AURORA
Even though I knew nothing about harpies, I took the broken wolf from their leader into my arms and fell to my knees. My power swelled within my body, a force so undeniably strong, one that I hadn’t felt in a long time.
“Be careful, Kitten,” Ares said, glancing down at my stomach. “Don’t push yourself.”
My body had been through hell and back these past couple days with the birth and loss of my daughter, but I needed to do this. I needed to push through to take back control of my life and prove to myself that I was powerful—that one day, I would be able to kill Medusa for kidnapping our baby.
I also needed to do this for us, so we could win this war.
After taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and placed my hands on the nearly dead wolf. His pain, hurt, and agony shot through me, weaving into my veins and crushing my already-beaten soul. Nobody should have to endure this pain anymore from Hella.
Nobody should have to—
Suddenly, the world around me turned a darker shade of black. I snapped my eyes open but could only see darkness around me. The wolf in front of me was gone. My pack around me was gone. My Ares was gone.
My heart thumped against my rib cage.
“What’s going on?” I screamed, flailing my arms around to find that wolf again, to find anything, to get my bearings or something. Where was I? Was this a dream? Were we still in the underworld? Had we ever even gone to the underworld?
A light sparked within the pit of darkness, and I sprinted toward it until the murkiness started to fade and a house appeared. Vulcan and Venus sat on two rocking chairs, chatting with who looked to be Charolette from behind.
“Of course, Alpha Charolette,” Vulcan said.
“I wish I could be a bigger part of her life,” Charolette said, a tear racing down her cheek. “I know that my brother would have loved her. She’s just like her parents—powerful and always ready for a fight. She’s going to be the strongest alpha this world has ever known.”
Instead of running anymore, I stopped in my tracks and stared at her back. She must be talking about my daughter; that was the only person she could be talking about unless … since we had been gone, Charolette had found out that she had another brother—maybe another brother by Fenris. She had always been so obsessed with him.
Can it be?
Vulcan stood from his rocking chair and walked over to Charolette, resting a hand on her shoulder. “The world has changed a lot since they’ve been gone, but hopefully, what they’re doing will make a difference. She’s grown into an incredible woman.”
“Ares and Aurora would be so proud,” Charolette continued, wiping some more tears away from her eyes. “I’m so upset that things had to happen as they did. I don’t know how many more years I can go on alone … without seeing Marcel. He would be happy to know that by some miracle, I’ve healed.”
“She’s healed,” someone whispered beside me, happiness and disbelief in his voice.
I knew that voice.
I snapped my head in his direction and stared in shock at the man beside me, hiding in plain sight at the edge of the forest with scars all over his body and eyes so bright that they could blind me.
My wolf purred.
Mars.
Warmth spread throughout my chest, my mind reeling with excitement. Unable to stop myself, I stepped closer to him to grab his hand, but it seemed like I hadn’t moved at all. In fact, the distance was growing between us.
“Mars!” I shouted, hoping to get his attention. “Mars!”
Mars glanced over at me, his eyes widening slightly. “Kitten.”
The shadows surrounded us again. I extended my arm to touch him, even if it was just a small scrape of our fingers against each other, as he did the same. But in the last second before our fingers touched, the darkness consumed him.
“No!” I screamed, trying desperately to memorize every inch of his changing face.
There were new scars that I hadn’t seen before and small lines around his eyes, as if what Hades had said was true—Mars had been down here a long time.
I blinked a few times, the world around me becoming clear again. Ares hovered above me, staring down at me with worry, panic, and anger in his eyes.
“I knew that her body couldn’t take this.” He seethed at someone behind him. “Help her. She should’ve never healed that wolf for you harpies …”
After blinking a couple more times, I looked over at Acesca, who touched my neck and searched for a pulse. “She’s still breathing. Her heart rate is just … a bit high right now. It’s similar to when mates see each other for the first time.”
I glanced over to see the wolf I had been healing slowly sitting up and opening his eyes. When I turned back to Ares, I lifted my fingers and glided them across his face. For a moment, his facial features softened, and I thought it was Mars. Ares grasped my hand in his firm and rough hand, bringing me back to reality.
Whatever these visions that I kept having were … Mars was having the same ones.
Mars was here.
“Mars,” I whispered, voice dry. “Mars is close. I saw him.”
“What do you mean that you saw him?” Ares asked me, brows furrowed together. He glanced up and behind me at someone else. “Someone get her some water. Her cheeks are pale, her voice hoarse.”
In a moment, the leader of the harpies flew up behind us and handed Ares a container of water that they must’ve carried around. I sat up, glancing around the forest to see if I could find Mars watching us.
But I came up with nothing.
After sipping down the water, I smiled at Ares. “I saw Mars in my vision. I saw him, Ares.”
Ares tucked some hair away behind my ear. “He’s not here, Kitten.”
“But don’t worry. We have hundreds of harpies that fly around the kingdoms. While we’re in the sky above, we’ll keep a lookout for Mars,” the leader harpy said, gathering her wolf lover in her wings. “If we find him, you’ll know within a few minutes of spotting. We’ll get you back to him, just like you brought my lover back to me.”