Page 79 of The Alpha's Mates

She whipped around, shock written all over her face. Her eyes narrowed as she watched Squall walk her way. "What are you doing here?" she hissed.

He didn't answer, just grabbed her by the throat and lifted her into the air. She kicked out at him, but he ignored her flailing limbs as though they didn't exist. "You will pay for what you've done," he snarled.

Her eyes widened as he squeezed tighter, cutting off her air supply. She clawed at his hand, but there was no give in his grip. "You can't kill me!"

"No. But I can make you hurt." Squall reached over and plucked George up as though he weighed no more than a feather. Squall released Arune, then brought the earth golem down on her head like a fucking weapon.

"Ow."

I looked over at the soft feminine voice. The skeleton next to me sat up. Now, normally I'm a pretty hard to faze kind of male, but the yelp I let out could have been heard across Elaria. I practically climbed over Soren to get away from the hot fucking mess next to me. "The skeleton spoke. The skeleton spoke!"

Soren froze, eyes on the bones that were moving. "What in the fuck is goingonright now?"

As we watched, flesh began to grow and knit itself together on her frame. I fought back a gag. Looking away from the gruesome sight, I watched as the Gods battled. Katashi and Calix were helping Squall, though I wasn't sure he needed it. Haron and his new army were standing on the sidelines, also watching. Haron was too fucking cowardly to join the fight himself, andnone of those wolves owed allegiances to him. I wasn't sure they'd follow him into battle anyway.

"Give her to me."

My head snapped to the side. Where the skeleton once sat, there was now a beautiful woman. Her dark hair flowed down her back. Her blue eyes watched us with a mixture of kindness and understanding. Just staring at her eased the burden of my mate's death. That shouldn't be possible. Yet, it was.

"Atlas. Let me have her."

Atlas glared at the woman, but an inch at a time, he softened under her gaze. He finally handed over the lifeless body of our mate.

"Can you bring her back?" Soren asked.

The woman smiled and the breath slammed out of my lungs. I suddenly knew who this was. Knew it down to my bones. "Lyas."

Her eyes fell on me and her smile softened. "Hi, Calder. Soren. Atlas. You've all suffered a loss tonight. And despite that, you've fought bravely. I thank you for your loyalty. For your love. For your sacrifice." She closed her eyes. "Shroul."

I looked around. Surely she hadn't just called down the God of Death? She was one of the twelve, but seriously? Drennen and Shroul weren’t of the twelve. They were older. They just…were. They answered to no one. I didn’t know enough about the Gods, none of us really did, to know where any of them came from, but there was some kind of hierarchy to them, and Drennen and Shroul were at the top of the food chain.

"Shroul! I know you hear me, Uncle!"

A heavy sigh sounded behind us. We all turned to look and I marveled at the man standing there, arms crossed, pissed off look on his face. His hair was so blond it was nearly white, and it was cropped close to his head. He had the same blue eyes as both Lyas and Arune. "What do you want, Lyas? I'm busy." Hepaused as Arune went flying past, through the air, sending sand spraying over our group. “No thanks to your pets.”

"No!" Arune shrieked when she saw us all there. Fury sparked in her eyes. A bolt of lightning hit the sand a few feet from where I was sitting. The buzz of the charge singed its way up my spine. "You can't do this!" she wailed, but she was already being dragged backward, by an ankle.

George held her upside down in front of his face and studied her. "Bad Goddess."

I choked on a laugh. This was insane. Was I dead? I had to be, right?

Lyas looked to Shroul. “You have someone that belongs to me, and I want her back.”

CHAPTER 35

Atlas

Icould tell, thanks to our mind link, that my cadre mates were as wrung out as I was. My heart was fucking destroyed. The loss of Reese had been a devastating blow. And I honestly thought we were going to lose Calder. To see him sitting there, watching Lyas argue with Shroul... It was so fucking good to see him alive and well, but fuck was all this weird. The Gods had disappeared from Elaria so long ago, no one alive today had seen them. Well, except maybe the traitors who were working with Arune. Though I didn't know how she'd struck her deal with them.

To see the most powerful Gods and Goddesses arguing and fighting on this fucking beach...it was mind blowing. My aching lungs forced me to take a breath. I hadn't even realized I'd been holding it until I was sucking in air on a reflex that kept me alive when I would have just stopped going all together. Hearing Lyas ask for Reese's soul back... Was it even possible?

"In fact," Lyas told him, standing and brushing her dress off. She'd gone from skeleton, to fully dressed in a midnight blue gown and sandals. "You have two souls I want back, Uncle."

As soon as she stood, I gathered Reese's body back into my arms, situating her so she was lying over my lap. I couldn't bear to leave her lying on the sand like a discarded toy.

"Two?" Shroul asked, his eyes narrowing as he glared at the Goddess.

"I'm going to need both Reese and Tenala."

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