CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX: MATE DREAMS
Ashina’s Point of View---
I stood there, the pain-filled cries of my father echoing in the air, sending shivers down my spine. The urgency to find the bunkers tugged at my conscience, but I couldn't ignore the gut-wrenching sensation of his agony coursing through my own body. My mother's warriors had been dispatched, but I feared for her safety and prayed they would reach her in time.
As I knelt by my father's side, surrounded by the earth-toned leaves, his anguished cries tore at my heart. I felt a pang of estrangement towards the man who was once my father, as I struggled to recall his long-forgotten face. The sight of him in agony was unbearable, and tears streamed down my cheeks uncontrollably. Andor knelt beside me, a silent pillar of support as I held my father, his screams piercing the air.
With a heavy heart, I knew I had to leave him to seek help for my mother. Despite seeing no physical harm on his neck, I couldn't ignore the intensity of his suffering. The mystery of his pain weighed heavily on my mind as we parted ways, leaving me haunted by unanswered questions.
King Rendall---
The pain in my heart is unbearable. For years, I have been broken, unable to save my own mate. Darkness suddenly takes over, leaving me with nothing but darkness and anguish. I ache for my queen, whom I haven’t seen in years, yet in the depths of my mind, a vision of a stunning woman with midnight-black hair radiates an angelic glow – she is my mate. In this dark space, I find myself running again, and so is she. I watch as her image shimmers before me...
Lifting my hands, I cradled her exquisite cheeks in my palms, my thumbs caressing the softness of her lips with the faintest pressure. She was as breathtaking now as she had been on that fateful day when destiny tangled our paths at an Alpha's summit. Gradually, I closed the space between us, pressing a tender kiss to her waiting mouth.
This felt like that first moment I laid eyes on her many years ago, our gazes entwined, the revelation that the future with my destined mate struck me with the force of thunder. My heart sprinted like a startled gazelle, pounding a frenetic rhythm against my ribs. Words faltered on my lips, stuttered syllables heavy with the fear of her disdain, of a bond rejected. But then she laughed—a melodious sound spilling into the air like cascading silver—and she tumbled into my embrace, an unexpected affirmation of our intertwined fates.
Why we left our kingdom that year befuddles me now. We had heard there was an uprising amongst all our kingdom’s packs, and my beautiful mate Amira felt that it was best to visit each pack in person. If there was really problems with an uprising, then as the King and Queen we needed to let them see that we cared by visiting each and every pack personally.
It was with a great deal of regret that we left our precious Ashina with Amira's twin sister. Had we known when we returned that Malcolm was the Alpha who started the uprising and killed so many of our pack members. In retrospect, I hated inviting my uncle as family into my home, feeding him, and joking with him.
What could have caused my uncle's life to turn out this way? Our ages were the same, even though he was my uncle. The two of us were on the same football team, and we chased girls together. What had caused him to err so badly?
When I look into my mate's large, beautiful eyes, my heart pleads with her, "Please Amira, don't die."
Amira's voice was a strained whisper, evidence of Malcolm's brutality. "I'll do my best not to," she replied, her hand instinctively reaching for the tender swell of her damaged throat. "Malcolm may not have aimed to kill, but he might have wrecked my vocal cords irreparably. But then again, what does it matter? This is just a dream, isn't it? And yet, here I am, divulging my fears as if they could change our fate." A fragile smile quivered at the corners of her mouth. "Tell me, have you all reached safety? Did Ashina and our men shepherd you to shelter?" Her eyes held a haunted relief. "Knowing you are out of harm's way soothes my troubled heart. If I am to meet my end, the thought that Ashina won't face the darkness alone brings me solace."
Tears betrayed my stoic facade, carving warm trails down impassive cheeks. I was an network of resolve, an unyielding pillar for her to lean on; crying was never part of the image I crafted. Yet there I was, the dam of my emotions breached by the mere whisper of her absence. "Please wait, my love,” I pleaded to the thinning wisps of my dream, my voice threaded with desperation, “I am on my way! Could you—would you just wait for me?”
As the ghosts of my slumber withdrew, yielding to the invasive glare of reality, I became vaguely aware of my daughter, Ashina, a living reflection of absent love, with tears streaming down her face much like my own. My heart lurched at the sight, encased in a cocktail of guilt and fear. How had I not foreseen the chaos my absence would wreak upon her fragile world? The sterile hospital room, with its buzz and beep of monitors, felt tomb-like as I realized the depth of our shared silence.
Tentatively, with a trembling hand weighed down by regret, I reached out to tenderly caress Ashina's grief-stricken face. “My darling daughter,” I whispered, aching with remorse, “I am so sorry that life’s cruel storms have battered us apart, that I couldn’t be the shield to spare you from this rage.”
Through her sobs, Ashina looked up at me, her eyes a mirror of the agony that tore through me, “Dad, the warriors—they’ve found mother.”
With her simple declaration, a turbulent mix of relief and dread settled in my gut. I had to face the truth I'd been evading in the sheltered refuge of my dreams—the reality that the strength I projected may have been my most profound weakness, leaving my family adrift in my absence. Now, confronted by the raw pain in my daughter's eyes, it was time to confront the agonizing possibility that, in my search to be a persistent pillar, I may have inadvertently crumbled the very foundation I sought to uphold.