The Alpha King's Witch Bride-Chapter 373: _Time To Build

The first thing that welcomed me was the cold embrace of snow and frost.

I coughed, heaving heavily as my eyes fluttered open. I was lying on the bare snow, my arms on my chest like I’d been taking a nap.

But it wasn’t any mere "nap".

The silence in my soul was enough proof that all I experienced wasn’t a dream. It was my new reality.

"Argh." I gasped, struggling to get on my feet through the pain coursing through my body.

The sky was still alight with the shy grace of the sun, dark clouds still blotting most of it. Like the sky itself wanted to mourn alongside me.

I turned my head to my right and spotted Mount Logan. Or at least, what was left of it after Ryker’s throne room collapsed on itself. It was now half its former size, the rest of it seeming like the wind could blow it off.

Snow blew against my skin, and my dress, which had been reduced to shreds, flapped in the wind. I wrapped my arms around myself, shivering and gnashing my teeth.

It wasn’t just the cold outside. But the void in my soul after I lost someone. A part of myself.

"Sirena," I whispered the name, biting back tears. I mentally prayed, hoping to any gods out there that she would respond with her usual teenage girl sass.

Nothing.

My face scrunched, tears falling down my face as I clutched my chest. "She’s... She’s really gone. I—"

"Odessa!" A voice I needed now more than ever roared through the tempest behind me.

I spun around, squinting through the snow and wind. One hand over my eyes was all it took for me to see him.

Kaelos.

He seemed weak, limping at first, until our eyes locked through the growing snowstorm. His pace increased, the bond beating with warmth before he even got to me.

I took a step forward too. Then another.

Soon we were both racing toward each other, my lips trembling. Relief broke through the tears, shattering whatever shred of composure I had left.

The first thing I noticed when his arms wrapped around my frail form was his wounds. They were still fresh, still crying for attention on his skin—but he didn’t care.

All he cared about was me.

He didn’t even need to say it.

"Gods, I thought I’d lost you." He brushed his hand through my hair, tightening his grip like he couldn’t believe I was real. "I saw the black pool seal off right before the whole thing collapsed. I got Althea’s body out but—"

"Can we..." I sniffled, burying my face in his chest and gripping his shirt like it was a lifeline. "Can we not talk about any of that? At least, not now."

He froze, his hold on me stiffening slightly. "Okay, Mon Ami. Are you... Are you sure you’re okay? Or—"

"No." I shook my head, fighting back the tears before they got worse. "No, I’m not. But it doesn’t matter. I have you..." I raised my head, looking into those silver orbs. "And right now, that’s all that matters."

His eyes glinted with hesitation. I could see him fighting the urge to probe further. But he knew better. He knew silence was sometimes better than words.

Kaelos’ lips eventually cracked into a soft smile as he nodded, pulling me back into his embrace.

The cold. The losses. The emptiness.

None of them mattered right now.

Just the silent solace I found in the arms of a man I was willing to risk it all for. Because I knew he’d do the same and more for me.

.

.

Althea really was dead.

She died before she could explain to me why she poisoned me even though she wasn’t working with Ryker at that point.

Was it because she knew I’d survive? Because she wanted to forcefully unlock the part of me she and my mother kept hidden all my life?

I’d never know.

Worst of all, I saw my mother—or at least her ghost—in the Vein before losing Sirena. Yet we couldn’t even share a proper moment. I didn’t get to ask her any questions, or to cry to her or lash out for what she and my aunt did to me.

Because in that moment all I felt was true joy in seeing her—until the Vein snatched it all away.

I was bleeding from so many spots because of so many things and people that I didn’t have the time to tend to one wound before moving to the other. I’ve given out so much of myself that now I feel... Numb.

Like my empathy was completely exhausted.

And speaking of empathy—

"That’s the last of the vengeful ghosts, Odessa." Caroline blurted, walking toward Kaelos and me after I created a portal leading straight to the pack house gate.

"Whatever you did made them withdraw from the mortal realm," Regina added, following behind Caroline.

Luna Queen Janelle trailed lazily behind as well, seeming worn out, her once regal demeanour tainted by the stains on her gown.

"My husband and the Luminari coven Elders regrouped with the soldiers and witches," Janelle announced, eyes fleeting between Kaelos and me.

She seemed to notice my somberness but didn’t press, continuing. "Is that... Is that Althea?" She pointed at the body wrapped in a red coat, carried by Kaelos.

I glanced at Kaelos who took the lead, nodding. "Yes. She’s... Dead. It’s all really a long story but—"

"No long stories," I muttered, my lips curling into a weak smile. "The woman I’ve seen as a mother all these years... Locked away my wolf side when I was an infant. She and my actual mother."

My fists clenched beside me, an odd mix of anger, disappointment and despair swallowing everything else in me.

"She’s indeed helped Ryker. Helped perfect his artificial hybrid ritual." I went on. "And poisoned me during the Blood Moon festival. Killing my unborn child."

A gasp rippled through everyone present. Janelle had a hand on her lips. "By the gods. She’s... I don’t even know what to say."

At this rate, I don’t think anyone really knew what to say. All we could do was talk, judge and make assumptions based on our emotions.

"Anyway." I shook my head, my gaze fleeting past the group. "Did we miss any—"

Words died in my throat when I saw him.

The bastard whom I hadn’t destroyed yet for some reason.

Marcellus.

He stood beside one of the mansion’s pillars, his hands in his pockets. And his expression was stoic, his spectral eyes glowing with an unknown light.

Every molecule of air around me seemed to freeze when his gaze met mine.

He didn’t speak at first. His ghostly form flickered slightly, like the wind wanted to scatter him back to the realm he belonged in—but couldn’t.

Of course, it couldn’t.

"Odessa," he finally greeted, his tone quieter than I expected. "You can relax. The vengeful ghosts are gone and I’m not here to haunt anyone. Not anymore."

I took a step toward him, my eyes cold. "You should’ve stayed gone."

The others tensed. Caroline’s translucent figure hovered a few steps behind me, her fury radiating like sunlight off ice. Kaelos shifted Althea’s body into the hands of two guards before moving to my side.

Marcellus’s mouth twisted into something between guilt and mockery. "Trust me, I’ve been trying. The afterlife... won’t take me."

"Because of all the blood you spilt?" Caroline mocked. "Because you slaughtered children and laughed while they burned? Raped innocents like it was a game?"

His gaze flickered toward her, then back to me.

"Because I’m tied to you," he said simply. "You killed me. The Vein knows it. The realms know it. My tether is bound to the one who ended me."

The air was still.

For a long moment, I said nothing. My chest rose and fell, each breath heavier than the last.

"You’re saying the gods didn’t want you," I murmured, "so they sent you back to me?"

He chuckled weakly. "Fitting, isn’t it?"

Kaelos’s growl echoed low beside me, sharp and animal. "You’re lucky she doesn’t turn you into dust right now."

"Wouldn’t matter," Marcellus said with a faint shrug. "You can’t destroy what’s already damned."

"Want to test that theory?" Caroline’s voice sliced through the air, trembling with hatred.

Her once-kind eyes glowed with a fierce silver light, the colour of vengeance unspent. "You took my life. You watched me bleed out before fleeing like the coward you are. You think that earns you another breath?"

For the first time, I saw something flicker across his face — fear.

"Caroline..." he started.

"No." I stepped forward, cutting him off.

I didn’t stop till I got to him. My hand shot out and grabbed his arm. My fingers burned with power, the force of my will digging through the fabric of his essence.

He winced as his form destabilised, fading slightly.

"Look at her," I hissed, forcing his face toward Caroline. "Look at the woman you destroyed. Look at what you turned into a ghost. Tell me, Marcellus—what part of you deserves redemption?"

He didn’t answer. He couldn’t.

Tears stung my eyes, not out of pity, but from the exhaustion of giving even one more emotion to someone like him.

"There is no redemption left in my heart for people like you," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. "You don’t deserve even my hatred anymore."

Caroline floated closer, her expression unreadable. "Let me finish it," she whispered.

I shook my head slowly. "No. The realms beyond will have him."

I released his arm. The air around us darkened, vibrating with the hum of my magic.

"I hope," I said, staring into his fading outline, "that wherever you end up, it’s exactly what you deserve."

His lips parted, maybe to speak, maybe to beg. But before sound could leave him, the power surged outward. His form splintered like glass under a hammer.

One breath. Two. Then he was gone.

The silence that followed was heavier than any storm.

Caroline stood motionless for a moment, her eyes softening as the glow around her dimmed slightly.

"Thank you," she whispered, but I barely heard her.

I let out a long breath, realising only then that my hands were trembling.

Kaelos stepped closer, sliding an arm around my shoulders. His voice was low, almost broken. "It’s okay to grieve, love."

I leaned into him, my throat tight.

"I’ve done enough grieving," I murmured.

My gaze lifted toward the ruined sky — toward the bleeding horizon that marked the end of one nightmare and the uncertain beginning of another.

My fingers brushed over his shirt, clutching it tightly. "It’s time to build."

The wind carried the words away, scattering them like a promise to whatever gods were still listening.