Chapter 100: Omega Rising
AYLA
"Ayla, you cannot be seen out of bed. Your mother will have my head."
I ignored her.
The forest of death? How could he?
Why had no one stopped him? Forced him to stay put?
"Ayla, please." Astrid’s voice was thin with panic. She hurried along beside me, her hand hovering near my elbow like she expected me to collapse at any moment. "You are barely standing."
"I need to see him."
My legs trembled beneath me. The hallway swam before my eyes. I caught myself against the stone wall, my palm scraping against the rough surface.
Astrid reached for me.
If you collapse..."
"Then I collapse." I shot at her.
I would crawl if that is what it would take to get to Damon. I fixed my eyes on his door, the pounding in my skull getting worse as I walked.
Finally, I reached the door and shoved it open.
The room was crowded. Alpha Kieran stood near the window, his broad shoulders rigid, his hands clasped behind his back. Ares was slumped in a chair in the corner, his head in his hands. Cassian stood at the foot of the bed, his face pale and drawn.
Master Aldric was there too and beside him, the priestess Miranda.
They all turned when the door swung open.
"Ayla." Alpha Kieran straightened, his brow furrowing. "You should be resting."
I shook my head, stumbling forward to the bed, toward Damon.
If I did not know any better, I would assume he was already dead with how still he lay. I could see the dark bruising coating every part of his body.
"Damon?" My voice came out as a whisper.
He did not move.
I reached his bedside and sank into it beside him.
"Damon." I shook him.
Tears spilled down my cheeks, dripping onto his hand where it lay limp against the sheets.
No. No, no, no.
"Help him." I did not even recognize my own voice.
I turned to the healer and the priestess.
"Help him. Please."
Master Aldric bowed his head and Priestess Miranda whose eyes were glistening said softly.
"We have tried everything."
"No, you cannot have tried it all. You should be..."
I turned back to Damon. I looked at his face, at the blue tinge spreading across his lips, at the way his chest barely rose now and something inside me cracked open.
"You stupid, foolish man." Tears spilled down my cheeks. "Why would you do this? Why would you risk your life for me?"
"You are not dying on me." My voice broke. I grabbed his hand, squeezing hard enough to hurt. "Do you hear me? You are not dying on me."
You can help him, Ayla. Nyx said in my head.
What?
Remember the boy? She asked.
I went still.
The boy...the one I had healed. But I was in Morgana’s timeline, in her body and with all of her physical strength and experience.
How could I perform the same miracle as Ayla, wolfless Omega who had only just discovered she had a wolf at all. I could barely even get myself upright without tumbling over. I was weak
I cannot do it, I whispered. I am not her.
"Ayla? Are you okay?" Cassian’s voice was etched with concern as he inched closer.
"Stay back." I mutter under my breath.
"Ayla..."
"I said stay back." I spun to face him.
His eyes went wide in shock and priestess Miranda gasped, her hands flying to her mouth.
"Ayla," Cassian breathed. "Your eyes."
I blinked.
"What?"
"They are glowing." He breathed.
"It cannot be," priestess Miranda whispered.
"What cannot be?" Alpha Kieran interjected.
I turned away from them back to Damon, their voices fading into the background.
You can do this, Ayla. Nyx said. You are the reincarnation of the Omega Queen. Morgana’s blood runs through your veins. Her power is your power. Feel it!
I reached for Damon’s hand.
His fingers were cold to touch
I closed my eyes and I felt it.
It started in my chest...a warmth like when you light a candle in a cold room. Then I felt it grow, spreading through my veins.
The warmth became a pulsing ache that rose and rose until I could not contain it anymore.
It burst out of me.
I felt it happen. I felt the power tear free of my skin and fill the room like a wave crashing into everything.
Someone cried out but I could not tell who. I could not hear anything over the roar in my head and the thunder of my heartbeat. Every corner of Damon’s room was enveloped in light that kept pouring outward, filling the very stones of the walls until the whole chamber seemed to pulse with it.
Then it came together, every ounce of it and bent toward Damon.
I kept my eyes pinned on the light willing it to find him and it did. It wrapped around him like a second skin and sank into his body, disappearing beneath the mottled surface of his flesh.
Everything around me soon disappeared and I was pulled into a space where a woman with dark pits for eyes regarded me as with a pointed stare.
"He is mine." she murmured.
"No, he isn’t." I shot back at her.
"I will concede just this once, again... Omega queen but this is the last time."
I was dropped back into my own body.
Again? I thought. I have never seen that woman before. What did she mean?
When I came to myself, everywhere had gone silent.
I watched as Damon took a huge breath then exhaled slowly, his eyes moving in under his lids.
You did it, Nyx whispered. There was wonder in her voice. Pride.
I could not speak or even breath as I stared at Damon’s face.
He was alive...He was alive.
I turned around to announce the good news.
Alpha Kieran stood frozen, his mouth open, his eyes wide. Ares had risen from his chair, his face pale with shock. Cassian stared at me like he was seeing a ghost or a god.
Priestess Miranda on the other hand had fallen to her knees.
They were all staring at me...every single one of them in open mouthed shock.