Chapter 86 Chapter 86

Chapter 86 Chapter 86
Drake’s POV

I didn’t know how long I knelt there, holding her tightly against my body, or how long I cried.
“Drake,” someone said softly as they came closer.
It was Angy.
“We wo….. Elisa!!!” she screamed. “No! Oh God!” She dropped to her knees in front of me, covering her mouth. “God, no!” Her hands pressed against her chest as tears streamed down her face.
I wished I could kill Theophilus over and over again. My wolf was howling uncontrollably inside me.
I didn’t think we would survive losing her. It felt like I had lost a very important limb.
I held her tighter and kissed the top of her head. Then I heard footsteps approaching us.
“Son…..”
A bright light suddenly appeared close to where I stood, and everyone instantly went on high alert.
“Zareth,” I heard Sabrina say.
“I am here to collect my debt, Lycan King,” he said, a vial in his hand. We stared at each other for a long time.
“Did you know this would happen?”
“Who am I to know the fate of a soul?”
“You could have warned me, and this could have been avoided.”
“Maybe… but you are not listening. I do not know the fate of a soul. At the end of the day, we choose our path. Your mate could have decided not to end her father, and maybe she might have lived. Or maybe not. I do not know.” He took a deep breath.
“I am sorry for your loss, Lycan. But do not forget your debt.”
“Take what you want and leave me be,” I replied.
I felt my tears being lifted from my face. They floated in the air for a moment before he moved his hand, and they slipped into the vial.
He turned and was about to leave, but then he stopped and glanced back at me.
“Drake.”
I looked up, surprised at the use of my name.
“Our bargains are powerful. So powerful, they bind the soul of the debtor to its collector. You will meet her again.”
Then he walked into the light.
What did he mean by that? What was he trying to say?
I looked down at Elisa’s still body.
Could she be alive? But how?
“I am so sorry, Drake…” Sabrina said quietly.
The Lycans had lost. After seeing their leader dead, they surrendered easily without much of a fight. We captured the ones who were still alive. I was asked what should be done to them since I was now their king, but I kept quiet, Elisa’s body still in my arms.
I didn’t allow anyone near her.
I just needed to hold her.
So Hank decided to call the council, and they would make the decision instead.
When we got back to the pack house, I collapsed to the floor with Elisa still in my arms, my mother running toward me.
Everyone had lost a loved one. Everyone.
And although we won, we could hardly celebrate.
We mourned instead.
Today, we bury our loved ones.
I placed my hand on Elisa’s face one last time. Angy had brushed her hair. She looked so beautiful even in death.
How would I go on from here?

It had been weeks since the war. Since Elisa’s death.
And I was back in the underground fighting ring.
The hit to my face snapped my head back so hard I tasted blood immediately. Before I could recover, another blow landed against my temple, and I crashed flat on my back.
This was my fourth loss this week.
I lay there breathing heavily while the audience roared around me.
“Drake, get up. Come on, it’s over.”
I looked up. It was Mark.
“Just a minute.”
My body slowly healed from the beating. When I felt a little better, I turned to my side and pushed myself up on my left elbow. Mark offered me his hand, and I stood with his help.
“You have got to stop this, man,” he said as we walked out of the ring.
I didn’t answer him. I was too busy wiping the blood from my mouth.
“Drake!” He grabbed my bicep to stop me.
“What?” I snapped.
“Come back. We have all been waiting for you.”
I had left after Elisa was buried, wandering from place to place with no real destination in mind.
“I know it hurts,” he said.
“You know nothing. When you have a mate and she dies, then you can repeat that to me.”
“Come on, man….”
I turned away from him.
“I got to go.”
“Drake!”
It was Angy.
Great. Just great.
I faced Mark.
“You brought Angy?”
“I didn’t have a choice. You know how stubborn she can be.”
“Whatever, man.”
She walked closer to us.
“Elisa would be disappointed. She would not want this for you.”
I went silent for a moment.
“And you would know? What she thinks is best for me?” I replied coldly.
“Drake….”
I had heard enough of people telling me how not to grieve.
“This is the only fucking way I can cope. The only way. When I get beat up in there, I can focus on the physical pain. I know how to deal with that. But the pain in here…” I said, pounding my fist against my chest. “It crushes me, and I don’t know how to make it stop. This is the only way not to drown in it or lose myself completely.”
“Please… just let me be,” I said and walked out.
And I was glad when I didn’t hear any footsteps behind me.

Mirelle’s POV

I woke up with a gasp.
My face was covered.
I quickly removed the cloth draped over me and looked around.
“Mother, come! She is alive!” someone screamed before hurried footsteps filled the room.
“Stop playing with me, child,” another voice said.
Then I heard a gasp.
“Mirelle. My sweet, sweet girl.” She cupped my face and stared into my eyes, hers already filled with tears. “But how?” she whispered.
I was confused.
I looked around.
The people standing in front of me were fae.
How did I end up here?
“Where am I?”
“You are home,” she said, a puzzled look crossing her face. “You fell sick and didn’t recover. We thought you had died, but we were wrong. Don’t you remember, Mirelle?”
I blinked slowly.
“Where is home?”
“The Unseelie….”
“What?” I scrambled backward.
“You are scaring me, Mirelle. What’s wrong?”
“My name is not Mirelle.”
Was I dreaming?
“I named you that myself, child.”
“My name is not Mirelle,” I repeated slowly. “It’s Elisa.”