The Alpha King's Witch Bride-Chapter 371: _The Only Way

My breath caught. I’d imagined this moment in a hundred ways—his return, his embrace—but none of them felt like this.

The mate bond flared, pulling at my heart like a hook. I felt everything—his exhaustion, his pain, his rage, his love.

"Kaelos..." My voice trembled.

He met my gaze, his lips curling faintly despite the blood running down his jaw. "You didn’t think I’d let him have all the fun, did you?"

Even Ryker froze at the sight of him.

"Impossible," Ryker hissed, his red eyes narrowing. "You should’ve been torn apart by the Vein energies in that pocket dimension!"

Kaelos cracked his neck, silver energy pulsing around him. "Guess it didn’t like your company."

He walked toward me, his eyes set confidently. When he got to my side, I felt complete.

I thought I was going to face this alone. But with him by my side now?

The air distorted around us—my violet aura intertwining with his silver one until the entire throne room glowed like dawn breaking through darkness.

I rose to my feet, meeting his eyes fully. I had so many things to say to him... But now was not the time.

"Together?" he asked, his voice low but laced with fire.

A small, broken smile crossed my lips as I nodded. "Together."

Ryker’s laughter echoed around us, cruel and wild. "Oh, how sweet. Two broken gods against one."

Kaelos’ eyes sharpened, his aura intensifying. "Broken? Look at you, Ryker. Your plan, whatever the heck it was, is crumbling around you. Literally."

The throne room trembled slightly at the force of our auras clashing through the air, as if trying to prove his point.

Ryker’s jaw clenched, his red eyes blazing with bloodlust. "You’ll regret underestimating me. And soon you’ll know why I’m the true Lord of the North."

Hmph... All I could hear was a fractured man still trying to talk big on borrowed time.

No more words were said after all that. Instead, Kaelos and I exchanged one last glance before charging forward, my fists igniting with magic while Kaelos boomed with a roar.

The ground shattered beneath us as the three of us collided—light and shadow clashing, Vein energy screaming like thunder through the collapsing throne room.

And this time, there was no holding back.

Ryker sent a clawed slash my way but Kaelos blocked it with a swat of his hand. I smirked, swiping both hands at Ryker.

Twin violet energy blades erupted from my fists, striking Ryker who barely blocked them with a force shield. Kaelos came in clutch, sending a charged roundhouse kick that shattered the shield instantly.

When the Lord of the North stumbled backwards, I saw a glint of something in his eyes. Something I’ve felt for months since he slithered into my head.

Fear.

"How does it feel when the tables turn, Ryker?" I stretched my arms sideways, the throne room trembling harder as I gathered magic. "When roles are reversed and you’re the one being haunted?"

His fangs bared in a sneer as he stomped his right foot on the ground. He shot tens of meters above like a meteor, leaving behind a sonic boom that crumbled the ground beneath him.

Big mistake.

I activated the spell I’d been casting, charged with pure intent. Gravity shifted where Ryker was, increasing by a thousand times.

I watched with cold glee as the so-called lord of the North grunted, struggling to keep himself afloat.

Kaelos stretched out his hands, a blast of silver energy ripping through him and heading for Ryker who tried desperately to evade.

BOOM!

Sadly for him, the increased gravity spell restricted him, letting the blast hit. Ryker plummeted to the ground faster than he had flown, sending dust and rocks billowing.

The entire throne room shook like a beast awakening. The Vein pulsed through the cracks in the floor, veins of obsidian light webbing outward from the pool behind Althea’s limp form.

When the dust cleared, Ryker wasn’t on the floor anymore. He was floating.

At first, I thought it was defiance—a refusal to kneel.

But then I saw it: black tendrils crawling up his neck, burrowing under his skin, pulsing with every beat of his heart. The air turned viscous, suffocating.

"Odessa," Kaelos muttered, his eyes widening. "He’s drawing directly from the Vein again."

"No..." My stomach dropped as the realisation hit. "He’s... He’s merging with it."

Ryker’s head tilted back. His veins turned pitch black, his bones cracking audibly as his body twisted and contorted. His spine arched, claws elongating until they were more like blades.

"You think I still need you?" he snarled, his voice no longer his own. "I tore open the barrier myself! I don’t need the ’key’ to touch the Vein anymore—I broke the lock!"

The pool behind us bubbled violently, reacting to his surge. Each pulse sent ripples through the air, warping it like heat waves.

Kaelos threw his arm out, forming a glowing circle in the air. "Don’t let him pull you into it, Odessa!"

But the pull was already there—a whisper in my mind, sweet and deadly.

’Come back home.’

I gritted my teeth, grounding myself by the bond between Kaelos and me. "Not today, bastard..."

Ryker’s arm slashed through the air.

The Vein answered, shooting a tendril of pure darkness our way. Kaelos intercepted, his silver aura flaring as he caught it mid-air. The impact sent cracks spider-webbing across the marble, and he groaned as black energy tried to consume his light.

I lunged beside him, pressing my palm to his back. "Let me—"

"Don’t," he warned, his voice strained. "It’ll corrupt you—"

"Too late!" I shouted, channeling my magic through him.

Violet energy coiled around his silver like a helix, pushing back against the corruption until the tendril snapped and dissolved into ash.

The explosion sent us both flying back. I landed hard, gasping for breath, my entire body vibrating with magic overload. Kaelos crashed beside me, coughing blood—but alive.

Ryker laughed, a guttural, broken sound. "You’re strong, Odessa. You’ve been learning. But every spell you cast feeds me."

"Then choke on it!" I screamed.

I raised both hands, summoning a storm of glowing sigils that filled the air.

My magic lashed out in waves—chains of violet lightning striking Ryker from every direction. He blocked some, absorbed others, but each one left scorched marks on his twisting body.

Kaelos joined in, his aura flaring brighter than ever.

He moved like a phantom, a blur of silver, slamming his fists into Ryker’s chest, face, gut—each blow echoing like thunder. The floor beneath us gave way, with chunks of marble floating in mid-air due to the unstable gravity.

Still, Ryker didn’t fall.

He expanded.

His form flickered between flesh and shadow, bat-like wings tearing through his back like molten blades.

"You can’t win," he hissed, voice layered with whispers not his own. "I’ve seen the heart of the Vein. I’ve touched power gods can only dream of!"

I felt it too. The Vein’s pull. That raw, endless ocean of magic underneath the continent is calling to me like an open wound begging to be filled.

And deep inside me... something answered.

I raised my hand, and the world stilled.

The magic of the Vein bent toward me, threads of energy reversing direction—like rivers suddenly remembering their source.

Ryker’s grin faltered.

"You..." His eyes widened.

Kaelos turned to me sharply. "Odessa—what are you doing?"

"Taking it back," I whispered. "What was stolen. What he corrupted."

I extended my palm, and the energy connecting Ryker to the Vein snapped. For a heartbeat, he screamed, his form flickering violently as pieces of him burned away.

Then he did something that made my blood freeze.

He stabbed his hand through his own chest, forcing it deeper until his claws pierced through his spine. The act tore a rift open inside him—a direct link to the Vein itself.

Magic gushed out, wild and poisonous, devouring everything in its path. The throne room began to collapse, the ceiling splitting open to reveal a swirling storm of black lightning.

Kaelos grabbed my wrist, dragging me back as debris fell. "Odessa! He’s tearing the barrier between realms apart! If that rift widens—"

"The continent will fall," I finished for him. "And perhaps the whole world with it."

We both looked toward the pool—the original tear, the Vein’s anchor to this world. It was expanding, feeding off Ryker’s madness.

"He’s too far gone," Kaelos growled. "If we can’t sever him from the pool, he’ll consume everything."

My throat tightened. I already knew the answer. The Vein whispered it before he even spoke.

There was a way. But it required something I wasn’t sure either of us could bear.

I took a trembling breath and sent a thought through the bond. ’Kaelos... listen to me.’

He turned to me, blood trickling down his temple. "Don’t you dare say it."

"It’s the only way," I whispered, forcing the words out before I lost my nerve. "If I take him into the Vein, I can seal it from the inside. End it all. No more rifts. No more—."

"You’ll die!" His eyes flashed with pain. "You know that, Odessa."

"Maybe," I breathed, tears blurring my vision. "But if I stay... everyone dies."

The bond between us pulsed, wild and desperate, filled with every memory we’d ever shared.

He grabbed my shoulders, his grip bruising. "You’re not doing this alone again. We’ll find another way—"

"There is no other way." I cupped his cheek, my lips trembling. "You once told me the mark of a true leader is knowing when to protect the pack... even if it means letting go."

"Don’t," he rasped, shaking his head violently. "Don’t you dare say goodbye."

"It’s not goodbye," I lied through gritted teeth. "It’s a promise."

Ryker screamed again, his form expanding into a maelstrom of shadows. The throne room’s walls shattered outward, revealing the once sunny sky splitting open with darkness that spread like a curse.

I turned back to Ryker, magic blazing through every vein in my body. "This ends now!"

Before Kaelos could stop me, I sprinted forward.

Ryker lashed out, but I caught his arm, pouring every ounce of power I had into binding him. The ground melted beneath our feet, reality fracturing as we neared the pool.

He snarled, struggling against me. "You’d throw yourself into oblivion just to stop me?"

"Yes," I hissed. "And I’ll make sure you never crawl out."

Kaelos roared my name behind me, the sound so raw it broke something inside me.

I didn’t look back.

Our eyes met—Ryker’s burning with fury, mine blazing with resolve.

And then, with one final push, I yanked him forward—both of us plunging into the black pool as the world around us erupted in blinding light.

The last thing I heard before the Vein swallowed me whole was Kaelos’ roar echoing through the ruins.