Ember
I woke up with someone shaking me.
“Ember. Ember, wake up”, the deep voice said. My eyes shot open, only to see War standing above me. I shoved him away from me.
“Get away from me”, I screamed at him, but my powers did not work. I could not feel my power at all, or my mates. War backed away and raised his hands.
“Hey. It’s okay, love. I’m not War. I’m Ryder. We are stuck in his realm”, War said. I looked closely at War. This was another trick. I stood up.
“That’s bullshit.”, I told him and looked around. The ground beneath me was charred as if burned. Smoke rose from it. There were a few trees that were burnt. You could see nothing but skulls on the smoky ground.
“Where am I, War? What have you done?”, I asked him. The memory of me stabbing Jordan came into my mind. I sank to my knees.
“Jordan”, I cried out. I was not sure what happened, or how I even allowed War to enter me. I remember making my way back to my mates as they were fighting war, but War somehow made Agatha, Jessica, Ben, and Jax fight them. War disappeared. Before I could get to them, War was behind me, and grabbed me.
“The moon is high,” he said, turning me around. I screamed at him, and it somehow blasted him away from me. He exploded, but it was like the exploded pieces put them right back together. My powers were not working on him. His ring glowed and suddenly I could not move. Could not feel my own body. My own powers felt useless as his ring’s power held me in place.
“Now you’re mine”, he said, and I was thrown from my own subconscious as I dropped to the ground. A bright red light engulfed my entire vision, and I could not see anything or even feel my own body.
“Now watch as I destroy everything you hold dear.”, he said. My eyes opened, but I was not in control of that. I could fully see everything that was happening, but I could not say or do anything of my own free will. It was like he was in complete control. I tried linking with my mates, but I couldn’t. I watched as Jordan pushed his mom away to try to get to me. Love was shown in his eyes. Love I wished so much I could feel through the bond that I could no longer feel. I watched as War, in my own body, stabbed him. Confusion was shown in his face before he fell. Surprise right after. I pushed past War’s hold on my body as Jordan fell, as I saw the knife in Jordan’s heart. He was not going to heal from that. My beautiful mate was going to die.
“Finally, the ritual is complete”, I heard my own voice say.
“Later boys”, War said, before my vision cut off, bringing me to now.
” Give me my body back, NOW!”, I sobbed through my tears. I stood up and ran to war and landed a punch on his face. He fell to the ground, and I climbed on top of him. He just took the punch. I punched him again, harder, trying to kill him.
“You took, my fucking .. mate.. from me.” I sobbed, still punching him. He didn’t even try to fight back.
“Fight back. Fight back you coward”, I screamed through tears. My punches became weaker and weaker as I pounded on his chest. He looked up at me with his now swollen hazel eyes.
“Not. War…. I’m Ryder.” He spoke, coughing up blood. I stood up and backed away.
“You’re lying!”, I said to him. Ryder wiped the blood from his face, before sitting up.
“I am not. Ryder has been in control of my body more times than I can count. But I swear, Ember, it is me. He fully took control of me the day he used my body to kill your mother”, he explained to me. My eyes widened. I could not believe what I was hearing. I was determined not to.
” Stop. You’re a fucking liar. You killed my mother just because we fucking argued. ” I said to him. I wanted to watch him try to explain himself.
” We argued yes, but my anger triggered War. Every time I get angry, it triggers War. He has been in possession of me ever since I was born. I tried so hard to keep him contained. I truly did. I even tried killing myself, but he just brought my body back to life. It was like I could not die. He would not let me. I watched him kill your mother, and Ember, I am so fucking sorry”, he said, tears coming down his face. I had never seen Ryder cry before. Could he be telling the truth?
” You watched everything he has done since he has been in control of you?” I asked him and he nodded.
“I watched when he kidnapped you from the border. I tried pushing forward to give you a chance to escape, but he pushed me back. When he cut you in the limo and you blacked out, he started licking your golden blood. He took much of it as it flowed out of you. That is when the process of possessing you started, but he wanted to do it only when you were at your strongest. That is why he did not mind when one of your mates came and took you. He knew you would be kept safe. As the moon approached, he wanted you near him. He knew your mates would come from you then, as they too would be their strongest. It is the only reason they were able to keep up with him in that fight. They would have died without mating you,” he said. I started to see the truth in his words.
“You are still a horrible person, Ryder, for what you did to me? Forcing me to work for you. Killing my boss. ” I told him. He looked down.
“I have done some terrible things that do not deserve forgiveness. Truth is, I would never have killed you. My obsession with you was not in my control. She forced me with her magic. She is in league with War, and they both used me as their pawn to get you to where you are now. Possessed by him, ” he explained, looking up at me. She?
“She who?” I asked.
“Your mother,” he said.
“My mother is dead. If it is as you said, War killed her”, I said in anger.
“Not your human mother Ember. Your birth mother. She is alive.” he said.