Dawn was standing in front of the cottage and looking at the crowd that was leaving. Some of them watched her with skepticism while some of them looked at her dragon who was still soaring in the sky. Quetz would come to sit on the shingles of the cottage roof every now and then and gaze around with his deep blue eyes. From the corner of her eyes she saw Gayle walking towards the group where they were getting ready to leave. A relief came over her. At least Brantley kept his side of the bargain. She saw the family reunion and felt happy for them. Her heart ached to be a part of them, to be with them. But—

All at once, she saw that Gayle turned towards her and was walking in her direction. She became stiff and in her heart knew that even he wanted to reprimand her. Brantley must have told him as to why he was released.

​​

As Gayle was walking, he heard a low growl. He looked up at the dragon who was sitting there as Dawn's custodian. He stopped and bowed to him.

'I like him,' Quetz said. He lowered his head slightly as a way of greeting him.

Gayle reached Dawn and stood in front of her with a frown on his face. "Why did you make that deal with Brantley?" he asked her straightforwardly.

Dawn's breath hitched. So he was aware of the deal. She opened her mouth to say something and then closed it again and pursed her lips.

Gayle waited. The time was ticking and Dawn wanted him to leave but he stood stubbornly, not moving an inch. She said, "Father—"

"Father!" shouted Pia from behind. "We have to leave immediately otherwise we will get trapped." She hurried Caleb to mount his horse as she mounted hers. She realized that Gayle wasn't budging from his place, so she gritted her teeth and said to Daryn, "We are leaving. Why is father with that wretched girl? Ask him to come here."

"Tell me Dawn," Gayle insisted.

Dawn took a deep breath. "Father you must hurry."

"Tell me!" Gayle said in an elevated voice.

She blurted, "If I wouldn't have thrown that bargain, He would have trapped all the werewolves. So either it was me, a neotide, or all the pure bloods. I chose myself," and looked into his eyes.

Gayle was speechless. Luke's daughter had once again suffered because of him. She sacrificed herself for all the pure bloods. Gayle pushed a pain back in his throat. "When will you come back?"

"As soon as I can," she replied.

"Father you have to leave," came Daryn's voice from behind.

Taking a deep breath, Gayle patted Dawn's head affectionately and said, "What can I do for you in return?"

Gently, she requested, "When you reach Bainsburgh, just tell Cole that I won't be able to meet him for a long time. Tell him that I love him a lot. If possible please take care of him. He is only fifteen. He is a very smart boy and won't be a trouble to you." A tear rolled out of her eyes. "Cole was only ten when we had to leave the country and he hasn't even seen the world. Our family betrayed us and when I will return, I will avenge them." She wiped the tear with the palm of her hand and shuffled on her feet. "If you think that you can't take care of him, please sell the company I acquired from Jason and give the money to him. Buy him a place to live—"

"Dawn!" Gayle cut her in. She stopped. He said in a deep voice, "Don't worry about Cole. He will be under my wings and I will make sure that nothing happens to him." There was a knot in his stomach. "Take care of yourself and just return. We all will miss you." He looked at Daryn and said, "My son will miss you the most."

Her heart writhed inside. Separating from him was going to be the most difficult. "If you want to unmark me, I am fine with that Daryn…" he voice trailed off. She looked down at her shoes hoping to not appear as miserable as her heart felt.

"There is hardly any time left father. You should leave now," he said in a stern voice ignoring her.

"See you soon, Dawn," said Gayle and parted with a heavy heart.

As the two walked away from her, with every step they took, she let her emotions unleash. By the time they reached the group who was waiting for them, the dam that was holding her broke. A sob came out and with that tears, so many that she stood there with a numb mind. "Take care Daryn," she murmured. Her limbs became weak and she could barely draw her breath. Her mate was going away. It was like all spaces were closing on her. There was no one other than Quetz to save her if she met with her death. It hurt, and it hurt slowly and she had to cry—she could have cried for her father, who only cared for her just before he died, or for Daryn or for Cole. She saw Daryn packing the luggage on the horse. He was leaving her. She sat down on the steps of the cottage.

Caleb turned his hand to see time. "Only ten minutes are left. We have to proceed to the tunnel's mouth. Daryn, hurry up. It is not necessary to pack things. We need to get out of here and be safe." He was happy that his wife was finally getting what she deserved—a lifetime of solitude. No one had ever found the Stone of Solaris. It was a myth. He scoffed at her on the inside.

Once Daryn helped his father to mount the horse, and Gayle was ready to go, he said, "Go."

Caleb stared at his face. What did he mean?

Pia snarled at him, "Daryn, there is no time left. Do you want us to die here along with Dawn? Because of that girl, we are in this condition."

Daryn snorted. "What did you think, Pia? That I will leave Dawn alone and go back to Bainsburgh? That I will unmark her?" his neck was corded with tension. "You are mistaken.I will stay with her knowing the fact fully well that the Stone of Solaris is a myth. You thought that I would abandon my mate? Remember, it was me who chased her and she accepted my Rede'vota. And I will not break the promise because if I do, I will cease to exist, not because I could unmark her, but because I love her."

Pia and Caleb gaped at him.

A grin came on Gayle's face. He pressed his leg to the side of the horse and shouted, "Hiyah!" The horse took off towards the tunnel. He shouted, "I am proud of you son. Come back soon! Use your wit!"

Daryn roared with laughter.

Thunderstruck, Pia and Caleb kicked their horses and left. They had least expected Daryn to stay back. They were finally satisfied that their plans were falling in place, but everything changed in the last minute. However, a sinister smile came on Caleb's lips. He would now inherit the Silver Clan. They made their horses gallop to the tunnel's mouth and made just in time to enter it.

As soon as they entered, the boulders, branches and leaves present around the entrance, rumbled and came together to close it. Twigs broke, branched twisted, and boulders disintegrated into smaller pieces to form a maze to clog it. When it was fully covered and not a tiny hole was left for the air to pass, magical blue lights appeared and crackled all over it to form a crisscross pattern. It was sealed.

---

A soft hand came and held her on her shoulders. Dawn tipped her head up and her mouth fell open. She gave an incredulous stare to him. Through her tears, she said in a halting voice, "You— why didn't you go?"

"How could I leave my stupid little neotide?" he said and urged her to stand up.

Another shuddering sob passed through her body and her body slackened. She punched his chest. "You shouldn't have stayed back."

Daryn's gentle fingers lifted her chin until she looked up at his face. His hands wrapped her, cocooned her. She smelled him, the sea and fresh oceanic breeze, the wild forest and his sweat. He gazed softly at her with his black eyes. "You can't decide that." He wiped away the tear on one cheek and then the other. "I'd rather choose to be with you till death do us part than be anywhere else." She was always sacrificing. Always bearing the brunt of others' deeds. This time he was there with her.

She stared in his calm eyes. "You have risked your life for me."

"You are worth all of it darling," he replied in a rich, deep voice. "I couldn't have lived with a nightmare of you getting killed, throughout my life."

Dawn had no answer to that. She placed her hand on his crescent tattoo.