Alpha alec's redemption (Sadie) novel Chapter 359

“I joined the fight,” I continue. “But I was weak. With my soul already torn and my training half-hearted at best, I was completely out of my depth. We were losing badly. So many died because of their hunger for power, their obsession with being the only rulers.”

My jaw tightens as the memories resurface.

“When Xena realized I was fighting against her, she lost it. She turned all her fury on me. It’s ironic. She accused me of betraying her because I sided with Mother when she was the one who betrayed me first. In her mind, she never betrayed anyone. She simply took what she believed had always been hers.”

The battlefield flashes behind my eyes and I have to pull myself back before I get lost in the memories.

“When I refused to join them, Xena stabbed me. She meant to kill me while Kaden stood by, urging her to hurry. It didn’t matter that I was her sister. Or that he was my mate. They just wanted me gone.”

I fall silent for a moment, lost in the memory, until Mother’s voice pulls me back to the present.

“I arrived just in time,” she says quietly. “I managed to hold them off long enough to get Nyx to safety. She was gravely wounded, her soul already fractured. I knew we couldn’t win the war, not then. So I made the only choice I could. I sent Nyx to Earth. I called upon the Fates and entrusted her to them, while I returned to face Xena and Kaden.”

Mother’s gaze turns distant.

“We couldn’t defeat them together. They were too powerful. So the only option was to separate them. United, they were unstoppable, but apart, they could be contained. I asked Absalom and Hecate to distract Xena while I dealt with Kaden.”

Her voice softens, heavy with regret.

“I still believed there was good in Xena. I thought Kaden had corrupted her. I hoped that if I imprisoned him, she might find her way back to us.”

I look away. Mother always believed that, but I know the truth now. Xena was the darkness. She didn’t fall because of Kaden; she pulled him down with her. Mother couldn’t accept that she’d given birth to something so cruel, so she placed the blame where it hurt less.

“I used my power to cast the spell that imprisoned Kaden here,” Mother continues, her hands curling slightly. “When Xena discovered what I’d done, she was furious and in retaliation she cast me out of the heavens and took my scepter.”

Her jaw tightens.

“I’d already drained a great deal of my power imprisoning Kaden. That’s the only reason Xena was able to overpower me.”

“There’s still one thing I don’t understand,” Raven says. “Why was Sadie sent as a baby… while Lola wasn’t?”

Mother smiles gently at her.

Mother’s voice softens.

“It’s also why her memories were bound. She needed time. The pain of her past would’ve crushed her if she’d remembered too soon.”

A strange ache settles in my chest. Funny… I always believed I was receiving Nyx’s memories when they were mine all along.

I’ll admit, though, having them back feels strange, but this is how things are here and there’s no changing that.