Carter
Fuck! I growled in the family link. We were all feeling the impact of Jordan’s death strongly and the entire pack was unrestful. Seth was controlling them. Damien was missing. He cut himself off from the pack link to go and find Ember, who is now possessed by War. We feared the loss of Jordan would unhinge him, and he would kill Ember. We could no longer feel her. It was as if she disappeared completely.
“How did you all come back?” I asked mom. She was sitting beside dad with a bag of ice on her head. Jax and Agatha had the same thing to them as they complained of a severe head banging pain they were experiencing when they were released from the pain. Ivy was sitting next to Jax, comforting him.
“Honestly, I am not sure. I remember fighting Jor….” she started before choking up. She couldn’t even form full sentences.
” It was dark and cold. We felt like spectators in our own bodies. I called out to you boys, hoping you all would hear me, but I didn’t feel you at all. Instead, we felt Ember. Her spirit reached inside of us and pushed War away. Damien cannot kill her. Ember is still there. Ryder is in there as well”, Dad spoke.
“Ryder is in there?”, I asked him, making sure I heard him correctly, and he nodded.
“Ryder warned us War has been in control of him for a long time now. War is responsible for killing Ember’s human mother. War also has a female companion. Ember’s biological mother, ” Jax said.
“Vicky?” I asked him. We all remember Vicky growing up as she was like a big sister to us alongside Lamonte.
“There is no way she is alive. Ember told us War killed her.”, Seth said.
“War was obviously trying to get under Ember’s skin. I suspect the only truth he told her is when he killed her human mother.” I told them.
“So, we need to figure out how to get her back,” Seth said. Suddenly Agatha’s eyes glowed and we all felt the presence of Selene through our wolves.
“I can help with that, but we only have one chance. One chance or it is all over”, she said.
“Tell us what to do”, Seth said.
“I can give Ember her last shot at stopping war, but the magic I must use is forbidden by Zeus. Therefore, I can only pull it off once. Dark magic such as this comes at a cost. You will need to die, but you will be reunited with Ember alive and well soon with your lives tied to Ember’s life” she said, before explaining the rest of the plan. We were absolutely against it , but seeing as how our options were now limited, we could only trust in our Ember to save us now. Our beautiful human mate.
Ember
“He killed my birth mother. He told me this himself”, I told Ryder.
” He said it to mess with your head. Your mother has been alive all this time, working in the background with him. She faked her death and pledged service to him. I could not tell you this, Ember. Every time I tried, his possession found every way to take back control. Vicky has hated you from the day you were born for being the chosen goddess. War felt your birth somehow and felt connected to you. His connection to you made me addicted to you as well. I would never have done anything to hurt you, Ember. You must believe that ” Ryder explained. Tears rolled down my cheek in frustration. From the loss of my mate to the loss of my own powers and the loss of my mate bond.
“Whether I believe that or not, I must get out of here.” I told him. He shook his head.
” I’ve only seen a few people come in and out of here, within the time I have been here, and they were surrounded by a bright blue light before they disappeared. I had never seen anything like it before. I do not know where the energy came from.” he explained.
“I fucking refuse to accept that. I will get out of here”. I said while feeling a burning feeling starting to crawl through my skin.
“War cannot get away with this. He cannot kill my mate and live. Torture my mother mates. I….. I….” I started and the burning feeling started creeping into my bones.
“Ember, your glowing blue”, Ryder said to me in amazement. I looked down at my body. I had a blue glow surrounding my entire body. Suddenly I felt the need to scream, and I did. I screamed loudly, releasing all the pent-up emotions I had been building. My blue light transferred off of me and was sent like a lightning strike to the sky. The smoke around the area started to become thick and the last thing I saw was Ryder reaching out for me before the smoke clouded my vision.
“You can’t have me”, I screamed into the smoke to War, whose fear I could now somehow feel. I closed my eyes and when I opened them, I was looking into the eyes of Damien as he laid on the ground, dying from having his throat ripped out. I dropped down to the ground in shock beside him. He was clutching his throat and looking at me. I could feel the bond with him again and it was breaking. War suddenly appeared on the other side of Damien in his skull form. We were thick into a forest.
“Little Flame. Do you see what happens when you disobey me? You think forcing me from your body will keep me away. You’re really fucking wrong. I will get back in, but first, I will fucking break you”, he said in a deep voice before disappearing. I looked back down at Damien and heard his voice in my head.
” You must get to Carter and Seth. He means to kill them and sever the bond. Once he does that, he will be able to control you completely”, Damien said to me.
“No, I can’t leave you”, I told him through tears. I stroked his face. He reached a bloody hand up and touched my face. I saw a vision of him finding me as I was possessed by War.
Flashback
*******************
” War.” Damien growled as he approached him. War was in the backyard of a huge blue house I had never seen before. I saw War turn around in my own body. Behind War, stood a woman with similar red hair like mine and I knew at once who this was, and I could tell Damien did too.
“Victoria”, Damien growled.
“Little Damien”, she said, smiling, narrowing her eyes at him.
” You’re alive? In league with this… monster”, he asked her, not wanting to believe what he was seeing.
” War was always the love of my life, Damien. The day my daughter was born, he whispered in my ear, beckoning me to him, to bring Ember to him. Lamonte was my moon blessed mate, so I could not leave him behind, though I kept him in the dark about my allegiance to War”, She said to Damien. I could feel my blood boil from anger as she said this to Damien. Damien reacted swiftly. He phased and was behind her. He snapped her neck and she fell to the ground dead. As he turned to War to attack him, I watched as War slit his throat with a dagger formed from his ring. Damien fell to the ground. As Damien fell, I watched as he saw my body glow and my eyes were turning from red to blue as I ended up fighting for control of my body, bringing me too now.
Flashback Over
***********
“Don’t forget me”, he said through our bond before his silver eyes closed for the last time. I felt the bond break and at the same time, I felt the bond with my other mates as well. With one last look at my dead mate, I phased into the mansion, only to see bodies everywhere. War in one motion ripped the head off of Seth and tore out the heart of Carter. No one else was in the mansion and I could feel no one else on the pack-land. It felt like a ghost town. The deaths of my final two mates hit me quickly as I felt the entire bond break. My mates. My entire mate bond was gone, and with that, I was finally broken.
War held out his ring to me, using its power to keep me in place.
“You’ve lost,” he said before laughing.