Chapter 46 The Alpha And The Omega

Screams of pain echoed off the walls to be matched by yells of panic. The soldiers surrounding Hanzen leapt forward at his command to be met by the few loyal guards that had remained inside the throne room.

The nobles at the edges of the room shrank back even more, not a single one stepping forward to defend their king or new queen. It was odd to him that they watched such a conflict yet did not step forward to help in any way, but he had no time to ponder the reasons.

Armored bodies surged together in the center of the room and Kari had difficulty making out who was friend or foe from this distance. A small knife whizzed past his ear and lodged itself firmly in an enemy’s throat with a meaty thunk. Millicent stepped past him armed with a dozen more knives twirling around her hands as she let them loose with deadly accuracy. Ryedir stepped around Kari as well, drawing the sword at his hip and leaping into the fray without second thoughts.

Kari watched for a second in fierce satisfaction and no small amount of pride as his mate tore through the mass of enemies with the ease and grace of a predator. Glancing around the room, he noticed that the king stood in front of his new queen with a drawn sword, joined by his next oldest brother, the steward. Neither had the same deadly bearing as their younger brother but they both held a steely eyed determination that Kari recognized as a Lezzker trait.

Nera, the beta, stood at the edge of the fray with a large dagger in hand, fending off anyone who got too close, with Aspen doing the same with a slim sword on the other side. The thin alpha stood more like someone who was used to flamboyant duels than a real battle but the same look also sat upon his features. Millicent moved near the edge of the fighting but unlike the other Lezzkers, she actively sought out opponents, snarling as she downed men two to three times her size with remarkable ease.

Ryedir carved his way even further into the mass of enemies and it almost seemed as if it were a dance, so fluid were his movements.

Kari knew exactly where he needed to be. He manipulated his ice into a long slender pole, mimicking the one he had trained with, and twirled it in his hands.

Perfect.

With a feral grin, he leapt forward past Millicent, lashing out with the icy quarterstaff and forcing his ice out where it landed a hit. The bulky soldier went down with a scream as ice tore through his armor and flesh alike. Millicent crowed with laughter as she took out another and waved him forward.

“Go, I’ve got your back!”

Nodding to her, Kari dashed forward again and made his way through the fighting, laying about with his ice on any who foolishly stumbled into his path. It wasn’t long before he saw a familiar figure right in the thick of things.

Kari dashed forward, pushing out with a thrown ice spear to stop an attack that was aimed at Ryedir. The man spun around with sword raised and paused in surprise as his intended target slumped to the ground at his feet. He looked up with wide eyes to see Kari grinning at him as he leapt forward to take his place at Ryedir’s back.

This is where he belonged.

Fighting side by side with his mate as equals, guarding the other’s back.

And so, they fought.

Back to back, working as a team as those who dared to attack them fell in droves. Time blurred and could only be measured in the number of hits landed and blocked. Kari spun his makeshift quarterstaff with all the skill and precision he could muster after only a few bare weeks of training but Ryedir’s skill and the sheer force of ice exploding where Kari struck made up for any deficiency. Any place Kari missed, a sword was there to slice through all opposition.

It was thrilling, exhilarating even. Not the fight, not the blood, or the death. But to be standing with his mate, working as one to protect themselves and each other. It was a completeness, a surety of belonging he had never felt before.

Kari whacked another guard in the face and forced sharp spikes of ice through the flimsy metal helmet. The blood didn’t faze him as the man crumpled to the ground.

Sticky red coated his beautiful ice, and the screams matched those that sounded in his memories but it no longer caught him by the throat in paralyzing fear and guilt. He would not feel ashamed by this. He would not take any other choice.

It was like each time he stopped a hit destined for Ryedir, a little of the guilt released from his memories. He had come to terms with his actions and the choices he made weeks ago although the memories and the guilt had lingered.

But no more.

Kari felt like he was truly opening his arms to his power, accepting all of himself with complete understanding for the first time since Ilwe.

His gift from Yhieris was beautiful, deadly, terrifying, and magnificent all at once. It was him. He wielded it, he chose his own path. He gained nothing by living in the past, nor by agonizing over his actions.

This wasn’t redemption.

Perhaps there would never be a way to pay the cost of the lives he had taken.

But that didn’t mean he needed to sacrifice himself. Yhieris allowed him to live, not to agonize the lives he had took that day, but for the innocent lives he had saved in return. Every man, woman and child on that village, their lives were Kari’s salvation.

Yhieris could easily have taken his life after Ilwe but she didn’t and he now had to live for himself, for his goddess, and for his mate. It might not be the life he imagined but he no longer wanted to shy away from it.

This was his place, at Ryedir’s side.

Ice shards took another man down screaming as his frozen quarterstaff landed yet another hit. He felt nothing but the small satisfaction of keeping another from harming his mate. No memories swirled to the surface. Sluggish crimson did not overlay his vision.

Kari had made his choice and he would fight tooth and nail to make sure his chosen mate would live through this.

So they could live through this. Together.

A sword struck out and saved him from certain death and Kari grinned, wide and feral.

Yes, his mate.

Ryedir grinned back. His alpha was a truly magnificent creature. From the corner of his eye he could see the play of muscle shifting as he swung his sword with deadly force.

Each move was calculated and executed with a graceful precision any dancer would be envious of. There were no wasted movements, no mistakes. Even an aborted move still found a way into being transformed into a different one to take yet another target down.

Adrenaline hummed through his veins, making his focus sharper and keeping him from slowing. His world tunneled down to just the circle of attackers surrounding them and his mate at his side.

Moving together with a surprising ease, they laid into those that dared reach out to hurt them.

Together, they would stay strong against anyone who dared to lay a finger on them.

Together, for they were mates.

Finally the surrounding crowd thinned and the last few soldiers suddenly seemed to realize how alone they were.

Some tried to turn tail and escape but were easily cut down by Jaid and the other loyal guards. The few near the door that broke and ran were taken out brutally by Kari’s ice.

They made their choice and they would face the consequences of that.

There was no forgiveness or redemption for those that dared to lay a hand on his mate.

The man standing in front of Hanzen rushed forward, sword upraised, and Jaid stepped to engage him as Ryedir stalked forward, sword dripping with blood. There was no one left near them and Kari hung back to watch, unsure as to what would happen from here.

His instincts screamed at him to stay with Ryedir but with no enemies around, exposing the one alpha who instigated this, it seemed better to hang back. The way his mate moved with such purpose, such deadly resolution, took his breath away though.

Hanzen had tried to hurt Ryedir’s family and he would take recompense. He completely ignored Jaid fighting in front of him. Instead his gaze remained riveted on the other alpha alone.

Millicent moved to stand beside the other omega, a long dagger gleaming wetly in her hand.

The clash of metal on metal rang out before Jaid knocked the other man’s weapon away and ran his sword through his neck without hesitation.

“UNCLE!” Hanzen screamed as the man he called uncle toppled to the ground.

Jaid and another guard from Ryedir’s household then strode forward to grab Hanzen by the arms. The man stayed unresisting as they stripped him of his weapon before forcing him to his knees.