Chapter 113:
Chapter 115:
Alley POV:
None of us wanted to leave Pythia, but we all knew she was in good hands. I stepped outside and took a deep breath. I looked around at the damage and sighed.
“Penny for your thoughts.” Stephan said as he wrapped an arm around me.
“Just a lot of damage. People injured. I want this to be the last time we clean up a mess like that.” I whispered. I hated seeing everyone hurt, but we didn’t lose anyone which was a good thing, but still it was always hard to see.
“We will have it cleaned up in no time. What matters is that we are all safe.” Stephan whispered. I nodded and looked around. I heard the door open behind me.
“Alley.” Ambrosia called. I turned around and she had a soft look on her face.
“She is resting. You need to go and get looked at too.” She smiled.
“I’m okay, I don’t have anything that Rose can’t heal. How are you?” I asked looking at her. She had some scraps and bruises, but nothing major that I could see.
“I’m alive. Sage is working overtime right now. We should start organizing a clean up crew.” Ambrosia answered. I felt like maybe it was a little too soon. People needed a night to relax and eat. Take a shower or something.
“Allow me.” Atheas warm voice rang out. I looked over to see she was walking towards us.
“How is everyone?” I asked. My kids were never far from my mind.
“Everyone is well. They are anxious to come back and the kids are bored now that the wolves have come here.” Athea chuckled. I couldn’t help but laugh. I knew they loved playing with them.
“When do they have to go back?” I asked.
“I’m not sure. I’d love to have a celebration. This war is over and you all have won with their help. I’d like for them to join the celebration.” Athea answered. I agreed. I’m not so sure we would have won without them. The surprise attack really caught us all off guard.
“We would love that.” Ambrosia smiled. They did help us tremendously and it would be an honor to have them here.
“I will fix everything here in no time. You all deserve to relax. Lucinda is working on Pythia. I know she said she wouldn’t heal her, but she will.” Athea laughed. I kind of figured Lucinda would heal her. Pythia held a big piece of her heart and I know she hated seeing her like that.
“I will bring everyone home when I am finished. Go shower and get something to eat. I’ve already announced the same thing to everyone and my wolves are escorting them, it appears.” Athea said as her eyes shifted out towards everyone else. It was a beautiful sight. Everyone was walking together. Some were riding on the wolves showing them their own gratitude.
“Come on princess, let’s go get cleaned up.” Stephan whispered as he grabbed my hand and gently pulled me forward. I followed behind him letting my mind wonder back to Pythias words. The anger and hurt she felt.. She just wanted a mothers love and a mother to guide her in the right direction. She may have started with a bad reputation, but she very quickly showed us otherwise.
I knew she had no regrets the first time she thought she killed her, but that didn’t mean she didn’t carry the guilt with her. I felt like I understood a different side of her. It was amazing how much we’ve all grown.
As we walked into the house and into our room, I heard the shower turn on. I started shedding my clothes wincing at some bruises I had. I walked towards the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror. It wasn’t as bad as I thought, but I knew the bruising would be deep ones.
“Come here.” Stephan whispered. I slowly made my way into the shower and stood under the water, welcoming the warmth as it hit my skin. I looked at Stephan and it didn’t seem like he had a scratch on him. His body was still in top tier shape and I couldn’t help the thoughts that crossed my mind.
“No ma’am. Not while you are hurt.” Stephan chuckled. I rolled my eyes and reached for the shampoo, thoroughly cleaning the dirt and muck out of it. When I was finished I lathered my hair with conditioner and let it sit while I washed my body. I noticed some bruises on my legs and I sighed.
“They’ll go away soon enough.” Stephan said. I looked at him and narrowed my eyes.
“Easy for you to say when you have none. Did you play hide and go seek?” I giggled and he narrowed his eyes at me before he splashed me with water.
“You just didn’t leave any for me to seek.” Stephan replied.
I turned the water off as Stephan handed me a towel. He already had one wrapped around his waist. I stood behind me and wrapped my hair up for me so I didn’t have to. I always loved how attentive he was with me. I was truly spoiled. I grabbed a comfortable long flowing dress and my house slippers. No one cared here and there wasn’t any judgement. I let my hair stay inthe wrap while I added moisturizer to my face and brushed my teeth. When I pulled it down I quickly brushed through it.
“I’m going to go get some food ready. I’ll see you soon.” Stephan smiled. He kissed the top of my head before he walked out. I’m sure he heard my stomach rumbling. I had been so nervous about everything that I haven’t really eaten a meal in a good while. I blow dried my hair letting it fall freely around my shoulders and I made my way downstairs. I could hear chattering going on and I stopped at the sight before me.
Everyone was here. Crowding around my living room and kitchen. I looked over to see Pythia was sitting on the floor, she was surrounded by all of our kids.
“Mommy!” I heard a scream and all of my kids ran up to me.
“Be careful with mommy okay. She has some booboos.” Stephan called out. I couldn’t help but laugh as they pulled me forward and into the backyard. The took off running and I sat in the chair watching them. I looked around to see that everyone was almost back to normal now. Athea did as she said she would and she fixed everything. This was honestly a great ending to such a crappy day.