HEARTS OF DIVINE RUIN (The MoonGoddess and The AlphaKing)

Chapter 43: Chapter 41 - The Ashes of Elynn



Meanwhile , Alex's world seemed to shatter the moment Luna's figure disappeared from his sight. 
One second, she was there, standing resolute amidst the chaos, her defiance like a beacon in the dark — and the next, the air warped around her, and she vanished.
"Luna!" His voice tore through the stillness like a feral roar, reverberating through the empty landscape, desperation clinging to every syllable. Panic surged in his chest, wild and uncontrollable, making his heartbeat thunder in his ears.
He lunged forward instinctively, his senses straining to catch even a whisper of her presence. But there was nothing. No trace of the fierce, stubborn woman who had turned his world upside down.
The silence that followed felt suffocating, the emptiness swallowing him whole. Until—
A guttural snarl erupted behind him, snapping Alex into motion. His instincts roared to life as a monstrous shape lunged from the shadows, its eyes gleaming with unnatural hunger. 
It was grotesque—its twisted limbs covered in mottled flesh, claws dripping with some vile, black ichor that hissed as it struck the ground. Without hesitation, Alex's hands moved on their own, summoning a surge of power that exploded from his core.
The first creature barely had time to blink before his fist, glowing with the raw energy of an Alpha's strength, connected with its skull. There was a sickening crunch, bone shattering under his blow, and the thing crumpled lifelessly at his feet.
But there was no time to breathe. More of them—horrors that seemed to crawl out from the very ground, their bodies distorted and nightmarish—began to close in from all sides. They moved with a ravenous intensity, their growls echoing with an eerie, animalistic glee.
"Damn it!" Alex growled, fury boiling up inside him. The air around him shimmered, and his aura flared, a dark blue light rippling outwards. His beast stirred restlessly under his skin, a primal rage that demanded blood, demanded vengeance for the one he couldn't protect. He clenched his fists, feeling his claws extend, sharp and deadly.
"Bring it on, you bastards!" He spat, eyes blazing with the unrelenting ferocity of a King who would tear apart anyone standing in his way.
The first of the new wave lunged at him, its jaws snapping hungrily. Alex ducked, twisting beneath its strike, and slammed his elbow into its side. Ribs splintered under the impact, and before it could even collapse, he grabbed its twisted neck and yanked it forward, using its momentum to swing it into two more creatures charging from behind.
He was a blur of motion, a whirlwind of savage power and brutal precision. His claws raked through flesh, his punches shattered bone, and his kicks sent the abominations flying back, broken and bleeding. 
The ground shook with the force of his strikes, each one imbued with the unrestrained strength of an Alpha King fighting with the full fury of his beast.
But no matter how many he cut down, more came. They swarmed him, teeth gnashing, claws slashing at his sides, but he didn't falter. 
Wouldn't falter. 
He roared, his voice a primal war cry that reverberated through the battlefield, and unleashed a surge of power that exploded outward, obliterating the nearest creatures in a storm of shadowy tendrils and raw force.
And then—
The ground beneath him shifted. An unnatural ripple pulsed through the earth, and suddenly, everything around him twisted, distorted. Before he could react, the world seemed to tilt violently, the sky and earth blurring together, and then—
Darkness.
For a heartbeat, there was only emptiness. And then, abruptly, reality snapped back into focus.
Alex stumbled, his senses reeling as he found himself in a place that looked as if it had been dragged straight from the nightmares of an ancient, forgotten era. Everything looked lifetime old. 
Where was he?. He wondered to himself 
The world around him was steeped in shadows, the air thick with a cloying, oppressive heaviness that pressed down on him like a weight. Everything looked old—eerily ancient and decayed. 
Crumbling ruins stretched into the distance, gnarled trees twisted up from the earth like skeletal hands clawing at the sky, and the ground beneath his feet was covered in a strange, pulsating mist that seemed to whisper with voices he couldn't understand.
"What the hell is this place?" he muttered, chest heaving as he tried to steady himself. But then he saw it—
Her.
Luna.
The vision swirled and blurred, a whirlwind of color and sound that disoriented Alex until everything settled into a scene so vivid and real it stole his breath. 
He found himself standing at the edge of a forest clearing, his surroundings shifting as if he had been thrust into the middle of some strange, hauntingly beautiful dream.
The sun was setting, casting a warm, golden glow over the world. Wildflowers swayed gently in the breeze, their colors vibrant and alive. 
And in the midst of it all, a woman stood, her silver hair cascading around her shoulders like a waterfall of silver moonlight. She was smiling, her eyes bright and alive with joy as she laughed—a sound so pure and enchanting that it wrapped around Alex's heart and squeezed.
Luna.
But not the Luna he knew. This Luna was younger, softer. There was no coldness in her gaze, no wariness. 
She looked... free. 
Happy.
And she wasn't alone.
Beside her stood a man—tall, with tousled dark hair and a warm, gentle smile. His eyes were fixed on her with such adoration, such utter devotion, that it made Alex's chest tighten painfully. The man reached out, his fingers brushing a lock of hair behind her ear, his touch tender and reverent.
"You're beautiful, Elynn" he murmured, voice soft and filled with awe. Luna's smile widened, a blush coloring her cheeks, and she looked up at him with an expression so full of love that Alex felt something twist painfully in his gut.
" Elynn ? "Alex murmured to his own self as the person in front of her looked unbelievably similar to the Luna he knows. 
"Quintus," Luna a.k.a Elynn whispered, her voice a gentle caress. She leaned into his touch, her eyes fluttering shut as if savoring the feel of him. "You always say that."
"That's because it's always true," he replied, his smile widening. He tilted her chin up, his gaze locking onto hers, and for a moment, the world seemed to pause around them. "Every time I look at you, I can't believe I'm this lucky. That you chose me."
Elynn's expression softened, something indescribably tender flickering in her gaze as she reached up, cupping his face between her hands. "I didn't choose you," she murmured, her voice barely more than a breath. "You chose me."
The look they shared was so intimate, so full of emotion, that it made Alex's chest ache. He watched, frozen, as Quintus leaned down, pressing his forehead against Luna or Elynn - he called, their noses brushing. 
They stayed like that, breathing each other in, their souls entwined in a way that made Alex's heart pound painfully.
And all he could do was watch. Watch as Elynn—his Luna—melted into this man's embrace, her eyes shining with a love so deep, so profound, it made Alex feel like an intruder. Like he was witnessing something sacred, something that wasn't meant for him.
A surge of jealousy flared in his chest, hot and sharp, but he swallowed it down, clenching his fists as he forced himself to remain still. 
This wasn't real. It was just a vision, a memory. 
A fragment of Luna's past that had nothing to do with him.
But it felt real. It felt too real.
The way they looked at each other, the way Elynn's entire being seemed to glow in the man's presence—it was a kind of love that Alex had never seen before. A love that made the rest of the world fade away, that made time itself seem to stand still.
He hated it.
He hated how much it hurt to see her like this—to see her so completely lost in someone else. Because deep down, he knew... he could never be that for her. 
He could never be the one to make her smile like that, to make her eyes light up with that same, radiant joy.
And yet... he couldn't look away.
They stayed like that for what felt like an eternity, lost in each other's presence. And then, slowly, the world around them began to shift. 
The golden light dimmed, the sky darkening as shadows crept in, staining the clearing with an ominous, foreboding energy.
And that's when Alex heard it—the distant sound of howls, echoing through the trees and once again everything shifted from forest to an eerie looking village where humans was running and screaming as some wolves attacked them. 
Alex's eyes snapped open, his expression tightening as he stepped back, his gaze turning toward the oerson he has been following all along - Luna or Elynn . 
Elynn frowned, her smile fading as she glanced around in anger.
"What is it?" Alex asked, his voice tense. "What's wrong?" but his voice fell deaf to her ears.
But Elynn didn't respond. Her body went rigid, her eyes narrowing as the howls grew louder, closer. And then—chaos erupted.
Wolves—dozens of them—burst from the trees, their eyes glowing with an unnatural light. They swarmed into the clearing, snarling and snapping, their fangs bared as they descended upon the village. 
The screams of the villagers echoed through the night, mingling with the savage growls and the sickening sound of flesh tearing.
Alex's vision blurred as he watched the scene twist and warp before his eyes, his breath hitching painfully in his chest. He tried to step forward, to do anything that could alter the nightmare unfolding in front of him, but his body refused to move. 
He was trapped, a helpless spectator as Elynn—his Luna—stood frozen, her eyes wide with horror as the wolves closed in.
"No! " His scream tore from his throat, but it was swallowed by the violent wind that seemed to surge through the vision. He watched, heart clenching, as the creatures circled her, their glowing eyes filled with a malevolent hunger. One of them lunged forward, jaws snapping—
And it tore through her chest.
Blood sprayed across the earth, vivid and sickeningly red, as Elynn gasped, her eyes widening in shock and pain. 
The wolf's jaws clenched around her heart, and Alex's own chest tightened, his breath catching painfully as if he could feel it—could feel the agony searing through her as her heart was ripped, torn from her body.
"Luna!" His voice was a strangled sob, hands trembling as he reached out, desperate to somehow stop it, to change it, anything. 
But he couldn't. 
He was powerless in this so called nightmare, forced to watch as she crumpled to the ground, blood pouring from the gaping wound in her chest, her lifeless eyes still staring ahead, wide with disbelief.
And then the wolves turned on the rest of the village.
Chaos erupted, flames licking up the wooden walls, screams piercing the night air as the pack tore through everything in sight. Men, women, children—all of them cut down, their bodies savaged by the beasts that showed no mercy. Blood stained the earth, pooling around broken bodies, soaking into the ground as the fire raged higher, consuming everything in its path.
Yet again —
Silence.
The wolves vanished as quickly as they had come, their snarls replaced by an eerie stillness. The village was gone, reduced to ash and ruin, the bodies of the dead strewn across the ground like broken dolls. And in the center of it all, amidst the charred remains and shattered lives, there was a lone figure.
Quintus.
The man who had loved Elynn with every fiber of his being—the human who had worshipped her, cherished her—knelt amidst the ruins, his face a mask of anguish. 
His eyes were red-rimmed, swollen from tears, his body trembling as he cradled two broken figures in his arms.
His son, lifeless and pale, his small body twisted unnaturally. 
And Luna—Elynn—his wife, his mate... bloodied and cold, her chest a gaping wound where her heart had been torn out. Quintus's fingers dug into her hair, his shoulders shaking as sobs wracked his frame.
"No..." he whispered, his voice raw and broken, echoing through the empty village. "No, no, please... don't... please."
Alex felt his own heart shatter at the sound, his chest aching with the man's pain, his agony so visceral that it seemed to pulse through the air, suffocating. He could feel it—the grief, the rage, the loss. He could see it in Quintus's eyes as the man's sobs turned into a low, guttural growl.
"This is your fault!" Quintus screamed, voice hoarse with fury as he stared at Elynn's lifeless face, his gaze wild and unhinged. "You did this! You brought them here! You killed him, you killed everyone, Elynn!" His scream reverberated through the ruins, darkness crackling around him as his grief turned into something dark and twisted.
And then, everything shifted again like some scenes from the movie while Alex stayed still in his position trying to hold his ground amidst the scenes of nightmare he was watching. 
The village blurred, the scene fading into a new vision—one of bloodshed and death. Alex's breath caught as he saw Quintus again, his once-gentle face now contorted in a mask of hatred. 
The man who had been kind , soft , a protector, now moved with the single-mindedness of a predator, his sword flashing as he cut down wolf after wolf.
But these were not monsters. Not abominations.
They were innocents.
Alex's stomach twisted painfully as he watched the man slaughter them—whole packs of wolves, families huddled together, their eyes wide with terror as Quintus's blade tore through them. He didn't discriminate—didn't care whether they were warriors or children, elders or mothers. He cut them down, one by one, his fury insatiable, his need for vengeance unquenchable.
"Die," he snarled, his voice a vicious snarl as he drove his sword through the heart of a young girl, her eyes wide with horror as she crumpled to the ground. "All of you—die!"
And he didn't stop. He burned packs, slaughtered entire communities—anyone with even a trace of wolf blood. 
Alex watched, his heart aching, as Quintus's madness consumed him, until the man who had once loved Elynn with such purity was gone, replaced by a twisted shell, a monster no better than the creatures he hunted.
Until, finally—
Elynn appeared.
But it was not the Elynn Alex have been seeing so far. 
It was Luna . 
This Luna—this goddess—stood before him like an avenging angel, her eyes cold and unfeeling, her expression devoid of the warmth he had once seen. She moved with the grace of a predator, her aura crackling with power, and Quintus—mad, broken Quintus—looked up at her with a twisted grin.
"You finally came, Elynn" he spat, voice dripping with bitterness. "Come to finish what you started?"
But Luna didn't respond. She didn't say a word. She only raised her moon sword ,shining bright white, and with a single, swift motion—
Quintus was gone. 
His body crumpled, lifeless, to the ground, his eyes wide with shock as the power of a goddess tore through him, ending his life in an instant.
Alex's heart wrenched painfully as he watched, his chest tight. But it wasn't the man's death that broke him.
It was the look on Luna's face.
She stared down at the body of the man she had once loved, her expression utterly blank but it felt like her soul was screaming of the paid her eyes couldn't. 
And then, slowly, she turned away. There were no tears. No grief. Nothing.
She just... left. Numb, empty. A shadow of the woman she had once been.
And Alex understood.
He saw the years stretch out before her—centuries of solitude, of silence. The weight of her absence pressed heavily on his chest as he realized how she had turned her back on everything she had once been—vanishing into the shadows, nothing more than a myth, a whisper in the dark. What else could she have done when the world she had built, the people she had loved, had been torn apart by the very ones she had sworn to protect?
His heart ached as the vision shifted, showing flashes—images of Luna-once Elynn, wounded and broken, lying in a forest, her spirit dimmed. 
He saw a man—a human—kneel beside her, his face etched with concern as he lifted her gently, carrying her to safety. In that moment, he saw the fragility in Elynn's eyes, a flicker of something precious and rare—a fleeting glimpse of love that had been cruelly snatched away.
She had loved him. The man who had saved her, who had offered her solace and warmth in a world that had turned cold. She had chosen to forsake her power, her godhood, because for the first time in centuries, she had found peace. She had built a life with him—a simple, beautiful life, filled with laughter and the promise of tomorrow.
And then... they had taken it from her.
The wolves. The gods. Her people.
They had slaughtered everyone she held dear, razing her village to the ground and leaving her to die amidst the ashes of her happiness. They had torn her world apart, dragging her back to a realm she had long since abandoned, forcing her to face the very existence she had tried to escape. And when she had fought back—rising from the depths as the goddess they had tried to bury—they had hunted her down.
Her own kind. Her own people. The ones she had vowed to protect.
"Luna..." Alex's voice broke, a whispered confession laced with anguish as his entire being trembled under the weight of her suffering. He felt as if his soul had been shattered, each jagged piece a reflection of her pain, her loss. How could anyone endure such agony? How could she survive losing everything—time and time again—only to be blamed for the very heartache she had endured?
"I'm sorry," he breathed, his voice choked with sorrow. The urge to reach for her, to hold her close and mend the fractures in her spirit, surged through him like wildfire. But what could he do? There was no fixing this. All that remained was the crushing reality of centuries spent in grief, betrayal, and love stolen from her, again and again.
"Luna... I didn't know," he murmured, feeling the tears prick at his eyes. A deep, soul-crushing sorrow washed over him as he looked into her eyes, those beautiful, shattered eyes that had witnessed horrors he could scarcely comprehend.
The vision shifted, revealing a life stolen from her—her mate's lifeless body lying among the charred remains of their home, the echoes of laughter now silent, forever lost. It was the moment she had been abandoned, the moment she had chosen to shield herself from a world that had shown her nothing but cruelty.
And then came the final image, searing itself into his mind—the vision of Luna's heart, lying cold and still in the blood-soaked dirt beside her.
Dead.
Just as she had been all those years ago.
Because of them.
Because of their own people.
His scream echoed through the void, a raw expression of his heartbreak and regret, reverberating against the walls of his own ignorance. He had stood in judgment, wielding words like weapons, never fully grasping the depth of her suffering, the silent screams that haunted her every waking moment.
In that instant, Alex felt the enormity of his mistakes, the weight of his own guilt crashing down upon him like a tidal wave. For the first time, he understood the true cost of his anger—the pain it had caused, not just to Luna, but to himself.
He staggered back, drowning in the sorrow of all they had lost, and realized—too late—that he had been wrong.
"Luna," he whispered, tears streaming down his face as the darkness closed in around him. "I'm so, so sorry."


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