Richard's Pov
If someone had told me in the past that a day is coming when I will accept to risk my life or powers for my younger brother, I would never believe it. Right from childhood, Darian and I had never been on good terms. We always had something to fight over, especially when it became obvious that our father loved him more than me and even promised to make him the next Alpha, not minding the fact that I was first born. Even though we were twins, I came out first, which means that I'm the older brother.
Back then, I did everything to win my father's love, but all my efforts proved abortive, and I blamed Darian for it. With time, I stopped seeking his love and started treating him the same way he was treating, like a stranger, and right after our mother's death, I left the palace without any second thoughts. Our mother was the only reason why I remained in the palace because I didn't want her to be worried about me when I left, but once she passed away, I immediately left the palace, and just as expected, no one ever came looking for me, not even Darian, and that was one of the reasons why I hated him more.
"Richard, are you ready?" Ciara asked me, jolting me back to reality. Looking beside me, I saw Darian's dead lying beside me, and beside Ciara was Elena, who had her baby clutched to her chest. She had cried to the extent that her eyes had swollen up, and still she was crying despite the fact that I accepted to practice the resurrection ritual; possibly she was still doubting that it would work and she didn't want to give herself any false hopes. Around us were Ciara's pack members who wanted to witness the scene that was about to take place, and some who were already asking themselves inwardly whether I'm crazy.
"Richard, are you sure about this? The full moon is in thirty seconds; we can cancel it if you want," Ciara whispered to me.
"We aren't canceling anything, Ciara; just do it," I said to her, and she nodded before positioning the pole she was holding, the mirror of the pole facing me and the second facing Darian's body.
Meanwhile she kept on looking at the sand clock she was holding, and immediately the last drop of the end fell into the other side, she immediately turned the other mirrors of the pole towards the moon and immediately the moonlight projected through the two mirrors, sending the light rays directly to the two mirrors that was facing Darian's body and mine; once the light projected on my body, my growling filled the air, it was as if the light was piercing through my body, I could have actually stood up but unfortunately Ciara had tied me down with a chain; it was true that I could have easily broken free from the chain but not with this agonizing pain I was facing, it was as if my soul was sipping away from my body and as the pain was severely increasing, my vision started becoming blurry and I started passing out but immediately Ciara digged her claws into my hand jolting me back to reality.
"Don't you dare pass out, Richard; don't you dare," she said to me while digging her claws deeper, ignoring my screaming.
"You pass out and it's over; you lose your powers and your brother will be gone forever; it remains only thirty seconds, so endure," she said to me while deepening her claws into my hand in order to prevent me from passing out.
"Get your claws off my hand," I growled angrily before breaking the chain and falling to the ground while panting heavily.
"Looking faintly at Ciara, she gave me a nod before returning to Darian to see if it worked.
Despite how tired I felt, I still forced myself up, and happily, I could still feel my powers, meaning that I didn't lose my powers.
"Did it work?" I asked Ciara while approaching her, but she shook her head negatively.
"But how come I can still feel my powers?" I said to Ciara, who turned her gaze towards me.
"Glow your eyes," she said to me, and without hesitating, I glowed my eyes at her, and she nodded.
"It still glows gold, meaning that you didn't lose your Alpha abilities," she said to me.
"Then why hasn't he woken up?" I asked her while approaching Darian's body.
"Have you checked his heartbeat?" I asked her, but before she could reply, I lowered my head towards Darian's chest. But before my head could reach his chest, he suddenly gripped my neck, and immediately everyone gasped in fear.
"Let go off my neck, you lunatic," I said to him before slapping his hand away from my neck, and immediately he rose up while panting heavily.
"What happened?" he asked while panting heavily.
I was about to reply when his mate rushed towards him and hugged him tightly with hot tears streaming down her cheeks, and before everyone, she kissed him.
"What really happened Darian asked us once again after his mate finally allowed him to breathe.
"Actually, you joined your ancestors because of your stubbornness, and I risked my life and powers to bring you back," I said to him, and he furrowed his brows at me.
"What do you mean by that?" He asked us with a confused tone.
"To cut the story short, you got killed when you went to save your pack, and I resurrected you," I said to him, but he kept on staring at me strangely.
"How were you able to resurrect me?" He asked me.
"That's a long story, little brother; we will discuss that later, but are you sure that you don't remember?"
"Argh!!!" He screamed in pain while holding his head.
"What's happening to him?" I asked Ciara with a confused tone.
"He's remembering," Ciara said to me, and I nodded.
After screaming in pain for some minutes, he finally opened his eyes while panting heavily.
"Do you now remember?" I asked him, and he nodded while catching his breath.
"Lu-cia-na is alive," he stammered while panting heavily.
"Which Luciana are you talking about? I hope it's not the Luciana that was beheaded twenty-three years ago." I asked him with a frightened tone.
"She's the one, and just like before, she still wants the pack; she has been manipulating the supreme Alphas since all this time; she's the one that killed me," he said to us.
"Oh my goodness," I muttered in frigt.
"We were still trying to digest the first news when a guard ran into the scene screaming, "Your highness!!!"
"What is it?" Ciara asked the guard, who was still catching his breath.
"They are coming; there are some soldiers that are heading here." The guard announced
"Seriously? I'm just resurrecting, and another war has already found me!" Darian exclaimed while raising his hands in frustration.