The Warrior’s Broken Mate novel Chapter 91

Elias POV

I was sprawled across my bed, an empty vodka bottle lying next to me on the mattress, when pounding erupted on my bedroom door.

I ignored it, staring blankly at the ceiling, until the door slammed open. Luke stood in the doorway, his new mate Emory hovering just behind him.

“Get out,” I muttered, rolling onto my side so I didn’t have to look at them.

“Elias, you need to get your ass out of this bed,” Luke barked. His voice carried the tone of command, but I didn’t move. I didn’t have the energy, and I sure as hell didn’t have anything to say to him.

“Alpha,” Luke pushed, his voice hardening, “you need to get up. This pack is depending on you. They need their leader.”

“Their Queen is dead,” I said flatly.

“You don’t know that,” Luke shot back, his voice rising in frustration.

“She’s been gone for two and a half months,” I snapped, still not looking at him. “She would’ve come back to me by now. She’s dead.”

“Maybe she just can’t find a way back,” Emory interjected quietly. “We’ve been researching how to open a portal and we’ve come up completely empty. Maybe… maybe she can’t figure it out either.”

“I didn’t ask for your opinion,” I bit out, cutting her off.

“Alpha. The people need you,” Luke said again, quieter this time, almost pleading.

But I just dragged the blanket up over my head, shutting them out completely.

I heard them whisper something to each other before their footsteps retreated and the door closed behind them.

Finally, I sat up, swinging my legs over the side of the bed.

The fading sunlight filtering through the window told me the sun was setting. Soon, the pack would be heading out for the evening run–a tradition Luke had started. He said it was good for bonding, especially for the members who had joined us after I killed their former Alpha. A way to bring everyone together, to strengthen the pack.

I wouldn’t know. I’d never been to one. But it didn’t matter; I was glad they’d all be gone soon.

I stood and walked to the wardrobe. All of Lyra’s clothes still hung inside, untouched. I reached out and ran my fingers along the fabric, breathing in her scent.

The familiar smell stabbed straight through my chest, shattering me into pieces all over again.

I knew I was torturing myself, but her scent–lingering in this room, on these clothes–was the only thing keeping me the slightest bit sane. Even if everyone else believed I’d completely lost it.

Crossing the room, I stopped by the window and looked down at the gathering below. The entire pack was assembling for the dinner before the run, their voices carrying upward in laughter and chatter.

I was glad they were enjoying themselves. I didn’t expect them to stop living just because Lyra was gone.

But that didn’t mean I had to join them.

I sank into the chair beneath the window, the same one Lyra loved to curl up in with a book, and reached for the framed photo on the table beside it.

It was from her sixteenth birthday–the first picture I had of her looking healthy, genuinely smiling at the camera.

She was so damn beautiful.

I stared at her face and felt my throat tighten. I couldn’t understand how the Moon Goddess could place something so breathtaking on this earth, only to rip her away from me so easily.

It didn’t feel fair at all.

I guess my faith in the Moon Goddess was completely gone at this point.

Straightening up, I looked back at the castle… and then back at the endless ocean.

I knew what needed to be done.

I couldn’t keep living like this.

I refused to keep living like this.

It was killing me slowly, and I wasn’t going to let it.

If I was going out, it would be on my own terms.

Everyone knew that about me.

I took off my watch and the necklace with the shark tooth Lyra had given me and set them carefully on the table near the castle wall.

Then I climbed up onto the brick wall.

I took a few deep breaths, inhaling the salty sea air and feeling the cool breeze brush against my skin.

I looked down.

And just as I was about to take that final step off the wall, something slammed hard into me, knocking the breath from my lungs and dragging me backward, away from the edge, and onto the stone patio.