A Gift from the Goddess

Chapter 61

Chapter Sixty–One 

“...What did you just say?” I asked, my voice thick with disbelief. 

“I said they‘ve declared war,” Alexander repeated. “They‘ve said that if we don‘t release Caius before sunset tomorrow that they will officially announce their intent to bring him home by force.” 

Less than twenty–four hours. I had less than twenty–four hours to free him or we would be initiating a war. 

...And it would be my fault. 

“It‘s not enough time,” I whispered, the panic rising inside me once more. “...It‘s not enough time... It‘s not enough time.” 

I took a step backwards as my mind continued to whirl. This was it. Everything had been leading to this moment and it was finally here. 

“Is there anything else I need to know?” Aleric asked him. 

Alexander frowned as if he‘d expected him to have a different reaction.“... No? Just that we received a letter from the Silver Lake just now... —” 

“You can go then,” Aleric interrupted. “Thank you for telling me as soon as possible.” 

“What? ....Uh, yeah, okay...,” Alexander said, confused. 

He took a few steps backwards, still unsure as to why he‘d been dismissed so quickly, before finally turning around to leave. 

As soon as Alexander was out of sight, Aleric immediately turned his attention to me. 

Everything was spinning, making it hard to focus. What could I possibly do to stop this now? Maybe confronting Thea myself and trying to get her to confess again? But no... that energy inside me had become disconnected, like a flickering light whenever I tried to grasp it. I remembered how sick it made m e last time and didn‘t think I could force anyone to follow my orders right now even if I wanted to. A parto fme knew that doing so would be reckless... potentially deadly. 

“Aria,” Aleric said, his voice cutting through my thoughts. It was enough to make me look up to him, meeting his gaze directly. “Breathe. In and out.” 

As he said the words, I realised my breathing had become shallow, my concentration on thinking taking priority. Slowly, I breathed in deeply and back out again. 

“You‘ve got that same expression that worries me,” he said. “The one where I leave you alone to calm down, only to find out you’re acting completely insane a few days later. We don‘t have time for that anymore. I need smart Aria right now, not self–destructive Aria.” 

He was right, I needed to slow down and think properly. Confronting Thea myself was far too risky and 

almost certainly wouldn‘t work out in my favour. 

And so, I closed my eyes, my breathing still shaky, but I did my best to focus. 

I went over it all in my head, thinking through the different possibilities, the different outcomes... but with the limited time we had left, there wasn‘t much we could do. 

Shaking my head, I frowned. “There‘s no time, Aleric... our best hope is that Jonathan accidentally reveals himself tomorrow or Thea slips up.” 

“... That‘s cutting it pretty close,” he said. 

“I know... which is why I have one more solution as a backup plan that is almost guaranteed to work.” 

He crossed his arms, his brow furrowed. “If it‘s quaranteed then why don‘t we just implement that one first instead?” 

I bit my lip, unsure if I should tell him. I already knew what his reaction would be. 

“Well... because..,” I started hesitantly. 

His frown deepened for a second before finally, he understood what I meant without me even needing to finish. I could see the recognition on his face when he realised what I was planning. 

“No, no way,” he said, a tone of finality in his words. “You‘re not doing that.” 

“Aleric, I don‘t have a choice.” 

“You‘re throwing your life away,” he argued. “Everything you‘ve worked towards, everything you‘ve fought for. You‘re going to give it up for him?” 

“I‘m not giving it up for him... I‘m giving it up for the pack. Both packs. I‘m giving it up to save innocent people.” 

“Aria, think this

happen... I‘m going to confess. There is no other way. The side effects of my punishment do not overrule the lives of innocents. You‘re

too well the destruction they left behind. This time the cause wasn‘t even for power or territory...

a breath, calming my voice back down to help him see reason. “Aleric, if you really cared about the Winter Mist, and I know you do... you‘d let me do this. Please don‘t ask me to stand by and let people die

huh? I can‘t save you from that, Aria. You know as well as I do what the punishment for treason

my life before killing me. He likes the status

nutcase on our doorstep demanding their Saintess‘ freedom. You‘ll become a martyr within your own oppression. We‘re potentially trading one war

a more manageable problem. One thing at a time here. First, I‘ll call an emergency meeting scheduled for just after lunch tomorrow. In the morning before that, we‘ll

said

what the hell is going on with you? Is this really due to dealing with the devout follower backlash or is this about something else?

sighed in frustration, giving up on whatever he wanted to say and opting

What were you going

“Nothing. Forget it.” 

Chapter Sixty–One 

defensively. “You always do this,” I said, not bothering to hide my irritation. “I say something or do something and you just go

when some things are better left unsaid. Would you like me to teach you how that‘s done?”

it that you‘re insecure over whether I‘ll usurp you one day? Gather followers of the Goddess around me and take over what you feel you‘re entitled to? Let me give you a quick tip for avoiding that future; don‘t piss me off. I never wanted the job anyway.

don‘t give Alpha commands,” he retorted harshly. “You can‘t just pick and choose which title you want whenever it suits

overstepped that line. Instead, a moment of icy silence hung between us, neither of us wanting to

said quietly in defeat, running a hand through his dark wavy hair. “Just... do what you think is right, Aria. We‘ll deal with whatever happens

no surprise really that we were both now in each other‘s faces the second that war was finally at our doorstep. It was a cocktail for short fuses and high tempers. Which was exactly why the best decision here was for

And whilst it felt as though Aleric‘s opinion on this right now seemed off, I had to give him credit where it was due. If it hadn‘t been for his support over these last few months, I would have been worse off and probably done something far more drastic already by now. I n a way, I owed

wanted him on my side for this decision. After all the time and effort we‘d put in, it was now just as much Aleric‘s choice as it was mine since it was technically his life on the line as well. He‘d lied about my involvement

Aleric. Just... trust

“Aria... that‘s

said with a small smile. “Maybe we‘ll

“Hopefully.” 

us moving. I could see on his face that he looked as though he wasn‘t exactly pleased with the outcome, but I was happy that he seemed

“I‘ll drop you off at the

are you going?” he asked,

Chapter Sixty One 

much time left but I knew exactly where I needed to go next. Only it wasn‘t

off to go prepare for the worst–case scenario,”

down a cold hallway, my feet leaving an echo as I went. I‘d come here frequently enough that I was now familiar with these walls, but their

who had escorted me from m y cell to the trial grounds in my previous timeline. James barely knew me in this life when compared to the last but my respect

heir,” he greeted me, inclining his

“James. How is the

“Same as always.” 

and instead opened the door, accompanying me

sight, my eyes immediately darted around, searching until they fell on a pair of familiar gold ones staring right back

run to him, nestle my head into his neck, and wish for the thousandth time that this wasn‘t real… but I couldn‘t. Not here, not today, and definitely not over the last few months, had I been able to do anything remotely close to that. We were forced to strict professionalism

how are you?”

complaints even once since coming here but I knew it had to be hard. I could see the circles forming under his eyes

“It‘s good

voice almost made me lose my composure. I could see in his eyes what he was really telling me and it only

throat and tried to refocus. “You too.”

know what that meant, what two paths would potentially be waiting for me now. But, more importantly, he would know that this was

there,” I half

it at least feels a little less... prison –y. Kind of

twitched slightly but I couldn‘t bring myself to give him a smile at his attempt at humour.

us knowing what to say. I couldn‘t speak freely with him and yet there was so much I wanted to speak about. It was torture. He was right there in front of me, within arm‘s

silently. James was at the door within listening range but my back was facing

he saw just how sincerely I meant

exactly what I was feeling, and inside I could feel that pit of guilt clench.

I‘m glad you‘re doing okay,” I said, no longer having the strength for this anymore. I felt overwhelmed, like I couldn‘t breathe.

about to stand up when his hand suddenly shot out,

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