Chapter-Thirty

Zion's POV

“Now you show yourself? After everything has gone to shit!” I yelled at Neoma.

The excruciating pain of my mate bond with Ethar breaking, combined with the energy it took to create the void, left me in a dangerous state. The Goddess decided to use the opportunity to finally weigh in on my whole world turning to shit before her eyes.

“I was busy. You lot are not my only children show some respect.” She replied as she walked toward me glaring.

I had no idea what happened to Ethar, all I know is that the mate bond between us was destroyed. I sent my children to a void and my parents for a second time that I couldn’t even access in my current state. To top it all off, if experince had taught us anything, I was most likely dead since I was now standing in her presence.

The energy my spirit had left was boiling inside me. Anger,and hatred for the deities that had been playing their selfish games with our lives was coming forward, and the darkness, the sweet feeling of it coursed through me. The darkness she created, the darkness she cursed my mate with was now looking for its way out, which was strange to me. Goddess or not, I was fed the fuck up.

“Respect?!” I yelled, and the ground beneath us shook. She suddenly stopped her advance toward me.

“You play with our lives like a sick game. And you demand respect?” I continued, and the voices of the spirits that occupied the realm began to whisper. The etheric light that surrounded us began to flicker; I had no idea what was happening, but it felt great. The darkness bled into my eyes, and my vision began to darken. The goddess stared in horror as her precious realm was under attack.

“You goddesses have taken away one mate after the other. Your sister came after my children. You claim to love us, to care for us, yet you curse us, you hid in your realms and manipulate others to do your bidding. The same darkness that runs through me, you created it. I think its time you take it back!” I ordered.

I felt the black sluggish tendrils take form around my body. I pulled the energy from it and it created black orbs in the palm of my hands.

“Zion please, stop this you have no idea the consequences of what your about to do.” She pleaded; I could smell the stench of her guilt. The light around us dimmed and the River Of Fates next to us now ran red, instead of its usual shining blue.

“Ethar is alive, you can restore the mate bond when he returns. Don’t you think this power you have would be of better use destroying the right Goddess.” She said trying to reason with me. I just chuckled at the woman.

“Your sick aren’t you, throwing your own sister under the bus, to save your own life.” I told her. I reigned in the darkness as best I could, but I noticed it was screaming to get a piece of her, and I wanted to know why.

“How did you create the curse? If you don’t tell me I’ll gladly let it, have you.” I ordered; I wanted an explanation.

“The darkness is just pain; it feeds off it.” She answered but I could tell there was more to it.

“Who’s pain?” I questioned, and she walked over to Yggdrasil and pulled a thread from it. She motioned for me to follow her to the river that returned to its former state since I had a hold over the darkness now.

“Mine” she said as she placed the glowing orb into the river.

I watched a young Neoma with a man in a dinning room. They looked to be having a heated discussion. The vision followed Neoma outside of the dinning room and through a courtyard. The sight of her surrounding made my jaw drop. Neoma was at Bloodmoon. The man came rushing out behind her and he grabbed her wrist and turned her body to face him.

Tears streamed down her face as she spoke. “Etgar, how could you do this to me. You would choose her above me? Your Goddess?” She cried. My head snapped away from the vision and toward her.

“You were Etgar’s fated mate. You cursed your own child, along with Ethar.” I snapped at her. From what I know now, Goddess were horrendous creatures, they did things that would be unfathomable to most, and they did nothing to spare innocent children.

“Yes, just as I provided my children with a mate bond. I gave myself a chance at love. He was an excellent choice, so I thought. He was my fated mate, and I was young. The darkness I cursed my mate with was my pain. I wanted him to suffer. I wanted him to be as broken as I was. I didn't care what that meant at the time.” She tried to explain. I suddenly came to a second horrific realization as she spoke.

“You hired the hunters to go after Ethar and his mother. I get it now. That’s why you pretended to help us, with you riddles and warnings. You felt guilty. This was all your doing.” I said the darkness began to creep back up. It wanted to return to its original host.

“I didn’t create the hunters Zion. Yes, I made a mistake, I never tried to fix it until the day of the Mating ceremony. When Ethar accepted the bond between you and his best friend it woke something in me. A heart I had locked away when Etgar betrayed me. Make no mistake Zion, the choices you all made were your own. You locked your parents away; you were The Legion's target ever since. You chose to bargain with Hella for your mate’s life. Your parents chose to become hunters. Fate just came full circle and brought us all together.” She explained. As much as I hated her she spoke the truth.

We all made our own choices. She had been lying and keeping things from us, while trying to “guide” us as she put it. Yet no matter what she did to us, it was never the cause of the current threat we were facing.

“I can help you get to her, the rest is up to you and your mates.” She stated.

“You need to get back.” She said as she came closer to wake me.

“We aren’t done here, not in the slightest.” I warned her, before I closed my eyes and felt myself being pushed back into my body.

“Why! Why does she keep doing this shit!” Iliam complained as he rushed to my bedside. He had taken me back home to the mansion, and there was no grief present in his emotions, just anger. I realized he had guessed what happened already.

“My bond with Ethar broke.” I told him as I sat up.

“I know.” He said clutching the side of his neck, I realized his mark from Ethar faded as well.

“Now what?” He said as he sat next to me.

“We prepare. Neoma will help us get to her. We will be in her realm I’m guessing so we must be ready.” I explained and he sat there waiting for more information.

“How are we supposed to take her on?” He questioned; I could tell his brain was working and looking for possibilities.

“Leave that to me. I don’t have all the answers, but I know where to start.” I answered and he nodded.

“Are we really going to kill a goddess?” he questioned, his expression was grim. It was a serious thought. Who knows what the aftermath would be? Whatever it was, we would face them together. Like always.

Hella had come after my mates, my children, my family, my friends, and my pack. It was time her reign came to an end.