My mind is fuzzy, eyes scanning over the massacre before me as the heat grows within the palace, sweat rolling down my face. Bodies lay across the room before me, both from the witches and warriors who followed me here and from another pack. Zion and Sybil led men in here too and none of the bodies here are the two people I want dead most. Fiona was with this group of men and women, yet her body remains to be found. 

Looking to the left, I notice the entrance to another hallway, yet it is closed off, parts of the marble pillars around it and the walls brought in around it as it closes off the area. Smoke seeps out of the rubble, flames slowly leaking out as I walk forward. The closer I get, the warmer it becomes, my mind flooding with questions as I wonder what could have set off this fire. I did not see many men with Zion, perhaps a few less than what I brought. Almost every person he brought can be accounted for in this room, laying in a pool of their own blood, their bodies either mutilated from the witches, strung over the balcony railing above, or with nasty wounds from fellow werewolves. 

I am left unprotected except for the gun I took from Elijah, my own way of getting out of here and fighting off whoever comes at me. 

Taking in a deep and shaky breath, I try and concentrate on what to do now. How could I find Zion and Sybil in this large palace if they are still alive? How can I make my way out of here as a human who has just killed the Alpha King? What would Nixon do? 

Nixon accepted his fate when he killed Sybil years ago, he knew when he pulled that trigger that he would not be able to make it out of that room. He was outnumbered, for Zion had his royal guards with him and my husband had no one...just as I do. 

I stumble back, hitting the body of one of the witches, an arrow having pierced her neck, my legs giving out as her blood upon the marble floor causes me to sip. The wet blood gets onto my hands once again as I panic, getting up as I try and wipe her blood off onto my shirt. Tears begin to stream down my face, a mixture of the dried blood and salt water tears, landing on my shirt as I try and hold back the sobs which follow. 

Laraxis was right. 

Laraxis was right. He knew I did not come here to just avenge Nixon...I came here to die. 

How else could I be so foolish? I came here with witches, with beings notorious for betraying other species for their own greedy needs. I did not bring my best warriors, for I sent them out onto the battlefield. I brought only a handful of men to take down the palace. I trusted Elijah, someone who was willing to betray Zion, the man he was supposedly best friends with for ages yet somehow hated all at the same time.  

I need to find Zion, even if it is just his damn body. I want to finish this, I want to make sure it is finished. 

Walking out of the room, I try and think of the only place where Zion could be now, all he would have left to run back to with the palace being set on fire. The hallway leads me down that way, giving me a view of the battlefield across the lake as I can see the battle dwindling, bodies scattered across as it seems like Crimson Lock is winning the battle. I continue my walk, getting closer to the room as the smell of smoke grows stronger. I can hear the walls of the palace beginning to fall apart as the fire consumes what was made of wood. 

The hallway leads to the opening of the palace I expected to find Zion in, the great throne room laying before me with a marble throne for the Alpha King placed upon a set of marble steps, decorated with some exotic fur across the seat. A large masterpiece of stained glass is placed behind the throne, detailing the creation of the werewolf with the Moon Goddess depicted as a radiant woman, her hair milk white as the moon is placed behind her like a halo, her dress light blue as it has a movement to it, her arms reaching out as a werewolf is born. 

Checking how many bullets are left in the gun, I look around the room again, trying to see if Zion has made his way back. Three bullets. Enough to make sure I can get Zion. The marble columns placed symmetrical around the throne room are still intact, carved with detail, and reaching three stories high. Taking a step out into the throne room, I decide to look around the back of the throne itself. 

The last Alpha King lays there, his back pushed up against the back of the marble throne, tired as I see he is holding onto the shaft of an arrow which was lodged into his left shoulder. "Don't fuck with me, Alpha Maxwell. Last time someone with your title tried to, he got what he deserved," Zion warns, acknowledging my presence without even looking my way. "We are both injured and have lost our men." 

"This is not over until I get what I came here for," I speak up, walking closer to the injured werewolf, his head turning my way as I briefly stop in my tracks as his golden eyes meet mine. "You once tried to kill me and my unborn daughter. You left me to bleed out. I will not simply forget what you have done to my family." 

"Your husband killed my wife and unborn child. Let's call it even."

"No," I snap, Zion's eyebrows furrowing together. "We were even when Nixon actually killed Sybil and that child. When you decided to resurrect Sybil from the dead-"

"You had Fiona in your entourage, why not have her do the same?" 

I scoff, watching as Zion gets to his feet, blood staining his shirt as I wonder how I would be able to defeat him if my gun was not here. "You were the Alpha King. Shit, Zion, your family had a curse over Fiona's coven which you leveraged. Witches do not do anything for free or out of good spirit. We both know this. Witches are expensive and you have the most precious currency of all: to lift a curse." Zion notices the gun in my hand, holding his head high as he tried to not get freaked out. "You royals think you can get what you want, that you can simply claim things for your own just because you have the power past ancestors gave you. I was a fucking human and still am, Nixon married me and made me his Luna, but I proved to Crimson Lock and other packs I was strong as a human Luna. Then I became an Alpha, I earned the respect of my pack. You just had to get that crown on your head when your daddy passed away." 

"I know your story, Lily, do not lecture me." 

"You do not know me," I hiss, raising the gun as I notice his jaw clench. "I came here because I want you dead. Nixon died so why shouldn't you? Tell me why I should not pull the trigger until you die." 

"No one can decide that expect for you, but I did not come here to die, for I still have a life ahead of me. I fought here today not because it was the widow of Nixon wanting to tear apart the kingdom, but because an Alpha decided she wanted to tear apart the kingdom, to see it fall into chaos, to kill the king, and to destroy centuries of tradition and government. I am fighting here because it is my duty, part of the vows I took as Alpha King-"

"Stop trying to act so holy," I interrupt. 

"We do not have much time here, Lily," Zion points out, motioning to the flames beginning to come down the hallway. "You got what you wanted so far. You killed King Laraxis and have burned much of the palace. We do not have much time until the flames come in here and consume us both." 

"What if I want them to consume us both? To put an end to all of this madness with the death of the two people who helped make it." 

"I do not intend on dying today. I have Sybil waiting for me." 

I shake my head, aiming the gun right for his torso as I notice how unsteady my arm is. Trying to relax, the heat of the flames which grow closer only make me more anxious. I find myself closer to Zion, unwilling to be burned yet as Zion takes in a calming breath. 

I take a shot, Zion lunging at me the moment the bullet misses, his body colliding with mine as I hold tight onto the gun. "You have Elijah's gun," Zion comments, his body on top of mine, pinning me down as I struggling to lift the gun back up. Taking the gun from my hand, he tosses it towards the flames, knees crushing my arms as I cry out in pain. "So you killed Elijah too." 

"It was me or him," I spit, releasing one of my hands as I move it to his shoulder where the arrow pierced, grabbing onto the shaft he broke off as I pull. The arrow lodged in his shoulder is tugged out, Zion crying out in pain as the arrow tears apart at his shoulder, leaving an opening wound exposed as blood begins to drench his shirt. I take the arrow and am about to land it into his sternum, only for Zion to stop the blow, the two of us rolling across the floor as I notice from the corner of my eyes, the flames spreading across the floor of the throne room, the velvet rug allowing the fire to rise high into the air. The ceiling painted in pastels begins to burn, flames bursting out as a chunk of the ceiling falls down. 

Crying out, Zion and I quickly move away from the falling piece, watching as it shatters over the throne, landing a crack into the center of the seat as the fur on the throne begins to burn. Moving back to Zion, as I am about to land a punch to his face, Zion pulls away, golden orbs reflecting bright red flames as I look around us, a circle of fire caging us in together. 

"I have no intentions of letting you out of here alive," I comment, jumping onto Zion as I try and tackle him to the floor, hoping to push his face into the flames. 

Zion screams out in pain as I push a side of his face into the flames, yet just as I am abut to push him further in, a force knocks me back, pain erupting in my torso. Zion's screams stop as I cry out in pain, looking down to my torso to see claw marks made in my torso, digging deep through my shirt as I look up to see a brown wolf. The wolf before me looks back to Zion, helping him up with its snout as the wolf turns back to me, growling as I am almost pushed into the flames. 

The wolf shifts, the familiar face of Sybil before me, yet her skin is pale, body weak as she applies pressure to her torso as I notice her hands are covered with dried blood. Zion holds her close, looking to my wounds as I fall to the floor, coughing as I notice the sprayed blood which leaves my mouth and moves to the floor. My entire body feels weak, unable to process any other feeling except the pain as I look up to Zion and Sybil. 

He holds her close to him, protecting her from the flames as they look around for a way out. Sybil begins talking to him, my ears ringing as I cannot pick up what she says. She looks at me with pity, the same way my mother did when I decided to leave the family. "She has a daughter.A daughter needs her mother."  I can hear Sybil say that much. She wants to save what is left of me, to return me home to my daughter.

Leala, the beautiful name which Zion picked out, so much of her resembling my past husband. She will grow up to be strong and wise, but she cannot have me with her, a mother who would rather die for the anger she felt than spend the rest of her days with her daughter. Leala may not even deserve to know I was her mother...but that is all up to Quinn and Terrance now. 

"She cannot survive the way back," I can hear Zion argue. 

"Leave," I whisper, my voice weak as they continue to talk. "Leave," I scream, my voice cracking as I do not want them here anymore. "Get out of here and just leave me." Looking up at them, I can feel the blood beginning to trickle down from my mouth and onto my chin. "Just go. Do not bring my daughter into any of this." 

I have lost so much already and I accepted that when I found out Nixon died. I accepted that I did not want a life without my husband, mate, and lover when Nixon died...and having a daughter did not change any of that. Laraxis was right, right to point out I did not want a life without Nixon, a family with Nixon,  because I could never have that fairytale ending Nixon and I always talked about. 

At least in death I can spend eternity with Nixon, watching our daughter from the stars. 

Zion and Sybil leave no room for arguing, Zion shielding Sybil as they jump through the flames and crash through the stained glass window behind the throne, leaving the flames behind as I can feel them begin to burn my body. 

I remain hunched over, flames consuming my body as I scream in pain, thinking of those dark eyes which drew me in the first time I met him when I bumped into a fridge at the market. I can recall when I met him while breaking into his house for a dare. How I played the piano for him. 

Looking up, I can see him in the flames, reaching out his hand as I get to my feet, the pain gone from my body. Nixon is just as I remember him and more. A smile spreads across my face, a genuine smile which I have not felt in a long time. Taking his hand, Nixon leads me into an eternity beside him.