Alpha's Fallen Angel

Roman’s POV

I hated battle, but I hated the aftermath even more. I made a list of all the fallen I could identify so that I could visit their families later. The ones I couldn’t, their family or packmates who saw them fall would have to report to me, and I’d go from there. Max and Seth took Aston’s body to the morgue before we were even back.

Fuck that hurt. My best friend since we were in diapers, the one who evened out mine and Max’s broody demeanors with his stupid ass jokes. Gone. Fucking gone. What was the point? The point of all this death and destruction?

I stopped in my tracks, shutting my eyes as they became glossy. His death will gut me until the day I die. The day I die? I’m immortal. Fuck. I could live another thousand years, and I wouldn’t have seen him for over nine hundred and fifty of them. How is that fair? And CiCi. I have yet to find anyone who wasn’t of Alpha blood, or royalty in Armaros’ case, that lived past the first year of their mate dying. But we would do everything in our power to take care of and be there for her regardless. I wouldn’t let Aston’s favorite part about his life wither away into nothing.

On top of all that, it fucking hurt that I have to think about another Beta. No time would be the right time to ask Max to step up. Couldn’t I just retire the position? Aston was always meant to be my Beta; I had no intention of ever finding another.

“You okay, Alpha?” Lake asks, coming up behind me

“Yeah, I’m good,” I say quickly, pulling myself together and turning around.

“We lost five hundred and twelve, Alpha. And we have at least four hundred vampires we can’t fit in the cells. King Armaros has offered to take them until they can be trusted.” he says

I give him a curt nod. Five hundred and twelve. Considering there were around seven thousand vampires, those numbers weren’t terrible, but still. Five hundred and twelve could easily double if they all had mates, and then any children they had will be orphans. On top of the pain and grief their losses will cause their other loved ones. All because one man was power-hungry.

“Let’s gather the vampire bodies and burn them. Samirah has gathered the bodies of her people; any vampires left can now be burned. Then we gather our own, and we’ll await each individual family’s wish.” I respond

“Yes, Alpha. The rest of the pack and I can handle this part; you should go home. You’ve been out here for hours.” Luke says, putting a hand on my shoulder

I sigh. I feel fucking guilty if I’m not out here with them. If I’m not personally overseeing this, it feels like one last letdown to the wolves that died.

“I will in a few more hours,” I say; no, I wasn’t ready to go back yet.

Amara’s POV

Dr. Crowen had done a quick checkup to ensure both me and the baby were okay, which we were, and I had been with CiCi ever since. She was, understandably, not okay. She would fall asleep for a few minutes, then wake up screaming when she realized she was living her worst nightmare. Finally, Violet and I had convinced her to take something to sleep soundly. How long would she last? The question hung in the air between us.

“Come on, Mara. We both need to eat. She’ll be out for a couple hours at least,” Violet says, looking at CiCi for a long moment.

The question running through my mind is the same one going through hers. Could we trust CiCi alone if she woke up while we were gone? I hesitate; I don’t think I would like the answer.

“Come on, we can come back when we’re done,” she urges me

I relent, following her out of the room as we go to the dining hall. Everyone except us three, Gemma and Serena, were helping with the cleanup. I had tried to stay and help, but Roman said to go home and be with CiCi and I would visit the families of the dead with him throughout the following week.

My stomach growled as I smelled the food laid out on the table. Gemma and Serena were sitting over steaming cups of coffee, their food barely touched. They look up as we enter.

“How is she?” Serena says. We both shake our head.

“Not good. We finally convinced her to take a sleeping elixir; she just fell asleep a few minutes ago.” Violet tells them as she grabs a plate and a cup

I don’t say anything; how do I sit here with them when I’m the reason their friend will probably waste away and die soon?

“Have you guys slept?” I ask them

“A few hours, you guys?” Gemma asks

We both shake our heads as we plate our food and pour our coffee

“Once we’re done, we’ll go stay with her. You guys need to eat and rest,” Serena says; she’s always so sweet

“Yeah, I can’t stop thinking about her anyways,” Gemma says, and Serena nods in agreeance

I sit down, suddenly not hungry, as I look at my plate of food. Eating felt wrong. Surely there’s something else I should be doing. I push my plate aside and opt for my coffee instead, the baby kicking me in protest.

“Oh no, madam, my niece needs to eat. Don’t you go pushing that food away,” Violet says to me.

“I’m not very hungry,” I grimace.

She sighs, grabbing my hand. “Listen, I was the same way after my first couple of battles. Survivor’s guilt is not easy, and part of you will always feel this way, but you’re not doing anyone any favors if you don’t take care of yourself. So eat, at least a couple bites.”

I don’t say anything; I just sigh and do as she says. We eat in complete silence. After the third time Violet falls asleep sitting up, I grab her plate and her coffee and put them in the dirty dish bin

“Come on, let’s get you to bed,” I tell her as she jolts awake

“Fine, fine. What are you going to do?” she yawns.

“Just bring some coffee out to everyone, then probably go to bed myself,” I tell her, and she nods

“I’d offer to help bring the coffee out, but even the walk to my room seems like a task,” she says

I smile and grab her hand, portaling us to her room. She blinks, looks around, then looks at me

“I will literally never get used to that,” she says, shaking her head and yawning again

“Go to bed, sleepyhead,” I laugh and portal back to the dining hall.

I gather some travel mugs from the kitchen, looking for a cart. I might as well just bring the three giant carafes that are sitting out; everyone else would be there with Roman, anyways, at least those who aren’t asleep. I grab a cart before I load everything up and portal to the battlefields.

As usual, the people I portal near all jump before their eyes widen, and they rush over to me, a collection of ‘Thank you, Luna’ echoing through the air. I pour Roman and my dad a cup, knowing they like theirs black like the broody men they are. Then I do the same for Az and Seth, adding cream and sugar to theirs, and then I put some french vanilla creamer in Max’s cup. I’m sure they’re all together anyways. I load the cups up in my arms as I follow the pull of the bond.

Sure enough, they all stand next to a pile of vampire bodies. I wrinkle my nose but walk up to them anyways.

“Coffee?” I ask as I come up behind them

“Oh, Hades bless you,” Azrael says as he comes and takes his cup and the rest follow.

Roman is the last to grab his cup, putting his arm around my shoulders and pulling me to him. I don’t protest even though he still has blood on him, and I’ll have to take another shower now.

“So…how did I use an Alpha command on you?” I finally ask him, biting my lip.

He smiles, taking a breath before speaking

“You’re an Alpha Queen, my love.”

Excuse me? Me, someone who has barely learned how to be a Luna?

“I’m-I’m a what now?” I stutter

“England and Australia both have Alpha Kings, you’re the Alpha of Alpha’s technically. You can command any werewolf, and you’ll end up making all the other Alphas submit to you and your rule.” Max cuts in

I say nothing, now that I can avoid. Motherhood will come first. It’s debatable on which one will be scarier, but I have no desire to deal with that Alpha Queen business for the time being.

“So, what do we do now?” I ask Roman after a few minutes

“We bury and mourn our dead and move on,” Roman says, kissing my head

“And, we enjoy the peace while it lasts; this battle was only the beginning,” my dad says

We all turn to look at him, a tense silence falling over us

“Must you be so cynical?” Azrael mutters, sipping his coffee