Crowned by Fate (Skye) novel Chapter 160

Adrian’s POV

Skye rushed to my side

She dropped to her knees beside me, not caring about the bland pooling around my mother’s body. Her green eyes searched my fare with an intensity that cut through my grit

“Adnan,” she said softly, cupping my face in het hands. “Look at me. This isn’t real

I shook my head, unable to tear my gare from my mothers still fam. “I killed her. My clown went right through her chest, I felt it, Skye. I felt her die

“No“Her voice was firm, gentle but insistent. This is the maze playing with your mind. Your mother isnt here. Shes back in Stormbowl, alive and well.

Maxwell stood watching us, his expression uncradable now,

Skye pulled me against hes, wrapping her arms around me tightly. I buried my face in her shoulder, breathing in her scent. She smelled like pine forests and winter mornings, hike home. My body shook with suppressed sebi,

It’s okay,” she whispered, stroking my

by hair. “None of this is real. The maze feeds on your pailt and fear. It’s showing you what you’re most afraid of.”

I pulled back slightly to look at her. Tears blurred my vision, but I could see the certainty in her eyes. “But the blood…”

“Ts an illusion.” She wiped the tears from my cheeks with her thumbs. “Just like everything else in this place.”

I glanced back at where my mother’s body had been. The floor was clean, No blood, no signs of violence. Even the broken furniture had vanished. Marwell was gone too, as if he’d never been there at all.

“Ser?” Skye said gently. “It wasn’t real.

The relief that flooded through me was overwhelming. I sagged against her, letting her hold my weight. But the guilt remained, eating at me from the

couldn’t protect Nadia,” I said, my voice breaking. “She died because of me. Because I wasn’t strong enough, wasn’t fast enough”

Skye’s armi

arma tightened around me. “That wasn’t your fault.”

“And I couldn’t protect you either I touched the faint scar on her shoulder, a reminder of the attack that had nearly killed her. “You got hurt because of me. Everyone who gets close to me gets hurt.”

She pulled back to look at me, her expression fierce. “Stop that. You don’t have to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders, Adrian. You don’t have to be responsible for everyone and everything.”

“I’m an Alpha,” I said. “It’s my job to protect my pack”

“But who protects you?” She touched my chest, right over my heart. “You’re so busy trying to save everyone else that you’re destroying yourself. You don’t

have to do this.”

I frowned, not understanding. “Do what?”

“Any of it.” She took my harch in hers, ber touch parm and grounding. “You don’t have to compete for Alpha King. You don’t even have to be an Alpha i don’t want to. We could leave all of this behind.”

The suggestion was so unexpected that I could only stare at her. “What are you saying?”

A smile played at the comers of her lips. “I’m saying we have choices. We could walk away from pack politics, from the elections, from all the fighting and bloodshed. Just you and me, exploring the world together.”

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Chapter 160

Think about it, she continued, her eyes beight with possibility. We could

get married in a little church somewhere, just the two of us. No pack traditions, no ceremonies, just our love”

The picture she painted was a vivid 1 could almost see it. A simple wedding, hei in a white dress, wildflowers in her had. No pafitics, no responda

“We could find a small town somewhere,” she went on, warming to her theme. “Get jobs, blend in with the hemant. I could work at another bar, you could r construction or teach self-defense. We’d have a little house with a garden

I found myself drawn into her vision despite my doubts. “A garden?”

She nodded enthusiastically. “I’ve always wanted to grow things. Tomatoes, herbs, maybe some Bowers. We’d have a porch swing where we could sit in the evenings, watching the sunset.”

And children?

Her smile grew softer, more intimate. “As many as you want. Little ones with your amber eyes and my stubbornnes Wed teach them to be strong but gentle, to choose their own paths.”

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