Chapter 64 - The Alpha’s Goddess

~CALLIE'S P.O.V~

I was exhausted by the end of the line. Being a Goddess, unfortunately, still has its limits. It took so much of my power and energy to break through the spell Jakus had cast. As I neared the end of the line, I heard cackling behind me. I quickly looked up to see what the laughter was about. Nothing was funny about this situation. It was Lovett, Jakus's daughter, and my mate's sister. What is she doing laughing?

The further I had gotten down the line, the less the witches had to use their magic. The idea was to contain them as I worked on them, slowly releasing them from our hold. That way, once they are released from our magical hold, we would know if they were one of Jakus's real troops or a victim of his plan.

"Daddy screwed this one up aye." She said as she moved down the line touching the arms of the men we had already released.

"I told him this wouldn't work. I told him holding these men against their will would do us more harm than good."

"Us?" I asked.

"He thought he had it all figured out. Hell, a century of planning STILL didn't help him. Every last plan failed. I'm not sure what he is going to do now." She said with a shrug.

"You knew all of his plans?"

"Well, duh. I am his daughter. Although not all I agree with. He has no right to mess around with Leonidas. I am not sure why he was ever a backup plan, to begin with. He is his son, after all."

"What is he planning on doing to my mate?"

"Mate?" She asked, confused. When I didn't reply, she only laughed.

"Well, fuck me, that's why. How did I not know that?"

"What is why?" I asked, knowing she was only talking to herself.

"Well then, that is that. I will go to mend the broken." Lovett replied before quickly turning around, but not before I saw the glint of mischief spotted in her eye. She was up to something.

"Luna, we are almost at the end. You're almost done." Lakin said, bringing me back to reality from Lovett and my weird encounter.

"Right," I replied before going back to finishing the last three victims in line.

Screaming filled the air as I wondered how the guys were doing. I saw Gunner head up to the castle. I knew he was going to help. But the castle was so quiet. I was moving to the last victim when the earth shook.

'Earthquake, quickly take cover!' Emery screamed, terrified. Oh, my goddess, my wolf is scared of something, but out of everything an earthquake? I always thought it would be like thunder.

'Shut up, I was not scared.' Emery pipes up again.

'Scaredy cat.'

'I am most certainly not a cat.' She said, putting her nose in the air, making me laugh.

"The castle is on fire." I heard a bystander say.

I quickly looked up at the castle, seeing smoke freely flowing from every exit. Oh Goddess, both of my mates are up there. I have to get up there! My body started moving in the way of the smoke without even being told to.

"Oh, but Miss Goddess, you forgot to free the last person."

The voice I dreaded hearing above all. I quickly turned around, revealing the face I hated to see. His arm snaked around the throat of the last person in my line, the only one I had left to free.

"Let him go, Jakus." My voice came out in a low grumble.

If he is here and my mates are not, does that mean they are hurt? My eyes snapped back at the castle before quickly returning to meet his deadly glare.

"Sure, I'll let him go, actually even better, I'll help you free this one." He said as he snapped the neck of what possibly could have been one of his victims. How did I allow that to happen? How did I allow him to snap his neck without even moving to help?

"Not such a saint as they all claim you to be, are you?" I heard Jakus's deep voice speak out, shifting my eyes from the limp corpse to meet him once more.

"You were late for dinner. I can't let that go unpunished now, can I?"

Anger coursed through my body at his desire to be a dominant personality.

"You will never be a high priest, not a true one. You are weak and scared. You take lives from those who are much less powerful than you. Does that make you feel good? Making someone feel inferior to you before you murder them?"

I could see literal smoke coming from his ears, or maybe it was the smoke moving across the land as the castle was burning. I have to get up there, he is wasting my time and time is now of the essence.

"That tongue of yours, you need to learn to bite it. As my wife, you will learn your place in the world. You will learn ladylike manners and learn when you are allowed to speak. Your opinions don't matter, I will be the man of the house, therefore you will listen to what I have to say, and you will not speak of the opinion you may have on it. Understood?"

Is he serious? From the look on his face, he was dead serious. I realize he was born at a time when that was normal, but it isn't that time anymore. Women are no longer inferior, but they are equals. Hell, some are even superior to men now, but most importantly, we are equals to them. It baffles me that he thought I would do it. I am the leader of all supernatural beings, and he expects me to sit there on the sidelines with my mouth shut. Over my dead body would I ever succumb to that life, I'd rather die and hit the reset button on the next Goddess than succumb to him.

"You are a coward." I spat at him, making his face go red with anger.

I ran at him with all the power left in me, which wasn't much. I had completely drained myself, breaking them all free.

"You are weak Railynn. You will not like the outcome if you try something irrational."

I may be weak, but I can take him! I raised up my hand, balling it into a fist ready to strike his face. As my hand moved toward him, he caught it midair with his own.

"See darling, I told you, you're too weak." He said before squeezing tight, a pop echoing around the land.

"UGH!!" I screamed as I dropped to my knees. Pain radiating from my hand to all over my body. He squeezed tighter, showing me who was in control. I could hear the sounds of fighting and this evil laughter. I try looking around, but my main focus can't leave my hand.

"Lovett honey, don't play with the poor boy," Jakus said.

"Sorry Daddy, he just looks scrumptious," Lovett says as she releases a giggle.

"Did you complete your task?"

"Yes sir, they are locked away."

"Good, now go round up there people, I'll need the audience for this next part. The rest. Well, they can die."

Is he talking about all of those poor people I just set free? No! I tried rising to my feet but the pain in my hand intensified as Jakus squeezed tighter on my already crushed bones.

"Damnit!" I screamed, feeling helpless. I am the Goddess for crying out loud. How could he overpower me?

'Even a goddess has her limits, we aren't indestructible Cal, we can die.' Emery reminds me. Of course, I know that I just thought I was stronger than this. I don't want to admit it, but I might not win like I prayed I would.

My weakened state did not kick in for a moment. I knew I was exhausted, but this exhaustion was even more than I realized. I could hardly lift off my knees.

'We need both of our mates to recover faster.' Emery said.

This was his plan, to weaken me to the point of not being able to heal myself so that he would be more powerful.

"Where is my mate!" I hissed out through my teeth.

"Let's just say they are somewhere unreachable." He says while winking. What does that even mean? If one died, I would know. Which means they aren't dead, but if that were the case, what has he done?

"My backup plan didn't play out; the boy has gotten more powerful than I had anticipated. I guess spending time with you to bond wasn't such a bright idea in the end."

"What did you do to him!?" I screamed, trying to make myself look braver than I was.

"Not what I had planned on doing. I planned on swapping bodies, but, of course, that plan was a bust like every other plan I have orchestrated. The plan had so much potential, yet I just couldn't make him vulnerable enough to touch him to switch bodies. So forcefully it is." He says as he lets go of my hand while now pacing back and forth.

"That didn't work out for you the last time, did it?" I said as I lifted the journal Leonidas had found.

The shock on his face told me I wasn't supposed to see that.

"Where did you get that?" His eyes darted all over.

"Found it."

"You couldn't have. That was in my locked safe, nobody knows that it exists."

"That's not true, it was on a shelf we visited often. We skipped it many times. That doesn't matter. What matters is that I have it and I know it. I know everything. I know how you hunted her down for years. How you wanted her so broken, so you allowed her to be sold and bid off. You cast a spell as she took her dying breath. A curse, I should say. A curse that ensured you would forever be linked to the goddess. You marked her soul."

"She was always mine; she would never be anything without me. Which is why she died."

"No, she died because she would rather have been killed than live a life with you!"

Out of nowhere, a thundering clap sounded around the land from a decisive blow to my face.

"See what you made me do!? I should not have to smack my bride; you need to bite your damn tongue."

I wish I had the energy to smack him back, but my body feels like I couldn't even lift a finger even if I wanted to. Maybe being a goddess isn't all it's cracked up to be. I got to save all those people, but at what cost, my mates' lives? My family and friends' lives? Or even my own life? He killed over half of his own mind-controlled soldiers as soon as he arrived. I basically used my energy for absolutely no reason.

'It's not no reason, they needed us.' Emery replied.

'But they are dead now, so what was the point?'

'The point was, you saved them, and they died after you released them from the hold Jakus had on them. At that point, they had to fight for their lives.'

'I promised to protect them. I failed.' I replied, defeated.

'The only way we fail is if he wins.'

'Which will happen because I have no energy to even move.'

'We will figure it out.' Emery said with hope.

I shook off the conversation between my wolf and me to look around and see if there were any other possible outcomes.

Lovett had gathered up the majority of our team. She backstabbed us, she knocked out our witches before anyone knew that she was even working against us. Lovett was more powerful than she led us to believe. She alone took out multiple powerful witches we had. In the end, it caused Jakus to have control over the situation. It didn't take him long to cease control over all of the others once Lovett had the witches knocked out. He had this planned out perfectly.

While Lovett was working away complying with his request, he paced back and forth. His movements were almost like he was getting nervous with each stride he took. I'm not sure how much time had passed before Lovett had finally brought forth each member, she was able to locate to be part of his audience.

"Alright, it seems we have located all of your team members. At least the ones still alive, that is."

I flinched at his words. How could he be so heartless to speak about somebody's life as if it didn't matter? My eyes diverted to my right side, where Jade's body was lying. I quickly looked around to see multiple faces of my loved ones and those closest to me, some of those eyes shining with fear. Until they landed in my biological mother's eyes. Her eyes showed no sign of fear. I admire that, and here I am, weak, scared, and having been a crybaby this entire time. Her courage makes me feel as if anything is possible as if this was only a small bump in the path. I took my eyes off of her to quickly look around some more, taking note of all the faces. I wasn't sure who all Gunner had brought with him today, not knowing who was dead, hurt so badly, but I couldn't think about that at that moment.

Suddenly, a hand grabs hold of my jaw, yanking my face upward, bringing my face to meet Jakus's harsh glare.

"Now that everyone is here, are you ready?" Jakus's annoying husky voice pipes up.

I tried moving my head from side to side to free myself from his grip. He gripped harder, making me groan out loud. He was holding my face so tight I was sure that it would leave marks.

"GET YOUR HAND OFF OUR MATE!" I heard Leonidas's powerful voice echo across the land.

"IF YOU LAY ANOTHER FINGER ON HER I WILL RIP YOUR THROAT OUT WHERE YOU STAND!" I then heard Gunner. Jakus loosened his grip on my face, making it easier for me to tear away from him. I quickly looked back to see them not very far away, getting closer with each stride.

"Lookie lookie, he is a smart cookie," Jakus said while laughing. "I see you managed to escape. And yet, I am not surprised." He said as he walked around me to start moving closer to my mates.

"And you..you killed someone dear to me!" Jakus screamed as he held his hand up, making Gunner suddenly fly upward into the air, now gasping for air.

"NO!"I screamed, leaping forward only to plant face-first on the ground. Damnit! My energy was gone, and it seemed like my only way of replenishing, other than sleep, was now fighting for their lives, again. When I need my magic the most, I am useless. So, fucking much for being a Goddess! I'm now on my hands and knees crawling.

"Eh-eh-eh, where do you think you're going?" Lovett said while stepping between me and my pathway.

"Lovett, come on. I thought you wanted love; I thought you deserved more."

"HA, the only good I would've received walked out on me. So why fight it? It is my destiny after all. I was born for this. Not sure why all the men that are supposed to love me only love you, but here we are."

"What do you want from this? A broken brother? You already stood to the side and let Jakus ruin his life once. Are you seriously going to let him do it again?"

Lovett looked from me to her family, then back at me. I know she isn't pure evil, she has to have some feelings, anything at all. If not for general human decency, then hopefully at least she felt something, anything for her biological brother.

"My father has only ever wanted you. Well, whoever the goddess was to be is who he wanted, it just so happened to be you. Then my mate is your second chance mate, then to put the cherry on the cake, you get ANOTHER mate, making you have three shots at fated unconditional love, and it is my brother. How is that fair?"

"It’s not, I'm sorry you were dealt a shitty hand, but you don't have to live like this. You don't have to continue to be your father's second. You deserve to be someone first; you deserve to be their one and only." I pleaded, hoping to tap into something other than rage. Even though I'm not sure I believe she deserved anything after what she has done.

"Not everyone is blessed with multiple mates that would do anything to protect you."

"My first mate didn't. He threw me away, he hurt me, he tried to take advantage of me."

"But you have two other men that would do anything for you. I was never blessed with that kind of love."

"Yes, you were, and you allowed Jakus to take it from you. Gunner would have treated you like a queen, he would have loved you even with all your darkness. He would have helped you become the woman I know you can be."

"But he is your mate now."

"He is, but that doesn't mean you won't have another mate."

"You're the only person ever to have a second mate. Hell, you even got a third mate. Nobody has had the chance of a fated love twice in a long time. Let alone three times. I doubt it would ever be in my cards."

"What about Derrek?"

"He left, he vanished and didn't come back. If he loved me, he would've come back to me."

"Not if you hurt him. You have to mend what you did; you have to fix what you broke."

"That's too much work when this life is much easier," Lovett says as she moves her hands around gesturing to her life with her father.

I'm lost in conversation when I suddenly feel this overpowering pain radiating from my chest all over my body. If I weren't already on the ground, I would have fallen with how bad the pain was. I looked down but nothing was indicating I had been physically harmed.

'MATE! MATE! MATE! OH, GODDESS MATE!' Emery screams in my head. I quickly shot my eyes over where they were to see Leonidas gasping for air, but that wasn't what was the worst part. Next to him, Gunner was on his knees. His hand was around what appeared like a clear magical spear that pierced right through his body, blood seeping from his mouth as he gasped for air.

"OH, GODDESS!" I screamed, scrambling to my feet with what little energy I had.

I stumbled over to where my mate now lay on the ground, dying.

"NO NO NO NO NO NO!!! PLEASE GODDESS NO!"

When I finally made it over to where his body was lying, tears were falling freely from my face. I put my hand on his chest to cover the gaping wound, praying that I could somehow reverse whatever damage Jakus had done.

'HELP MATE!' Emery was screaming in my mind. My head was spinning. How could this have happened?

"Ca-Ca-C-"Gunner's hoarse voice stuttered out, breaking me away from my thoughts.

"I'm here baby, I'm right here. It's going to be okay; I am going to make this okay."

'MAKE IT OKAY!' Emery screamed.

'Emery, stop! I have to think. Please stop screaming at me.'

'Draw his power, we can do this!'

'I'm not drawing his power. If I did that he'd die!'

'But we can fix this!'

I tried ignoring my wolf as the pain was still coursing through my body from me actively losing my mate. I pulled him closer to my body and held him as close as I could.

"Yo-yo-you can d-do this Ca-Callie," Gunner said, making me full-on sob. Does he think I can do this? Does he believe in me?

"Always." He said, taking his hand to my cheek, brushing the tears from my face.

"Are you reading my thoughts?" A smile formed on his face at my question. Of course, he was, he always did that.

"Baby, please hold on, please don't go. I can't live without you, I need you. I love you." I begged, hoping it would motivate him to hold on longer.

"I will always love you, you can..." uff.uff.uff. More blood spewed from his mouth with each cough before he spoke again. "You can do this...Let me have your hand." I slowly lifted my hand into his as he closed his eyes. I could suddenly feel my energy slowly replenishing.

"No No!" I screamed, ripping my hand from his.

"Baby, I'm dying... You need this. Please..."

"No. Please please no!" I begged. Snot now falling out of my nostrils at my ugly crying, I quickly wiped it away with my sleeve.

"Cal... You need this. Please, for me." Gunner begged. He reached out once more for my hand. I bent down, capturing his lips with my own. I kissed him as the energy flowed from him to me. After a moment, he stopped kissing me back and his body went limp. I knew he was gone. My mate is dead. How did I let this happen?

"One down, one to go," Jakus says while laughing. I looked up to see his wicked face smiling like he had just won. That is the last thing he will ever do. I finally decided to speak, to face my demon. He might be a warlock, but he might as well be a demon.

"I promise you; you'll never know a good day. I'll slowly drive you mad. You'll regret ever wanting to take me as your mate. Then, once you think you're on the edge of insanity, I'll kill you. Very very slowly, that way, as you lie there on the brink of death, you can ponder on all of the evil things you have ever done that led you to that moment. I'll make you beg for your life. Then I'll kill you, but not before taking everything you have with me." I spat out as evilly as I could while cradling Gunner's dead body in my arms.

"Don't make promises you cannot keep, little Goddess."

I felt this little burst of energy as Gunner's remaining energy coursed through my veins. I won't let him down. I will use this new energy, this power, and take down the devil himself.

'This is war and I want blood; I want HIS BLOOD; I WANT TO FEEL HIS FLESH IN MY TEETH AS I RIP IT FROM HIS BODY!' Emery screamed in my head. A little gory, but nothing I do not agree with.

I slowly put Gunner's body down as I rose up from the ground, feeling like an entirely different person.

"Damn, look at you, all fiery and shit," Lovett says as she walks up next to me. I looked over confused. "Your hair and your eyes are literally red. It's crazy cool, just like me."

I turned my eyes back to Jakus. First, I needed to put his loyal child into a bind, then I would fight him, head-on. No more games, my energy versus his. I will take his life as he has done to my mate and all of the innocent lives he has taken before him.