The Alpha's forbidden omega mate - Chapter 148: Chapter 148

Rowan POV:
“We have to get out of here! Now!”
The ground shook, the air crackled with magic, and the walls of the temple groaned.
Damien was gone, but his magic was still tearing the spirit realm apart. Reality itself was unraveling.
“He’s gone, but his magic is still messing things up!” My wolf growled, his senses overwhelmed by the chaos, the smell of decay, the fear of the other wolves.
Mondragon and Drakhor warriors scrambled through the crumbling ruins, their eyes wide with fear.
Their wolves snarled, urging them to escape the collapsing realm.
“Protect the Luna!” one of the Drakhor warriors shouted, his eyes fixed on Catrina.
She was lying motionless on the ground, her breath shallow.
Pride and fear warred inside me. These wolves, from a different clan, respected Catrina. They recognized her strength, her sacrifice.
“My Luna.” My wolf echoed, a surge of pride warming the fear that gripped me.
Isabelle was watching me, her green eyes filled with worry.
She understood the bond I had with Catrina, the love we shared. And in that moment, all the anger and resentment between us, all the bitterness of our forced marriage, vanished. All that was left was a shared grief, a shared fear.
“We have to get her out of here, Rowan,” she said urgently. Her voice, sharp and commanding, cut through the chaos. She was the Alpha, taking charge.
King Korvash, his face grim, nodded.
“She’s fading, Rowan,” he said, his voice a low rumble.
His words confirmed my worst fears. Catrina, my mate, my Luna, the mother of my son, was slipping away.
“We have to take her to the Drakhor lands,” he said. “Our healers might be able to help her. But we have to hurry.”
His voice trailed off, but the unspoken truth hung in the air. We might lose her.
“No. We can’t lose her. Not now. Not after everything.” My wolf howled, a primal scream of defiance.
“We’ll get her there, Korvash,” I said, my voice firm, my gaze meeting his. “We’ll do whatever it takes.”
We moved quickly, carefully, through the crumbling spirit realm, our wolves’ senses alert. I held Lucas close, his tiny body warm against my chest.
But even as I held him, a chilling emptiness settled inside me. We’d won the battle, but at a terrible cost.
“We saved our pup, but we might lose… everything else.” My wolf whimpered, his voice full of sadness.
We reached the portal, the shimmering gateway back to the real world. Vivian, her ghostly form flickering, stepped in front of me. Her green eyes, filled with sadness, met mine.
“Don’t… don’t think I’ve forgiven you, Mother,” I said, my voice rough.
The pain of her abandonment, a wound that had never healed, was still there, even with Lucas safe in my arms.
“How could she leave me? Abandon me to the darkness that consumed my father?” My wolf snarled, the old questions, the old pain, resurfacing.
“I understand your anger, Alpha,” Vivian said, her voice a soft sigh.
She looked at Lucas, a flicker of longing softening her eyes. She almost called me ‘son’, but stopped herself. I had rejected her, pushed her away.
“I’ll watch over you and Lucas,” she promised. Her voice was gentle, but her words frustrated me. She couldn’t truly be a mother to me, not like this.
“Damien might be gone, but my soul is still trapped here. He stole it from my body before I… died.”
I stared at her, the anger fading, replaced by sympathy. Her pain, her loss, it was like mine.
“He… he took your soul, too?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.
“Yes.” Vivian's gaze dropped to Catrina's still form.
“And Catrina? Will you… watch over her too?” My voice was full of hope, but deep down, I knew the answer.
Vivian’s sad eyes, her silence, said it all.
She reached out, her ghostly hand hovering over Catrina, a touch that sent a shiver down my spine.
“She’s… she’s in good hands, Rowan,” she whispered, her voice full of sadness. “The Drakhor healers are the best. They’ll do everything they can. Trust them.”
But I knew, with a sinking feeling in my gut, that it might not be enough. Catrina had given so much, sacrificed so much. The merging, the battle… it had taken a toll.
“She’s not coming back, Rowan.” My wolf’s voice was a mournful howl. “We’ve lost her.”
We stepped through the portal, leaving the spirit realm behind. The familiar scents and sounds of our world—pine needles, damp earth, the chirping of crickets—surrounded us.
Lucas was safe in my arms. Damien was gone.
But it didn't feel like a victory. The weight of Catrina’s absence pressed down on me, a heavy silence where her laughter should have been.
Back at the Mondragon mansion, everything was quiet. Too quiet.
A heavy silence hung in the air.
Catrina was gone, taken to the Drakhor healers, but there was a sense of dread, a feeling that she might never wake up.
Lucas, oblivious to the tension, gurgled happily in his crib.
I stood by his crib, watching him sleep, my heart aching.
My wolf paced inside me, restless, his claws scraping against my bones. He wanted to run, to hunt, to find a way to bring her back.
“It’s my fault. If I hadn’t doubted her, if I’d been a better Alpha, a better mate… she wouldn’t have had to sacrifice herself.”
The thought was a knife twisting in my gut, a constant reminder of my failure.
I picked up her hairbrush. It still held a faint trace of her scent - lavender and vanilla.
I picked up her towel, the one she’d used after her bath, and her scent, faint but intoxicating, filled my senses.
It was a painful reminder of the intimacy we’d shared, moments of joy and passion that now felt so distant, so lost.
“She’s gone. And we’re alone.” My wolf howled, his voice echoing in the silence.
I sank into the chair beside Lucas’s crib, the weight of my grief crushing me.
And as the moon shone through the window, I cried.
I cried for Catrina, for Lucas, for the pack, for the world. I cried for the mistakes I’d made, the words I’d said, the love I’d rejected.
And as the tears flowed, a new resolve, a tiny ember of hope, flickered within me. I would find a way to bring her back. I would honor her sacrifice.
I would protect our son. And I would build a world worthy of the love she’d given.
A knock on the door startled me. My wolf’s head snapped up, his senses alert.
“Alpha?” a hesitant voice called. “Alpha Rowan? Are you in there?”
It was Liam, one of my warriors. It was a reminder of the world outside my grief, the pack that needed me, the responsibilities I couldn’t ignore.
“What is it, Liam?” I called back, my voice rough with emotion.
“Alpha, we need you. At the packhouse. It’s… urgent.”