Page 32 of Knot My Wonderland, Part Two (Fairytale Omegaverse #2)

Chapter

Nineteen

ALICE

I wandered deeper into the forest, needing distance to process everything. The revelation about five mates wasn't entirely surprising—I'd felt the connections growing stronger each day—but having it confirmed so explicitly made it real in a way I hadn't been prepared for.

The pattern beneath my skin pulsed gently, responding to my emotional turmoil with soothing waves of silver and gold.

Unlike the chaotic flashes I'd experienced after first bonding with the Tweedles, these pulses felt deliberate, comforting.

The ancient consciousness wasn't just witnessing my confusion; it was offering reassurance.

I found myself in a small clearing where crystal flowers grew in spiraling patterns, their petals shifting through colors that didn't exist on Earth. Settling onto a fallen log, I let my fingers trail through the silver grass, watching how it rippled like water at my touch.

"Five mates," I whispered to the crystal flowers, testing how the words felt on my tongue. Not wrong, exactly, but overwhelming in their implications. "Heart, Chi, Vee, Dee... and Seth."

The pattern pulsed warmly at each name, confirming what I already knew in my bones. These weren't random connections—they were meant to be. But knowing something intellectually and accepting it emotionally were entirely different things.

A soft rustling made me look up, expecting to see one of them following to check on me.

Instead, a figure stepped from between the trees that made my breath catch—Seth, but not quite as I remembered him.

His form seemed more solid here, less wreathed in shadows, though darkness still clung to him like a second skin.

"You're not really here," I said, recognizing the quality of light around him. "This is another vision, isn't it?"

He smiled, the expression transforming his usually guarded features into something devastatingly handsome. "Perceptive as always, Alice. The pattern is showing you what you need to see."

"And I need to see you?" I asked, not moving from my spot as this vision of Seth settled beside me on the log, his shadows curling around us both like protective wings.

"You need to understand me," he corrected gently, his blue eyes holding mine with an intensity I'd rarely seen from the real Seth. "The Void bond remains incomplete because you still fear what it represents."

I sighed, watching as the pattern beneath my skin reached tentative tendrils toward his shadows, silver and gold light dancing at the edges of darkness without fully merging. "I don't fear you, Seth."

"No," he agreed, his voice carrying harmonics that reminded me this wasn't truly him but the pattern's representation. "You fear the part of yourself that resonates with me. The shadows you carry, that match my own."

I looked away, unable to deny the truth in his words. Unlike my bonds with Heart, Chi, and the Tweedles, the connection with Seth touched aspects of myself I'd never fully acknowledged—the capacity for necessary ruthlessness, the willingness to embrace darkness when light alone couldn't prevail.

"The Void isn't evil, Alice," the vision of Seth said softly, his shadows coiling more closely around us. "It's balance, without endings, beginnings lose meaning. Without darkness, light blinds rather than illuminates."

"I know that intellectually," I admitted, watching silver and gold light spiral beneath my skin in increasingly complex patterns. "But embracing it fully..."

"Requires accepting all of yourself," he finished, his blue eyes reflecting understanding rather than judgment.

"The pattern chose you because you have the capacity for both creation and destruction, for love and for necessary cruelty.

The Red Queen corrupted that balance, turned it into mere dominance. "

His shadows reached toward my light again, and this time I didn't pull away. The pattern beneath my skin responded eagerly, silver and gold threads weaving through the darkness in configurations that felt both foreign and completely natural.

"The other bonds ground you in light," he continued, his voice carrying the weight of ancient knowledge. "Heart's passion, Chi's clarity, the Tweedles' wisdom. But sometimes light alone isn't enough. Sometimes you need to walk through darkness to reach the dawn."

I closed my eyes, feeling the truth of his words resonate through me. The temporal mirror had shown me that successful timeline—myself standing against the Queen with all five bonds complete, Seth's shadows intertwined with my light like they belonged there. Not corruption, but completion.

"What happens if I don't complete it?" I asked, opening my eyes to meet his gaze. "What happens if I never fully accept the Void bond?"

The vision of Seth's expression grew solemn, shadows deepening around us like a gathering storm.

"The pattern remains unbalanced. Four bonds create a foundation, but without the fifth.

.." He gestured, and the crystal flowers around us began to wilt at the edges, their vibrant colors fading to gray.

"Wonderland continues to fracture. The Queen's influence spreads unchecked because you lack the tools to counter her darkness with your own. "

The dying flowers sent a chill through me. "And the real Seth? What does this mean for him?"

"He remains bound to you regardless," the vision replied, his blue eyes flickering with something that might have been pain. "The Void Court doesn't choose lightly, Alice. We recognize our matches across lifetimes.”

Seth's apparition leaned closer, his voice dropping to a whisper. "Once the Void marks someone as its own, that connection never truly fades. It simply waits, patient as the darkness between stars."

I shivered, not from fear but from the resonance of truth in his words. The pattern beneath my skin responded to his proximity, silver and gold light reaching toward his shadows with yearning intensity.

"And as mates?" I asked, my voice barely audible even in the quiet clearing. "What would that mean?"

The vision’s smile held secrets older than Wonderland itself.

"Balance in all things. Where you create, I preserve.

Where you heal, I protect. Where you forgive, I remember.

" His shadows curled around my wrist, not restraining but caressing.

"The Void Court doesn't love like Heart's people, with open passion and golden fire.

We love like the night sky loves the stars—vast, patient, and absolute. "

The pattern beneath my skin pulsed with recognition, silver and gold light dancing more eagerly where his shadows touched me.

Through our incomplete bond, I caught glimpses of what completion might feel like—not just magical partnership but soul-deep understanding, the recognition of something essential that had been missing.

"He's waiting for you to decide," the vision said, his form beginning to fade as the pattern's projection reached its limits. "But don't wait too long, Alice. The Queen moves quickly now, and balanced opposition is the only hope Wonderland has."

As he dissolved into wisps of shadow and light, I felt the incomplete bond pulse once with surprising strength. Not pushing, not demanding—simply reminding me of its potential.

I remained in the clearing for a long time afterward, watching crystal flowers shift through impossible colors while I processed everything.

The five mate bonds weren't just about romance or even just about magic; they were about healing Wonderland itself.

Each bond represented a different aspect of balance that the Red Queen had systematically destroyed through centuries of isolation and control.

The pattern beneath my skin stirred, showing me fragments of the First Queen's reign—five courts united through love and purpose, working together to maintain harmony throughout Wonderland.

Not perfect, not without conflict, but balanced in a way that allowed magic to flow naturally through the realm.

I stood, brushing silver grass from my clothes as I made my decision. The clearing seemed to brighten around me, crystal flowers turning toward me like I was their sun. The pattern sensed my resolve, silver and gold light pulsing with approval beneath my skin.

"Balance in all things," I whispered, echoing the vision’s words. The incomplete Void bond thrummed in response, a whisper of potential waiting to be fulfilled.

“Alice?” I jumped hearing a voice to glance to see Chi who was standing a few feet away, his tail flickering with a nervous energy behind him even his ears were drooping a bit.

"Chi," I said, surprised to see him looking uncertain. "Is everything okay?"

He stepped into the clearing his eyes one me as he moved closer. "I wanted to make sure you were alright. Your emotions have been... fluctuating through our bond."

I smiled faintly, gesturing for him to join me. "I've been having a conversation with the pattern about Seth. Well, not Seth exactly, but the pattern's projection of him."

Chi's ears perked up with interest as he settled beside me. "The pattern created a manifestation for you? That's interesting."

"It wanted me to understand the Void bond better," I explained, watching silver light dance beneath my skin where it met his silver energy. "To help me make a decision."

"And did you?" Chi asked, his teal eyes studying my face with careful neutrality. "Make a decision?"

I nodded slowly, ”A little. I am still not sure how this will all work out…”

Chi laughed softly before he moved to pull me into his embrace, his tail wrapping around me and securing me to him.

"You overthink everything," Chi murmured against my hair, his voice carrying the familiar teasing tone that had become so dear to me. "The pattern chose you, Alice. We chose you. The only question is whether you'll choose us back."