Alpha's STOLEN Mate Chapter 143

Elowen

"Kaius?!" Morgath's voice exploded with rage and disbelief.

"How *dare* you?!"

But Kaius only laughed—cold, mocking, and utterly in control.

"Well, well. Did you really think I'd be stupid enough to just stand here and watch you sever my bond?" His grip tightened around her throat. "Did you honestly believe I was that much of a fool?"

Morgath's eyes went wide for a moment—genuine shock flickering across her scarred features—before fury blazed to life.

And I just stared. Frozen. Stunned.

*Fuck. Kaius? He's... conscious? He has his mind back?*

But then the memories crashed over me—everything he'd done to me these past days. The cruelty. The humiliation. The pain.

I didn't have time to process any of it.

Morgath began chanting, her voice rising in a crescendo of ancient words that made the air itself vibrate. The sound was visceral, wrong, like nails scraping against the inside of my skull.

Kaius's face immediately contorted in agony. A scream tore from his throat—raw and animalistic. His head whipped back and forth violently, as if trying to shake off invisible chains. His entire body convulsed.

"Kaius!" I couldn't stop myself from shouting. "Hold on! Stay with me! Don't let her win!"

Then suddenly—impossibly—Kaius's expression shifted. That grimace of pain melted into something else entirely. A sly, cunning smile.

He kept up the act for another few seconds, groaning and thrashing dramatically, before he cut it off with a sharp laugh.

"Ha! You absolute fool, Morgath!" His voice dripped with contempt. "You think your pathetic magic still works on me? My father resisted your control—never let you fully own him! And you thought I'd have *less* magical resistance than him?" He laughed again, darker this time. "Your spells are nothing but a mild itch now. Barely even annoying."

Morgath's rage transformed instantly into something closer to panic. Her mask—already loosened from the struggle—fell away completely, revealing that horrific burn-scarred face in full.

I couldn't help my sharp intake of breath. The damage was extensive, nightmarish.

But Morgath's expression twisted into something even more grotesque as she fought to regain composure. She forced a smile—terrible and strained—while her voice came out in a rush.

"Fine! You got me! Congratulations, Kaius—you win this round!" She tried to sound calm, reasonable, but desperation leaked through every word. "You can leave now. Both of you can walk out of here! Just... just let me go! But don't you *dare* think you can actually kill me—"

Something in her tone made it clear she wasn't bluffing. Some escape plan, some backup contingency. The gemstone was still hidden, still protecting her.

But Kaius just smiled wider and pointed up at the ceiling.

"Your gemstone is your best insurance policy, isn't it? Your ultimate failsafe?"

The effect was immediate and devastating.

For the first time since I'd met her, Morgath showed genuine, bone-deep terror. Her eyes went wide, her mouth falling open in horror.

She began thrashing with renewed desperation, her hands forming complex gestures—mudras and sigils burning with magical energy. Within seconds, the violet light that had been illuminating the room began moving. Slowly at first, then with gathering speed, the beams redirected themselves toward Morgath's body.

Little by little, the purple energy converged on her. Where it touched her skin, color returned to her face. Her magical aura intensified, growing stronger with every passing second.

And Kaius began to falter.

Real pain crossed his features now—no performance, no trick. His jaw clenched as he fought against the building pressure. His grip on her throat started to loosen, fingers trembling with effort.

Morgath's smile began to bloom—victorious and vicious.

"Almost there," she whispered, her voice gaining strength. "Just a little more, Kaius! Just a little more power and you're mine again!"

The light was nearly complete—just seconds away from fully restoring her.

"KAIUS!" I screamed, every fiber of my being screaming danger.

"FUCK!" Kaius roared, his voice breaking. "Evelyn—don't fail me now!"

He thrust his arm upward, and suddenly the runes on his wrist blazed to life. They peeled away from his skin, materializing into solid form—a bracelet, delicate and glowing with competing magic.

The moment it manifested, everything changed.

The bracelet acted like a vacuum, sucking in every single beam of violet light. The energy that had been flowing into Morgath reversed direction, streaming into the small artifact instead. Even the wisps already clinging to her skin were torn away, absorbed into the bracelet's hungry glow.

Morgath's brief advantage evaporated instantly.

Kaius's grip tightened again—harder than before, crushing.

Morgath stared at the bracelet with absolute shock, her eyes bulging not just from strangulation but from sheer disbelief.

"What the fuck?! What *is* that?!"

Kaius's smile turned savage. "This? Just a little gift from another genius witch. One who's apparently smarter than you."

Relief crashed over me like a wave. "God—that's Evelyn's work! She was here? She helped you?"

The bracelet had absorbed so much energy it was practically vibrating. Then, without warning, it released everything at once.

A concentrated blast of purple light shot straight up, punching through the ceiling with explosive force. The impact was deafening. Chunks of crystal and stone rained down around us—I had to duck and shield my face as debris pelted the laboratory.

When I looked up again, through the settling dust and smoke, I could see it.

The gemstone.

Shattered into a thousand glittering fragments.

As the pieces fell, something strange happened—wisps of luminescent energy escaped from the shattered crystal, flowing through the air like living light. Some of it drifted toward me, and the moment it touched my skin, I felt it sink inside. Warm. Powerful. Like something that had been stolen was finally returning home.

The purple light vanished completely. Just... gone. As if it had never existed.

Morgath stared at the destruction with an expression of pure anguish. Her face twisted into something barely human—grief and rage and disbelief all mixed together.

"Our gemstone..." Her voice was barely a whisper, broken. "Centuries... we spent *centuries* growing that crystal... and you... you just... you destroyed it in seconds..."

"You!" She tried to scream but could barely wheeze. "YOU!"

Kaius's expression was cold. Final.

"Looks like your beautiful dream just woke up to reality."

"No! Please! Don't—"

The sound was horrible—wet and crunching. Kaius's hand closed completely, crushing her windpipe like it was made of paper.

Morgath's body went limp instantly. He let her fall, and she hit the ground with a heavy, final thud.

Dead.

Just like that—it was over.

I watched it all happen in what felt like slow motion, unable to look away, barely able to process the sudden shift from mortal danger to... whatever this was.

"Kaius..." My voice came out weak, confused. "What... what just happened? What was all of this?"

He turned toward me then, and something in his posture changed completely. The tension drained out of him all at once, replaced by exhaustion so profound it seemed to physically weigh him down.

He walked over and began working on my restraints, his movements gentle despite his obvious fatigue.

"Elowen..." His voice cracked. "I'm so sorry. God, I'm so sorry for everything I put you through."

As he spoke, his body began to change. The Lycan form receded—fur disappearing, bones shifting, muscles realigning. First back into his wolf form, then further still, until he stood before me fully human again.

The moment the restraints released, I felt it—the oppressive weight that had been crushing my wolf, keeping her trapped and silent, suddenly lifted. Energy flooded back into me like water breaking through a dam.

I jumped up, grabbing his hand with both of mine.

"Kaius! My wolf—I can feel her again! She's back!"

But Kaius looked at me with such a complex expression—relief and joy mixed with devastating guilt.

"Elowen... you don't... you don't hate me? After everything I did to you?"

I managed a weak laugh, though tears were burning in my eyes. "Oh, you're asking that *now*? Little late for regrets, don't you think? You've already put me through days of absolute hell!"

He opened his mouth—probably to explain, to apologize again, to say something—

The entire building shook violently.

A massive tremor rolled through the floor, throwing me off balance. From outside came a cacophony of screaming—wolves howling, witches shrieking, the sound of structures collapsing.

"Fuck!" I grabbed onto Kaius for stability as another quake hit. "The realm—it's collapsing! Without the gemstone, this whole dimension is going to tear itself apart! We need to get out of here NOW!"