Chapter 191
*) +25 Pointe
As Astor and I walked up the stairs from the basement, my legs felt like weak. Every step was hard. The adrenaline from the fight was leaving my body, and I just wanted to sleep for a week. But I couldn’t stop yet. The pack was waiting. The guests were waiting.
The main hall was silent. The music had stopped a long time ago. All the Alphas, Lunas, and our own pack members were standing there, staring at the door.
They looked confused. They had felt the ground shake during our battle and they had probably seen the blue spirits fly through the ceiling like shooting stars.
When we stepped into the light, the room gasped. I still had on that ugly, muddy brown dress and my hair was a mess. But I didn’t look like a ghost anymore. My eyes were clear, and I held my head high. Beside me, Astor looked like a king. His suit was a little dusty, but his aura was still around him.
We were holding hands, and we weren’t letting go.
“What happened?” Alpha Silas’s Beta stepped forward, looking around for his boss. “Where is the Alpha? Where is Annabella?”
Astor stepped forward. His voice was loud and deep. It filled the whole room.
“The ritual is over,” Astor announced. “Alpha Silas and Annabella tried to steal the souls of this pack. They used dark magic. They are defeated.”
A wave of whispers broke out. People looked at each other with wide eyes.
Just then, some of our warriors appeared and they were carrying Alpha Silas and the sobbing Annabella. They also led Ovelia out, who was quiet and looking at the floor.
“Take them to the dungeon,” Astor ordered. “They will stay there until the Royal Council arrives to take them away.”
As the warriors dragged them out, Annabella looked at me. Her face was dirty, and her red hair was a mess. She didn’t look like a princess anymore. She looked like a girl who had lost everything because she was too greedy.
Once they were gone, Astor turned to the guests.
“I apologize for the drama,” he said. “The party is over. Please, go back to your rooms or your homes. My Luna and I need to be with our people.”
The guests didn’t argue. What happened was shocking and exhausting for everybody.
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Chapter 191
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When the room was finally, mostly empty, only our pack members stayed. They looked at us with guilt. They remembered how they had ignored me. They remembered how they had drooled over Annabella.
I looked at the faces of my pack. They were my family. They were the people I promised to
protect.
“I am not angry,” I said. My voice was kind but firm. “The magic in this house was strong. It was meant to trick you. But the darkness is gone now. We are the Eternal Pack, and we are strong because we stay together.”
The pack let out a loud cheer, deep roar that shook the walls.
“Mommy! Daddy!”
I turned around just in time to see Isabella and Marco running toward us. Alice was right
behind them.
I knelt down, and the kids slammed into me. They were crying and which made me want to
cry.
“You’re okay” Marco sobbed, burying his face in my scratchy brown dress. “I was so scared”
“We’re okay, baby,” I said, hugging them both tight.
Astor knelt down too. He wrapped his big arms around all of us. He kissed the kid’s heads and then he looked at me. He didn’t have to say anything. The look in his eyes said everything. He was back. The real Astor was finally back.
“Is the bad lady gone?” Isabella asked, looking up at her dad.
“Yes, princess,” Astor said. “She’s gone. She won’t ever come back to our house.”
“Good,” she said, wiping her nose. “I want to go to sleep now. But only if you tuck us in.”
“I promise,” Astor said.
We walked back to our house. The walk felt different this time. The air didn’t smell strange or
creepy anymore.
When we got inside, Astor and I took the kids upstairs. We spent an hour sitting on their beds, telling them stories and making them laugh. We wanted to make sure they knew that the bad guys were gone forever.
By the time they fell asleep, they were both smiling.
I walked into our bedroom. I went straight to the mirror and started unzipping the brown
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dress.
“I never want to see this thing again,” I said,
123 PO
Astor came up behind me. He helped me with the zipper. When the dress fell to the floor, I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my soul. I grabbed my favorite soft, silk robe and put it
- on.
Astor turned me around. He put his hands on my waist.
“I’m sorry, Faith,” he whispered. “I’m sorry for everything. For being cold. For letting them in. For making you feel alone.”
I put my hands on his chest. I could feel his heart beating steady and strong.
“You were protecting us, Astor,” I said. “I know that now. You had to be a ghost so they wouldn’t take the real you.”
“I hated every second of it,” he said. He leaned down and rested his forehead against mine. “Seeing you look so sad it was torture.”
“But it worked,” I reminded him. “We won. The pack is safe. The stolen spirits are free.”
“And I have my Luna back,” he said.
He kissed me then. It wasn’t a desperate kiss it was a slow, deep kiss that felt like a promise. It felt like the beginning of a new chapter.
I know there will be more battles in the future.
But as I looked at Astor, I wasn’t afraid.
“We’re going to be okay,” I whispered to the night air.
“More than okay,” Astor said, pulling me closer. “We’re going to be great.”
The war was over. For the first time in six months, I closed my eyes and felt truly at peace.
