The Prisoner’s Princess Chapter 76

Isabelle

I stood at the podium that the warriors brought to my mate’s grave. I felt like I had a frog in my throat, and my mouth was dry… but the pack was there. They mourned with me, because for a time… they had a taste of what a real Alpha was like, not a grown man behaving as a spoiled pup.

“My mate was an outcast his entire life…. but for a brief fleeting moment, he got to live a dream that many have…. But he did not want.” I said somberly. Every wolf in the pack, even pups had showed up. Shops were closed, borders were unprotected…. And his pups were crawling freely at my feet. They wouldn’t stay in the basket, but they didn’t leave my side. That was good enough for me at the moment.

“I was the reason he became an Alpha after his pardon…. But he stayed because he loved this pack. He liked learning how to lead, and he killed for all of us as well as me. The pups he left will grow without a father, but they will be strong, fearless leaders. I know in my heart… that he is with his father now… I pray he is merciful…. I will not ever see my mate, ever again… so I will look at his sleeping face one last time… Goodbye Bryson…. Goodbye my mate.” I whispered, turning to him full of tears.

He had been wrapped in a single sheet of linen, and I shed silent tears, facing away from the pack. I was given the final cloth wrap…. The one for his face. I put it over his closed eyes gently, and my wolf whined. I stood there holding firm in front of the grave…. And I saw them lower his body into the ground. It would be the last I saw of my mate. his face looked more at peace than he was with me… and I hoped that was the case.

They buried him, and put the grass on top of him. The glow flowers got planted, and the guards stood by his enchanted burial stone.

Here Lies the First Alpha of BeastMoon, Bryson Charred the Beast, the Bloodborne One, Son of Zuviel, the God of Destruction, and Grace Hutch.

He would be somewhere in the wild, and I left. The sun was covered and cloudy, though the green of the forest, thanks to him saving it, seemed to morn him as well. The trees shed leaves as the wind blew, but not enough to cause concern. I stood there until everyone left, and I let the pups play at his grave until they yawned, and the sun was getting low.

I was escorted back to HalfMoon, and I drove with the pups myself in a minivan to my father’s pack. I was trailed by a detail of Warriors, and they common linked me to check on me, but I responded to them as quickly as possible… I didn’t really want to talk to anyone. I wanted to stay with my mate, though that was impossible.

I went through the motions and drowned in pack business, using my login, as now it had Alpha privileges…. Seeing my mate’s name as ‘offline.’ Tragic. Ironic. I tried ignoring it, and the little messages sent by Beta to try and cheer me up. I was essentially as dead inside as my mate was outside. My wolf hadn’t talked to me in so long I couldn’t remember when. She was there, just silent.

-----Bryson-----

I woke up in I assume was hell, but I wasn’t in torment… or any pain. I was warm though. I sat up, to see my father towering over me, and he helped me to stand. “Welcome to my realm…. But I do not understand why you are here.” Whispered the Horned One quietly, though it filled my soul with its own dread. Ven whimpered, and he chuckled shaking his head.

“I’m dead…. Here to be punished for eternity…. I won’t see my mate ever again, will I?” I asked somberly, only to get flicked on the forehead. If I was alive, I think it would have killed me.

He looked at me with an expression that told me to be silent. He began to walk, and I followed the nine foot tall god through his realm. Souls trembled at his feet, all who were not in cages, their crimes and sentence times engraved in magical stone, that counted down how long they had to the second…. but my Lady where the sentences long…. Some still had thousands of years to go inside the flaming forest, filled with animals that seemed not to notice.

“Time means nothing here, though to be fair, if the soul truly repents, they will be released.” He said waving his hand, motioning to some of the free souls that groveled for mercy.

“Why am I not in a cage…. I know I have killed so many.” I asked, but he didn’t say anything a long time.

“I am not going to punish you if that is what you ask. I cannot harm my own children for their nature.” He said a little louder than a whisper, but there was something about his power. He could submit my soul, and he hadn’t done anything. I didn’t like it. My wolf and me felt out of sync by just his words alone.

“Have you ever gotten innocent people?” I asked to change the subject slightly and he nodded.

“Yes, but they are not punished.” He said quietly. “The war is over, what you see is my defeat.” He said, answering a question I had not asked yet.

“I thought you fought to get back your mate?” I asked and he nodded.

“Yes… but seeing our children so unhappy, maimed, or decapitated… it’s selfish. If it were even a thousand years ago, I would have used you and my grandchildren to bring the apocalypse on Arviel’s mortals, since Xaxas agreed to have a mate in return for leaving the war…. He wished your mother returned to us, and still does... but he too is tired.” He pointed to another almost nine foot tall god, who gave me a small smile. He was riding a horned serpent with thick dark blue scales and a dragon’s head, accompanied by armored demons.

“I am not strong enough for that.” I said shaking my head. They ignored me, and I had no idea what that meant. They had a conversation in a language my mind could not comprehend, and he got off the serpent. He then picked a peace off the flaming tree, and then his attention came to me.

“The war is suspended unless our children choose on their own to continue. When I get my promised one, I will give her many… I want to know what it feels like…. How is it to be mate? How can I be a good one?” He asked, eating what looked like a peach.

“I have never felt more complete than in the arms of my little mate. She is so small, sometimes I’m afraid I will hurt her on accident, and my pups are even smaller still. They are just born last month. They will be the reason you will wish you were stronger, and a better person. You will wonder if you are enough, and it will drive you to do anything to be the best mate you can. Though I do not know how to be a good one…” I told him honestly, and he gave me a nod.

“I am not ready for such an honor.” He said, smiling as he said so, eating the peach, and it looked as if his eyes glassed over.

“Father I thank you for saving her…. I worry for my family….” I said honestly, and he shook his head.

“They are my blood; I will not let them die before they draw breath.” He said quietly.

“Father, youngest brother is intelligent.” Said the horned serpent, turning into a seven and a half foot tall man. I could somehow tell he wasn’t like the other two, but I was still wary of him. Of all of them. I was powerless here, what could they want with me?

“He has the mind of a warrior.” Said the tallest ‘brother’. I don’t have a family.

“Oh, little one, how you have been lied to. These are your brothers. Xaxas, the oldest son, a full god, forced into the flesh of mortals form birth, and Asangius, my gift from the Earth Mother.” He said with a small smile, petting the man’s head, who hissed what sounded like a hum.

“Do I have any other siblings?” I asked. He shook his head.

“I only laid with your mother, Asangius is from the flesh off my back, and the soil deep within the earth.” He said, quietly, and I think I understood. My mother was created for him, so he wouldn’t be lonely. “Yes…. But when I found her, she was with a mortal mate. My wife thought I did not want such a small piece of her, but I did. She was created of her essence, though, not enough to alert the other gods. We will take our leave, your soul needs more nourishment before it is ready to leave .” He said quietly, and they were gone as instantly as an eye blink.

I was surrounded by souls of cowering men and women. They trembled at my feet as I tried to figure out where they went, but I assumed that he meant for me to journey this wasteland…. I sighed, which sent the other spirits into a panic.

“Mercy my lord.” Mumbled a small spirit of a man, he looked up at me on his hands and knees, but I didn’t understand why he was fearful of me, I wasn’t a god.

“You have nothing to fear, I’m dead just like you.” I told him walking off, but he followed, groveling as he did so. Others did so with him. Great.

“Master…” He said quietly, almost a whisper, but I chose to ignore him. I had to figure out where the god went, and maybe ask him to send me back… maybe that’s what he meant…

“Begone.” I told the spirit, who now shook more.

“Please. I have repented, don’t send me to The Pit.” He mumbled, but I was confused.

“I am not who you think, leave me be.” It was bad enough I was stuck here; I didn’t need anyone mistaking me for someone who could do something. In life I was a warrior, but in death, I would try to live with as little conflict as possible.