RYKER’S P.O.V


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    It was like there were two warring parts of me. One side wanted to step back and allow Cami make


    her choices, allow her do the thing


    she thought to be right which included healing Briggs despite the repercussions it might have on her.


    The other part of me wanted to protect her from everything and everyone- including herself, especially


    herself. She didn’t realize it yet but she was her own greatest adversary. She put herself in danger


    more than any foe we had faced and sometimes it scared me.


    As I watched her pushing a part of herself into Briggs, I had to dig my feet into the ground to prevent


    from going to her. I never thought that after everything, it would end with us back here. Of all the ces


    for the coven to have stood, it just had to be this ce. Sometimes I wondered if the goddess had a


    sick sense of humor or if thete king was just a meddling asshole who set his own child up for failure.


    Every single thing almost always came back to him. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.


    I had to look away from Cami and my gaze fell on L. She was staring at the scene in front of her


    with a mixture of sadness and hope. It was almost as if she was staring through them. I cleared my


    throat and she turned to me. She tried to hide her expression but it was already toote. I had seen


    what I needed to. She gave me a small smile in an attempt to pretend but when she saw that I wasn’t


    buying it, she sighed.


    “What are you hiding?” I asked but she shrugged. “This is one of the thin


    you saw, isn’t it?” her silence was enough of an answer for me, especially when she looked away. “How


    does it end, L? Tell me and I will do everything in my power to prevent it.”


    “If I tell you, it will happen.”


    “It is already happening, I can see it in your eyes. This way, I can prepare for it, I can fix it or at least try


    to. If you tell me, I will do everything I can. You know I will.”


    She shook her head. “I am bound by my oaths to the goddess. If I say it, I will die. I cannot risk my life


    like that. Besides, the future is filled with many different paths. This is one of the things I saw, yes, but


    there are still many roads in the future, there are still many alternate endings.”


    “How many of them end happy?” I asked and she looked away. “How many end with everyone happy


    and intact? Tell me, L, I deserve to know. On this path that she has taken, what is the likelihood that


    we alle out alive?”


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    Her voice was soft, quiet, barely over a whisper that if I wasn’t standing so close to her, I would not


    have heard it. “One.”


    A gasp cut out conversation short and I turned to find Cami trying to stagger to her feet. On the bed


    in front of her, Briggs looked healthier, he wasn’t breathing as hard and he seemed to be resting


    peacefully. I rushed over to Cami and as soon as I reached her, she leaned into me as if it was too


    much of a strain to hold herself up. Her nose was bleeding and I cursed as I put a handkerchief to it.


    She was weak and one second away from passing out if I was judging by her drooping eyes.


    珍爱


    “Can you hear me?” I asked and she nodded slowly. “I’m going to carry you into the main house, can


    you stay awake from me until then?” she didn’t respond but I didn’t need her to. I lifted her bridal style


    and walked out of the room with L following close behind me. There was a maid in front of Briggs’


    door and she made to go in when I stopped her. “No one goes in to see him until I say so, am I clear?”


    To say she was shocked was an understatement but she nodded. “Of course, your majesty, whatever


    you say.”


    She turned on her heels and walked off. I didn’t wait to see where she was going before I rushed


    towards the main house. Cami was not speaking at all and I could tell that she was barely awake. I


    moved on autopilot, the only thoughts going through my mind were about her. By the time I got to the


    room, she wasn’t bleeding anymore but that didn’t mean she looked any better.


    “Is she going to be okay?” I asked L who nodded slowly. “I don’t need a half assed answer, I need


    facts, L. Will she be fine?”


    “Yes, she will,” she sounded more self assured. “She just needs to rest and right now, you are


    hovering. You aren’t doing her any good like this.”


    I realized she was right so despite the war in me, I nodded and took a slow step backwards. I ced a


    soft kiss on her forehead and watched as her eyes finally drooped closed. It was hard to do nothing but


    it was what I needed to do. She looked miserable and I didn’t want to leave her but I forced my legs to


    lead me out of the room. It felt like


    my


    chest was tightening more with each step I took further away from her.


    “She will be fine,” L said and I hummed. “I cannot tell you much but I can tell you that.”


    西


    “I don’t want to talk about that,” I ground out a little more harshly than I would have liked. “If you want to


    talk to me, then talk about something else. If not, I would much rather sit in silence.”


    She was silent for a full minute. I turned away from her pacing the length of the living room. A part of


    me thought she had actually left until I turned and found her seated on the couch. Her hands were


    crossed in front of her and


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    she was staring at the open firece. There was a faraway look in her eyes as if she were here but not


    here.


    “Did you know that this was where the witches would offer sacrifices?” she asked and I furrowed my


    brows in confusion, “This very spot where we are staying is where they would stay while the leader


    would stand by that firece and make the sacrifices to the goddess.”


    “How do you know that?” I looked around trying to see if there were any carvings or markings that


    could have told her as such but there was nothing. It was a brand new house.


    “I can feel them,” she exined. “That would exin why the witch herself wouldn’te here. The


    presence of the witches that died is heavy here. They are angry and sad, I can almost taste their


    emotions. If she were toe here, she would run mad or die, or perhaps both.” She turned to me. “Do


    you mean to say that you cannot feel it?”


    I shook my head. “Everything looks and feels normal. I have no idea what you are talking about.”


    She shrugged. “I suppose it is because you are a wolf, I guess. Your kind has never been in touch with


    the spiritual side of things. You are more brutal, more into bloodshed. If you took some time to just


    smell the you would be shocked at what you would discover.”


    “We don’t have the luxury of smelling the grass.”


    “If Cami was awake, she would be able to feel it.”


    grass,


    I went silent again as the mention of Cami brought back the earlier tension. I couldn’t help but nce


    over my shoulder and up the stairs. I wanted to be next to her, I wanted to be with her but I wasn’t


    helping from there, there was nothing I could do except pace and worry.


    “You are sure she will wake up, right?” I asked L and she gave me a pitying smile. I couldn’t help but


    imagine what it was like to be her. She had no family and no obligations except her work. It was a


    lonely life, but it was also a simple one.


    “She will, I swear it on my life.”


    L and I didn’t speak after that. I stayed in the living room for half an hour before I gave up and made


    my way over to Cami’s side. I held her hand making sure to stroke it softly as I spoke to her. I wasn’t


    sure if she could hear me but I wanted to try anyway. I never wanted her to doubt that I was with her


    and by her side.


    I sat there until the sun began to set and she didn’t stir once. L tried to get me to go down for dinner


    but I


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    wasn’t going to eat a thing until I was sure that my mate was fine. Her words managed to ease some of


    the tension but I couldn’t trust her. L was a blind follower and like she had said, she was bound by


    her duties to the goddess. She would risk lying to me if she thought it was what the goddess wanted


    and I wasn’t sure how I


    felt about that.


    A small knock on my door had me looking up. L walked in with a small smile on her face and I


    immediately knew what it was about. Instead of having her hovering around me, I had asked her to


    monitor Briggs. He was the entire reason we were in this mess and I had to be sure that he was


    healing well.


    “He is awake,” she whispered trying and failing to hide her grin. “He is up and talking and he is asking


    for her. He says he has something important to say.”


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    She was grinning from ear to ear and a part of me couldn’t help but wonder if she had somehow


    forgotten that Cami was still knocked out. There was no way they could converse if she wasn’t even


    awake yet.


    “Is he healed? Is he breathing properly?” I asked ignoring thetter part of the sentence and she


    nodded. It was good to know that Cami’s sacrifice wasn’t in vain. “Good, when Cami is awake we


    can tell her.”


    “Tell me what?” a small voice asked.