Chapter 218
Irina’s POV
I stared in horror. Nicholas floated inches above the muddy ground. My hands shook in the freezing air. A blinding light consumed his heavy, armored body. The glow pierced my eyes, but I refused to blink. I couldn’t look away.
The smell of gunpowder and copper blood still hung heavy in the clearing, a stark reminder of the battle we had just fought. Bodies littered the snow behind me. But none of that mattered. Nothing mattered except the man suspended in the air. The man I loved more than life itself.
He rose higher. An invisible force pushed me back into the slush. I scrambled to my feet. My bruised knees scraped against the jagged ice and sharp rocks.
*Is he leaving?*
Panic clawed at my dry throat. In my dark world, miracles didn’t exist. Magic didn’t save broken people like us. We lived in a mafia underworld built on blood, bullets, and cruelty. When things glowed and faded, they were gone forever.
The Moon Goddess was taking him. She pulled his heavy soul into the starry sky. He was going to dissipate into the night air. He would turn to dust right in front of me.
"No," I choked out. My raw voice cracked. "No, please."
I lunged forward. I reached for his combat boots hovering just above my head. I missed. My bloody fingers grasped nothing but empty air.
"No... please don’t leave me..." I sobbed. My chest heaved. "Don’t take him! You can’t have him! Give him back!"
I slammed my fists into the frozen dirt.
"I need you!" I screamed at the sky. The stars offered no answer. The wind bit into my cheeks, stinging my skin. "You promised we would build a life together! You promised you wouldn’t leave me, Nicholas! You can’t break your vow!"
My throat burned with every word. The tears froze on my face. The pain in my chest felt like a jagged knife twisting into my heart. I was helpless. I had no power against this ancient force. I watched through a veil of hot tears as the Alpha King of the underworld drifted higher into the mist.
But he didn’t disappear. He didn’t turn to dust.
The white light shifted. It didn’t fade into the dark sky. It exploded into a rich gold. It was the color of our sacred mate bond. It was pure, liquid fire.
The winter wind stopped. The forest fell into a suffocating silence. Roman and Andrei remained on their knees in the snow. The royal guards froze in place. Nobody dared to speak. Nobody dared to breathe.
The golden magic wrapped around Nicholas’s massive body. It looked like a thousand glowing threads. The threads pierced his torn tactical armor. They drilled into his ruined flesh.
I gasped. I pressed my dirty hands against my mouth.
I saw it happening. Right in front of my wide eyes.
The fatal gashes across his broad chest began to stitch themselves together. The jagged flesh moved on its own. Torn muscles reconnected. Ripped sinews fused. I watched a severed artery weave itself back into a flawless tube. Bone fragments dissolved and reformed. The gaping hole over his stomach, where the rogue’s claws had dug the deepest, sealed shut. Smooth, tanned skin stretched over his abdominal muscles, leaving no trace of the violence.
*CRACK.*
A loud sound echoed in the silent clearing. But it wasn’t the sound of bones breaking. It was shattered ribs snapping back into place.
The metallic stench of his blood vanished. The intoxicating scent of wild orchids and fresh snow replaced the smell of death. My mate’s pure scent. It filled my lungs. It wrapped around my shattered heart like a warm blanket.
It was a miracle. A terrifying, beautiful display of divine power. It defied every law of nature.
The pools of dark blood smeared across his pale skin evaporated. The golden threads sewed his broken body back together. They sealed the lethal wounds. They erased the brutal scars inflicted by the Kossarov rogues. His skin smoothed out. The shredded flesh became flawless again.
My heart hammered against my ribs. I couldn’t breathe. I was trapped in the awe of the impossible.
The ashen gray color of death began to fade. It retreated from his handsome face. The sickening pallor vanished.
Life rushed back into him.
I saw the exact moment his blood started pumping through his veins again. A warm flush returned to his pale cheeks. His strong jawline relaxed. The dark purple bruising around his thick neck melted away into nothing.
The burning Alpha heat returned. It radiated from his massive body. It pushed away the winter chill. The icy mud beneath my bruised knees grew warm. The snow melted, turning into soft earth underneath him.
He wasn’t dead. He wasn’t a broken corpse anymore. He looked like my King. He looked powerful, untouched, and invincible.
The golden light flashed one last time. It spiked, illuminating the entire jagged mountain range. And then, it sank into his broad chest. It absorbed into his beating heart.
Gravity returned to the clearing.
Nicholas’s massive body drifted back down. He didn’t crash into the mud. The ancient magic lowered his muscular frame onto the soft, wet earth.
The glow faded. The shadows of the forest crept back in. The silence remained intact.
I couldn’t move. I was paralyzed.
My brain couldn’t process the miracle. My weak human mind shut down from the sheer magnitude of the event. But my inner wolf howled with pure joy. She slammed against my ribs. She knew the truth.
*Mate. Alive. Mate.*
I held my breath. My lungs burned.
I forced my trembling legs to move. I crawled forward through the wet, melting snow. My bruised knees slid across the dirt. I ignored the deadly royal warriors watching me. I ignored the bloody aftermath of the mafia slaughter all around us. I ignored the sticky blood drying on my ruined jeans.
I reached his side.
He lay still. His broad chest was healed. His ruined custom tactical armor was still shredded, exposing his flawless, hot skin beneath.
I raised my shaking hand. I was terrified. My entire body trembled.
What if it was a cruel trick? What if I touched his beautiful face and he was still freezing cold? What if the Moon Goddess was just mocking my broken soul?
My small, dirty fingers reached out. I hesitated for one agonizing second. Then, I brushed the backs of my fingers against his cheek.
Heat.
Burning, intoxicating Alpha heat shocked my skin.
I gasped. A fresh sob ripped through my raw throat.
I expected the stiff, unyielding texture of a dead man. I expected the grim reality of the grave. Instead, the skin beneath my fingertips was supple. It pulsed with life. The rhythmic thumping of his pulse beneath his jaw vibrated against my skin. Boom. Boom. Boom. The steady beat was a drum echoing in the quiet forest. It chased away the nightmares.
He was so warm. It wasn’t the lingering heat of a corpse. It was the fierce furnace of a living, breathing Alpha King.
His massive chest rose. He took a deep, steady breath. The sound of cold winter air filling his strong lungs was the most beautiful sound in the world. It was better than any symphony. It was perfection.
I leaned over him. My messy hair fell across his broad shoulders. I gripped his heavy bicep with both of my hands. I shook his massive body.
"Nicholas?" I asked.
My voice was fragile. It shook with disbelief. Tears flooded my eyes again, blurring my vision.
I leaned closer. I needed to see those intense, forest-green eyes. I needed to see the gaze that owned my soul.
"Nicholas?" I whispered.
I stared at his flawless, handsome face.
Nicholas snapped his eyes open.