Lucas isn’t right. She will help us.
“Twelve hours, give or take,” she says. “But we have to leave now. Those storm clouds don’t seem too friendly.”
“Ready for takeoff,” Vash says.
Killian grabs his shoulder. His grip is light but secure. “We’re just going to leave Lucas to fend for himself? Is that our protocol now?”
Solemn, heartbroken, and betrayed, Vash is cold. “We leave now,” he repeats. “Lucas found his grand exit. He will do fine on his own.”
Killian stares, eyes wavering with concern.
As Ruby gets the engine going, Vash enters the cabin below. Preferring to stay shrouded in darkness, he quietly shuts the door behind him.
This is the moment he has been waiting for all night.
In darkness, he walks toward the center of the room where a large bed rests. His children open their eyes.
For a second, they just stare at their father. The New Republic separated them for so long. Years. They’re so big. So… aware. And as they watch their father, he realizes they’re staring at a stranger.
Alphas don’t cry, but as he looks at their angelic eyes, tears drag down his rugged face. If only he knew a lullaby to sing, or how to rock a baby properly.
No, he was not cut out to be a father. He was an alpha warrior, a taker of lives, and a reaper for the Ouroboros.
Was.
Is he a tyrant? Has he led the pack astray?
“I’m sorry,” he says. “Daddy’s back.”
Closing his eyes, he thinks about the first moment he found Rae. He kneels and clears his throat. “You want to hear a story?” he asks.
The children blink. One stirs and reaches to smack and squeeze his face.
“Look, I know I’m not the best storyteller, but we’ve got a long way til we hit Carabaro. So, if you don’t mind, I’d like to tell you a story about your momma,” he says.
The child lowers his hands.
Even if it’s over, Vash can never forget the only love story he ever lived. He holds onto it like a rose to a thorn. “Once upon a time, there were three alphas...”
The waves gently lead the boat away from the harbor. Outside, the smoke of new beginnings rises high into the air.
The world is broken. But for the first time in months, it doesn’t feel so empty.
Rae
There are bad days. There are days that make your heart rust over. And then there’s the aftermath.
The fallout.
When Rae is awake, she’s lying on her back, arms loosely positioned over her head. Pieces of glass cut into her skin. She’s weak, but at l
east she’s not dead.
Immediately, life returns to her; She jerks forward and coughs out a lungful of liquid.
The pain doesn’t bother her. She’s been through it all before. What concerns her is the devilish beast in front of her.
He stoops down and grabs her ankles, dragging her away from the wet ground.