Chapter 461 - Fated To The Alpha (Complete Fated Series collection)
Katya
I'm tired. Tired of the weight of lives in the balance, of feeling the sting of death, of shouldering the blame for every inevitable end. I am a goddess, but now, I am also achingly, devastatingly one of those who scream for their loved ones.
“I know, but this is your burden,” Bane whispers, pulling me close.
“I'm sorry, my goddess, I'm sorry, but you must endure so others don't have to,” he murmurs, and in his embrace, I understand the crushing, sacred duty of my existence. I am the moon goddess, not fate itself; I create bonds, I don't choose if they keep them, I am to watch but not meddle, keeper of bonds, the silent guardian of lives I am not to alter.
And as I cling to Bane, the echo of my own heartbreak is a requiem for the choices I cannot make, for the love that binds me, and for the lives that continue beyond my reach.
“Don't tempt fate; if I know anything from watching Celeste and Seline, the consequences are never worth it. Save him, and ten die in his place. Save those ten and one hundred in their place. You know the consequences, you know the rules, you play with fate, and fate will tip against you,” I can't help but wail, my heartbreaking shattering and turning to dust.
“I'm tired, Bain, I'm so tired. I can't do this, I can't live like this, I can't. I watch and do nothing. They condemn me. Not only that, but when I do something, I condemn someone else. I'm never enough. I can't save those I love without condemning others. I'm tired of everyone dying on me. I'm tired of feeling their deaths; I'm tired of failing,” I sob.
“I know, I know, but this is your burden. Seline made it yours because you can handle it; don't make it someone else's by meddling. You create the bonds, you don't create their lives, and you certainly don't create their deaths,” he whispers, tugging me closer.
“I'm losing everyone,” I murmur as I give up, the weight of everything crashing on me. What is the point of being a Gemini moon goddess if the only thing I can do is watch?
“You're not losing everyone. Marabella is alive.”
“We don't know what state she is in, or if she'll even wake up. Kora never returned to her vessel; Marabella has no wolf now.” I pause, thinking about that.
“What if she is rabid? What if I am forced to kill my daughter?” I choke.
“We'll cross that bridge when we get to it; for now, we hold on to hope that Kaif can anchor her here,” he tells me.
“You say that like there is any hope left. I've seen the world from every angle, and it has shown me how cruel fate is. How cruel life is,” I say, my voice a mere whisper, brittle like the last leaf clinging to a forsaken tree in the dead of winter.
Bain grips my face, forcing me to meet his gaze over my shoulder, his eyes haunted by shadows of loss I can scarcely comprehend. “But it's also shown you beauty, Kat. Your mates are proof of that. If you can't find hope anywhere else, find it in them. Love breaks, recreates, and resolves,” he says, his voice trembles.
“Don't tell me you've lost hope with your mates still by your side. Because if you have, what chance do I have of ever seeing Seline again, of ever knowing her love?” His voice cracks. “Hope is all I have, Kat. It's the only thing that reminds me that I accepted this hell for a reason, that my love for her makes it worth it, that my love for my daughter is worth it.”
I swallow guiltily at his torment. He's been here a lot longer than me, yet he endured it for Seline and Kora. “Because if it wasn't worth it, why am I wasting away here? Why didn't I just die with her?”
I stare frozen, caught in the reflection of his torment, seeing in him the echo of my own soul's cries. “Bain, I—” But words fail me; what comfort can I possibly offer when my own faith is in tatters?
“Love, it’s not just a memory. It's a promise, a vow that stretches beyond the confines of this cruel world. It's the reason I stand beside you now, why we endure these agonies. It's the belief that love is a force that even death cannot claim victory over. Love gives life to hope, and in turn, hope breathes life back into us.” he tells me, and I nod. Bain kisses my forehead.
“It hurts, but it's not the end, it can't be. Or what is the point of all this?” he whispers, and I nod, turning back to stare at the fountains. He's right; if I give up on Marabella now, what chance does she have if her mother doesn't believe in her?
“Go home, Kat, go back to your mates,” Bain tells me, and I nod, now I have to deliver the news to Rose, Jonah, and Sage. Getting up, I move toward the fountains. No doubt she is breaking down somewhere, and I now need answers: why is my brother dead? And where is Sage? Moving toward the fountains, I run my fingers through the water. Kora's little blob of light swims between my fingers, stuck in limbo just like my daughter.
Only her tie to Marabella is completely severed, so even if Marabella comes back to us, Kora never will until Marabella's lifetime is over. That saddens me, knowing she is a big part of who Marabbella is. I am about to pull my hand out of the water when Donnie's blob of light blinks. At first, I thought I imagined it. Then it blinks again, flashing like an SOS beacon.
“Bain?” I call out, and he is at my side instantly.
“What's going on?” he murmurs, also puzzled; I remember Dominic's wolf doing that for years, his way of telling me Dominic was right there, clinging to life. Moving to the fountain of the past, I sift through the water, looking for Andrei's body. Some part of me thinks Donnie managed to shift to get them out of whatever trouble they found themselves in. Yet, I gasp when I see Andrei floating inside his car, his leg bleeding and filling the cab of the car with his blood.
I speed the time loop up to the present to watch Andrei be pulled from the car by someone or something, and he is brought to the surface when hands from on land are pulling him from the water. A man climbs out of the river, or at first, I thought a man, until the moon's silver light hits him, revealing a bear. I glance at Bain, who seems just as shocked.
The bear shifts back and starts compressions on Andrei's chest. My brows furrow, confused. “How are the were-bears there?” I ask aloud. “They're confined to the forest,”
“Yes, the original one, you need to remember Katya. Back then, all this was one forest,” Bain tells me. I peer up at him. “Never give up hope, sometimes it's all we got,” he tells me before turning me to the other fountain to see Donnie gone. I gasp, turning back to the present to see Andrei take a breath.
“Now, get home. You're no longer needed here,” Bain tells me.