Chapter 53: Sena - Fated to the Night King

A month later

Danvers stood in the doorway of what had been Thalon’s Confessional. Every time he came to the Citadel to treat the Stricken, he spent time in the small space, learning what he could about the origin of the illness that had devastated so many. Rather than an altar, as I’d expected, he’d found notes. Written in Thalon’s identifiable script, a plan that had started when he sought to take over my father’s pack but killed too many of them because the sickness he’d created was too strong. So virulent it called all but a small child.

He’d tested it, though, believing that he could use it to make shifters immune to silver. Build an army that had none of the weaknesses of their kind, and he could call all the packs to his throne. None would be able to stand against him.

But the disease defeated him again, in its way. We might have been immune to silver, but the Stricken couldn’t shift. We were worthless as an army. Except as fodder to throw into the battle to overwhelm an adversary. Distract them enough that when his Guard attacked, they would be easier to defeat.

It’s why he’d kept on.

It became a weapon he didn’t fear to wield.

If a leader refused to bend the knee, the sickness would descend upon that pack. Weaken them until they had no choice but to serve him as Alpha.

And he did it all under the banner of the Goddess.

Defiling her image.

Some still believed. I had yet to offer her a prayer.

I’d sacrificed enough in her name.

“You should go home, Sena.” The healer looked at me, his eyes sad. We’d been working hard, all of us, to synthesize enough of his medicine to heal the Stricken. All of them. It would take time. So much time for all to realize what it meant to reconnect with the truest part of themselves. To find their inner wolf and shift. The way they were born to.

“There’s still so much to do.” I was tired. Bone deep exhaustion because there was always someone who needed my help. And while Gus and Danvers had responded when Alkan asked them to come to the Citadel, the Stricken here were slow to trust anyone new. It was me they came to. Me they sought out when their fears won out in the night or questioned what would come next. It felt wrong to turn them away. So, I didn’t.

It hadn’t all been work. Gus and Glory became fast friends, exactly as I’d expected, and they’d been cackling together over bowls of soup every night. And Glory’s example encouraged others to at least try. The delicious food they were being provided helped with that.

“There will always be much to do. You’re a leader now, even more than you were before. A foot in both courts. Which means you need to care for yourself so you can care for those who need you.” As a healer, Danvers always phrased his advice in ways that made far too much sense.

“I don’t want to sleep in Thalon’s old room.” It still smelled of him. Probably always would. The Citadel held too many memories for me to ever feel at peace within these walls.

“I’m not talking about here, Sena. You need to go home. To where Alkan is.” He bundled up the pages of notes carefully, saving them for further investigation no doubt, and wagged a finger at me. “He warned you when he left that the distance would be hard to bear. It puts more strain on you because the link has less support. It’s a fascinating metaphysical connection, I must say. And it requires care the same way your body does.”

I knew he was right. Felt the truth of it with all my being. But would the other Stricken feel abandoned if I left them?

“Glory, Gus and Cass have a plan already laid out on how to manage the next part of the healing process, and there’s an interim council already formed to govern as the pack moves toward true integration. Gil and Chancel are ready to escort you back to the Court. You just say the word.”

Looking around at the place I’d spent most of my life, I felt… nothing. Danvers was right. This place wasn’t my home.

It wasn’t where my soul belonged.

Danvers knew the outcome, smiling at me and offering me a final instruction. “When you get back, don’t be too hard on Calla. She’s still healing, too.”

Once the decision was made, I was surprised at how fast I was able to offer my farewells. There was one I made extra time for though.

Danil was sitting on his bed, his body already looking stronger. He didn’t flinch away when I asked if I could sit beside him, simply nodding in response.

“He’s gone, Danil. The Alpha.” His wide eyes fastened on me, and I offered him a small, sad smile. “Your voice. He stole it from you, didn’t he? Told you not to tell anyone what you knew?”

Tears formed and began to fall, rolling down his cheeks. I gave him time.

When he spoke, his voice was halting, rough from lack of use. But it was there. The submission in him broken with its source of power broken.

“I saw him. Putting something in our food stores. He caught me. Told me I would be silent. I couldn’t do anything. They died because I wasn’t strong enough to tell them.”

Wrapping him in my arms was the natural thing to do and I held him as he cried, telling him the truth of the matter.

His people died because of Thalon’s need for power over others.

No other reason.

I promised those who worried over my absence that I would be back, then followed Gil and Chancel out into the early night. The moon shone down on our trio, silvery light gently guiding us along the way, and I felt some of my animosity toward the Goddess soften.

I might never be able to practice abject worship like some could.

But, perhaps, someday, I could feel peace toward her.

We walked on, Gil hurrying us because he wanted to see Leah. She was handling the kitchens while Gus assisted the Stricken and Glory in setting up a proper staff and supplies. By all accounts, Leah had accorded herself well with the promotion and Gus was actually considering retirement. In maybe twenty years.

By the time the walls of the Castle came into view, I was ready to be home. To curl up in bed. To feel Alkan’s steady presence beside me and fall asleep in his arms. While the nightmares hadn’t come back, there were times alone that I could feel them lurking.

They would never truly leave me.

But I didn’t have to fight against them alone.

Friendly faces greeted the three of us as we entered the keep, and Leah smiled brightly at Gil before hugging me. “Welcome home, Miss. It’s grand to see you looking so well.”

I thanked her and everyone else who’d gathered to celebrate our arrival, then slipped away, making my way along the familiar corridors, until I stood outside his quarters once more.

The door wasn’t locked, and when I entered, the scent of blooming Night Roses made me relax.

“My little spy has returned.” Alkan’s drawling voice drew me to the bed, and he reached out a hand to me. I took it and climbed up next to him, searching his face. The signs of exhaustion were as clear on him as they’d probably been on me. When I leaned in and kissed him, his hands settled gently on my back, holding me as if he feared I would break.

“I’m not a spy any longer.”

I knew he was teasing, but I wanted to remind him of the decision I’d made. The one that brought me here. I’d refused to step into the Alpha role at the Citadel. It didn’t matter that I’d won the right via Challenge.

That was the old way.

It was time for something new.

A cooperative government that represented all of the pack, not just the favored, was the fairest way forward. No more would there be divisions between those who flourished above, while others suffered below. They were a pack. It was time to start working together.

But for me, this was home. Wherever my mate was, that was where I wanted to be.

“You will always be my spy.” He smiled up at me as I hovered over his lips, sliding a loose piece of hair back behind my ear. “And my queen.”

He kissed me hard then, making my heart race, and it felt exactly as it should.

Right. Perfect.

Home.

My wolf stretched beneath my skin, closer than she’d ever been before, and I felt sure that soon, I’d shift into that form I’d once believed lost. I could imagine it already, running beneath the moon, Alkan watching me with pride.

That time would come.

For this moment, though, I had everything I needed. And when my mate’s fang settled over that vulnerable vein in my neck, asking permission, I offered it to him willingly. He sighed and then bit down, the pain bright and instant, quickly fading away as pleasure swirled through our bond.

When he’d fed, slaking his hunger because he’d waited for me to return, refusing all other offers, he made love to me slowly, driving in deep and holding himself there, offering his neck to me in return, and I bit down, claiming him in the way of the wolves. It drove our pleasure higher, both of us breaking apart together as we held tight.

I fell asleep in his arms, and this time, the nightmares stayed away, and I dreamt of hopeful things once more.