Chapter 45: Victory shortlived

I failed.
I couldn't kill him.
I got myself killed instead.
So much for being the chosen.
My head is not throbbing, everything seems at peace. Who am I kidding? If I open my eyes now, I will be alive, not dead like a part of me wished I was. There's no reason to pretend it won't happen again, but if I open my eyes now... I'm still here. And that means he lives, too, Starkev lives and my being alive puts me at his mercy and I hate it.
My eyes flutter open and I groan at the pain that hits my abdomen when I tried to move. he had stabbed me with the rain dagger. The rain dagger that does not only maim a warrior, but allows control of one's willpower.
Where I am is not obvious, although I am quite sure this is not astrid. Either ways I am in a cell of some sort. The light is dim, but I can see the faint outline of some shelves along the walls, and the bars on my right are made of steel.
The ceiling above me is made from wood, and the walls seem sturdy, even though they look worn down. The floor, however, looks ancient and dusty. It isn't an underground cell, or even one of a dungeon.
What is this place?
A few moments later, my attention is drawn by movement to my side He is sitting on the ground beside me as well, and bound just like I am. The light is dim and it takes me a few seconds until I can make out his face.
It's him- "Trikan?" my shaky hoarse voice calls out in shock.
His features are twisted in agony and he is shaking violently. He turns his head towards me and his gaze falls upon mine and there's nothing but agony, pain, and rage.
"Fool" he snarls through clenched teeth and my heart freezes. What have I done wrong? It is a foolish question to ask and I answer my question with trembling lips. "Everything" I have done everything wrong.
"You had me fucking hoping, Bellatrix!" He grits, "I should have known, you never do anything right. What did I expect from you anyway? The stupid fucking prophecy!"
It is one thing to wake up as an hostage to Starkev for the second time, it is another thing to hear my brother's sorrow filled voice as he speaks. Even now, I hear the shattered hope in his tone. I failed. Once again. Just like how I had not been able to save my mortal parents from Starkev, just like how I had cowardly fled Astrid with Precia even though I was but a kid. Just like how I should have Killed Starkev that night. I failed.
"You brought him back" my brother whispers beside me. "You had locked out of Astrid for a while, and we could finally breathe.. But then you fucking brought him back!"
Mt lips tremble and I bite them to hold still. So we are on Astrid. I close my eyes. The Rain dagger, he had made me open the portal with the rain dagger. My heart sinks to the ground, and I wish it would open up and swallow me
My end is probably near and not only mine, that of the Fae kingdom as well.
----
[Alec:]
"You killed the Alpha King!"
Of course, she suddenly appears after the fight. Very typical of my mother. I shrug at her exclamation. "He had it coming for him" I tell her.
"Alec!" Well this time she doesn't call me by that damned name.
"Look mother, I have a lot of things to sort out now and listening to your tantrums is not exactly on the list"
"You think I am throwing tantrums?"
"It is not a thought, it is exactly what you are doing, now please excuse me Mother" I push past her and breeze into my office.
"The elders will come for you!" I hear her say as I slam the door shut. She is right.
"She is right" Ryan says from behind me.
I turn, "You are here, what about the others?"
"If you mean Logan, Hera and Leila.. They would be her soon, but still we need to talk about Steven's death"
"I told you to ship his body back to his home, did you that Beta Ryan?" Ryan senses my switch to my Alpha voice and gives me a slight bow.
"We did Alpha"
"Good," I settle down on my seat, files scattered on my table. My mind goes back to the fight and I groan. Bella. The prophecy. My head feels like it's going to burst and my wolf is fucking restless. We have removed the threat on the Lycan clan which I might actually get punished for, by the Lycan elders, but it was worth it. My victory though is short lived, as I had lost my mate in the process. No! I didnt loose her. She is not dead, she is only in the hands of that damned dark Fae King, Starkev. I should have killed him.
I hear the door open and look up to see Hera, Leila and Logan enter.
Logan. Even though I already found out that he was never at fault, his uncanny resemblance to my father still gets me on my toes. The dark look that always clouds his face. I hold his stare and he I am shocked when he lowers his head and bows, "Alpha" he whispers. I nod. He then turns and goes over to sit on one of the chairs at my table. Everyone takes a seat too.
"Bella is in danger" I say, mainly to Hera. "I can feel it".
"As long as she is in the hands of Starkev, there is no disputing that" I am about to speak when the door bursts open and in comes Karen breathing hard. Logan's eyes widens as he sees her and I can see him trying to rein his control. She is mate after all.
I do not think Karen Fallon sees him as she rushes to my side and starts to speak. "We have seven hours to get her out of there.. I saw the vision. if he closes all the portals, she is stuck there forever. He is trying to suck out all her powers into a stupid orb. He has all the Fae captive and if we don't stop him now, it's going to be over just as soon as it started.. Don't ask me how I know about the prophecy or even the fae Kingdom, but we have to get there now!" As she finishes, everyone is standing around staring at her wide eyed, except for Hera. Hera who has her arms folded and eyes closed, she knows everything, so I trust in her.
"The prophecy is fastly spinning into action, we need a plan" Hera says, she then snaps her fingers and a piece of paper appears on her hands. She hands it to me. "That's the map of Astrid, you have thirty minutes to make a plan while I prepare the portal to get you there"
"Why can't you just teleport us?" Karen asks.
"Because none of you has Fae traits in you, only Alec can do that because he is a white wolf."
"Let's get to work!"
***