23- Leaving So Soon?

**[A/N]: Please don't hate me for the late update or for what's to come in the update! Love you all! Please pay attention to the second Author's Note at the end of the chapter.**

Third Person POV

Elian's fingers fumbled with the cold pieces of metal that laid upon his neck as the day of the battle had come. Of course, he had said yes to the two wolves that stole his heart from him. A dopey smile appeared on his face as he remembered the peppering kisses that he bestowed upon the two of his Alphas when they asked the infamous question. They each chose a specific ring to make into a necklace of some sort with the two rings molded together to make an infinity symbol. Each ring was different in its own ways.

One was rusty and with intricate designs that were laced around, making it more reserved like Kaspar. And the other ring was quite the opposite that reflected Kasey perfectly as well. It was pure silver, with diamonds wrapped around the entire ring and sparkled brightly in the sun and moonlight.

That night the three lovers made endless love under the moonlight and it was sweet and passionate. Everything was forgotten and it was exactly what Elian needed before the upcoming attack by Aeron. It was the calm before the storm.

He smiled to himself as memories of that night came back to him.

"You two do know that I am yours completely already. Right?" he claimed.

"Of course, it is just that not everyone knows that you're ours," Kaspar explained as he nipped at Elian's neck.

"Wait, are you serious?" Elian asked as the puzzle seemed to solve itself before him.

"Yes, Eli, even the most idiotic humans need to know that you're taken. Like that foolish boy at the store," Kasey pointed out.

Elian shook his head with a sad grin. He simply cannot lose anyone today, it cannot possibly be done. He is not fine, in fact, he hasn't been for a while. Sure, he puts on a smile for the appearance and to keep everyone sated with positivity and faith. But physical and mental strength are both entirely different from one another. He's emotionally weak. The only ones holding him up at the moment are his loved ones, and if they aren't with him later tonight, he doesn't know what he'd do.

"Please, stop fretting. It pains us to see you like this right before a battle in which you need to be strong for," Kasey pleaded as he came up behind Elian and held him to his chest.

Elian stood there, on the balcony of their room at the pack house, and looked out to the horizon.

"I can't help myself."

"I know that it's hard to keep thinking that someone else will come in and swipe your mates away from you. They are just so good looking," Kasey teased.

"I beg to differ. Obviously, I am the better looking twin, right Elian?" Kaspar asked as he walked in and held onto the balcony railing.

Elian shrugged, "The world may never know which twin is better looking..."

As the trio began to argue over which twin was the best looking, moments before a possible war to ease the tension in the room, others had different methods of how to cope with this anxiety.

>>

The Alphas of the Salina Pack were together on the small couch of their bedroom, in front of the man made candles that were made to calm their minds with the scent that the candles produced.

"Maia, I need you to be safe today. I don't want you being courageous, I don't want you being the one to fall," Isa whispered to her other half as she watched the blazing candles continue.

"Mi amor, please, do not worry. I have to protect the pack and you, it is my job. Trust me," Maia promised to her mate that she'd be the one to take care of them all.

Isa nodded and raised her head to kiss her mate, her love, and her Alpha.

>>

"Hi daddy," children's voices spoke loudly through the phone.

"Hi babies," Maddox choked out, wanting to be with his pups and mate. Wanting to hold them in his arms until they tried to squirm their way out. Wanting to give them all of the love they deserved.

"Daddy is strong, yes?" The oldest of the pups, Dahlia, who is ten asked.

"I think so," he laughed.

Micah, who is six answered back, "You is strong! Picked up me bed with me in it to check for monsters!"

Before Maddox could respond, he heard squealing from the youngest pup, Emilia, who was just eight months old.

Unshed tears started to build up as he heard his beloved mate to tell their pups to say goodbye to their daddy.

"Bye daddy! Be strong for us!" A chorus of children yelled.

"Hey baby," the familiar voice of his mate that instantly soothed him.

"Phoebe, I don't know what's going to happen today. Just now that I love you, okay?" Maddox croaked through his dry throat.

"Listen, I don't want to hear this bullshit right now. If you don't come back soon to take care of these pups, I will personally cut your balls off. I'll see you soon, love you too!"

Like that, the phone signal cut off and Maddox was sitting there, laughing through the tears. Leave it to Phoebe to make him realize that he is leaving this attack alive, whatever it takes.

>>

Nikolai and Ambrogio were patrolling the area around the underground campsite, before they were called to battle. As much as they tried to stay away from one another, they were always together in everything that they did. And they both knew it as well.

"Hey, Nikolai, I just wanted to tell you to be safe today. I'm sure Elian wouldn't want to lose you. Quite frankly, I wouldn't either. I know I said that I wouldn't approach you anymore about the mate situation, but I'm tired. I'm tired of the fighting," Ambrogio stated as he stopped patrolling.

"Fighting? Fighting for what?"

"Fighting for us! I love you, mate. I want you to be with me."

Nikolai tensed and tried to fight whatever words were wanting to come out but gave up, "I know, me too. But, I don't know how to get over my problems about the mating. Maybe, after today, we can try it out?"

Ambrogio was leaping with joy in the inside, "Of course, I'll take anything. I'll show you that you belong with me."

"Good, now kiss me," Nikolai begged as he was against a tree pulling Ambrogio with him by the collar.

They both breathed heavily in anticipation, with all of the lust and love in their eyes. Nikolai's eyes flickered from Ambrogio's eyes to his mouth, and Ambrogio did the same. As they were both going to meet in the middle, ready to kiss like they were never going to see tomorrow, they were interrupted.

"They're here!" Maddox called as he approached the two.

He saw their compromising position and cringed, "Sorry..."

Nikolai huffed out an annoyed breath as Ambrogio just shrugged, "We'll save that kiss for the victory later today."

>>

"It's time. I can feel it in the air," He straightened out and became more serious as he felt the shift in the air.

The Alphas nodded and started to head out of the door after kissing Elian hard. The pack house was empty with no sounds at all due to the pack being moved to the underground campsite for the past few days. The attack was predicted to be today by Elian's grandparents but everyone wanted to be sure, hence making the pack go underground early. The only ones who were allowed to stay above ground were the Alphas of the Salina Pack, the Alphas and their people, Elian and his warriors and Ambrogio.

Once he announced that they were coming soon, the Alphas sent a message to the others and the word had spread. Everyone was all huddled around the entrance to the underground campsite, anxious and ready to fight for what they believed in.

"We are going to try conversing with Aeron first. No physical conflict, at least until it absolutely needs to happen," Elian advised.

Everyone reluctantly nodded and soon enough, Aeron appeared in front of everyone with some of his people behind him.

"Aeron! Please, think about what you are about to do. You don't want this to end badly," Elian advised as he laughed.

"Little, poor Nikolai had the chance to end all of this before it even started. His poor heart still doesn't even know it," he admitted.

Nikolai furiously approached Aeron, "What are you talking about? If there was any way that I could prevent this catastrophe, I would do everything in my power to prevent it. Don't question my loyalty and drive to protect those I love."

"Well, obviously, you didn't. Why don't I show all of you?"

Before anyone could attack, he spoke a quick spell that allowed to share his memories with those that he chose to share them with. Everyone was frozen in their spots as the memory played before them in their minds as if they were in a movie theatre. Elian wished to have a date with the Alphas in one of those, but that was for another time.

Darkness lurked around the Unseelie Court's land and everyone in their own minds, watched a scene play before their eyes, there seemed to be Aeron with some Fae waiting in front of the castle for some unknown reason.

All of a sudden, Nikolai appeared in front of them, confused and slightly hesitant to his new surroundings.

"Where am I? I'm supposed to be in Italy right now," Nikolai questioned with his wings fluttering nervously.

"Hi, mate," Aeron greeted.

Nikolai started to profusely shake his head, "You must be mistaken. I don't have a mate. Even if I did, you would not be him."

Aeron smirked, "You are my mate, whether you seem to like it or not. You'll do as I say and rule beside me as my husband and mate. We'll make beautiful offspring as well to keep the line of royals going."

"You're not royalty! Lord Elian of the Fae is royalty! And, I only listen to his wishes. Your statements mean nothing to me beside the fact that they are false and empty promises."

In a flash, Aeron has his hand wrapped around Nikolai's neck, "Listen, because I will not repeat myself. You are mine. I have been watching you from a distance all of my life. I know you, you just need to get to know me now."

"I'm A-Ambrogio's. I'm his and he's m-mine. We have a true mating b-bond and you can't t-take it away from the two of us. I c-couldn't do that to him. He's, he's everything to me," Nikolai breathlessly declared.

Aeron released Nikolai of his hold and shook his head, "You may have just made the worst decision of your life. Fine, you can go ahead and mate with your vampire mate. But, you have just made me the bad guy. You know I hate being the bad guy."

Puzzled, Nikolai tried to close his eyes and teleport elsewhere already, but couldn't.

"You can't go anywhere until I allow you to. I'm sending you on a mission and maybe then you will think about reversing your decision. Or maybe, you just want destruction and damage to follow you wherever you go. So, now, go to the Lacus Pack and burn them to the ground. Be a good boy, okay?" Aeron leaned his forehead against Nikolai's like he explained before and then he disappeared into thin air.

And then the images vanished and everyone was back to the present time, with frozen bodies but they were still allowed to speak.

"So, there you have it. Nikolai belongs to me, and if he chooses not to, he can die along with all of the other homosexuals in the world," Aeron informed everyone.

"But, you're homosexual!" Alpha Maia pointed out.

"Only for Nikolai," he added, before he moved closer to Nikolai.

"Hi, mate."

Ambrogio, nearby, hissed in disgust.

"He belongs to me like he already told you, he's my mate. My true mate. Find your own."

Aeron smirked, "I have found mine already, he is right before me. And he will choose me, right Nikolai?"

"Yes."

The quietest whisper came from Nikolai and no one couldn't believe it. Aeron released Nikolai from the invisible binding and started walking with him to the rest of the warriors of the Unseelie Court.

"No! Nikolai, please, think about this. You can't do this," Elian begged of him to take a minute and reevaluate his actions.

"Lord Elian, you have heard what his plans are if I don't go with him. This solves everything. Besides, I caused all of this pain already."

"Mate, what about me?" Ambrogio weakly asked.

"You aren't my mate. Aeron is," Nikolai told Ambrogio as if he were already possessed and it broke Ambrogio into pieces.

Nikolai and Aeron were last holding hands before they teleported elsewhere before everyone was released from the spell.

"Take me to wherever they went! I demand you to!" Ambrogio ordered one of Elian's warriors as he raged for his mate.

"Firstly, don't order my Fae to do anything as you do not rule over them. Secondly, we don't know where they went. We have to track them by different methods than randomly going through every realm which would take decades, even centuries," Elian helped to explain what he was trying to do wasn't going to work.

"I need him," Ambrogio whimpered.

"We all do."

**[A/N] #2: Okay, there you have it! Thoughts? The next chapter will be the epilogue, and then it will be the end of RIH. Feeling pretty emotional, haha. But, don't worry! There will obviously be a sequel. There will be more information on that coming soon as well. Bye for now!**