Chapter 84: Bared To You: Part Twelve

The heavens opened and wept, almost as if to mirror this she-wolf's saddened fate. Esme walked, almost in a trance, her bare feet squelched into the muddy earth, her hands spread out, feeling the long wiry grass. Her silky white nightgown clung to her body, drenched from the rain that washed away the blood flowing down her arms, dripping to the earth, and trailing behind her. The strong winds bellowed against her, a warning not to take another step as the storm above her raged on. 

But she did not stop. She did not cower. She was meeting her ultimate end. She returned to the cliff where her mother was thrown away, and Marcus fell to his death. She wanted to scream and curse at the sky with it, to scream for the loss of her loved ones and for the loss of herself. But something inside of her had snapped. Her body was numb to feeling anything, numb to the latest assaults from her mate, and numb to the small voice in her head urging her not to do it.

"I'm sorry, Isana. But what life could there possibly be after all this," Esme whispered into the breeze. Her wolf was blocked from her, but although Esme could not hear Isana, her wolf could still hear her. Still, she wished to have said one last goodbye to the one who knew her the most. 

Esme stopped at the edge of the cliff and closed her eyes. She welcomed the shiver down her spine and the water spraying against her skin. The dark strands of her hair clung to her face, covering her ears, drowning out the sounds of the waves crashing against the rocks below. But even as the world around her was in chaos, the heavens roaring and brightening up the sky in forked lightning, her breaths were relaxed and her heart steady. 

Esme opened her eyes and stared into the navy depths of the sea, feeling an overwhelming calmness overtake her. For something that would hurt for only a minute would put her out of a lifetime of unrelenting fear and agony. All it would take to end it all.. was one step, and she would be free. 

Somewhere she could hear Ethan screaming her name, but she ignored him and watched ahead as she stepped forwards, plummeting towards death's embrace with a smile lighting up her features. The wind swept through her hair and dress, feeling exhilarated and free as she hurdled towards the rocks. But as though the Moon Goddess was not done with her life yet, Esme's body twisted and swept to the right and as the rocks came closer, leaving half her body to crush into the bolder, missing her head. 

Esme's breath left her from the sudden jolt, and skin on her back tore, and bones cracked loudly, but just as quickly as a wave crashed over her body, she flopped into the angry waters as though she had never been there. The rock missed her spine, but her right side tingled, and her limbs felt useless. Somehow, Esme barely registered the pain in the freezing waters as she sank deeper and deeper, staring up at the moonlight filtering through the sea. 

Death by falling onto rocks didn't happen, but drowning was still an option, especially with her wounds bleeding out. Still, she felt at ease; her body was being swept away by the currents, thrashing her around, her hair whipping across her face wildly and entangling her before all was calm and peaceful. 

Esme didn't register the blurred shadow coming towards her. Her mind was already becoming hazy from lack of oxygen. Her lungs burned for air as spots danced across her vision, and her face relaxed further, her lips tugging into a gentle smile. 

She would finally be free. 

Esme's eyes drooped shut, and all went silent and dark as she inhaled the salty seawater. 

"Who would have thought I'd actually miss the rocks?!" Esme joked to Gabriel, who was looking at her like she'd just grown a second head. They had been walking, Esme's arms folded against her chest as she recalled her final moments with Ethan. 

Gabriel strode towards her and pulled her into his arms, crushing her into his chest. A mountain of words could be said, but his embrace said it all. But what words he did say that she could not understand soothed her hammering and aching heart. 

"Non semper derelinquas me, amica mea." (don't ever leave me, my love.)

"Me relinque si necesse est sed ne umquam ex hoc mundo relinquas."  (leave me if you must but do not ever leave this world.)

"Ferre non potui." (I could not bear it) Gabriel whispered into her hair and kissed her hair for a long moment before relaxing his hold on her. 

"Anyway, I didn't die.. Or well.. I was brought back to life? So they tell me. My heart stopped beating for a few minutes," Esme fidgeted in Gabriel's arms, who had tightened them further after she spoke again. Gabriel slowly pulled back and stared down at her waiting for a further explanation; his eyes shone slightly, the red specks almost entrancing her. 

With a slight shake of her head, she frowned and started to go through her hazy memory. She remembered her chest being pumped. Voices echoed across her mind like someone spoke to her from the other end of a long tunnel. With another forceful push, she choked on her spit and salted water, gasping for air that burned her airways before she flopped back down. She faded back into the dark where she wanted to remain,

"Esme, can you hear me?" 

"She's so pale. Give me your coat! She's too cold!" 

"Her heart is still weak."

"But it's beating again. She won't die."

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"Her injuries, though.. They're severe.."

"She's a Luna wolf! She will heal!" 

Go away!

Esme could hear two panicked voices, one a familiar female's voice and the other a male. But she wasn't conscious enough long before she let the darkness swallow her whole again. In the darkness, she was safe; it was quiet and peaceful and warm, she didn't want to leave it. 

But she was disturbed again. She couldn't see anything, and she could not feel anything, but those voices brought her back from this void.

"Her healing is slow."

"Sia, we need to get going."

"We can't move her!"

"Why not? We've spent too long here already. Alpha Ethan knows she's still alive.. it's only a matter of.."

After hearing her mate's name, Esme closed her mind off and let herself fall back into the shadows where it was safe. But all too quickly, she stirred after a shooting pain rippled through the right side of her body, and she felt as though she was floating, and not long after, her body was softly vibrating. At first, it kept the pain alive, like tiny needles stabbing into her skin, but she became accustomed to it, and the void swallowed her hole again. 

"Esme.." 

"Esme.."

Let me rest in peace… 

A woman sighed, "Do you think she will make it? It's been five days. The wolfsbane should be out of her system now, and her wolf should be healing her!"

Esme recognised the woman's voice; it was so familiar and was both comforting and worrying. But she was confused, unaware of the events going on around her. 

"I think.. it is up to her now. You saw what happened; she made her choice. And now, a second chance is within her grasp. It is her choice to take it," The man replied gravely. 

"Esme, if you can hear me, please, please wake up! It's Sia, it's Anastasia! You're safe now! Just, please.. I beg of you.. You can't just give up now. There is a whole world out there waiting for you to explore!" The woman sobbed. 

Esme felt a sudden ache.. it was in her chest? Was it her chest? 

Then she felt someone clasping her hand; she could feel their warmth. 

Sia.. Anastasia.. Yes, I know that name. 

A second chance at life, huh? What do you think, Isana?

"It's time to wake up now, Es," Isana whispered sadly in her mind.

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