Page 9 of Called By Fate

My dad’s jaw drops and then he beams at me with pride in his eyes. "That's my girl! You always were so independent." Wait. He’s… happy that I killed someone? Glancing around, I take in everyone’s ridiculous smiles at the fact that I killed my ex, and their faces mirror Dad’s.

Ah, family bonding over murder. So fun.

Each of them flickers out of existence completely, and my stomach drops to my toes until they return. I've missed them all so much, even my mom, who I never knew. Now that our time is truly coming to an end...

"Don't leave me alone again. Please," I whisper brokenly. “It feels like I’m losing each of you all over again. I can’t take it. I can’t let you go a second time.”

"You’re so much stronger than you know, tiger. It's time for you to embrace your destiny. But first, save your shifter and bond with your mates. Then go take down those bastards. Don’t make any stupid choices, okay? The Elders and your uncle are powerful and have a whole army backing them. You're going to have to be smart about this." He sniffles but covers it up with a cough.

“Mom, I don’t suppose you’ve had a vision about how to bring them down?”

She shakes her head. “Even if I had, I couldn’t tell you or it might change the outcome.”

“I understand,” I respond, because I do. It also makes me a tad more sympathetic to Bedi. Besides, this is my last opportunity with my mom, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to have my last moments with her be angry ones.

A portal pops into existence behind my family, but they’re not paying attention to it. They already know it’s time. Everyone’s attention is on me, looks of sadness coloring their features—the same one’s probably reflected in my own.

"I've cried enough today. I know it's time for you all to go, and it sucks, but I’m happy you’re going to be moving on. Let’s not say goodbye. I'll see each of you again one day. For now, though, I have unfinished business back on earth." I crack my knuckles as my words bring a smile back to their faces. My dad and mom give me another air hug before stepping inside the portal.

Skylar tries to ruffle my hair, but all he manages to do is to send a shiver through me. “It’s nice to see you keep me close,” he says, nodding to my necklace with a smirk on his face. “Even if it’s a little macabre.”

“You’ve kept me sane in so many scenarios, you don’t even know, bro.”

“I’ll always be with you, sis.” He steps into the portal where all their color returns, making them as bright as the sprawling landscape behind them. It’s so wonderful to see them all looking vibrant again that it makes tears fall down my cheeks.

With one last look, they disappear, taking a part of my heart with them.

I wipe away the tears and focus on my center again, knowing I have a purpose here. I need to get to Vin. Picturing the threads that connect me to my Circle, I find Vin’s which is glowing more than it was earlier. It gives me hope that he's hanging on. Maybe he wants to come back to me as much as I want him to. Wrapping my essence around Vin’s again, I encourage it to take me to him.

This time, when my body comes to a stop, all the air leaves my lungs.

5

I'm... dead.

My memories are quite hazy, but that's a fact I remember clearly. Alongside the Elders... the blinding pain... Sadie begging for my life...Sadie.A sharp pang of longing shoots through me at the thought of her. Her bright, beautiful eyes, her gorgeous smile, her tantalizing scent. All the moments I’ve protected her in her dreams… even though she doesn’t remember those.

What I wouldn't give to be able to do things with her differently. I wouldn’t hesitate at the chance to see if my hunch about her being my mate is… was correct.

My wolf sure seemed to like her anyway. A smile comes to my face when I think about him jumping and wagging his tail in my mind every time she was near. Combined with that delicious scent of hers and his insistence she was the one… It was all I could do to not lose control around her and say fuck the consequences.

I'd lose that control if I could go back.

Speaking of my wolf, a hollow feeling blossoms through my chest when I try to mentally reach out to him and find him gone. And man, it's fucking empty without him. Technically, I’ve never met him in person, as shifters can’t shift before they meet their mate, but he was with me mentally for as long as I can remember.

His loss is staggering, reminding me of what’s happening. I need to focus and figure out where I am and how to get back to Sadie, if I even can, because this whole death thing is bullshit.

Unfortunately, everything after Sadie begging for my life is blank. Obviously, I'm dead, but these aren't the beautiful meadows I’d pictured from the stories of the Goddess’ eternal realm, so where the hell am I?

Why am I here?

And how do I go about defying death?

Taking in my surroundings reveals absolutely nothing. It's an empty wasteland as far as I can see. The scents are as dull and muted as the barren landscape. My sense of smell when I was alive was quite strong but being dead must’ve changed it. I look down at my body and find I'm tinted blue but still solid, which is strange. I figured I’d be more… ghost-like?

I might be wrong, but I don't think I made it to the Goddess’ realm. Hopefully I'm not being punished for something and ended up in the bottomless pit of the underworld. That would really fucking suck. Even so, I’d still fight every demon, clawing my way out to get back to Sadie if that’s what it takes.

Can one fight their way out of death?

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