Page 82 of The Alpha's Mates

"But...Gods can't kill Gods," I said with a sigh, rubbing my forehead.

"Not directly. But, technically there are ways," Lyas explained. "Like what she tried with me here. If Reese had failed, I would have faded away into nothing. Not a death, but I wouldn't have been able to be reborn as I was. There are other ways for Arune to accomplish her goals."

"Then that means there are ways for us to stop her, permanently," Calder growled.

"Yes, fierce protector," Lyas told him. "There are."

"What are you going to do with them?" Soren asked, looking out over the beach where the shifters were still frozen in time, waiting on their Goddess to release them.

Lyas sighed. "Squall? A little help?"

Squall gave her an aggrieved look, but he snapped his fingers, and every warrior, except Haron, was gone. "I'm going home before I'm forced to keep doing you favors, Lyas." There was a grin on his face even as he said the words. They embraced before Squall walked back into the ocean.

"I have so many damn questions," I muttered.

"There will be plenty of time for those later-"

"But where did the shifters go?" Calder asked, interrupting Lyas.

She gave him an indulgent smile. "Home. With no knowledge of what happened here tonight."

"Would you have killed them all?" Reese asked.

"Most, yes," Lyas replied. "They deceived me and deserve no mercy, but I promised my uncle and I will keep that promise. Those warriors will have the opportunity to show me they'll make better choices in the future."

"They won't," Soren predicted.

Lyas's smile turned predatory. "I know." She looked over at Reese. "There is one who Shroul is expecting tonight, however." She motioned with her hand, to where Haron was still frozen in place. "He's yours to do with as you wish."

CHAPTER 36

Reese

Everything was spinning. So much had happened, and yet it felt as though I'd spent an eternity with Shroul. I'd gone through so much grief losing my mates, and now I was back with them. I spent all that time thinking I'd failed in my duty to Lyas, knowing that I'd doomed the shifter community to a slow extinction. But here I was. And here she was.

And she was offering me almost everything I ever wanted. I was back with my mates, our bond was knitted together again, and I had the opportunity to kill my sire. As soon as I did, I was going to spend the rest of my life growing as close as I could to my mates. All of this had been a whirlwind for us, thus why everything was spinning for me, but now it could stop. Sure, Arune would come back. The poison dart that Mother Nature, her name was Dreala, Drea for short, had given me would only stop Arune for a short time.

Drea had spent some time with me, explaining a bit about what was happening, and the biggest thing that stuck with me was that the Goddesses were all depleted. Lyas had been sitting at the bottom of the ocean for far too long, cut off from her followers, and it was going to take time for her powers to build again. In the meantime, she was vulnerable to attack. That's where I came in. I was her protector. Me and my mates.

Arune was trapped by various Gods and Goddesses who worked together to see that her devious plan failed. According to Drea, it would have been disastrous if she'd succeeded. And so her powers were likewise drained. Not as much as Lyas, but enough that she'd sulk off to lick her wounds and power up.

Celinda, well, Drea had been very mysterious about the third goddess. I got the feeling she was the most powerful of them all. She was also missing, and Drea wouldn't say anything else about it. Only I knew she wasn't missing. She'd been stuck in the body of a shifter for hundreds of years. And now I was afraid I knew where she was. I hadn't asked Drea to confirm my suspicions. Honestly, I didn't think it mattered much because I was stuck in limbo, with Shroul, playing games while I waited to see where I was destined to be placed in my afterlife. In fact, I doubt she would have told me as much as she did if I hadn't been stuck in limbo. It had only been a short time, but she’d gotten bored.

My eyes found Soren's and warmth filled me as he gave me a nod of encouragement. It didn't matter that they'd lost me once. He knew I could handle my father. The fact that he, and the others, believed in me filled me with so much love I thought I might burst.

Now that we were back together, I felt the familiar tingle of magic filling me. It had been this way since the beginning whenever my mates and I were together in any kind of dangerous situation. We amplified one another’s strength. They were all lending me theirs now.

Whatever magic was holding Haron captive released him as soon as I walked up to him. It seemed so fitting that we were on the same beach where he brutally killed my mother for daring to protect me. Hatred for the man in front of me was like acid burning my insides. He didn't deserve to live. My mates were about to find out that I wasn't the kind of woman who would forgive and show mercy to my enemies.

That just makes us want you more.

Calder's reassurance made a feral grin spread over my face. Haron blinked, looking around. Probably looking for the Goddess he'd betrayed us all for. The bodies of my brothers were nearby, and not a drop of pity welled within me for them. I was glad they were dead. "Your sons are dead. Your goddess has abandoned you. You've betrayed your own kind," I told him, circling him like a shark.

The hatred spreading over his features only cemented the fact that I was right in killing him. He'd never change. He'd never be anything other than the monster he was right now, bent on destruction and death.

"You're an abomination," he spat at me, his lip curling up in a sneer.

I looked over my shoulder and found Lyas watching me, eyes soft, a small smile on her lips. "Maybe I am. Maybe I'm not. At least I'm not trash, like you."