Fate and the Defiant Angel (COMPLETED)

Chapter 54- Tying up loose ends

Zara stared at the coffee that she had begun to enjoy, letting out a soft sigh before casting her gaze out the window. She watched as Harriet playfully kicked a soccer ball and as little children raced along trying to catch it. Some teenagers dived to get it, tossing it between themselves, as little ones reached up trying to snatch it from the air.

It had been three days since the battle had ended. Those who were wounded were healed and those dead brought back. It had been an eerie feeling afterwards. It didn't possibly seem true that they had won and not lost a single soul.

The sound of the door creaking open made Zara turn her head, a smile breaking out when she saw Cassie step through.

Cassie had her hair tied back in a high ponytail, pulled away from her face. She wore a warm flannel of a tank top and some comfy jeans. She looked so different in that moment. For once Zara didn't flash back and see Cassie as a teenager. There was no trace of that girl she'd been. She offered a smile to Zara, before nodding with her head to the empty seat.

"Of course."

"I wondered where you'd got to," Cassie said as she sat down, glancing out the window. "When are you leaving?"

"Harriet needs to get back to her pack, she's leaving this afternoon" Zara said softly.

Cassie frowned in confusion, "What about you?"

"There are some things that I need to do, and Harriet will unfortunately distract me. Would Jace mind if I stayed behind, just for a few weeks.

"Of course not," Cassie said instantly, "I mean, I'll ask but it'll be fine. On the subject Jace . . . "Cassie fidgeted with her hands as she got the nerve to talk, "he has told me something."

Zara turned her attention to Cassie, an eyebrow raised. Cassie gave a nervous smile. She took a deep breath, "He wants to leave. He wants to pass his alpha title down to someone else and leave the pack for a bit. He never really wanted to be an alpha anyway, and all of this has made him realise life is too short."

"Wow, that's a big change," Zara said, but smiling. "I think he will be happier. You're not doing anything stupid and leaving school are you?" Her tone was harsher towards the end and her eyes narrowed.

Cassie laughed and waved her hand. "God no, I fully intend to finish my course and pass all the ridiculous difficult lawyer exams. Jace is thinking about going to school or looking into a trade. He normally said alphas never have normal jobs, because the pack is their job, but he's really excited."

"I'm so happy for you and for him," Zara told her honestly. She reached out a hand and grasped Cassie's hand tightly in her own.

Cassie accepted her hand. She looked at Zara, smiling dimming slightly as she searched her face. "I know what you said about that Ariel woman being gone, but you seem different."

When they had all recovered enough to understand that everyone had survived and they'd won, Zara had been asked a loooooot of questions. Cassie, Harriet, Norma and everyone seemed desperate for answers on all sorts of questions. There were a few people who were so interested in the afterlife, which Zara managed to gently brush off. She had sat down the people closest to her and tried to explain in the simplest terms what she was. There had been a lot of gasps and even more questions, but they understood.

Zara had told them all that Ariel had stepped down, fading away and finally resting, but not everything that happened. No one but her needed to know everything that they had said to one another. Yet, even though Zara was the only one in her head for the first time ever she was most certainly different. Ariel had bestowed upon her information from the beginning of time itself. Zara knew far more than any other creature to exist. It was a lot too take in.