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I nodded. “And the pillars. It doesn’t mean literal stone, does it? ‘Her three pillars’. That’s them, isn’t it? It’s why you had to bring Noah back. I needed three mates.”
The look of pity on his face gave me all the answer I needed, but rather than break me, it stoked the fire burning in my chest. Fury seared through my veins as my next question came out as a single, hissed word.
“Sacrifice.”
He stepped closer, reaching out to grip my bicep in his huge hands. They were soft, had never seen true hard work or suffering, and I ripped out of his hold as it just upheld the injustice of it all.
“Don’t touch me!” I snapped, emotion threatening to bubble up my throat. “You manipulated us all. You’re just playing with us like toys.”
My chest constricted as the air was suddenly ripped out of my lungs, his renewed grip on my arm the only thing preventing me from falling to my knees. I grabbed at my throat uselessly as his stern eyes held mine, the fact that he could squash me like a bug hanging as a clear threat between us.
“I understand your anger, little one,” he murmured as black spots began to dance in my vision. “But you must listen, we do not have the luxury of time for you to berate me.”
I gasped in a breath, panting as the pressure suddenly lifted off my chest. My hand stayed locked on his solid arm as he steadied me until I was strong on my feet again, lifting my head to look back into his endless, midnight gaze and nodding stiffly.
He tipped his chin in return as he moved back a little, rubbing a hand over his jaw in a surprisingly human gesture.
“When the Queen betrayed my children and showed she would cross any line in her quest for power, I had to find a way to step in. No god is all-powerful. We each have one act of power that we can use to shape your worlds, and I used mine to create my shifter children. I did not anticipate how the witches would turn against us, but the act was done. None of us can upset the balance of power by directly interfering once we have used our one opportunity to do so. It could pull apart the very fabric of the universe.”
He shot me a wry smile. “I had to find another way.”
I nodded for him to continue, not daring to speak yet even as my mind swirled with questions.
“I had to create someone who could act on my behalf without the same consequences. Someone who could walk the path to vengeance.”
“Wait, create? You created me?!” I interrupted, forgetting myself.
I slammed my mouth shut at his pointed glare, taking a small step back.
“The Queen was only meant to have one child,” he answered. “You were created with my involvement to ensure that was not the case. She suspected, though, that something was not right, and removed your father from the picture the moment she realised that she was carrying you. But it was not his doing, your sister is his only true child.”
“You’re my father?” I whispered.
He shook his head gently. “No, not truly, only through my interference. You are a child of magic, little one. Never truly meant to be, but more necessary now than any other.”
Emotion churned through me, my anger tempered by sadness, betrayal and confusion.
“But… why?” I asked, uncaring as I risked his wrath again. I had to understand. “If you chose where to give me life, why did you put me there? Do you know what my childhood was like? The way she treated me?”
He hummed sadly, brushing a finger across my cheek. “I needed her power in your veins so that you would be strong enough to get this far, and I needed you to experience her cruelty so that you would seek your own vengeance as well as mine.”
I slapped his hand away as my fury reignited.
“So you knew that she would break me, hurt me, make me live in fear,” I spat. “And then I would find my mates, have love and safety for the first time in my life, and that it would be ripped away from me. All becauseyouwant justice?! Well, fuck. You.”
His arm darted out so quickly that I almost didn’t see it move, his hand wrapping around my throat and yanking me into his hard body. Anger flashed in his eyes, though I could see the guilt there alongside it.
“Do you truly think that this is about my whims?” he growled, sounding every bit the shifter now. “This is theonlyway to save everyone. And I meaneveryone.”
I choked against his hold for a moment before his grip loosened slightly, my vision suddenly tunnelling as he invaded my mind and showed me exactly what he meant. Visions of possible futures flashed before my eyes, making tears flood down my cheeks as my body shook violently in his arms. Nausea swept over me as I blinked back into awareness, and I collapsed to the rocky ground as I sobbed violently.
He sat with me as I broke down, his strong arms holding me as he murmured in my ear.
“If you do not fulfil the prophecy; if she is left alive, she will kill your pack. Every shifter in this world will be slaughtered or drained of life to increase her power. And then she will move on to the human realm. She will find and use the other shifters, including your sister, then turn on the human population. She will destroy it all.”
I heaved in a shaky breath as I wiped my cheeks. “So I have to sacrifice everything.”
He tucked a finger under my chin to bring my puffy eyes up to his, a look of genuine regret on his face. “I’m sorry, little one.”
