Chapter 103 Chapter 103

Chapter 103 Chapter 103
_Leah’s POV_

My mother stepped closer and took Sarah’s other hand. Her touch was gentle.

“You were not nothing,” my mother said firmly. “A man who cannot honor love is the weak one.”

Sarah let out a trembling breath. 

My mother looked at me now. The softness in her face faded into seriousness.

“Leah,” she said quietly, “please do your best to get rid of Tariq once and for all.”

Her words made my stomach drop.

She continued. “Or else he will keep harming innocents. He will keep hunting souls. He will keep using women like tools.”

I nodded hard. “Don’t worry. Now that I have Sarah with me, we will destroy him.”

Sarah’s fingers squeezed mine.

“Yes,” Sarah whispered. “I will kill him.”

A pulse of cold moved through the air when she said it like the astral realm heard her vow and hated it.

Athena warned, Careful. Vows echo here. Do not shout them to the shadows.

My mother’s gaze sharpened. “We need to move. Now.”

I swallowed. “Is it getting worse?”

She nodded. “Yes. It is not safe. Not after what you did.”

Sarah looked around anxiously. “What happens if we stay?”

My mother’s face was sad. “The realm can confuse you. It can twist your memories. It can make you forget the living world. It can make you think you never belonged anywhere else.”

Sarah’s eyes widened. “That sounds like hell.”

My mother nodded once. “It is.”

Athena added, The seer was right. Every moment here is a risk.

I tightened my grip on Sarah. “Then show us,” I said to my mother. “Show us how to leave.”

My mother hesitated. Her eyes filled with a painful kind of longing. Like she wanted to keep me here, close to her, where nothing could hurt me.

Then she forced herself to smile. “Come with me,” she said. “I will show you the portal.”

I followed her quickly. Sarah stayed right beside me.

We moved through the astral realm. The landscape changed as we walked.

At first it was mist and cold ground.

Then it became something stranger. Tall shapes rose around us like broken pillars. Shadows moved between them. The air smelled like rain and old stone.

Sarah whispered, “I don’t like this.”

“I don’t either,” I answered. “Stay close.”

Athena’s voice was low. Do not let go of her hand.

We reached a wide open space. The mist was thinner here but the darkness felt deeper....like a lake with no bottom.

In the center, there was something that looked like a tear in the world.

A pale opening; oval-shaped and shimmering with faint silver light. It pulsed slowly like a heartbeat.

I stopped and stared. “That’s… the portal?” 

My mother nodded. “Yes.”

Sarah stared at it with fear. “It looks unstable.”

“It is,” my mother admitted. “I have only seen spirits coming in. I have never seen them leaving.”

My heart slammed in my chest.

“What?” I whispered.

My mother touched my arm gently. “Most spirits who enter do not have bodies waiting for them,” she explained. “They have no anchor. They drift. They fade. They become part of this place.”

I swallowed hard. “But I have a body.”

“Yes, you do. And you have something stronger than a body.”

Athena whispered, The mate bond.

My mother’s eyes flickered as if she sensed it. “You have a bond,” she said softly. “A living thread that pulls you toward the world you belong in.”

Sarah’s voice shook. “And me?”

My mother looked at her carefully. “You are… different. You were trapped by force. Your chain was not natural. Now it is broken.”

Sarah’s face tightened. “So I can leave?”

“I think you can,” my mother said honestly. “But you must hold on. You must choose it.”

Sarah nodded quickly. “I choose it,” she said. “I choose freedom.”

Athena murmured, Good. Choice is power.

My mother turned to me and her expression changed again. Like she remembered something important. Something she had been holding back.

“Leah,” she said softly.

“Yes?”

She stepped closer. She took both my hands. Her eyes shone. “You are the rightful heir of the Emerald pack,” she said.

The words hit me like thunder.

I stared at her. “What?”

She nodded, firm. “You are my child...my blood....my line. That pack was yours by right.”

My throat tightened. “I… I don’t know what happened after you died. I don’t know who took over. I don’t know if they would accept me.”

My mother’s eyes narrowed slightly. “They will. And if they do not, then they have forgotten what honor means.”

She squeezed my hands. “It would please me to see you as the heir. To see you stand where you belong. Not as a victim. Not as someone running. But as a leader.”

Tears blurred my vision.

“Mom,” I whispered, “I don’t know if I’m strong enough.”

She lifted my chin gently. “You crossed into this realm. You broke dark chains. You freed a soul. Do not tell me you are not strong enough.”

My lips trembled. “I’m scared.”

“I know,” she whispered. “But courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is moving anyway.”

My mother’s hand slid to my cheek again. “Please....go there. Claim your rights. If you do… it will heal something. Not only for you...but for me too.”

My chest ached so much I could barely breathe.

“I will try,” I promised. “I swear I will.”

My mother’s smile was sad and proud at the same time. “That is all I ask."

Athena urged gently, Time is running out. We must go.

I nodded. I turned to Sarah. “Are you ready?” I asked.

Sarah swallowed. “No,” she said honestly. “But I’m coming.”

“Good. Hold my hand. Do not let go.”

Sarah nodded and tightened her grip.

I looked at my mother again. My heart broke all over.

“Will I see you again?” I asked.

My mother’s eyes shimmered. “Not like this,” she said softly. “But you will feel me. In your strength. In your choices. In the pack that carries our name.”

My throat closed. “I don’t want to leave you.”

“I know. But you must.”

I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around her. I hugged her with everything in me. Like I could pour years of grief into one moment.

She held me tightly. “I love you,” she whispered into my hair.

“I love you too,” I sobbed.

When I finally pulled back, my mother’s face was wet with tears.

She brushed them away and forced a smile. “Go,” she said. “Live.”

I nodded. I turned toward the portal. The silver light pulsed. I stepped forward with Sarah.

At the edge, the air felt thick, like pushing through a curtain made of cold water.

Sarah’s grip tightened painfully. “It’s pulling,” she gasped. “It’s pulling me back.”

“Hold on!” I told her. “Focus on why you’re leaving.”

Sarah’s voice shook. “I don’t know how!”

Athena snapped, Use the truth. Use the memory of your death. Use the memory of your rage. Use your need for justice.

Sarah’s eyes widened. Then her expression hardened. “Tariq,” she whispered. “I will kill you.”

The portal flared.

I stepped into it.

The cold hit me like a slap. My vision went white. My spirit felt stretched. Like someone grabbed my soul and pulled it through a narrow crack.

I stumbled but I did not let go of Sarah.

At first, I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe. Panic flashed through me.

Athena’s voice came fast. Do not fight the pull. Guide it. Choose your anchor.

“My anchor,” I whispered.

My mind searched desperately.

Then I felt it.

A warm thread.

Kayden.

Even from far away, even through pain and distance, the mate bond was there. It was faint but real...like a heartbeat calling my name.

I focused on it.

I remembered Kayden’s eyes.

I remembered his voice when he said, “I won’t let him touch you.”

I remembered the way he held my hand in the hospital.

I remembered the warmth of his forehead kiss.

I clung to the bond like it was a rope.

“Kayden,” I whispered. “Kayden, please… pull me.”

Athena whispered, Yes. Follow him.

The portal trembled.

Then, suddenly, the cold loosened.

The pull shifted.

And I was thrown forward.

I gasped and the world snapped into shape around me. There were dark trees and I could feel the night wind.

I looked down. I was still holding Sarah’s hands. But we were not solid. We were still spirits. Our feet were not touching the ground. We were floating just above it. 

Sarah stared around wildly. “We… we made it,” she whispered.

“Yes,” I breathed. My voice shook. “We made it.”

I looked at my hands. They glowed silver faintly. 

Sarah looked at herself. “I’m still… like this....I don’t have a body. I don’t....”

“I know,” I said quickly. “But you’re here. You’re free. That matters.”

Sarah’s eyes filled with tears again. “I can feel him,” she whispered. “I can feel Tariq.”

My stomach twisted. “I can too,” I admitted. “The world feels… stretched. Like something is about to happen.”