Page 68 of Betrayed Alpha Mate

Emily gets to her feet, and the air vibrates. “No!” she says firmly, voice ringing clear and unafraid.

Grimes turns slowly.

Emily stands between us now, golden light pouring from her like a living sun, illuminating the entire clearing. Her magic is no longer restrained, no longer tentative. It’s vast, controlled, terrifying in its precision. “You don’t get to decide our fate,” she tells him. “You never did.”

Grimes smiles wider. “You are mine, Emily Hudson. Just as your grandmother, Nyara, was mine. I consumed her, as I will do to you. The power you carry belongs to me!”

I feel Emily squeeze my hand through the bond. “Trust me,” she says through the mind link, and I do. With every fiber in my being, I trust that woman with my life.

She steps forward, lifting her palms toward the sky. The world floods with gold, and all of Grimes’s illusions peel away instantly, his layered defenses cracking as Emily’s magic tears through deception itself. Donna joins her, one hand on her belly as she throws magic into the pool, amplifying Emily’s magic with her own. The shadows scream, retreating, writhing as if burned.

Just for a second, Grimes falters. “That power…” he snarls. “That’s not possible.”

Emily turns to me. “Sean,” she says softly. “Take it.”

I nod once, and the bond ignites, magic surging into me like liquid fire, flooding my veins, my lungs, my soul. My vision explodes into gold, every sense sharpening until I can hear heartbeats across the clearing, feel the pull of the moon overhead.

My eyes burn, and I roar as witchfire and wolf merge inside me, something ancient snapping into alignment. I move without thought, merely instinct, tearing through Grimes’s physical defenses as Emily shatters his illusions piece by piece.

Witches close the circle, sigils blazing all around us. Grimes screams as ancient light snaps into place, trapping him. Emily steps forward one final time. Her magic gathers, and it’s final, absolute. “This ends now,” she says calmly, releasing her magic to its full extent. Gold consumes shadow, ripping Grimes apart at the seams. His scream fractures into nothing as his form implodes inward, collapsing into ash and broken magic that dissolves beneath our combined power.

Silence falls all around, and I drop with the weight of everything being released. My wolf retreats, and I collapse to one knee, lungs burning, the bond settling warm and complete.

Emily is at my side instantly, arms around me, her magic steady and whole.

“I’ve got you,” she whispers, and my heart squeezes.

I bury my face in her neck, shaking. “I love you,” I breathe, the most natural response, as natural as breathing.

She smiles through tears as she cups my face. Her eyes shine a soft shade of blue, glossed over with tears as she says, “I know. I love you too, Sean.”

Relief washes over me, but it also washes over the island as our brothers and sisters crawl to each other, to their mates, to embrace them. The prophecy is fulfilled, and the darkness is gone.

For the first time in years, it feels safe enough to breathe. And to kiss my fated mate on her lips without any obstacles standing in our way.

Epilogue - Emily

Two Months Later

Stowe in early autumn feels like the world exhaling.

The mountains are dressed in amber and fire-red, the air crisp enough to sting my lungs just slightly when I inhale too deeply. There’s laughter echoing through the lodge courtyard below, mingling with the clink of glasses and the hum of music drifting out through open doors.

We survived.

That truth still feels unreal some days, and sometimes I’m afraid that if I think it too loudly, this bubble of bliss might shatter. But I’ve been learning to put the past behind me and keep my eyes on the future.

Sean has been navigating that part well, going as far as renovating his old childhood home and turning it into a local lodge for travelers. But it’s mostly for our friends to use when they visit, and it’s a nice vacation home for them. His father handed over the place to him after the war against Grimes was won, claiming that he needed a smaller space before moving into my old cottage.

Lanterns hang from wooden beams, casting warm pools of light over familiar faces. Wolves and witches, mates and children, allies who bled together now stand shoulder to shoulder with smiles soft with relief instead of strain. Donna sits wrapped in a thick knit blanket near the firepit, her baby wrapped against her chest, while one hand rests protectively over her belly as Nicholas murmurs something that makes her laugh. He’s always making her laugh and always getting her pregnant, it seems.

Delilah and Hunter chase the older kids around the garden with Dominic and his mate, Cecelia, while Gwen dances barefoot on the grass with Arianna, their magic flickering faintly in the air like fireflies now that it no longer has to hide. Tyler watches his mate with adoration in his eyes as he speaks to Sean.

The Golden Tree Sisters…all of us awake now…all of us happy.

No more fractured lines. No more missing pieces.

Eventually, Sean joins me on the terrace, his arm sliding around my waist as if it belongs there. Of course, it does, grounding me in the moment. He leans in, brushing a kiss against my temple.