[ALANOR]
"—I didn't know it would hurt this bad," Alanor said ever so quietly, his whimper making Criselda's heart break for him. This was the child she had saved all those years ago, and it terrified her to see him so broken and helpless.
Criselda wanted to help, but how was she even supposed to help?
"I just thought I have already felt enough pain, and that rejecting my mate won't do shit, but it hurts ma. It hurts so bad, and I don't know what to do. I didn't even give him a proper explanation. I left him just as my parents left me.
"I tried to tell him I wasn't good for him, and yet he asked me to give him one last kiss. He still looked at me with eyes full of love, even when I was breaking both our hearts. Now all I can see and feel is his red swollen eyes, his lips trembling when he realized who I truly was.
"He knew I wasn't a witch, which was very intelligent of him, y'know? He said he could smell me, and he knew I could smell him too. It was lovely for a moment there, but I had to ruin it. I lost him Criselda.
"Fifteen years later, I lost again because of Eddison. I hate him. I despise him so much. I will ruin everything he believes in. I will make his life miserable. But why— Why does it hurt so much?" Alanor said, his voice breaking.
He was tired. They were a few miles away from Acrod, so no one would be able to hear him cry out. And even if they could, Criselda could combine her magic with Alanor's and ensure a perfect memory wipe for whoever may have heard them.
"Let it out, love. Let it out," Criselda said as she sat on the forest floor with Alanor and hugged him, allowing the young Wynter to cry on her shoulders.
Criselda knew Alanor was in a lot of pain, and even though he had wanted to end Eddison yesterday, she knew Alanor had spent years planning his revenge, that just a choke on Eddison wasn't going to be justice enough.
He was never going to kill Eddison, no. She knew the son of Wynter was going to make sure the lycan king never forgot his name, and would give a worse punishment than the stupid bars his parents had been forced on. But right now, his broken heart was louder than his heartbeats.
The mother and son spent the rest of the day in the forest, with Alanor lashing out in the only way he knew how.
By evening, Alanor Wynter had cried his heart out and calmed down. He just added the pain of his broken heart to the hundred reasons he was never going to forgive king Eddison of Udrad. This was his motivation.
Together, he and Criselda walked through the gates of Greroth, with smiles on their faces, as if he just didn't lose a mate, or even didn't leave a significant part of himself in Acrod.
Criselda was worried about him, but Alanor told her to pretend that it didn't happen.
Of course, that was a hard task, considering this woman and the witches had been his family for so many years. They had cared for him and loved him like their own. Admittedly, they would always worry about him. It was just natural.
"They're back!" the witches greeted them as they walked into Greroth. They looked so happy that their best warriors had come back home to them.
Greroth was a beautiful place, and clearly more than just a home to these witches. This was their haven and the one place they could be themselves.
When Criselda had first taken in Alanor, they hadn't rebelled as exepcted.
Criselda had expected her witches to be weary of the unconscious child Ulrike had given to her at their borders, but instead, they had been worried about the child. The lycan kid was probably a rogue but they had wanted to see him get better.
They were ready to do whatever it took for the kid to be okay, and that was something they did without question. Maybe that was also why Alanor had learned to adore them unconditionally. They had chosen him when they didn't even have to.
They had loved him when he had no one.
They had been there for him, through and through.
They had become his family, and he would never leave that behind.
"Of course, we're back!"
Alanor said a little too happily. The elderly witches could sense the strain in his voice, but Criselda had just nodded at them, a sign that they ended to let him be. He would talk when he wanted to, and not because they forced him.
The witches of Greroth knew Alanor was the beast of the midlands, and they had never divulged that secret to anyone. It was an agreement they had all made, and had been okay with. If they could accept the young lycan rogue, then him being a beast was just expected.
"Acrod was full of wolves, you'd think they were being forced to come out. And I haven't told you about their food, goddess that food is terrible! I should have not eaten there because I had an upset stomach the whole night!" Alanor said to the group of kids that had surrounded him.
He was fond of kids and they were fond of him too.
Alanor always made them feel safe and while he never killed the witches who made the children cry, he knew he had no reason to, because they had all agreed that children needed to be loved, and not hurt.
Sure, disciplining children was mandatory, but what he hated was people just beating their kids without any specific reason. That made his blood boil, and over the years, the people of Greroth finally understood his philosophy.
Alanor didn't want them to have a broken future, tainted by the sins of the past.
He wanted the kids to be able to live their own lives.
"Oh look at him complaining about not eating yet he has wild berries on his left cheek haha" one of the kids mocked and Alanor realized he had been caught in a lie. So he got up and ran across the fields with the kids, his laughter booming.
Criselda and Hede's hearts warmed at the sight, despite the pain he was having right now. However, if the kids were his happiness, then she wouldn't stop him from being happy.
"Let's go in, he will come home when the kids have already slept," Heide said.
"I'm worried about him Heide. Should we tell him? It's been fifteen years anyway, surely it won't be that bad, right?" Criselda said absentmindedly as she took one glance at Alanor running along with the kids.
All the while, she only had one question, would Alanor take the news kindly or would he lash out at them?