Chapter Two: Death And The Goddess

LARA'S POV

I was still thinking about that look on Dante's face as we walked through the palace corridors.

My footsteps echoed on the ancient stone. I'd lived here six months since Kael claimed me as Luna but the place still felt cold sometimes, like the walls were judging me.

My hand kept drifting to my stomach as we walked. There was a tiny life growing there, half me and half Kael.

We stopped outside the private chambers. Dante reached for the handle then paused.

"Luna," he said quietly, "if you need anything at all I'm right outside this door."

That was weird but I was too excited to think about it. "I'll be fine, Dante, it's just dinner with my mate, I'm telling him about our baby."

Something painful crossed his face but he didn't say anything else, just opened the door and stepped back.

I took a deep breath, put my hand on my stomach one more time, whispered to our baby that everything was about to get better, then walked in with a huge smile.

The room was darker than usual, with candles everywhere—romantic, I guess. Kael stood by the window with his back to me, his shoulders tense.

"Kael," I said breathless with excitement, "Dante said you wanted to see me for dinner."

He didn't turn around right away, and something in my stomach flipped, the warning kind.

"Kael," I tried again, taking steps closer, "I have something to tell you, really amazing news actually."

He finally turned and my breath caught—his eyes looked wrong.

"I know," he said, his voice completely flat, "that's why it has to be tonight."

I was confused. "What do you mean you know, I haven't even told you yet, how could you—"

The movement in the shadows behind me made me turn around. Alden Vey stepped out of the darkness holding something silver that caught the candlelight.

A blade.

My heart stopped for a second. "Kael, what's going on? Why does Alden have a knife? This isn't funny."

Kael took a step toward me and I automatically took one back, every instinct screaming danger. His face didn't change; he looked at me like I was nothing.

"I'm sorry, Lara," he said but his voice had zero emotion, "the ritual requires your blood and the baby's soul; it has to be tonight."

The world tilted sideways, my hand went to my stomach protectively. "What ritual, Kael, what are you talking about, our baby—"

"Is the key to everything?" Alden's voice came from behind me, making my skin crawl. "Immortality for your Alpha, power beyond anything you can imagine. Why do you think he chose you, Lara, a broken omega nobody would miss?"

The words hit me like a physical blow. I looked at Kael desperately, waiting for him to say it wasn't true.

But his eyes were completely black now.

"Kael, please," I whispered, my hands still on my stomach, "I love you."

He smiled, and it was the cruelest thing I'd ever seen in my life.

I couldn't move, my feet felt glued to the floor. Kael's black eyes kept staring at me like I was nothing, like I wasn’t the woman he claimed to love.

"Kael, please," I said, my voice shaking, "what ritual, what are you talking about? This doesn't make sense."

He moved so fast I didn't even see it coming, he grabbed my arm hard enough to bruise. His fingers dug into my skin. "Stop talking, Lara, you're only making this harder."

"Harder for who?" I tried to pull away but his grip was iron. "Kael, you're scaring me. What's going on with your eyes? Why is Alden—"

Then I felt pain, it exploded in my chest, white hot and blinding. I looked down and saw a blade buried in my ribs. Kael's hand was on the handle and my blood was spreading across my blue dress.

"Why," I choked out, couldn't breathe right, "the baby, our baby."

"That's the whole point." His voice was empty, dead. He pulled the blade out and stabbed me continuously five times.

I hit the floor hard, my blood was everywhere. I tried to crawl towards the door, but he grabbed my ankle and started dragging me across the stone.

"No, no, no," I gasped, my hands were scraping the floor, leaving red streaks, "please, I don't understand, you said you loved me."

He didn't answer, just kept dragging me through the palace and out into the hallway. Dante wasn't there—where was Dante? The snow bit into my skin, but the pain in my chest was worse.

"Help," I tried to scream but blood bubbled up in my throat, "somebody help me."

Nobody came, the palace was silent and empty. Had this been planned and everyone knew except me?

We reached Moonspire Ruins faster than should've been possible. The council was there waiting, all of them in dark robes with candles everywhere.

They lifted me onto a stone altar, the cold seeped into my back. Alden stood over me with that blade dripping my blood. "The ritual of the Alpha Curse requires three elements: the Luna's blood, the innocent soul, and the ancient Alpha power."

"Please," I begged, tears were running down my face into my hair, "please don't hurt my baby, take me but leave my baby."

Alden smiled and it made my stomach turn. "The baby is the most important part, Lara; innocent souls are hard to come by."

He pressed the blade to my stomach and I screamed, I tried to fight but their hands held me down. The council members were chanting in words I didn't understand, the pain was worse than anything—worse than dying.

"My baby," I sobbed, "you're killing my baby."

Kael stood at the edge of the altar watching with those black empty eyes, didn't flinch when I screamed his name, didn't care that they were butchering me and our child.

The last thing I saw was Alden pulling something small and bloody from my stomach. I felt my heart breaking, and I thought how stupid I'd been to trust him.

Then nothing.

Just darkness.

But death wasn't supposed to feel like this. It wasn't supposed to feel like waking up.