RHEA'S POV:

I cursed under my breath. "Azrael, get all the women and children to safety. Those who want to fight, get them. But their safety comes first."

My beta nodded firmly at my command. However, my best friend didn't seem to agree. Coco frowned, seeming upset. "I can gather them. I'm not totally useless just yet."

Azrael shook his head in disagreement. "Babe, you are pregnant with our pup. I can protect you and I know you're fully capable. But we're in uncharted waters right now. Who knows what might happen."

Giving in, she sighed and shrugged. "Fine, let's get to safety." Before rubbing her belly.

I watched my two best friends disappear into the distance as they followed their orders.

Stilling, I realized I needed to find my mate and fast.

Running through the halls, I'm mind-linking all the pack members to run to safety and for the warriors to suit up.

As I made it out of the pack house, I was greeted with pure chaos.

Dammit, where was Kronos?

Suddenly, I was attacked from behind. I growled, quickly turning myself and kicking the attacker in the balls. A pained cry left the hybrid's mouth before they fell limp, clenching their jewels and shivering.

Grinning, I turned away and leaped into the air, shifting into my wolf form. Where was Kronos? My wolf cried desperately for her mate.

'Mate, Mate, Mate...' she chanted. Her whines were evident.

I felt a stab of pain in my arm suddenly, but it wasn't my pain.

Oh god... I turned around and my eyes finally laid on my mate. Fortrista was attacking him, her claws scratching his arms.

He dodged, trying to speak to her about Ouranos but she wasn't having it. I quickly
ran to my mate, kicking Fortrista in the back of her knees. Not pleased with falling, she hissed at me as she attempted to grab a hold of me.

Kronos, who was behind me, quickly shifted and stood over me. His wolves ears laid flat as he flashed his canines at her.

"How pure... Kronos. You're sacrificing yourself?" Fortrista said, letting out a laugh. She dusted her pants, standing up and stared at us with boredom.

My mate's wolf snarled, hovering over my wolf form.

Suddenly, a voice boomed behind us. "Alpha, I have the traitor right here. Just as you requested."

I turned slowly and my eyes met with the guard who was holding Ouranos down at his trial.

His name was Trevor, wasn't it? He was the guard that replaced Nick. He was the new captain of the pack warriors. He was middle aged, the same age as Fortrista and Ouranos.

Kronos shifted his gaze towards Trevor, seeming to mind link him. Whatever it was, Trevor quickly threw Ouranos at Fortrista's feet. The old man stumbled as fear shown in his eyes.

"What is this?" Fortrista asked, glaring at us.

Shifting back to our human forms, Kronos explained carefully to Fortrista as I stood next to him. One wrong word can finalize the war. If done properly, things can end here today with peace.

"A trade. You stop attacking the pack and leave us alone. Your crimes will be forgiven and forgotten. Look... no one wins in war. We will all have our losses. Your fight is with Ouranos. These people are innocent."

She opened her mouth to answer before she closed it quickly. Fortrista stayed silent as her eyes drifted towards Trevor.

I cocked a brow, not understanding why she wasn't responding.

And to my surprise, I soon understood why.

"Mate..." Trevor mumbled. His eyes swirled with black as a small smile made it's way to his face.

Fortrista froze as she replied the same. She blinked several times, her face turning pale. "Impossible."

Trevor stared in awe, "I had transferred over from another pack not so long ago. I was a captain in training but there were several others and since... the previous captain had passed away, I took his place."

He smiled again, "I've looked for you all my life..."

Fortrista took a step back, her face still full of shock.

It was like they were in their own little world but it soon stopped when a pained gasp escaped from Fortrista.

Ouranos had stabbed her on the side with wolfs bane. When we were all busy and distracted, it seemed like the old man made his way to try to kill Fortrista. He had hidden some wolf bane on the way. How he got it was very suspicious... but I know someone who would be willing to go out of their way to give it to him.

They will be punished.

Fortrista staggered but managed to grab him and throw him next to Trevor.

Enraged, Trevor let out a roar before staring at Ouranos dead in the eyes. He panicked, yelling out, "Kronos! I'm your father! Stop this at once! She's at fault, you know she is! That bitch needs to die!"

The old man looked at me with pleading eyes. "Rhea, I've done so much for you. Save me, godammit! I will not go out like this!"

Trevor, who had enough of the yelling and spit that was flying everywhere rolled his eyes and snapped Ouranos's head to the side.

I let out a gasp while Kronos turned his head away, closing his eyes with a clenched jaw.

We knew that Ouranos was bound to die but was surprised of how sudden it was.

Trevor dropped the lifeless man and tossed him to the side like a rag doll, running to his mate.

Kronos and I stood there, watching the whole scene unfold. Meanwhile, Fortrista seemed to have mind-linked all her warriors to stop. They all froze in confusion. Most dropped their weapons, listening to their leader.

I quickly followed, mind-linking all our pack warriors to cease fire. The war was on a stand-by.

"... Luna." Trevor mumbled. "My mate wishes to speak to you and Alpha."

I nodded, looking at Kronos. We stepped closer to the pair, waiting.

Fortrista, for the first time, smirked at us. She laid in Trevor's arms, the wolf's bane no longer in her. As it had been taken out. Her wound started to close up. "You win. We surrender. I've taken the trade."

In that instance, the whole pack roared in victory. The pack warriors all swarmed around each other, hugging and crying.

Some, who were in their wolf forms, howled in the air. Kronos and I smiled, as he wrapped his arms around my waist.

Finally... it was over.

***

Some days had passed since the war.

Honestly, it was a blessing in disguise to have Trevor. Me and Kronos had agreed that he has played a huge part in the treaty.

Although some lives were lost, we honored them. There were some resentment between some wolves, but by combining our packs, it quickly disappeared. Some unmated wolves found their mates.

Fortrista had willingly stepped down, saying that she wanted to spend the rest of her days with her mate. Not ruling over a pack or dealing with territory, and more.

Trevor and Fortrista lived far away from the pack, as some wolves still despised her for killing Nick and Laura. This soon changed because despite the agreement, Fortrista agreed to punishment. Her back was lashed with 100 whips of wolfsbane. Another punishment was the harsh and brutal training she would need to endure for the next month. So horrid that most would lose a limb trying.

When the trial had come around, she had passed out
due to the pain. Blood soaked the wood, filling the air with a thick iron smell.

Her mate was held down in a cellar so he could not see his mate's punishment. As it would drive his wolf crazy in not being able to protect her.

Fortrista's punishment had sated the pack members who had despised her. Regardless of the outcome, all those who were lost had a proper burial. Their funerals were held and on that same day, the sun shined on them.

Almost as if the Moon Goddess herself was giving them her sympathy.

It wasn't the only thing that happened as we needed to find out how Ouranos had access to the wolfsbane.

Kronos and I did proper investigating and found out that the person who gave Ouranos the wolfsbane was no one other than his mother, Gaia. She had stowed away some wolfsbane under our noses. Hiding it for a long time until it was needed.

Over and over again, we gave her chances. She never seemed to learn because after she learned about Ouranos's death, she soon joined him. We didn't have the chance to confront her when we found her body next to his grave. She had overdosed on wolfsbane, tears rolling down her face.

It was a dark day for Kronos, because even though his parents were cruel to him, they were still his parents.

Through his pain, I stayed by his side.

Because now, everything really will be okay.