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I shifted my weight as a wave of dizziness assaulted me, the blood running through my fingers suggesting that she had hit something vital with her dagger. Still, I pushed myself on, knowing that I didn’t have much time.
The Queen was still stood before the throne, scowling down at me as I smiled sadly back at her.
“Even the gods are watching you now, Mother. You’ve gone too far. And now it ends.”
Summoning the little power that I had recharged, I threw up my hands and sent out a wave of force that shattered every window in a spectacular crash. Glass exploded around us, causing everyone to dive away to shield themselves and giving me the opportunity that I needed.
I grunted as I pressed my fingers back to my side, scooping up a handful of blood and reaching down to draw out runes on the floor around me. Working quickly, I repeatedly dug my fingers back into the wound for my ink, glancing up as I heard my mother make a strangled sound.
Having moved closer, she eyed my drawings and raised a seemingly unimpressed brow. “Blood magic? You’re a fool. It will kill you faster than I ever could!”
I gave her a smug smile in reply as I went back to my task, sensing her agitation as she watched what I was doing. Having completed a circle of small rune symbols around me, I shuffled backwards and began tracing out a large symbol in the centre of the ring that matched the one on my spine.
“Cordelia!”
Liam’s warning shout made my head snap back up as the Queen threw an arc of flames towards me, clearly meaning to stop the spell that I was building. I smirked at her as the fire hit an invisible wall, watching her gape in surprise.
Tapping one of the runes, I gave her a wink. “First one I did was protection, sorry.”
My voice sounded weak now, even to my ears, but I resumed my task as my mother predictably turned her attentions to my guys. Knowing that she couldn’t touch them either, the magic extending to them through our bonds, I ignored her, though my smile widened a touch as whatever she tried failed and she shrieked in frustration.
Standing shakily inside the completed circle of blood magic, I turned to my guys. They had successfully shaken off their captors and were standing close around me, though they instinctively didn’t cross into the circle.
“Baby girl,” Zeke murmured, his voice full of anguish as he looked me over.
I nodded as I swayed a little on my feet. “I’m sorry, I know you don’t understand what’s happening, but…”
Noah shook his head quickly and cut in. “We trust you, sweetheart. Whatever it is, it’s ok.”
I huffed a sad breath as Liam nodded in agreement. “We’re mates, Princess. This isn’t the end.”
I took a moment to meet each of their eyes, emotion threatening to overwhelm me. Liam was right, no matter what, this wasn’t goodbye. Our souls were all linked together for the rest of eternity.
The fact that our time together here had been so short left my heart fracturing into countless pieces, but maybe this was where the path always led. Maybe we weren’t ever destined to have more than this.
A genuine smile lifted my mouth this time, the realisation hitting me that I would rather have had this time with them than nothing at all. The pack would be safe now, too. The world, in fact. And wherever our souls ended up, I would know that it was all worth it.
“Thank you,” I breathed. “For finding me, for pushing me, for loving me. For everything.”
“We love you so fucking much,” Zeke answered, his voice thick.
I nodded and sucked in a deep breath, squeezing my eyes shut as I reached for my bonds and took the final step to activate the spell I had drawn.
I distantly heard a loud scream of denial from my mother as I mentally followed each bond to its source, to the life force of each of my mates, and began to pull. I heard their gasps and grunts as they felt my invasion, drawing on their strength and pulling it into myself in a steady stream of power. My legs strengthened beneath me as their essence flooded my body, stealing their potency through our connection and making my skin buzz with power.
A breath shuddered out of me as my body hummed with ecstasy, the sheer volume of power it now contained making me feel like I could light up the world. I felt, rather than saw, the moment that they fell to their knees, their limbs heavy as weakness overcame them. A sob burst from my lips that rang in bizarre opposition to the euphoric smile on my face, a part of me fully aware that my actions were slowly but surely killing them.
With a blinding flash, my world went white.
Searing heat filled my veins, pure power pumping through me as a presence invaded my mind. It was unfathomable and infinite, permeating every cell of my body with an excruciating pressure as my back arched and I felt my mouth stretch into a wide, silent scream.
All at once, my body fell still as I lost all control. Standing passive and calm now, I could sense my physical self around me but my connection to it had been blocked. I found myself locked and helpless inside a static, unresponsive shell, and as my eyes opened to show the world around me, I realised that I wasn’t the one in command anymore.
My head dropped slightly, showing me the prone forms of my mates on the floor, nearly unconscious now as the spell continued to pull on their strength. It was the only thing holding my body together, I knew. The only way that my cells didn’t just collapse and fly apart at the direct touch of a god.
Because I knew who was inside of me. I had invited him in, after all. The Great Wolf had needed a conduit into this world that would allow him to act, but the sheer magnitude of his being needed to be sustained with more power than any one person could contain. This way gave him the power of four; our life forces were his fuel, though even that wouldn’t be able to support him for long. He had mere minutes before we would be burnt out and useless.
He turned to the Queen, who had backed away a few steps in fascinated horror.
