His Mate

Chapter eighty seven

Rasmus didn’t leave when Edward told him to. He knew Aliyah was safe back in the castle and so he lingered around and watched the fight. He had refused to take the bark from his father when he had given it to him this afternoon and had only promised to bring the prince out of the palace and in return, he would never acknowledge his father again. Bringing Edward out of the palace was the last respect he told himself he would to pay his parents and seeing how the prince was doing well on his own, he was happy he made that decision and also glad that Edward has forgiven him.
Even if Edward hadn’t pointed him out, he had every intention of telling him the truth and asking for his forgiveness before the fight started and he had wanted to fight alongside him but he never expected the man to chase him out of the fight. He had been secretly watching the fight and rejoicing at Edward’s obvious victory until he heard a voice like Irene’s. He was still wondering what Irene could be doing there until he saw Genevieve sprinting out of the fight and Edward following her.
What happened next seemed like a slow motion to him. His father had followed Edward immediately and he had seen him pull out the bark from his coat. He knew then he had to do something but he was still running out into the meadow when Edward turned and his father was impaling him. He saw the look of betrayal on the prince’s face and he knew why he should feel that way. All through the fight, he had noticed that Edward was going easy on his father. He would deliver killer blows on other high chiefs and night howlers but whenever it was his father, all he would do is kick him away or flung him away, no serious damage was ever thrown his way and he knew why. Despite having betrayed him by luring him out, the prince was honoring his favor by not killing his father and now, he did this.
Rasmus couldn’t believe his eyes, how could his father have missed out on the fact that the prince was being easy on him? Most importantly, why did he choose to be the one to kill the prince? Ever since he was born, Edward had loved Malachi simply because he was knight Gustav’s son and had favored him greatly, so Rasmus could understand the pain that must be going through the man just because his father was the one that delivered the blow. He heard Aliyah screaming and immediately went to them to know what they were doing there. He didn’t miss the fact that if it wasn’t because of her, the prince wouldn’t have lost focus.
Edward wrapped his hand on Malachi’s own. His eyes almost closing at the intense pain he was feeling. “I’m sorry, my prince,” Malachi repeated. “I had to do this, I hope you will understand.”
Edward closed his eyes and his hand went up, strangling the man on the neck immediately. His fingers curled tightly as his eyes opened, burning red. Veins appeared on his forehead as his lips quivered. However, despite the urge to kill the man whose eyes were bulging out of the sockets now, he didn’t and mainly pushed him away before he slumped on the ground, his knees digging a hole on the ground. He tightened his fingers on the arrow and pulled it out, blood gushing out of the hole created on his chest. He waited for the wound to heal but nothing happened, rather, he felt his strength draining. And to think he had fed enough just the night before.
“No!” he heard Aliyah’s voice faintly as she kept screaming. He turned his head around softly and saw Rasmus, Sean and Irene holding her, keeping her from running to him. He wanted to yell at them to leave her, to let her come to him so that he could hold her, kiss her and breath in her rusty scent he had come to love. He wanted to kill them from preventing him the chance of feeling her touch for the last time, however, he knew they were right, she shouldn’t come to him now.
As he watched her, despite naked and fighting to free herself, he saw her fully clothed in a princess dress, a beautiful taira sitting on her head as she was declared his betrothed. How he wished he could go back to that day, to hold her hand and ask for her hand in marriage so that she would say yes to him and not to his father. To declare their wedding the next day and make her completely his. But alas, he couldn’t and now as he watched her, he had only one regret: Not telling her how much he loved her.
He didn’t return her confession back in the kitchen because he wanted it to be his reason to come back. He had felt something was up with Rasmus since he returned that night and told him he went for a run. Rasmus never went for runs but he did that night and he had noticed the look in his eyes, how much he had avoided him seeing his eyes. He knew the man had been put in a difficult situation and so he never called him out for it. So when he told him of the rogues attack, he had known immediately it was a trap, yet he fell into it because he was tired of waiting for the fight and had wanted it all to end so that he can wait for his son’s arrival peacefully.
And so when his mate told him she loved for the very first time, he didn’t reply because he wanted to have at the back of his mind that he has an answer to give her, a confession to make so that it would bring him back to her sooner. However, seeing her here never crossed his mind and because of that, he had to pay this price because he lost his focus for a mere second. He raised up his bloodied hand to her but his vision was turning blurry already and so he closed his eyes.
“Finally, it is done,” Damien whispered.
“Yes,” a high chief answered. “What about the wolf?”
“The witch said that they would handle her. If she is here, it means they are after her already,” Damien answered, his eyes never leaving the kneeling dying man. They have been fighting for so long but never able to catch the man unaware, however, his mate showed up and he lost focus immediately. Truly, the female is the strength and weakness of the male.
“No, no, Edward, Edward,” Aliyah screamed at the top of her voice, watching the man that was falling to his death. Never did she think she would witness such a day. He was the strongest man she knows and falling on his feet was a thing she never thought possible, but unfortunately, he is now and she could now tell why she had felt uneasy watching him leave that time. “Edward,” she whispered as the situation of things were finally making sense to her.
“The rogues are here,” Rasmus whispered and Sean looked up to see the deranged creatures. Saliva drooled from their snouts and their eyes were white as they watched them, waiting to see their next move. “It’s no doubt they would join the fight and it won’t be a surprise if they are on their side rather than ours.”
Sean glanced at the surviving High howlers and High chiefs and how they were watching them. He knew Rasmus was right and his gaze fell on Edward. The man was on the brink of death, it was clear on how weak he looked. He closed his eyes and shook his head, if only they know the mistake they have just made, if only he could make them see things from his own way, he was sure their leaders would regret taking the decision they did. “Are we going to surrender?”
“We can’t fight them all,” Irene whispered. “His downfall means we have lost,” she refrained from wiping away the tears that trailed down her cheek as she refused to look at Edward, not wanting to see him at his weakest. The man has been her hero since she was fifteen, the last thing she wants now was to damage that image of him in her mind by seeing him now.
A rogue shape shifted into a young man and said, “give us the wolf and we would let you live,” his voice came out distorted.
Aliyah glanced at her mate and she knew that it was all over. She closed her eyes and the tears trailed down her cheek. Why run from the rogues, when they would save her from this heart wrenching pain by killing her? She turned then, making her decision as she took a step towards them.
“Aliyah,” Sean called, but what should he say? Don’t go? They have already lost the fight and there was no way just him and Rasmus could fight against a hundred deranged rogues with the high chiefs and high howlers.
“No,” A faint voice said and they turned to Edward to see him struggling to get up. Hope rose in their eyes and Aliyah was running to him already. “Stop,” he ordered and she did, watching him, wondering what he was doing. “Hold her, I-Irene,” and Irene did, she too wondering what was going on. Edward looked up and his eyes were a burning flame, he smiled softly at Aliyah. “I-I p-promised to…protect y-you this…t-time and…I…I intend to…d-do t-that,” and with that, a heavy wind surrounded them. No one could understand what was going on but the wind turned into a tornado and it was carrying them out of there. Sean and Rasmus shared a look before they jumped into the wind. Any other person that tried to get in was pulled back by an invisible force and life sucked out of them.
“No!” Malachi yelled, “prince Edward please, die as a nightwalker, please.”
Edward glanced at him, and waving his hand, an invisible force started strangling Malachi.
“No,” Damien shouted as he rushed Edward but before he could get to him, something pulled him by the hair and he started fighting what he couldn’t see as his feet left the ground.
Edward scoffed; it was obvious that he was dying but it was also clear that he didn’t intend to do so alone. A forest fire suddenly started, consuming everything on it’s wake; trees, grasses, dead bodies and including the rogues. Screams filled everywhere, heart wrenching screams and the ones who could run were running out of there, trying to save themselves. Edward coughed out blood then, the act making him lose his hold on Damien and Malachi. They both glanced at each other and didn’t need to be told what to do as they sprinted out of there.
Soon, all that was left in the meadow was a forest fire, heart wrenching growls as rogues were burned alive and a dying man who was the instigator of the fire. It wasn’t long, all that was left were ashes and smokes. Then, and only then, did Edward fall. He fell on his back and his gaze locked on the sky. He smiled when he saw a single ray of sunlight seeping through the thick clouds just as another heavy thunder roared.
Edward heaved a sigh as he felt the cold that was creeping up on him from his toes. He could feel that Aliyah was safe and that alone made him happy. Maybe he didn’t live to his promise of coming back to her, but he lived his promise of protecting her this time and that was more than he can ever ask for. He had sent her off with his two children and her brother and he knows that they would take care of her and his son for him, at least, he was leaving a legacy behind.
His heart was on fire, like a flame was consuming him from inside, slowing eating him up and rather painfully. The only time he had felt that pain was when he was being turned and now, he guess he would be feeling it as he is turned human once more before he dies. He shut his eyes tightly, letting out a soft shaky breath as his heartbeat slowed and then stopped, leaving him lying in the midst of ashes, surrounded by smoke.