The Beginning of The End
Chapter 82

I'll never get my soul back, it was lost to me now, but I got something in return, something that feels a little like love. I'm not sure yet, but I think I'm falling for them, and hard. It's strange to think a few months ago I was all alone in the world, not living, just surviving.

But now I actually had something to live for, I had people around me that cared, yeah, Maddox was rough around the edges, but after everything he had been through, who wouldn't be?

Ryker was strict, and he only saw things in black and white, but when he cares about someone, he puts everything he has into keeping them safe, even if they aren't happy about the methods he uses.

And Miya, my beautiful, very human companion. She's strong, stronger than anyone else I know, and she loves so fiercely that I'm certain she could destroy anyone she sets her mind to.

She's my best friend.

I don't think I'll ever truly understand why my life has taken such a sharp turn away from what I had been told to do, but I will always be grateful that it did. Even if we don't win the war.

I turn to look at Maddox who's sleeping soundly with his arm wrapped around my waist, we had an amazing night, just the two of us, and it wasn't just sex.

I saw a part of Maddox I thought I never would, a human side, a part of him that just wants to live a happy peaceful life.

But he knows that he can't, not whilst Darax is alive.

I turn around in his arms, planting a soft kiss on his lips. "Wake up sleepy head." I say softly.

He peels open his eyes, groaning as he stretches his head.

"Don't tell me you have flees." I joke, "I'll have to get the sheets burned."

He gives me a hard stare, "I do not have flees." He grumbles. "Why have you woken me up?"

I lay my head on his chest, giggling as I do. "I couldn't help it, I wanted to talk some

more, and you being asleep was preventing that."

"You want to talk." He says, repeating what I said.

He wraps his arms around me and pulls me close.

He sighs contently. "What do you want to talk about, my little fae."

I giggle again, feeling almost foolish, I don't think I've ever been this happy, not since I

was a young child playing in a park.

"Tell me a story.” I say, pulling the blanket around us.

"A story..." he mumbles, "I don't know many fairytales."

"It doesn't have to be a happy story, it can be about anything I say with a half laugh,

"it could even be one you make up yourself."

It is rare to get a moment of peace, and I'm grabbing it with both hands and holding it close to my chest.

I won't let go, not ever.

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"Let me see, once, a long time ago, there was a young shifter wolf, he had just turned into his counterpart for the first time and his family were more than pleased." He strokes my hair. "He would continue the family line and make his parents proud, but..." My heart skips a beat.

"He never truly felt as though he belonged." He says, "he was strong, and he was capable of leading, but he was never happy."

I have a feeling who he's talking about, but I don't utter a single world, I can't, I need to know more.

I pull him closer, holding him as though I can take away all the pain.

"He searched for years for the other half of his soul, knowing that she would come to him eventually." He laughs bitterly. "But as the centuries all began to blend together the shifter grew bitter and angry." He kisses my head, stroking circles down my spine. "He thought he would never be able to have a family of his own, and no matter how many times he tried to reproduce with eligible females, they could never carry his children." A single sigh. "He was alone, even though he had an abundance of people around him, no one could understand his pain."

I hold my breath, too afraid to breathe in case he decides to stop. I don't want him to stop.

This is the most vulnerable I have ever seen him.

He almost looks and sounds human.

Don't say a word, don't blink. Hold onto his words.

"He truly thought that all was lost." He says softly, "and he was enraged, he wanted to tear the world apart, and so he agreed to go to another realm with one of his enemies and destroy an entire race for Darax." He runs a hand through his hair as he growls. "He hated the world, and if he couldn't be happy, then no one else could either."

I feel his pain tear through me like a knife, it's hot and cold. It's rage and sorrow.

He only ever wanted one thing and he believed the world took it from him before he even had a chance to grasp it.

He wanted love. He wanted family.

He wanted me.

"Then, when he had given up entirely, he raids a farm of humans, and there, protecting them with all her might was a tiny little fae." He holds me tighter. "In those few seconds before you passed out I saw my entire life, and all the terrible things I had done. I knew you would never learn to love me, and all I could hope for was silent acceptance." He huffs. "But then every day you surprise me in new and amazing ways, you brought me to life Elora, that is the story I wanted to tell you.” He says. “Because it is the story that matters."

Fuck. Fuck all of my hatred and thoughts of destroying him.

I was wrong, I was so terribly and unavoidably wrong. I judged him by his actions, and yes, I used to hate him.

But now he pours his heart out to me and lays his feelings open for me to see like a field of roses, and I don't know what to do.

"Your wrong." I say softly, "your wrong because I have learned to love you, and more

and more, I see who you truly are."

And he is a soul that is worth saving.