Word Count: 1538

¬ Rosie

Knocking on the doorframe, I peer into our room, where Time lays back against the headboard of our bed.

The moment we returned, I fed Time the cure, which has thankfully set in, color slowly returning to his cheeks. I've let him rest for awhile, but I've been unable to keep myself away, still coming down from the fright of potentially losing my mate. Had our plan with Sariah not have worked, I'm not sure what I would have done.

"I'm so happy you're okay. You have no idea," I say softly, moving into the room and toward the bed. Time adjusts himself, giving me a weak smile that tugs painfully at my heart. He shouldn't have had to go through that.

"You didn't have to do that," he comments, voice hoarse. His golden eyes are still dull, hair mussed and messy. "Hunt down your brother like that."

I tilt my head. Of course I did.

"I think more than one person got a happy ending from finding this cure," I tell him assuredly. Sariah stayed behind with him, which I didn't question. What they do from now is none of my business, although I do secretly hope it works out. More for Sariah than my awfully selfish brother who must know how beautiful and amazing Sariah seems.

Time shakes his head, releasing a forlorn sigh. "It's a shame I don't deserve one."

"What are you saying? Of course you do," I scold, wanting to shake him for thinking that. Of course coming to the edge of death is frightening, especially for an immortal, but his sad inclination is making me nervous.

"After all this you still want to forgive me?" He looks up at me, golden eyes searching, while remaining open and vulnerable, making my stomach twist uneasily.

"For what?"

"For all the death and destruction I caused? I was so obsessed with getting revenge on Jasper that I didn't stop to think that maybe there would ever be more to my life. And now there is, I regret everything," he tells me honestly, reaching out to hold my hand tenderly. "Why have a your powers back when it could mean sacrificing your mate."

Blinkly, I soak those words in. While we were gone finding this cure, he must have reflected back on all the mistakes he made in his life. Killing Alpha Jasper took a toll him I can't begin to understand, but as something I still get uncomfortable thinking about, I'm secretly glad he's also having regrets.

Tightening my grip around his fingers, I smile softly at him, hoping he doesn't think I'm going anywhere after I tried so hard to save his life. "You're not sacrificing anything."

"But I know you judge me for it. I could be a better man and you can't deny it," he confides.

I settle against the headboards with him, mulling over his words. Admittedly, knowing what he has done in the past is hard, but being that I'm killed to an immortal who has been alive for a great amount of time, it should be expected. Yet he is still beating himself up for what happened for Jasper, which isn't going to stop unless we find out a way to make it better.

And then it hits me, as if it had been so painfully obvious, that I should have known it earlier. "Jasper isn't a pure-blood, is he?"

"No."

"Can't you bring him back from Death's realm?" I offer. If we could bring him back, then maybe that would help right what Time did. Of course it won't heal every wound, but it would make a lot of people much happier. It included me.

"That's not within my abilities. Death completely restricts immortals from having any involvement in her realm," Time explains, not sharing my excitement as he winces against his wound, which is healing, but slowly. Hopefully when thought burnt down their original facility he eliminated all the weapons they were holding that could hurt Time again.

"You could talk to her, couldn't you?"

Time appears solemn, brushing my hair back behind my ear gently. "She doesn't like meddling. Then too many other people will expect the same treatment from her."

"But you shouldn't have killed Jasper, which you know already. Maybe she would be willing," I say, hoping that this Death immortal he talks about it forgiving. Time finally looks as though he has thought it through and appears ready to face Death and hopefully right his past wrongs.

"If I bring him back, I should bring back his mate," Time says mindlessly. My stomach twists uneasily, but I refuse to focus on it. Of course his mate would also be in Death's realm if he were dead, since living without your mate once you have confirmed the bond is almost near impossible. I was nearly faced with that reality.

I shrug. "There is no harm in asking."

"You haven't met Death," Time says softly, smile mischievous, although it doesn't reach his eyes.

***

We agreed to meet Death in Thoughts territory, to keep everything neutral.

She is just like I imagined, in her appearance and in the way she carries herself. She is definitely not someone I want to put myself in the way of. She exudes confidence, unfazed by Time's presence, and hardly interested by mine. And she looks frightening too, with long dark hair and shimmering silvery gray eyes.

"I hope you're not here to ask me for a favor," she warns, leaning back against her seat, dark his splaying out over her shoulders. We have met in a hotel room, where if anything were to go wrong, nothing could happen with the public so close by.

It's frightening to know that Time set this up for my sake, as even though I've spent my time in Death's realm, it should look at me and send me right back.

"We want to resurrect Jasper and his mate, Thea," Time says tiredly. He doesn't appear desperate. Which is likely to not appear intimidated by Death. It's likely these two have known each other for a very long time, and being how powerful they both are, they must have some kind of respect between them.

Death waves her hand around. "Jasper was resurrected long ago, and Thea finished her sentence and has sinced left to the immortal realm."

Something flickers in Time's eyes. "How long ago?"

"Awhile. Suddenly feeling moral?" she challenges. I can feel Time tense next to me. For so long he has appeared as the careless, shameless immortal who has done what he has pleased without worry for what anyone else may think. Now he is appearing weak in front of her, all to make me happy, and to help his own conscience.

"Righting past wrongs," Time simply replies.

"Well, if you must know, they haven't come in contact with each other since. They were placed in different areas within my realm, considering the way they lived their lives. Since then they haven't been able to find each other , or perhaps don't want to, "she says with a shrug. I don't know much about these people, but I have an inclination that she is lying. Mates are meant to be together, so it seems unreasonable that after confirming a bond, they would not be fervently trying to find each other.

"Maybe we could bring them together," I say. "That would be a good way to feel fulfilled, to feel like you did the best you could for them to finally finish this."

Death's gaze draws to me as I speak, then she looks away, likely dismissing me.

"We have all done bad things in our long immortal lives Time," she says sourly, making my heart flutter. The last thing I need is for her to convince Time this is a bad idea. "Why bother showing weakness just to feel a little something?"

Time tilts his head slowly, not giving anything away in his expression. "I don't want to feel like this anymore. It's really that simple."

I have to smother my smile with my hand, happy he isn't allowing Death to convince him out of this. I don't want to change him, but to know he wants to make himself a better person makes me feel so much more comfortable when thinking about a future with him.

Death gets to her feet, seemingly bored already. "You should know, that other pure-bloods are going to see this, and know you're weak. Consider if it's worth it."

When he doesn't respond, I grip his arm tightly, trying to comfort him as he soaks in Death's words. "It is worth it, Time."

He looks down at me, eyes glistening. "You shall see."

❤️ •• ❤️

Hey guys! If you're enjoying the story, you can head over to Radish and read Time ahead of Wattpad!

🍓 •• 🍓

I'm officially rewriting Alpha Jasper's story now on Radiah! It will be following the same storyline with the same characters, but with revised scenes and some new ones!

I love Jasper's story so much that I wanted to go back and rewrite it. I hope you guys will enjoy it, you can find it now on Radish (:

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~ Midika 💜🐼