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“Speak for yourself. I fought him twice,” I argued, unable to look away from my mate, half expecting her to disappear from my arms.
“What happened? I mean, that was the oddest battle I’ve ever been in. No one died. Huitzilopochtli recalled his warriors after a few minutes. He jumped to the platform, and you jumped after him like Superman, then you both jumped back down. The Moon Goddess showed up, and you guys just stood still for like twenty minutes with your eyes turned white, then they just… left?” he summarized the ridiculous series of events.
“Celeste happened,” I explained. “She didn’t want to kill him. She told me he was kind and his soul was in pain. She wanted to stop the bloodshed, not just today, but for our pups and every generation to come. She used her gift and took him to watch his battle with Selene, which began this whole madness, and he finally saw the truth of what happened. Our goddess was not to blame. None of his siblings were. It was the god of darkness behind everything. His pain, his vendetta, it was all because of him. Selene told him he needed to find redemption after everything he’d done and took him from here.”
I looked down at the crystal dagger I dropped on the floor in order to catch my mate.
“Let’s go home. If my mate and our goddess deemed him worthy of redemption, who are we to go against it? If he dares to try again, we have a way to stop him,” I said, shifting Celeste a little so I could pick up the dagger and give it to Gillian, who wrapped it in his shirt.
I stood with Celeste in my arms and started heading toward the cars. I passed the keys to Danny and kept my face in my mate’s hair, letting her scent and warmth calm my soul on the ride back. I settled her into our room and curled us both under the blankets.
“You’re going to hate me so much, but I’m tying you to my side for the rest of eternity,” I whispered to my sleeping mate when I felt her snuggle closer to me. I put my arm around her belly and rubbed circles around it. “I missed you, my pups,” I cooed as I felt their hearts beat. One of the pups kicked my hand, and I smiled, tears leaving my eyes. “I love you, too.” I kissed Celeste’s cheek and let myself go to sleep.
“Markus. Markus, wake up, baby.” Celeste’s panicked voice was in my ear. I pulled her closer to me, and she groaned. My eyes fluttered open in alarm.
“What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” I asked.
“You’re putting more pressure on my bladder, and I’m about to pee myself,” she groaned, and I laughed, happy to have her back. I lifted her and ran her to the bathroom. “OMG, that’s making it worse!” she squeaked as I put her down in the bathroom. “Aren’t you going to let me pee?” she asked, waiting next to the toilet.
“Of course, go ahead,” I said, closing the door with me inside.
“Markus,” she said, dancing on her feet in front of the toilet. “Let me pee. You can wait outside.”
“No, Tuli. You were gone for two weeks. You can pee with me here. I‘ll turn around,” I argued and heard her grunt. A minute later, I heard as she relieved her bladder. She flushed and started washing her hands while I relieved my own bladder. I looked over at her and found her blushing. I washed my hands and put my arms around her; they barely wrapped completely around her belly.
“Why are you blushing?” I whispered in her ear and felt her shiver.
“You wouldn’t let me pee,” she whined. “I’ve never had to pee in front of someone.” I kissed under her ear.
“I’m sorry. I thought I had lost you. I—” My voice broke as my brain replayed the image of her being taken in my head.
“I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.” She turned in my arms as best as she could and grabbed my face. “Helios won’t come after us again. I can feel it. His heart wasn’t in it anymore, even before I showed him the truth.”
“How can you truly know that?” I asked her, burying my head in the curve of her neck. My heart felt raw, my emotions like a live wire. It was too good to believe this was over and my family was safe.
“I watched him for two weeks, my love. He was going through the motions but couldn’t even hurt me. No matter how annoying I got, how sick or sad. He fed me, gave me books, and stopped at every gas station imaginable so I could pee. By the way, did Evergreen catch me? I looked at the camera as much as I could without making it obvious.” I nodded my head against her neck, unwilling to leave the only place I wanted to be right now. “My point is, I don’t think he could have hurt me. He didn’t hurt the girls he bought.”
“What?” I lifted my head at that.
“He bought them off Alpha Geoff, fed them, got them healthy, then paid a brujo to erase their memories and left them at the edge of packs to be taken in.”
“He told you that? And you believed him?” I asked her, wondering why she would believe the word of her captor—wondering if she developed Stockholm syndrome.
“No. Of course not. He took me to a pack near Mexico City. I saw Janet from a distance. She had a pup and looked happy,” she answered me, offended.
“So then, why would he keep hunting for so long?” I asked her, and she sighed.
“I think he did it out of duty, for his mother. Now that’s he’s seen the truth… I hope he and Selene had a chance to talk.” She sighed, putting her head against my chest. I hugged her as tight as I could without hurting her. I needed to feel the sparks I missed for two weeks. Then I felt a wetness on my chest, and I felt her body begin to shake.
“Hey,” I said, picking her up and taking her back to the bed, where I held her on my lap while she cried. I rubbed small circles on her back, letting her release her pent-up emotions. Atlas howled until her shakes ceased.
“Kara said you almost died,” she whispered, holding me tight.
“It doesn’t matter. I’ve got you back,” I replied, kissing her head.
She looked up at me with her beautiful blue eyes rimmed with tears.
“It matters. I’m so sorry, Markus. I didn’t know Kara would do that, but I–I don’t know that I wouldn’t have done the same. The vision Selene showed her. There was so much death. I couldn’t do that to our pack, but when I heard that I almost lost you, I felt like my heart was breaking,” she sobbed and I felt my own tears stinging my eyes.
