Chapter 50


    Chapter Fifty She was dead. Myra was dead.


    The words kept repeating themselves in my head but I was struggling toe to terms with it being real


    Unfortunately, I had only remained unconscious for a few minutes before Aleric had managed t o wake


    me up. I found myself on the couch inside and answered all of his questions as best I could, though


    albeit very robotically. By the time I had finished describing where Myra was and her current state, Aleric


    had quickly left to go get the patrol team scouring the area for rogues. I told him about my dagger that


    was used, the one from the cave I’d left behind, and even about Thea. What she looked like, where the


    two of them had been, and that I’d told Myra to talk to her. No one really listened to me after I’d


    mentioned the rogue knife though. They all immediately went on to high alert mainly looking for them, not


    Thea. Everyone had thought since my missing dagger was used, that it was the rogues trying to retaliate


    for killing theirrades. And so, I sat on the couch, just watching the chaos ensue around me for


    hours.


    People running in and out of the house, giving status reports and confirmations about Myra’s body.


    People bing frantic as they tried to find leads. An argument between officials over who was going to


    inform Myra’s family. I felt sick just listening to it all.


    But I couldn’t move, let alone function enough to be of any help.


    I just sat on that couch… and watched. Silently. The entire time just feeling dead inside. As dead as Myra


    now was because of me. And I knew it had been my fault. Everything. She’d said so herself; it was


    because of me that her life had be so abnormal. Maybe she might have lived long enough to have


    that average life she’d mentioned. She might have had that ordinary mate… those children… and died of


    old age. Died naturally.


    Not dead now because of me.


    But I hadn‘t known. I hadn’t known asking her to talk to Thea would lead to this. I hadn’t known her life


    would be in danger.


    “…Miss,” a voice suddenly said in front of me. I realised then that I’d been staring at the torso of


    someone standing in front of me for Goddess knew how long.


    I looked up slowly, blinking several times as my eyes came into focus, and saw Lucy there.


    “…Miss, I’m here to take you home,” she said gently.


    She looked worried and I didn’t need to guess why. It didn‘t make me feel any better though. “…I saw


    Thea,” I answered quietly, ignoring whatever she’d said. My voice sounded far away and still very


    hoarse. She flinched in surprise, almost in disbelief at what I’d just told her. “What...? Thea?”


    “...Yes.”


    She sighed. “That might exin a few things then.” “… Like what?”


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    She paused, unsure if she should answer that, but she did eventually speak.


    “I found out about an hour ago what happened to our private investigator,” she said. “He was killed a


    couple of months back in a neighbouring territory. The pack there have been trying to contact us so they


    could ask about hisst case, but we kept our identity so well hidden that they didn’t know how to reach


    us.”


    I closed my eyes, feeling the wave of exhaustion this new development brought. “…So it actually was


    Thea’s doing then.” “Miss.. ?”


    I had already suspected as much, but hearing this news now only made me more certain.


    Thea had been the one to kill Myra.


    “She must have realised someone was tracking her down and kept her distance until the investigator met


    up with youst time. It exins how she was able to find me. She just had to follow your trail all the way


    back here. The investigator’s death was most likely just so he couldn’t alert us when she crossed over


    into the Winter Mist’s territory.”


    How much did she know about me then? She must have been watching me since even before the


    Golden de attack. If that was the case then she probably knew all about me… about Myra, and


    possibly even about Aleric and Cai too. And that silver knife? Was she working with the rogues as well


    then? Was Thea herself a rogue? It might exin why we never found any information about her


    belonging to a pack.


    But I never would have taken her for someone who could do this though. A cunning, power hungry bitch?


    Sure. Physically murderous and violent? ...Not so much.


    In my past life, she had been conniving, maniptive, and had brought about my death like a snake


    behind the scenes. As far as I knew, she’d never done the dirty work herself. In fact, I hadn’t even


    realised she’d had an active role in my death until I saw her smirking right before my conviction. Her style


    had always been to act the innocent and win the hearts of the people. It made me wonder what her n


    was now and whether she was still looking to be Luna. Didn’t she realise I could pin part of the


    me on her for Myra‘s death? That I could tie her into the whole mess and use her of working with


    the rogues? It seemed unlikely that anyone would let her into the pack one day with an usation like


    that against her. But… then there was my silver dagger. I needed to realise that the entire thing could


    now be passed off as only a rogue attack. Maybe she had staged it intentionally like that. Coupled with


    gelen the sightings we had not long ago in the woods, it seemed very likely that no one would believe me


    if I said it was Thea without proof. The only real evidence I could provide was that Myra had been with


    herst… and that the Pl I’d hired to find her from two years ago was now dead.


    Not that this option was any better though. Revealing to the pack I’d hired someone to find her would


    only lead to questions that I couldn‘t answer. It would mean telling the truth about my true past and


    future.


    A future that I apparently couldn’t see anymore. A future that I was suddenly so blind to. And it urred


    to me that I’d beenpletely helpless this time to save Myra. I hadn’t seen it i na vision like I had two


    years ago. So why hadn’t I seen it? What had I done wrong this time that this stupid ability had let me


    down during a moment I needed it most?


    … But then a thought came to me. Maybe instead of focusing on getting physically stronger to fight this


    whole time, I should have been spending some time learning about my mark and how it worked. I had


    always acted as if I never wanted any free handouts from the Goddess and had been trying to reach my


    goal without her wherever possible to prove a point.


    …Was this Selene’s way of making me regret that? To prove to me that she was all-powerful and that I


    needed her in some way to survive? “Aria?”


    I looked up and saw Lucy had been watching me the whole time I‘d been silently lost in my own


    thoughts.


    “…You’re not entirely at fault here,” I said, realising I’dst left herst thinking she was to me for not


    knowing about the PI. It was true that Thea most likely followed her to me, but I knew I was to me just


    as much. “We should have been checking in more regrly to avoid this. Please ensure a year’s worth


    of sry is sent to his family with my condolences. It won’t make up for him losing his life, but at least


    maybe it will give them somefort until they‘re able to move past this tragedy.”


    Lucy pursed her lips slightly. “And you?” I frowned a little, my face too puffy and sore to give any real


    expression. “Me..?” “Yes… how are you going to move past this?” she asked. I could tell she was


    genuinely concerned for me, but I didn‘t have an answer for her.


    “I‘m not,” I finally replied after a small hesitation. “I don‘t deserve any sce for what I did.”


    “Aria—.” “Enough,” I said, cutting her off before she could disagree with me. I could hear my voice


    holding a mild tone of rank authority over her which she couldn‘t dispute. “That will be all, Lucy. I will


    drive myself home so your assistance won’t be necessary tonight.” She reluctantly bowed her head and I


    shakily got to my feet. It had been hours since I’d moved and my entire body was sore, stiff and itchy


    from the dried blood scratching against my skin. I didn‘t let it stop me though as I walked outside, now


    seeing how the sky had already darkenedpletely into thete night, and headed directly towards my


    car.


    “Aria! Where are you going?” a voice called out to me suddenly.


    It was Aleric’s voice. I recognised it too well, of course.


    I hadn’t seen him since he left to contact the patrol teams and hadn’t expected to speak to him again


    before leaving. He was helping to orchestrate the entire search party so I knew he was incredibly busy.


    “…Home,” I said quietly as I kept walking. “Like that? At least stay and clean up first. You’re still... ah.”


    ‘You’re still covered in Myra’s blood, ‘I said in my head, finishing his sentence. “It’s fine. I’ll clean up at


    home.”


    I went to turn away but he quickly covered the distance between us until he stood next to me. I couldn’t


    meet his eyes though, choosing to focus on anything else around me. “I don’t think you should be alone


    right now,” he objected gently. “Please... just stay a bit longer. You can wash up and I’ll organise some


    fresh clothes for you.”


    He was worried about me. Just like Lucy had been. Just like everyone else who had been staring at me


    over thest few hours, all while they walked through the lounge room I had satatose in


    But no, I knew I needed to be alone. I thought it would be best if I stayed like that from now on. “Really,


    it’s fine, Aleric,” I said, shutting down his suggestion almost instantly. He paused for a moment, possibly


    thinking of what else he could say to convince me, but finally he sighed in defeat.


    “..Okay,” he said, an almost awkward tone to it. He shuffled in his ce a bit as if he had something else


    to say, but instead, he did something I wasn’t expecting


    …He pulled me into his arms… and hugged me.


    Into an actual embrace.


    From Aleric.


    “I‘m sorry this happened,” he said softly, talking close to my ear. “She didn‘t deserve that. And neither do


    you.”


    My entire body tensed up instantly at his contact, bingpletely unmoving and rigid. I t was the


    first time I’d been so close to him that I could smell his familiar scent. And yet, even after all this time, I


    still found it odd to be able to smell his crisp forest smell without the mate bond. For six years this scent


    had been heaven to me. And then, upon his forced rejection, it had be my hell.


    But the embrace was thest thing I‘d expected him to do; thest thing I’d ever thought he was even


    capable of doing. And given that I’d just suffered the cruellest of reminders about Thea and my past on


    this day, it only made me feel more ufortable.


    This was the man who had loved that disgusting woman. Who had chosen her. Who had given her his


    mark.


    …And she had killed my best friend. She had killed someone who had held no threat to her at


    all.


    She had killed Myra only because she was someone I cared about. Over thesest few years, I’d


    adapted and learnt to be able to disassociate between the two Alerics; the one who had abused and


    tormented me, and the one who was younger and seemingly different, kinder even. The one I felt I could


    help change. But tonight, it was hard for me to do that in light of everything that had happened. Because


    tonight I was no longer the ‘me’ I had be ustomed to. I wasn’t the brave, strong, willing to


    ovee any issues ‘Aria’. No, given the state I was in, I felt closer to being the old Aria.


    And I now felt scared. Alone. Worried.


    I felt afraid that at any moment I could lose someone else I cared about.


    And Aleric only stood as a reminder of those very emotions I was too familiar with. He finally let go of me


    after several seconds, but I still feltpletely frozen in ce, struggling toprehend everything that


    was happening inside my head. “I’m sorry...,” he said quietly after I hadn‘t said anything.


    A part of me might have felt guilty on a normal day. Maybe I would have even been strong enough to


    finally hug him back. But I couldn’t feel anything for him at that moment. There was physically no more


    room inside of me to be able to feel anything else. “... Thank you for all your help, Aleric,” I finally said


    tly. I could feel his eyes staring into me but I still refused to look at him. Instead, I chose to look down


    at the keys in my hand before walking the remainder of the way to my car.


    And as I sat in the driver’s seat, looking ahead, all I could focus on was the steering wheel in front of me.


    The steering wheel where bloody handprints had wrapped around it, reminding me once more that this


    was all real. That today had actually happened; that, unlike a car, there was no turning back


    Not for Myra anyway; the girl who had considered herself to bepletely average. … The girl who had


    died without me being able to tell her just how important she was.