T H E   R I T U A L     –   P A R T    T W O

Alpha Talia's POV

"No no no no, please, no Hugo" I wailed, shaking his shoulders back and forth. His body lay motionless on the bed, his dimmed eyes wide open gazing away into obscurity. For a brief moment shock rendered me immobile as my mind refused to comprehend the reality.

This has to be a dream, please . . let this be a fucking dream, I chanted to myself. My gaze never left Hugo's pallid face despite the heavy thuds on the door escalating its pace. While I struggled to remain composed, tears spilled down my cheeks.

"Hugo, please . . . come back" While crying hysterically, I started performing CPR on him by placing both of my hands on his chest and giving him mouth-to-mouth to try to give him oxygen in an effort to get a pulse. I was adamant to keep trying. His body remained still on the bed despite my best efforts to resuscitate him.

"Please . . don't leave me" I sobbed silently. I bit my wrists while baring my fangs and pressing it into his mouth in the hopes of getting something, anything. But it had no impact. My worst fear had come true. Seeing him unresponsive on the bed . . . broke me. I let him escape the mansion to avoid this fate only to bring him back and let him down.

My eyes hazy with grief I collapse on his chest, burying my face in his skin. Mother's laughter permeated the room, and I could feel her spirit sauntering around. I wailed helplessly on his chest, having a constant, rather severe agony that has etched my soul. My face leaned in to kiss him one last time while my palms softly stroked his face.

I could hear Frieda's pleas to open the door, but I needed to be alone for what was about to transpire. My crimson eye's glowed casting a strong spell on the door to keep it remained shut. The spirit that lurked around in the room wasn't going to stick around much longer so it was time for mother and I to have a conversation. I gazed at the ceiling summoning her spirit to hear my plea, offering her something she can't refuse.

"Take me instead" I cried. "Please . . take me instead" I repeated my words, truly meaning them. I was ready to do her bidding. I was ready to become her slave. A true-blood hybrid in the spirit realm forever loyal to mother's commands would be an offer she cannot refuse. My proposition, however, received no response.

"I don't want to live without him" As I continued on, I rested a palm on my heart, which had been hammering nonstop due to the relentless torment of realizing he was gone. I closed his eyes, pained by the grief of not seeing any color in them.

"Tal!! Open the door!" Frieda's pleads got paid no attention. Frieda was devoted to me and would go to any lengths to protect me. And I didn't need anyone to persuade me to change my mind. My fingers gently caressed Hugo's cheeks as they now felt cold against my skin.

"I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry baby" I whispered, biting my lip in an attempt to halt the flood of tears that were still gushing down my cheeks.

I replayed his vows in my mind as they were as pure as he was. If I got reincarnated a thousand times, I would also pray to the gods to let me be your mate in all of them, Hugo. I'll love you in each life. I'll choose you in each life. I'll love you through life and even in death. I'll love you as you are. As you were and as you rest in my arms ten feet under. You are my soul . . . mate, Hugo.

Summoning the sharpest silver blade onto my palms through a spell, I took a deep breath holding the blunt end close to my chest.

"If there's no you, there's no me" I whispered, staring at the sight of his dead body.

I tuned out Frieda's screams and Rhea's attempts at breaking down the master bedroom door. And with the mightiest force in me, I shut my blood-shot eyes forcing the knife to my chest but to my surprise, it disintegrated in to tiny specks of dust in my hands. Confused as to what happened, I glanced down at the white satin dress that had no red seeping through them unlike I had anticipated.

Mother's spirit that haunted the mansion for the past two years vanished without a trace or an explanation. My mark that was embedded into Hugo's neck glowed white despite his stiff body awakening my wolf fully for the first time after being locked away due to the heat curse. I finally regained the ability to smell the scent of the Alpha I had loved from the first full moon that I met him to the last.

"Wolfie . . . wake up please" My wolf, Winter whimpered pleading in my head, the ache which was all too familiar caused me to start hyperventilating.

To silence the persistent banging at the door, I finally gave in and unlocked the spell binding it. Frieda and Rhea abruptly stormed through it while gasping for air. Hugo's lifeless and limp form caught their horrified eyes as they turned to stare at me. Frieda pressed her lips before rushing over.

"Tal, the concealed page . . " She began to say but I interrupted her, still unable to take my eyes off of Hugo.

"This is the catch, isn't it? Is this the price I have to pay?" I mumbled staring blankly as all hope faded away from my body. If I knew mother any better, there would be a catch to the curse and just as I had anticipated even after the ritual determined Hugo to be my true mate, it took him away from me. If the concealed page revealed anything, it would be mother's gloating that her mission to utterly and completely destroy me has come to fruition.

"The catch is that there was no catch to begin with, Tal" Frieda murmured handing me the page. I eventually managed to get off Hugo and move towards Frieda and Rhea, whose expressions were pitiful and sympathetic towards me. My fingers gripped the page tightly as I read its contents out loud.

"Congratulations Talia! You broke the hex." I scoffed at the page that offered me no closure and no answers, just more questions. The ritual accepted my mark and something stopped me from harming myself. If the hex was broken, why did it kill Hugo? If there was truly no catch to the hex, then why am I left staring at the dead body of the love of my life?

My lips quivered unwilling to accept Hugo's fate. Our fate. He promised me a life together. He promised me plenty of pups. He promised our pack would grow and become powerful and strong. He promised me that everything will go well today. He promised me the world unaware that my world was him.

"I'm sorry, Tal" Frieda approached me slowly. She reached out to me but I brushed her away. I didn't need comfort, I needed him alive. With my emotions swiftly turning into rage, I turned to Frieda with my crimson eyes blazing.

"There must be a way to resurrect him, right? A spell?" I asked.

"Tal . . He's gone . ." Frieda murmured but I didn't want to hear what she was insinuating. Instead, I placed both my hands on Frieda's shoulders and demanded an answer. When Frieda quietly nodded, I commanded her.

"Resurrect him"

"I can't. The spell itself states a life for a life. If you give up your life to save him, then you're putting him in your situation right now. And besides I can't use the resurrection spell on anyone who's died due to a hex" Frieda made an effort to convince me, but I was not willing to listen. I dreaded accepting that Hugo was actually gone for good.

"Resurrect him!" I chanted.

"I'm sorry, Tal. I'm so so sorry" With tears in her eyes, Frieda responded. In order to shield Frieda from my glares, Rhea moved in front of her.

"RESURRECT HIM or JUST.. leave. . I'll do it myself!" I muttered. I raised my palms in the direction of Hugo. I was prepared to employ all of my magic, even if it meant sacrificing myself, to wake him up. But Frieda intervened and prevented me from casting my spell.

"I'll help. If we both do it, maybe there's a chance of you surviving a resurrection spell" Frieda explained. But Rhea's disapproval can be seen as she turned to Frieda with a concerned expression.

"Luna might survive it but you won't." Rhea stated, staring at Frieda.

"They are both my Alpha's and I'm part of the pack. I don't mind sacrificing my life for them"

Frieda was ready to join me in the spell while Rhea sobbed in silence. I felt taunted by Rhea's expression as the thought of getting my mate at Rhea's expense crossed my thoughts. As the Luna of the Shaw's Pack, I was caught in a moral bind. Frieda's devotion made me appreciate her even more.

"No, I'll do it alone. Just tell him that I rather it be me than him. Tell him that the Falcon Valley needs him. Tell him that I love him so much and that I just want him to be alive and happy" I stated making up my mind.

"Luna . . ." Rhea made a concerted effort to dissuade me from carrying out the spell at all.

"As your Luna, that is an order" I commanded. Frieda wiped away her tears and sighed before complying with my request. I had never used the resurrection spell before, so I was ready to get started on Frieda's guidance. Frieda took some time to think before suggesting something else.

"Your powers will get drained fast and quick so at least have some concoction mix to buy you more time" Frieda suggested.

She used a spell to summon a concoction jar that she had been storing for emergencies. The jar that was the oldest and most potent. A fluid that contains a strong mixture of the blood of a true-blood hybrid. As the bottle jar appeared in her hand, she almost dropped it at the sight.

It was completely empty. Frieda immediately closed her eyes and summoned a flashback spell before gasping at the revelation.

"The concoction. Hugo drank the entire jar before the ritual" Frieda revealed.

"What? But that could have killed . . ." I paused before completing the sentence.

I walked towards the jar, grabbed it out of Frieda's hands, and just gazed at it bewildered. As the pieces fit together like a jigsaw, I began to understand what was truly happening. The ritual had worked and there was no catch to begin with.

Every single day up until the last ritual, Hugo had been trying to convince me to stay optimistic. There was no doubt in his mind that he was my mate. He fed me so much hope that once I started to believe it, he discreetly got prepared in case the ritual deemed he wasn't my mate.

I've warned him about the concoction mix plenty of times. It wasn't the curse that killed him, it was the effects of the concoction that did. That's why his mark didn't disappear. That's why he said he was sorry right before he died. Because he didn't truly believe he was worthy of being my mate.

A white glow caught the corners of my eyes and they drew me towards the bed. Damien's claw marks that were still etched on Hugo's chest along with the bite mark on his shoulders, began to glow before they healed on its own and disappeared in to his flesh. The room was filled with the sound of a powerful heartbeat as the effects of the concoction mix took over Hugo's body.

As Frieda, Rhea and I watched in shock, Hugo let out a loud gasp before pulling himself up from the bed in cold sweat. The empty concoction jar slipped through my hands breaking into the floor as Hugo turned towards me with glowing eyes.

Glowing eyes that were crimson just like mine.