When the news arrived that the artifacts had finally arrived, Fenris and I were on it. There were only ten artifacts gathered from the elves. It was a real disappointment that Blaze and Ocean Elves refused to let us get any of their precious artifacts, and from the ones we had gained, it appeared they were all too weak to trap Alijah again.
It's not like it matters. Even if we have it, a vampire of Lycan must be there present to activate it against Alijah.
That would end in certain death to whoever had it in their hands—something I wanted to avoid. We only had one chance to surprise that black wolf to ensure no one else died. Feeling defeated, I sat down on a chair near Ryker's desk.
"This situation isn't ideal, Fenris." Ryker huffed from his chair.
"I know, but it's not like we can force them." My wolf sighed.
"The world may end. I say we push them towards reason." The elf huffed. "If not, you think you'd be able to handle it, Alijah?"
"What? I'm not sure. He has years on me, but I'm willing to try." He shrugged.
Their banter continued while I mumbled under my breath. All their ideas were flawed and would eventually lead to more conflict. The only way forward was to have Fenris beat black wolf, which wouldn't end well for my heart.
Rolling my eyes on Ryker's stupid idea, I went to touch an artifact. It was a golden ring with white stripes, yet the moment my finger stroked it, a white hue came from it. Immediately, Fenris grabbed my hand, dragging it away for the ring to stop shining.
Ryker's jaw dropped, shifting his eyes between the wolf and me. The artifact responded to me even though I wasn't of Lycan or Vampire lineage.
What? I'm a human, which makes that impossible. Unless…
"How did you do that?!" the elf questioned, grabbing the same ring, yet it did nothing to his touch.
"What? I don't know! It did that on its own!" I assured them, unable to understand it myself.
He stood there in silence for a moment, trying to figure out before…
"Impossible," he mumbled soon after.
Fenris poked at another artifact, a golden sphere that responded the same way it had to me. The biggest smile I had ever seen came across my wolf's lips at that moment. He was beaming like a ray of sunshine.
"Could it be..." he mumbled, trying to hide his happiness, to no avail.
Ryker gazed at the excited wolf, only to realize what he meant.
"Ah, So... somehow, against the odds, Lilith's carrying a Lycan-dominant baby in her womb. Well, this will shut up the elders for sure." The elf announced, sitting down on his chair again with a soft smile on his lips.
Before I knew it, Fenris picked me up from the chair, holding me up effortlessly.
"You're just full of surprises, aren't you, wifey?" He simpered, tail wagging madly.
The news that sprouted from a simple thing I did would save him thousands of headaches later. No one would deny our marriage ever again because of this.
"Surprises?" I whispered.
It took me a moment to realize what they were talking about. Thanks to the babies inside of me, I could somehow use an artifact. That was when I remembered what Tobias had said that day.
It's not my fate but the fate of another… Oh… Oh, gods…
Instead of basking in Fenris's warmth, my eyes shot back toward where the artifacts were. None of them were strong enough to stop Alijah, but they could delay him.
All of this is just like Tobias said.
The soul cairn had done something like that before, too. Perhaps we could also use them to propel Alijah through time instead of trapping him. This could buy us enough time to find the person who was supposed to stop him.
It was a good plan, though an unpleasant thought crossed my mind. I glanced down to my belly as Fenris celebrated happily.
What if it's my child's destiny to stop you? I… I don't…
Instantly, my stress levels skyrocketed, alerting my wolf that something was wrong when all the color from me drained.
He quickly set me down, "What's wrong?"
"Tobias said it's someone else's destiny to deal with Alijah, so what if it's our babies?!" I cried, wishing nothing more than happiness for my child.
In an instant, the happy memory was tarnished by the looming thought of our baby having to fight a monster in the future. Fenris winced, shaking his head before clasping his hand in mine.
"That's…" He sighed.
Why? Why does it have to be like this? My baby's going against a monster. No! I can't allow that! There has to be something we can do!
Our moment of happiness turned to dread before Ryker…
"Look, I won't pretend to understand what you two are going through, but focus on what you can do today rather than in the many tomorrows to come," He assured us.
The elf was right, but it didn't change my worries, which meant there was no option other than to kill Alijah, a task Fenris wasn't up to par. Perhaps my wolf could face him if we pushed him through time long enough, but that was a future I needed to avoid.
Our only viable option was to push him through the timeline. Ryker placed the artifacts in a bag and handed them to Fenris, who took them home to see if we could develop anything else. When we went home, each of us went into research.
It was crucial to stop Alijah without involving our child in that fate. During this time, the Lycan elders met with Fenris at home. They called it an urgent meeting, but it was nothing more than to confirm that the child in my womb was a Lycan rather than a Luma.
Once there, my beloved proved to them that a Lycan child was present in my womb thanks to the artifacts' effect on me. It showed them that all their worries were for naught. During that meeting, Ursula appeared pleased to have made the right choice, calling the rest fools who would've placed the red moon child at risk.
The two other elders flipped sides when they realized the child within me was a Lycan—something that could be fixed with further breeding, which somewhat annoyed me.
My child won't be subjected or restricted to who they want to spend their lives with!
However, that was a battle for a different day. With this, Evan was the only one reluctant to accept the child, but instead of fighting it for longer, he agreed to wait until the babies were born to see if they were fit to be heirs.
Thankfully, this meant Fenris was getting the full support of the Lycans. This also helped me supply the witches and warlocks with everything they needed. However, even though Evan was against it, the other four elders soon named Fenris alpha, placing even more responsibilities on him.
Two months passed while we searched and pooled our sources together, trying to see if we could find a way out of this predicament, but we found nothing. Much to my displeasure, my wolf trained his hardest in case he had to fight Alijah in the end.
This was a fate I could never allow, even if I had to go behind his back again.
No, that'll never happen. Not while I breathe. I won't lose you, and I can't lose you.
Even though that was my desire, all I accomplished during these months was to grow a belly with little progress on any side. With the help of witches and warlocks who joined our cause, I tried to study the magical properties of the new wolfsbane, but the answer or cure was out of my reach for the time being.
It always failed, no matter what I tried to do, but it didn't deter me. No matter what, I would find a way to beat the deadly plant my grandmother created. All I had to do was understand it, yet that was still out of my reach.
Sadly, all the witchcraft users who joined us didn't know the rogues' plans. The only thing I advanced to was my morning sickness, which was improving daily. Every night, though, I would pass them in Fenris's arms, who always held me until I couldn't keep up.
Sex had become the only way to relieve stress for both of us and to reassure us how much we loved each other. However, he took out much of his worries on Shade, who continued to be his sparring partner.
No other Lycan could keep up with him, leaving poor Liam winded every time he tried. The little familiar gave him a good thrashing if she sometimes got too serious. On one of my mornings, much to my surprise, I found Amara with a weird machine that Amelia had ordered in the living room, waiting for me.
"It's a sonogram! An old tech used in human territories to see how the pregnancies are developing is helpful for yours since my magic seems to be repelled by it." Amara giggled, turning it on.
"Huh?" I mumbled, unsure I wanted to use it.
"Come on! Human medics use it all the time!" The elf assured me as I nodded.
Until now, all the vitals she could read were mine, making it problematic. Therefore, Amelia took it upon herself to search for this machine from the humans in Arthion. At the point of my pregnancy, we could finally see the gender, which she wanted to know to ready the room.
Amara was sure I was having twins, at least, which made me feel uncomfortable. It was easier for me to think of the baby as a singular unit than two. Hesitantly, I allowed the excited elf, who prepared me, to use the sonogram.
Amelia brought Fenris, who had been in the office with Liam and Ben, to work on the pending tasks. Sitting beside me, he gripped my hand, noticing it tremble.
"It's okay, don't be nervous." He breathed as I locked my eyes on the screen as it lit up.
Shivers ran down my spine as she dripped a cold, clear cream on my belly before using the device to press on my swollen belly in search of the lives growing within me.
"Oh! I'm so excited to see if they are a pair of boys or girls or maybe both!" Amelia beamed.
The elder sister was more enthusiastic than I was about finding out their gender. However, Amara quickly grew quiet as she appeared dumbfounded by what she was gazing at.
"Is something wrong?" I asked, clasping my wolf's hand tightly.
"Uh... Uh... How do I say this?" the elf slowly gazed towards us.
"Say what?" I mumbled.
If something's wrong with the babies, I…
That would be the last thing we needed. Amara stared at the screen for a moment, trying to double-check that this was what she was seeing.
"You have four babies in you," the elf informed, counting the heads again. "Yep, that's four."
The number caused something in my head to crack as I felt like I was seeing doubles.
"W-what?" Fenris spluttered, eyes glued to what the elf was showing us.
"See, that's the first," she pointed to the screen.
The picture appeared to be humanoid, yet it wasn't entirely so. I never knew a fetus could look so odd.
"This is the second one," she flipped through the images. "And this is three and four. Number four is trying really hard to hide behind number two; it almost missed it."
Fenris's grip on my hand got tighter, too, as we were expecting more than just a pair.
"F-four? I... h-have f-four in m-me?" I stuttered, fluttering my eyes, unable to understand what was happening.
"Oh my! Eight adorable little feet will soon arrive at the manor! I can't wait!" Amelia cooed, humming happily.
I only saw worries filling me up as this meant if Alijah arrived before my due date, Fenris would never allow me to face him. A duo was already complicated, but a quad made my pregnancy even more delicate.
"From what I can see, there are two boys and one girl—the other one's hiding in between them. Sadly, I can't see it well enough, but they all appear healthy. Would you like pictures?" Amara concluded, pulling away from my swollen belly.
"Of course!" Amelia quickly took out her phone, "Send them to me, and I'll quickly have them framed!"
I gazed at Fenris, wondering how any of this would go. Yet something was certain: with this new information, my wolf would never let me go with him to the battlefield. I would have to push myself in there if I wanted to stop my dream from coming true.
You... can't face Alijah alone. He'll take you away from me and them.
No one would rob my children of the opportunity to grow with their loving father by their sides. I knew what it was to be unwanted, but that wasn't the case for these pups. They were about to be born into a loving family—one I would protect at all costs.