Chapter 77
Ella's POV
Nicholas's fleeing figure looked particularly pathetic in the curtain of rain. His silver armor was caked with mud, his once-proud bearing utterly gone. Victoria's wolf stumbled along behind him carrying Stella, while the witch Uma's black robes flapped in the wind like a startled bird.
"Don't let them escape!"
Ignis roared in the depths of my consciousness. Sage followed close behind, frost spreading beneath his paws, turning the muddy ground into solid ice. Victoria's wolf form Aurora nearly slipped several times, Stella's weakened body swaying precariously on her back.
"Mom, hang on!" Victoria's voice through the mental link was tinged with desperation. Her wolf claws scraped deep grooves in the ice, struggling to maintain balance.
Ignis's flame whip cut through the air, whistling past Aurora's hind leg. The smell of singed fur spread through the air as Victoria let out a pained howl.
She staggered, nearly throwing Stella off.
"Daughter..." Stella's voice was barely audible. "Put me down."
"No!" Victoria's answer was resolute. She gritted her teeth, her limbs frantically scrambling across the ice, trying to increase the distance from her pursuers.
But Sage was faster. He leaped through the air, his massive body like a moving iceberg. Cold air poured from him, condensing into countless ice spikes in the air. The spikes fell like rain, forcing Victoria to dodge left and right, her speed inevitably slowing.
Ignis seized the opportunity, flames gathering in her maw.
I could feel the fury churning within her—hatred for Stella who had killed my father, anger at Victoria's past humiliations, condemnation of all the pain this war had brought.
"Burn them!" Ignis snarled.
Just then, they passed the camp the Blood River pack had abandoned in their retreat.
Tattered tents swayed in the wind, various discarded supplies scattered across the ground. And in the center of that wreckage, a familiar figure knelt on the ground.
Kane.
His entire body was scorched black, his skin covered in scars left by lightning strikes. Rain washed over his body but couldn't cleanse those horrifying wounds. His breathing was labored, clearly at the end of his strength.
Stella saw her chance.
She slid down from Victoria's back, her movements weak but decisive. Victoria looked back in horror, wanting to stop her mother, but was halted by Stella's glare.
"Mom, no—"
Stella didn't answer. She staggered toward Kane, drawing a silver dagger from her waist and pressing the blade against his throat.
Ignis and Sage immediately stopped in their tracks.
"One step closer and I'll slit his throat." Stella's voice was hoarse and mad. Her hand trembled, but her grip on the dagger didn't loosen at all.
Uma seized the moment to cast dark magic, thorn chains bursting from the ground to snatch Victoria away, separating mother and daughter.
"Mom!" Victoria's howl echoed through the rain, full of despair and unwillingness.
But Stella didn't look back. Her eyes held only madness and resentment.
Sage slowly shifted back to human form.
Julian's bare torso was covered in fine frost, rainwater sliding down the perfect lines of his muscles. His golden hair was plastered wetly to his forehead, ice-blue eyes coldly watching Stella.
Ignis reluctantly returned my body to me. The moment I shifted back to human form, a wave of dizzying weakness struck me.
Julian immediately stepped forward to support me, his arm circling my waist, warm and strong.
Kane raised his head, his gaze passing over Stella to land on me.
His expression was impossible for me to read—guilt, pain, and something tender I didn't want to acknowledge.
"Ella..." His voice was hoarse. "I'm sorry."
I turned my face away, not wanting to look at him.
Those apologies came too late, so late I no longer needed them.
Stella let out a nearly hysterical laugh.
"Sorry?" Her voice was sharp and piercing. "I devoted my entire life to the pack! I bled and sweated for the Vane family, fought for Silver Moon's glory. And what did I get in return? Abandoned! Forgotten! I hate you high-and-mighty Alphas, hate this pack that devours people without spitting out their bones!"
Her hand trembled as the dagger carved a shallow bloody line on Kane's throat.
"Who do you think you are? Think you can manipulate others' fates at will? I'm telling you, today none of you will have it easy!"
Julian's voice was calm and authoritative: "Stella, put down the weapon. You've already lost."
"Lost?" Stella laughed wildly. "Yes, I've lost. But at least, at least I'll make you pay!"
Just then, Kane spoke.
His voice was weak but carried a certain resolve: "Ella, I know I've done many wrong things. I hurt you, disappointed you." He coughed several times, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. "But I want you to know, during those years in Blood River, you were my only light. You kept me from becoming a beast in that hell."
"Shut up!" Ignis roared in my consciousness. "Don't you dare soften! Our destined mate is Sage!"
I felt Julian's arm tighten slightly around me.
Sage had clearly heard Kane's words too, wolf fur rippling across his arm, showing his inner displeasure.
I took a deep breath and met Kane's gaze.
"I've already let go of the past." My voice was calm. "Yesterday fell like autumn leaves, what comes after is a brand new self."
I took a step forward, Julian moving with me. We stood side by side, facing the kneeling Kane and the mad Stella.
"Your confession, I accept it." I spoke with the bearing of a sovereign. "But that doesn't mean I forgive what you've done."
My gaze turned to Stella, eyes sharp as a blade: "I will not allow anyone to defile my father's flame!"
Stella was clearly panicked: "What are you going to do?"
I didn't answer.
Fire element surged within me, condensing into the shape of a bow in my hands. Blazing flames burned in the rain, crackling and hissing.
Julian stepped forward, his hand covering mine. Ice element flowed from within him, condensing in the air into a crystalline arrow.
He held my hand as we drew the bow together. The combination of flame bow and frost arrow radiated a heart-stopping power.
Kane looked at the wolf spirits manifesting behind us—crimson Ignis and gray-white Sage standing side by side, their auras intertwining in the unique breath-merging state of destined mates.
He smiled bitterly: "I see."
He raised his head, shouting toward Julian: "Take care of her!"
Then he closed his eyes, ready to face death.
I released the bowstring.
The arrow shot forth, gradually melting in flight, transforming into a stream of water. It precisely struck the ground before Kane, the water instantly spreading, flowing past Kane to envelop Stella behind him.
Stella screamed in terror, but it was too late. The water froze around her body, turning her entire form into an ice sculpture.
Kane opened his eyes in surprise, then his body went limp as he collapsed to the ground.
I walked forward and lightly tapped the ice sculpture.
Stella toppled backward, the ice shattering.
She lay gravely wounded and dying, with only her last breath remaining.
The rain continued to fall, washing away the blood and filth of the battlefield. I stood there, looking at the fallen Kane and the dying Stella, feeling no joy of victory in my heart, only deep exhaustion.
Julian quietly took my hand.
"It's over," he said softly.
Yes, it was over.