Chapter 49 Jaxon's desperate plea

Chapter 49 Jaxon's desperate plea
“The goddess has spoken,” Astraea said. “The south is no longer under the protection of the moon.”

Fenris came forward, his shadow looming over the broken alpha. “I would tell you to leave Jaxon, but it seems as if the world is already leaving you behind.”

“Astrea, wait, please.” The voice was a pathetic thing. Jaxon was crawling against the stone, his fingers clutching the air, as if he could pull her back by sheer force of his will.

He looked like a man who had aged fifty years in a single hour. Astraea didn't stop. She didn't even break her stride.

“Astraea, I'm begging you,” Jason's voice rose into a frantic shriek. “I was wrong. I see it now.”

“The goddess she showed me. I was blinded by the healers, by the pressure of the crown. I was trying to save our people, and I lost my way.

Fenris growled. “Back away, dog, before I decide your tongue is the next thing to rot.”

“No,” Jaxon looked up, his eyes red and filled with tears. He ignored Fenris.

“Astraea, look at me. You loved me once. I know you still do. The bond, it wasn't just a mark. It was us. You were my light.”

“I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Come back to the south. I will rebuild the moon temple. We can fix this.”

Astraea finally stopped and slowly turned around. Jason let out a sob of relief, hope coming into his eyes.

“Yes, that's it. Look at me, Astraea. Remember the night in the shadow fang pack. Remember who we were before the world got in the way.”

Astraea looked at him. Then she laughed. It wasn't a cruel laughter. It was a laugh of someone who had heard a joke they had outgrown a long time ago.

“You think I still love you, Jaxon?” Astraea asked.

“I know you do,” Jaxon whispered, his voice shaking, “A love like ours. Doesn't just vanish. It's buried. Let me help you dig it out.” Jaxon took a step forward.

“You have such a small, fragile imagination,” she said softly.

“You think the world begins and ends with your ego. You think a love built on my silence and your vanity is something worth resurrecting.”

She strengthened her hands up, finding Fenris arms. “Jason, look at the man beside me,” Astraea said, her voice rising so that the entire council of elders would hear.

“Fenris did not just claim me because of a prophecy or a tribute. He did not wait for a goddess to tell him my worth. He saw the zenith when I was nothing but blood and broken bones in the snow.”

“He saved me. He clothed me. He gave me a throne while you were busy trying to find a ways to replace me.”

Jaxon's lip curled, a flash of his old arrogance. “He is a beast, Astraea. He is a relic of the old age. He is using you to consolidate his power. He…”

“He is an ancient, yes.” Astraea interrupted. “ His soul is as old as the mountain he rules, yes. But his heart is a forge of iron and honour. When he speaks, the north listens because they trust him.”

She gripped Fenris's hands, their fingers locking with a familiarity that made Jaxon jealous. “You talk about bonds.”

“Jaxon. I am mated to a king who would burn the world to see me smile and rebuild it for my comfort. I am mated to a man who knows that power is a responsibility, not a toy.”

She looked over at Jaxon's miserable form. “You are a boy, Jaxon, a spoilt, petulant boy who broke his favorite toy and is now crying because he realizes it was actually gold.”

“Fenris is a man. He's the alpha you could never be. And the mate you will never be. You lost me to the truth of what you really are.”

Jaxon collapsed, his hands holding his chest as if he were physically breaking. “Astraea, please.”

“Do not say my name again,” Astraea commanded, the Zenith voice vibrating.

“Every time it passes through your lips, the rot on your neck will burn. Consider it a reminder of the silence you once forced on me.”

“You should have stayed in your garden, little wolf,” Fenris said. “At least there, you could pretend to be important. Here you are nothing but a lesson of what happens when a boy tries to play with the moon.”

Fenris turned to Astraea, his expression turning into something so tender, he made the people around gasp. “The carriage is waiting, my queen, the north misses its heart.”

“Then let's go home,” Astraea replied.

#. #. #. #. #.

The heavy, dark carriage rumbled over the frost shattered road. Astraea sat by the window, watching the neutral zone disappear. The rush of the confrontation was going away, leaving behind a strange peace.

She felt lighter than she had ever felt in her entire life. Fenris sat opposite her, his huge body taking up nearly two seats. He didn't stop looking at her, since they got in, his eyes were filled with pride, hunger, and a protective heat.

“You are unusually quiet for someone who just destroyed her opponent,” Fenris said, his voice low.

Astraea turned her head. “I was just thinking about what I said. About Jaxon being a boy.”

“He is,” Fenris said, leaning forward. “But it was the other part of your speech that interested me more.”

Astraea raised an eyebrow. “Oh, which part?.”

“The part where you called me a man,” Fenris said, a smile on his lips. “And the part where you told him you were mated to an ancient. You sounded quite certain, my queen.”

Astraea felt a flush of heat creep up her neck. “I was only telling the truth. Jaxon always wanted a mate he could control. You wanted a mate who would stand beside you. There is a difference.”

“There is,” Fenris agreed. “But you spoke of me as if you have known my soul for a thousand years. Is that the Zenith talking or the girl?”

Astraea's finger entwined with his. “Maybe it is both. When the goddess blessed us, I felt it Fenris. I felt the thread of the North weaving into my own. I didn't just see a king, I saw my home. I saw the man who caught me when the world let me fall.”

Fenris expression softened. He stood from his seat, the carriage swaying slightly under his weight as he moved to sit beside her.

“I didn't catch you just to save you, Astraea. I caught you because I couldn't bear the thought of the world without your light in it. When I saw you laugh in that coward's face, I realized I haven't just found a queen, I have found my equal.”

He reached up his thumb, tracing the lines of her jaw. Astraea leaned into his touch, her eyes closing shut, her hands playing with the cloak. “Fenris,”

“Hmm?”

“They are going to come for us, aren't they? Jaxon will try something desperate. He has nothing left but his pride, and pride is a poisonous thing when it is broken.”