"I can't go any further than this," Killian says as we stare at a large house in the middle of the woods.
I raise my eyebrows. "I'm sure the Seer is inside. I thought you would have liked to celebrate our victory with her."
Killian gets a wicked gleam in his eyes. "Don't worry about that. I'll see Katrina soon enough. For now, I need to stay away from Cain."
"Why?" I ask in confusion.
Killian quirks an eyebrow. "Because I'm complicit in taking you on your suicide mission."
"Still alive," I point out.
Killian laughs. "Yes, Ares, against all odds, you're still alive. But I helped you deceive him, and knowingly put you in danger. This is the stuff decades of rivalries are made of. Blood Lake and Crimson Shadow will not be allies again for a long while."
As much as I hate to admit it, he's right. Cain wouldn't outright kill him, but he would never forgive him for his role in this, even though we won in the end.
"Until next time, Luna," Killian bows mockingly before disappearing in thin air. Freak.
As soon as he's gone, almost like she knew he was going to leave, and I'm sure she did, Katrina walks out of the house.
"You did it," She states, standing a few feet away from me, no doubt for her safety, though I'm sure I could kill her if I tried.
"Did you know?" I ask quietly. I have no rage left in me. I am exhausted in every sense of the word. I have been fighting for far too long.
Katrina looks at me sadly. "Only one could live, Ares. Just like Henry and Landon, only one was ever meant to survive."
"You chose Cain," I state.
The Seer nods slowly. "I told you. I protect the prosperous future."
"What would have happened," I can't help myself from asking. "If Cain went to war?"
"He would have taken the dagger for you," She confirms what I already suspected. "You would have been too heartbroken and too weak to defeat Selene. You would not have returned."
But Thane would be alive, is what she doesn't say, doesn't have to because I already know.
"He was relieved when it happened," Katrina says quietly. "He was grateful to be the one to ensure that you and Cain got your pups. He died feeling at peace with his role and himself."
Her words do nothing to ease the searing pain in my chest. I didn't know if it would ever go away. That kind of guilt never does.
"You stayed here," I tell her. "Knowing that I might kill you when I saw you."
Katrina smiles slightly. "No, Ares. You know I held up my end of the bargain. Cain is waiting for you inside. The two of you will have a happy, long life together."
I start walking to the door, to my mate.
"Ares," Katrina calls out, and I turn around to look at her. "There will come a time when I call on you for a favor. You owe me many. I will only need one."
I grind my teeth together. She wasn't wrong. I hate that she isn't wrong.
I ignore her and go inside the house. Axel sits on a couch talking to a small blonde girl. Based on the way he's looking at her, his mate. Good for him.
"Where's Cain?" I ask, my mind only focused on seeing him.
Axel gives me instructions, and I find him in a bedroom with trees painted on the walls, looking out the window.
"Ares," He breathes, rushing over to me and pulling me in his arms. "Katrina said you lived. I didn't believe it but... you're here," He chokes.
"I'm here," I say, unable to stop the tears from falling. "Cain, I have to tell you something. Thane-"
"I know," Cain says quietly. "Axel told me everything."
"It's my fault," I whisper, my throat tightening. "He took the knife for me."
"I know," Cain says, his voice cracking. "I'm sorry I wasn't there."
But he wasn't there because Katrina knew. Knew that he would have done exactly what Thane did.
We cry in each other's arms for a moment, completely vulnerable, feeling each other's pain through our bond.
"W-Where are we?" I finally ask, pulling away.
Cain's eyes hold a deep sadness. "Onyx's home. She lives here with other rogues."
Onyx.
"Did she..." I struggle to find the words. "Was she the one who took you?"
Cain shakes his head. "No, Ares. It was two other rogues. She and the others had no idea what they were doing. Onyx... She saved my life. She..."
Cain's voice breaks, and instead of telling me, he opens his mind, and shows me what happened during his imprisonment. Onyx being locked up with him by her True Mate, Cain nearly being killed by my bastard half-brother, Cain trying to save Onyx and her unborn pup. Onyx dying to save Cain. Onyx coming back to life, choosing to live even after she lost everything.
Not even I would be strong enough to return to life without knowing Cain was there waiting for me.
"You... You can't kill any more rogues," Cain tells me, even though I already saw him make the promise to Onyx.
"I don't want to," I say softly. Thane's death had destroyed that part of me. I felt no more rage I wanted to soothe by killing.
I felt tired.
"Let's go back to Blood Lake," Cain tells me. "Axel found his mate, she'll be returning with us."
I shake my head. There's something I have to do first.
"The pup. Onyx," I say quietly. "Where is she?"
I go to Onyx alone, finding her sitting in front of a freshly dug grave with flowers on it. My throat tightens.
Onyx barely looks up at me.
"Thank you," I say quietly. "For saving Cain."
"I don't want your gratitude," Onyx says, her voice hollow. Her mate's death has completely broken her.
"I know," I tell her, because I do. Nothing would take her pain away. Pain that would stay with her for the rest of her life, as would mine.
"Drakon," She says suddenly. "What does that name mean?"
Cain had showed me him telling her that name, his way of ensuring that I wouldn't kill her or her pup.
He also showed me that when Onyx was still unconscious after being brought to life, a rogue healer had told him that the baby was not also resurrected.
"It's what we're going to name our first girl," I tell her. The girl who I have given up so much to have. Who Onyx and Thane have made possible.
"Why did he tell me that name?" She asks, and I wish she hadn't.
And so I lie, deceive her to protect her from the pain of losing a pup. A pain that traumatized me, probably always will. It almost destroyed me, was almost my downfall.
I shrug. "I would have known that you were an ally to Cain if you said the name. We were the only ones who knew it."
Onyx thankfully seems to accept my explanation.
"I will kill you if you ever harm another rogue," She says, no inflection in her voice. "I will drain the life from you and your entire pack. Even Cain."
"I won't," I promise her lowly. And for the rest of my life, I never killed another rogue again.
Not that I didn't kill other people, but they all deserved it.
I hesitate before turning around. "If... If you ever need somewhere to go... You'll always have a home at Blood Lake."
She tilts her head slightly in acknowledgment, but says nothing. She just continues to stare at the grave.
I shake my head slightly at the heartbroken sight, sending a prayer to Helios to make the rest of her life peaceful and full of joy.
Not even I deserved that, not the way Onyx does.
When I go back into the house, Lucas approaches me, a nervous look on his face.
"I'm resigning from my position as the Gamma of Blood Lake," He says, and looks out the window at Onyx. It's easy to see that he's choosing to stay for her.
"Take care of her," I say simply.
He nods, somewhat shocked by my response.
And then Cain wraps his arm around me, and we leave the house with the rest of the Blood Lake wolves.
When we get back to our home in Blood Lake, as soon as we step inside, Cain looks at me warily.
"You know that I'm locking you in here for the next decade, right?" He says, completely serious.
I laugh. "We'll see about that."
***
The next morning, Cain finds me looking out the window. Winter has passed, and snow no longer coats every inch of the ground, though I have no doubt that it's still freezing outside. I'm even cold from standing so close to the window.
Cain wraps a fur blanket around me, holding me in his arms.
"We're going to have a pup soon, you know," I tell him suddenly. Everything I did, I did for the opportunity.
He laughs. "Only one?" He teases.
I smile at my mate, the man who I hated so intensely when we first met, who I now would do anything for.
"I want seven," I tell him seriously.
"Then you shall have them," Cain says, leaning down to kiss me.
And I do.
The End