<b>Chapter </b><b>136 </b>
91%
Noah broke a neck clean, dropping a body with brutal grace. Haiden tore another down, his growl snapping into a roar that shook the branches. Xavier waded forward like a wall, every strike measured and final. But she, she was a storm. Elliot’s mother strode past the corpse at her feet, words spilling from her lips in a tongue I didn’t know. Her voice was low, steady, but the air bent around it, humming, vibrating like it was strung too tight. Another rogue faltered under her gaze. Its soul ripped free in a streak of white fire, sucked from its chest as though the body was just a shell. She turned and caught another; hand clenching, and the clearing filled with the sound of breaking ss as its spirit
cracked apart. One by one, they fell. Three. Four. Each soul ripped from its anchor and scattered like sparks into nothingness. With every kill, her presence swelled, raw power pressing against my skin until the hair on my arms stood on end. She wasn’t just fighting, she was unmaking.
By the time thest wolf dropped, silence mmed down. Heavy. Suffocating. Even the leaves seemed to shiver before settling back into ce. Smoke curled low to the ground, clinging to the mix of ash and torn fur that littered the dirt. She turned slowly, chest heaving, but her stance never faltered. Her gaze locked with mine. Those eyes, Elliot’s eyes, brilliant and burning, carrying the same stubborn light too heavy for a boy his age. On her, they were older, haunted, carved by years of loss, but no less fierce. I sat stunned on the ground, useless, breath caught. She crossed the distance in a rush, hand outstretched, and before I even thought, I took it. She hauled me to my feet with a strength that surprised me, and then her hands skimmed over my arms, my shoulders, quick, efficient, checking me for harm.
…you saved me.” My voice broke against the weight of it. “Why would you save me?”
“You…
Her eyes softened, though her chest still rose hard with each breath. “Because you love my son. And if I’m right, he must love you too.”
The words sank deep. Before I could reply, she stooped, plucked my phone from where it
had fallen in the dirt, and nced again at the glowing screen, at Elliot’s picture. The
tears standing in her eyes almost undid me.
“Would
you like to see him?” The words were out of me before reason could stop them.
She gasped, sharp and small<b>, </b>gaze snapping up to mine.
14:03 Wed, Sep <b>3 </b>G.
91%
“Envy<b>…</b><b>” </b>Xavier’s voice cut in, firm as steel. He was already at my side, leaning down to murmur in my ear<b>. </b>“You don’t even know her name yet, let alone if her intentions are
good<b>.</b><b>” </b>
She heard him, of course she did. Her spine straightened, voice clear. “Reina. My name is Reina. And I swear on everything I am, I mean no harm. I would give my very being just to hold him once again.<b>” </b>
I looked at my mates, their faces carved with suspicion, calction, concern. My hand pressed low against my stomach, grounding myself. Then I turned back to her.
“She’s his mother,” I said, voice steady. “Just as I am. And keeping them apart, when she could have let us die here and solved her problem, that would be wrong. She didn’t. That says something.”
They hesitated. Then, one by one, each of them nodded. A quiet pact.
I reached out my hand to Reina. “Come. He’s in the Underworld.”
She gasped again, this time stumbling back half a step. Fear flickered across her features.
I couldn’t help theugh that escaped me, small but real. “Oh, right. I should have mentioned…” My wings unfurled in a rush of shadow and power, my cloak settling across my shoulders as my scythe shimmered into being at my side. Her eyes widened, reflecting every inch of it.
“I am Queen of the Underworld,” I told her, calm and true. “And your son? He is Prince.”
The Underworld opened around us like a held breath released. Reina froze on the
threshold, her eyes going wide as the ceiling shifted into sky, soft constetions weaving across the dark, endless dome. The floor thrummed faintly underfoot, alive, steady, the heartbeat of my kingdom. She didn’t move at first, just turned slowly, taking it all in. Her gaze snagged on the mantle. Pictures framed in wood, Elliot’s gap–toothed grin beside Macey’s ribbons, a smudge of paint across his cheek in one. She reached for it with trembling fingers, brushing the ss lightly like she was afraid the boy inside might feel it. Her eyes moved next to the crooked lines of drawings pinned above the hearth, stars, ships, wolves with lopsided smiles. She swallowed hard, the sound raw.
“This is his home,” I said gently. “Part of it, anyway.”
Her lips parted, no words, just a sound like awe and grief knotted together. I led her down- the hall. Each step seemed to weigh on her more than me. She trailed her fingertips along the wall as if memorizing the ce by touch. When we reached the open doorway, I paused, letting her see before I said anything. Elliot’s room. His sky stretched wide overhead, his towers of cushions and books stacked into forts. Macey, fierce little pup, brandished a wooden spoon like a sword, Elliot countering with a rolled–up map. Theirughter rang high and true, careless of the world outside. Layah stood at the edge, a dark sentinel, ears forward, body taut. She caught Reina’s scent and rumbled low, a growl deep
in her chest.
“It’s alright,” I said, stepping forward. Layah’s gaze flicked to mine, held, then softened. Her shape shimmered, folding, copsing until she was me again, every line and angle familiar.
Reina’s gasp broke the quiet. She stared, eyes wide, mouth parting as she tried to reconcile what she’d just seen. But then her gaze slid past me. To him. Elliot had stopped mid–swing, wooden spoon forgotten in his hand. His head turned, slow, careful, as if his body already knew before his mind caught up. His eyes, those same brilliant, burning eyes locked on hers. The room hushed around that single look. Macey blinked, confused, ncing between them, but Elliot didn’t move, didn’t speak. He just stared, caught between recognition and disbelief. And Reina… she didn’t breathe. Not once.