The strength that I have been pretending to have this entire time is fading. I had to block Anthony from the mind link because of his constant checking on me. I look at the woman before me with guilt once more. There are still things that I haven't told her but I need her to do this. If she knew exactly what could happen, then she wouldn't willingly agree. I hope that if the inevitable happens that she will understand. I will do anything to save my mate and the father of my children.
As she takes my hands I try to give her an encouraging smile. Out of the corner of my eyes all I see is my mate. Just a bit ago during her ether journey he had fallen unconscious. I can feel as our bond is weakening. This time is just so much worse than the last. Even I can feel some of the effects from the poison the body has caused in the ether. If we are unable to come up with a solution, I fear that I may truly lose him this time.
I want him to come home to our children. I want to lead our clan as we have done with him by my side. It has already taken so much out of the both of us learning to adjust to life without Slater. Seeing him today made me so happy but something was off. When we were teenagers before we knew about the bond we all had a connection. I fought myself for years because I was unable to choose one over the other. If faced with that choice now, I would still be unable to make it.
I can see what this time away from us has done to him. I can see how the darkness has taken over his soul. I even begged Salvatore to come and find him when we felt his pain through the bond. He would always say that it wasn't safe. We haven't even left the lands of our clan for years. Our people and our children have been safe there. We didn't want to be the reason for bringing attention to ourselves.
This time was different though. I didn't have a choice but to make this decision and Anthony sided with me. We put the life of our alpha above our people. I can't even imagine how the alpha of this clan was able to pass on his title so easily. How in the end he could just give up on his people. I couldn't let my mate make the same choice for us.
I force myself to take a deep breath as I settle myself. I can't carry all of these negative emotion into the ether. I need for this to work. No matter the price I have to pay. "I want you both to close your eyes. Instead of focusing on the love that you have in your heart we need to call out to the ether. We need to call out to the essence of what connects all of us. What forms our bonds and our truth. Call out to what feels our powers and brings us our family" I beckon them.
I can feel when they close their eyes. I know that our connection is probably glowing for the world to see. It was an amazing sight the first time Anthony and I made the connection. The gold and silver lights were like nothing that I have ever seen as it swirled around our hands. The atmosphere around us changes and I can hear Anthony in my head.
"The connection has been formed. He needs to search for the taint. Remember that you are not the one to touch it. We don't want you infected"
I take his warning seriously. Our gamma is still recovering back home from touching that filthy animal when it came out of the ether. When he touched his mate she miscarried. They were both trapped for days in a delirium of hatred. The words that left their mouth cut like the sharpest knife. Their violence was met by anyone that came near. We had no choice but to keep them sedated for a time. But I don't have a choice. We can't leave it there.
"Use your dragon Maximus. Open your connection" I ask him. My eyes blink open slowly as I feel the blue orb start to form in the air. I let my own power flow from my chest as I give his a push. Through this temporary connection Tika must feel what I do because she does the same. The ether surrounds us almost immediately and I am entranced. This is a sight that I will never get tired of seeing. A laugh bubbles up from my chest at the pure joy that I feel. Almost immediately that feeling changes and I find myself bending forward as I gag. The amount of darkness that is inside the ether is almost too much to handle. "Hold steady" I shout through gritted teeth as I try to fight the feeling. If this is what my mate has been experiencing then there is no wonder he kept vomiting.
"Tell me what's next. I don't know if I can hold it open" Maximus shouts. Before I can reply Anthony comes forward and places a hand on his shoulder. A brief moment of calm flows through the ether and we are all able to straighten as he joins us.
"You need to push with me. Picture the face of the man you sent you here. Hold on to how he made you feel and the actions he provoked. What made him so evil? What caused the hatred in his heart." He tells Maximus. I watch as his eyes glow blue and his dragon appears. His claws unsheathe and his jaw widens as his teeth elongate. The hatred that I see on his face causes me to shiver.
Suddenly we are sucked into the ether as we travel through space and time. The pull is so strong that I fight to keep myself connected to the others as we move. When we come to a stop, it is in a rough jerky movement. My breath leaves my chest in a woosh as it feels like I have just been hit. As I look around I can see a cloud of black that doesn't belong here.
Joy feels my chest that we were able to find it. It gives me so much more hope that we are close to saving my mate. Maximus rushes toward it as fast as his feet will carry him but a hand from Tika stops him. "We can't touch him" She tells him. His gaze swings in between her and the black substance as his face changes.
"What the hell do you mean? The way to save Xander is right there. All I have to do is pull it out" He yells at her.
"Watch your tone when you speak to me? If you touch that body then we will lose you. We have to come up with another way" She states as she looks at me. My head immediately bows in guilt at what I read in her expression. I have no idea how she knows what touching the body will do but she must know that I have something to do with it.
Anthony comes over to stand beside me. He has always been so loyal and he was a part of this decision to. I look at him as I hear her footsteps come closer. When she stops before me I finally lift my gaze to hers.
"Exactly what was your plan. To get rid of us while we suffer as you save your mate. Tell me you didn't know?" She says in her alpha tone. I can feel the weight of her aura as it rolls over me. She is definitely strong but I am also an alpha female.
"I. I don't owe you an explanation" I say as I answer her.
"No, I think you do. You are the reason that we are all here. You knew the consequences of a journey like this and yet you were so willing to stand by them. Even if it means that I could have lost my baby. We should have never trusted you" She states as she looks at me sadly.
Tears spring to my eyes as I have the thought. I have been against this side of the plan from the beginning as a mother. Anthony and I hashed it the whole way here and before we made the decision. We could see no other option and we need our alpha. I never wanted to hurt anybody but I love my mate. Her eyes cloud over and I see as Maximus eyes do too.
His growl rips through the air as he takes a fighting stance. She must have just filled him in on what she figured out. I take a step away and pull Anthony with me. "I didn't have a choice. I needed to save my mate. You don't know what it was like. I have already almost lost him more times than I can count". I sob
"So, that give you the right? You would so willingly hurt so many just to protect one? You would willingly hurt and end the life of an innocent child who hasn't even taken its first breath? Your mate bond has made you into a monster of the cruelest sort. It should have been used to the better the world in which we live, not to tear down some else" Tika screams at me.
"You don't think that I know that. You don't think that I have felt any guilt about doing this very thing. My children breath on this earth. Could you imagine having to look them in their eyes and tell them that daddy died? Could you tell them that you did nothing at all to try to save them from the pain? I saw it fit as a willing sacrifice because your child hasn't breathed. You haven't heard their laugh or seen their cry. The odds of it happening were so high compared to the loss of my mate. I weighed the outcomes" I answer her in my defense.
I can feel as Anthony tries to open the mind link but I cant let him in right now. I don't know why but I know that these things need to be said. If there is still a chance of saying them then the air needs to be cleared. I have owned up to what I have done. Now its her turn to act because I cant do this alone. I still need her help.
"Well, I guess it's a good thing that I'm not a bitch right?" she ask me dead panned. Then before anyone can stop her or see her next move, she's gone. She dives into the ball of black poisonous goop at the other end as we all scream. I try to rush forward hoping that maybe I can still pull her out. We didn't even discuss this. Tears spring to my eyes as Maximus falls to his knees. A loud growl rumbles out of chest as he eyes the black orb that starts to move.
When his cold feral gaze turns in our direction, I take a step back. His eyes watch every movement like an animal stalking his prey as he rises to his feet. Anthony stands in front of me and I watch from over his shoulder as he gives him a warning growl. This really isn't good. We don't need this right now. I see as he pounces but am unable to move. The weight of Anthony slamming into my front knocks me away as the sounds of heavy blows fills the air.
Darkness-Tika