Chapter 93
Chapter 93
-Dorothy-
The battle had been herce and the Tally had taken many lives before their ultimate defeat. After the
final Tally shifter had fallen, the wolves that had been summoned by Plato dispersed into the woods,
followed by his pack who were indistinguishable amidst the true predators. They had done their part
and fulfilled their favor, and so they left without another word.
After Angie had found us in the woods and, along with the other Bielke members, had allowed me to
heal both Ignatius and myself, we were escorted out of the forest. Ignatius carried me in his arms and
all eyes turned to us as we stepped out from
the trees.
Angie told me later that rumors of the battle would be spreading far and wide before spring was upon
us. She said that the story of the red-headed Luna, carrying her two children in the womb while leading
her pack into battle would be told and retold for years to come.
I didn’t mind becoming a fantastical legend. I had done what I had to protect my pack. I had fought
alongside my people and, with the help of my mate. I had defeated the leader of the Tally army.
The memory of Johan would always be a painful one to recall. Angie and the others had examined his
b*dy after she found us in the forest. He had died with fear in his eyes, grappling with his own inner
demons to the very end
There was no way to neatly package those memories into right and wrong, good and bad. They would
forever remain a source of pain in my heart. Ban it was a pain I was prepared to bear.
Unlike the man I had once been destined to love, I was unafraid of the passage of time. I was prepared
to accept my own actions and to face the future head-on. And that future was looking brighter and
brighter.
Alongside our victory, however, came a great melancholy too. The news of Gideon’s death had shaken
me and I looked to both Angie and Fae who stood with tears in their eyes as the news was delivered to
me.
We had lost so many in the war. Each and every one of our fallen members were given a proper send-
off, cremated on a ceremonious fire and their ashes released into the Northern wind that blew over the
cliffs towards the sea. Angie’s grandfather was among those fallen soldiers, despite his treason, Angie
was numb to the loss of her grandfather.
In her own words, “he chose his fate”
It had been a sad day and a great silence had settled over our remaining members as they gathered to
watch the ashes scatt ered in the wind.
After the initial shock and chaos of the war were over, the Bielke was ready to recover. The members
who had been unable to fight were allowed back into their homes that very morning after the first rays
of sunlight broke over the bl oody battlefield
We had all stood in solemn silence as we watched the golden rays of daylight peak over the tops of the
trees and bathe the entire open area in sunshine. I had leaned my head against Ignatius’ bare chest
and closed my eyes, unable to bear witness to the carnage that our battle had left behind.
Rita had hurried to find me the moment she heard the news and arrived back at the forge. She had run
into my arms the second she caught sight of me and we held an embrace that lasted until I had no Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.
choice but to pull away gently and detached her arms from around my neck.
Kita had smiled at me with tears in her eyes, cupping my cheek and biting her lip to keep from crying
out loud.
“Look at you,” she had whispered to me, and Ignatius sidled up beside me and placed a large blanket
over my bare shoulders. “Look how far you’ve come.”
I wrapped the blanket around me tightly as the cold air finally became noticeable to me. I was
exhausted, leaning against Ignatius as he went about organizing our remaining members to see to the
sick and injured.
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Every tally shifter was cremged too. Some members were bitter at the ceremony that was held for our
fallen enemies, but I felt it was a necessity,
I had not forgotten my conversation with Jason as he lay dying in his prison cell. The Tally, despite their
part in the grand battle, deserved a respectable send-off.
It was only much later, when the dust had finally settled, that Ignatius explained to me exactly what had
happened with his
parents.
I had heard from the other soldiers that had been with him that something big had happened, that the
forest had been set alight, and that Elliot was dead. I hadn’t pushed Ignatius further on the subject,
sensing that it was something he himself was still struggling to overcome on his own.
When he finally told me the details, we had been lying in bed, our bed, in our quiet home by the sea.
Life in the Bielke Pack had changed forever, but our peaceful little patch of heaven remained the same.
I had never been happier to see those grandiose front doors swing open. Johan had wreaked havoc on
the interior but it wasn’t long before the house was as good as new
That night we lay together in our bed as we had done before the war. The room was exactly the same,
the sheets had been left in a haphazard heap as they had been when I had rushed out of the house the
day Johan turned up. The only thing that had changed was Ignatius and me
We were stronger somehow, older too. I felt as if we have lived thousands of lifetimes together and not
just a few brief moments of one. Ignatius lay beside me, talking to my stomach as he always did.
Only this time there was a slight crease in the corners of his eyes that deepened when he smiled and
even more so when he frowned. Amidst my red locks, there was a thin streak of white.
Ignatius had first noticed it when he had carried me out of the forest and into the morning light. It was
hidden from view for the most part, but noticeable in the mornings when my hair was a tousled mess.
The battle had done a number on both of us. We had both walked the precipice of death and came
back, thanks to the devotion and sacrifice of our pack
When Ignatius finally spoke about his parents, it was out of the blue. I had begun to assume that my
mate had fallen asleep where he lay with his head next to my stomach and I had just resigned myself
to do the same when he began to tell me the
story.
As he spoke, my heart broke for my mate all over again. I was never given the chance to truly know my
parents. But I knew that they loved me, and they had done everything in their power to keep me safe.
Ignatius didn’t have that. But rather than letting it turn him bitter, he used it to motivate himself. He had
seen a broken family. He had seen the destruction brought about by violence and mistrust and
miscommunication
He was determined to not let that happen to our own budding life together. Our children would know
love. They would have their parents by their side. They wouldn’t be lonely, outcast, or unloved. That
was a vow that the both of us made together.
We fell asleep that night exhausted, overwhelmed, and forever changed. But the future had never
looked brighter.