Page 22 of Within the Veil

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"Hunter!"Zane yelled out my name and I looked at him, imploringly. Zane, he always had it together. He should be able to fix this. Please for the love of Gaia, fix this. He nodded, taking on my pain and shoving his to the side. I paced as they worked to get her garments off, her skin going from a beautiful glow to a sickly yellow. We blocked out all the noise from outside, letting the council do their fucking jobs. Fuck them all. She fought for them and now she's barely holding on. Fuck them all.

* * *

I turnedas Remi and Zane cried out in anguish to see blood pouring from between Hudson's legs. The world stopped. My mind fractured. I lost my ability to breathe. Suddenly the floor was in front of me and my hands changed, my fingers tipped with black and red claws. My hair now hung in my face, white and streaked with red and my view grew hazy, tinged with red. I screamed, a dam breaking as my memories came back in a rush. ARALLU. The world would run with blood and drown in my tears. Without Hudson, everyone will feel my wrath.

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Hudson

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I feelmyself drop to my knees, Hunter kneeling with me, my face still in his hands. I choke back a sob and look into his eyes, now tinged red, his all white hair now streaked in red.Arallu.

* * *

"Now do you understand?Do you get it? How you broke us?Broke me?" His voice a sharp whisper.

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"Make no mistake Hudson,I love you. I will love you until the day I no longer draw breath, beyond that. I will love you until the world ceases to exist. You are my mate, the other part of my soul. The light to my darkness, without my love for you, I would rain down the power of the darkest of Djinn until there was no being left on this earth.Thatis who I am. You are my tether to reality and now? Those beautiful babies will be too." He pauses and takes a deep breath, his hair and eyes returning to normal. He brings us to our feet and steps back from me. "I love you. But if you put yourself in danger again, without a thought for your family and without consulting us, I will be the greatest father alive for my children, they will continue to serve as the anchor I need for my control. But you and I? Mate or not, we will be done. I'd rather live without you, knowing you are safe than live in constant fear that you'll make the decision to rip yourself away from us again."

He turns around and storms out of the door, leaving it hanging askew as he rips some of the hinges off.

I stare at the space he just vacated, my breathing ragged as I recover from the onslaught of his memories, his emotions and the reality of what being an Arallu really is. Hunter was extremely powerful, even more so being my mate. Beyond that, what I didwascruel. It wasn't just about me and I failed to see that. Kalen gave his life for me, I had seconds to recoup and come up with another solution. Those seconds could have spared us all the grief.

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I hangmy head in shame.

ChapterSix

Hudson

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"Hey,"Remi'ssoft voice penetrates my fog. She lifts my head up, grazing my lips with hers. "I'll go talk to him. You are here now. The babies are safe, we will all figure this out one minute, one hour, one day at a time." She turns to stride out of the house, following Hunter.

* * *

"Come on, Angel,"Grayson pulls me to the couch, my wings now gone as he gently presses me into Ryder, who tucks me into his side, kissing my head and Oberon follows with a cup of what smells like hot chocolate. I smile gratefully as he places the warm cup in my hands.

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"It is infusedwith roots for your strength," he nods and Zane blows out a sharp breath and mutters something that sounds like, root chewing bastard. I look at him questioningly and he rolls his eyes and mouths,later.

I sigh and sip on the strange, but still delicious drink. Jensi and Luca awkwardly shuffle their feet, having gotten up during Hunter's anger outburst, while King reclines on the couch next to me, as if this was a regular day for him.

"I'm still stuck on the Goddess thing, if anyone is wondering," Ryder tries to tease.

I smile gratefully, shoving my thoughts of how to make it all up to Hunter to the back of my mind to revisit later. "King was right about one thing though," I start trying to regain a semblance of control over my thoughts and raw emotions. "Assuming they attack while I am pregnant, they will focus all of their attention on getting to me. So I will have to train to see exactly where my powers are currently, figure out how to develop them further and practice my long-range attacks like Gaia said. Maybe someone can help me further my magical attacks?" Being proficient in magic as well as physical fighting was great, but it was true I was a target even when I wasn't pregnant and now I will be even more so. I was going to have to fully tap into whatever Fae/goddess bonus powers I have to truly be the kind of help that will turn the tides and provide reassurance to them and the people. It was bad enough they were going to be worried about me double time because of my previous oversight, I cringed internally.

"That is definitely a good idea, we can go through some exercises and really get the long-range attacks down. I have some ideas to start us off on, doubling down on magical theory and practice. I'll start working on it. We have to split our time accordingly. Training the soldiers, Hudson, hell even the townspeople should be taught basic forms of protection in case of a full-scale attack. I truly wish we had more hands to start, but since Ryder, Hunter and I go out to try to bridge alliances with our families, hopefully, we will grow," Grayson said, his watchful gaze ever penetrating. "Speaking of, I will go check on the soldiers. It's about time for the evening training to begin." He kneels down to kiss my lips and belly and the warmth that overtakes my heart is all-encompassing. He disappeared from the room in a blink and I stared at the spot for a few seconds.

"Okay, first things first. I have to learn how to do that disappearing thing," they smile and I continue, "We started evening training now?"

"We figured we would rotate the training schedules so everyone can practice in the evening and morning in smaller groups. Kalen had it down to a science but his entire focus was training for the most part. We had to split time between here, planning and training and the council is a useless source of help," Jensi groaned. "It's been a challenge but we figured it out. I have to agree that more hands would be supremely helpful at this point."

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