they will return gradually and I am fine with it. What matters is that everything is fine now and I am with my mate. This was truly the beginning of the end, and I couldn't wait to spend it with Eli.

***

A few more hours passed and finally, Blaire and the others found us here inside the cabin. I told them everything that happened and they couldn't believe that we had actually defeated David. Darius confirmed it though and told me that he could no longer sense his brother's presence. Lawrence cried, but he seemed relieved too.

"What are you going to do now?" I asked Blaire who made us a recovery potion. I drank it and it immediately perked me up. "You could come with us if you like. We'll go back to our pack as soon as Eli fully recovers."

Blaire smiled sadly. "I'd like that, but I don't want to cause you more trouble, Ariella. David might be gone, but we still have more work to do. We can't just trust everybody now that the Vampire King is no longer here."

"I guess you're right," I said, thinking how the people back in our pack would react once they found out that Blaire was about to have a half-vampire as her child. "Then are you going to stay here?"

"Yeah, we have already talked about it," Darius chimed in. "We could all stay at the castle, the three of us. But I will also have to inform the other vampires about my brother's death."

"You should assume the throne, Darius. I believe that you can make a difference," he replied.

"And you too. You should claim your identity as the Moon Goddess too," he said, smiling. It was still weird to look at his kind face as he looked very much like his twin brother. "You should lead your pack too. You and Eli. Even just for a while or until we heal the wounds of both sides."

"I'll think about that..."

To be honest, I just want to spend the next weeks or months with David alone. I just wanted to take back the time we lost because of David. I don't want any kind of responsibility yet. But I also knew that our pack needed us.

***

It was midnight when Eli finally woke up. He immediately went to look for me and gave me a hug when he saw me. "Finally, now it's just us," he said.

"Not really. We still have a lot of things to do, Eli. We have to help our pack start all over again."

He nodded, then sniffed my neck. He wanted to kiss me but I stopped him as we were still discussing. "Well, they could all wait. But we have to do something long overdue."

"What is it?"

"We have to get married and perform the mating ritual, Ariella."