Tony and Kalina went to meet with Greg, Nate, Ivy, and Lily in order to share the news about their new roles and to figure out what that actually means. They didn't have much time and everything was done in rush, but both Tony and Kalina were running high on adrenalin.
With Alpha and Luna to-be out of their suite, the atmosphere calmed down.
Axel and Yasmin were eager to head back to the Midnight Guardians pack.
"We would love to stay for the ceremony. Unfortunately, a few days passed at home, and with only Kai and Tyler there, we feel we shouldn't delay our return unless it's necessary.", Axel said. He didn't think that Tony and Kalina will miss them with everything else going on.
"I understand. Thank you for coming.", Talia responded. "Meg will return after the meeting." Talia turned to look at the person in question. "Unless she wants to meet with her family."
Meg was aching to see her family, they were so close now. She feared that if she sees them, they will ask her to stay longer which might be too much for Kai.
"I will visit them another time with Kai.", Meg said, determined to stay in this suite so she doesn't risk bumping into them.
Axel wanted to remind Talia that their people were eager to leave the realm in search of their mates, but he knew that she had a lot on her mind, so he didn't want to bring it up.
'Come home after this is over.', Axel's voice sounded in Talia's head through the mind-link.
Talia was still not sure how to deal with the two-home situation she found herself in. 'Once Damon's condition is stable, we will visit.'
'Until then, I will see to finalize our conditions for using the portal with the realm of witches.'
This reminded Talia. 'Be careful. I believe there is a reason why the portal was closed. If you go there, be careful of Evanora and everyone else. Don't trust them easily.'
Axel was alerted. 'There must be a reason you are saying that.'
'We found a clue that points to the possibility of witches being used for breeding with werewolves in an attempt to create offspring with a wolf and with magic. I just found out about that this morning, and I will investigate it, but I have a feeling that's related to the portal being closed, and why Alpha Isaac and Alpha Sophia were so adamant about keeping the existence of our powers a secret. They knew something and…' Talia paused.
'And?', Axel urged her to continue.
'I think that's why I ended up in the Red Moon pack as a child. The evidence points at Alpha Edward's father. He knew about witches being used for breeding and I believe that he was the one who brought me to the Red Moon pack.'
Axel's jaw twitched as he listened to Talia. 'I will talk with…'
'No.', Talia interrupted him. 'Don't give anyone a clue that you know something. You can investigate discretely but leave talking for when we have more information. I really hope that previous Alphas were not involved, but if they were, we shouldn't risk alerting them and giving them a chance to destroy the evidence.'
'Thank you for trusting me with this information.' Axel was really touched. This was something that possibly incriminated their parents who were obviously closer to Axel as he grew up with them, yet she believed that he would do the right thing.
As they were ready to leave, Yasmin gave hugs to Cornelia, Meg, and then Talia.
'She is with a child', Liseli spoke in Talia's mind.
Talia didn't get it. 'What?'
'I didn't sense it when she arrived because the contact was brief, but now I'm certain. You will be an aunt.'
Talia gawked at Yasmin's perfectly flat abdomen. A baby!
'Are you sure?', Talia asked.
'Why don't you use your ability to scan the surroundings? You will be able to pick up the heartbeat. If you touch her, you can sense it better.'
Talia took Yasmin's hand into hers and closed her eyes. Talia's perception shifted to see the outlines, and then she focused on Yasmin's abdomen. She needed a moment to hear two distinct rhythmical beats.
Talia looked at Axel who observed them with curiosity.
"Congratulations, Axel. You will be a father. Twice."
Axel stared at Talia for a second, and then his mouth hung open so widely that a whole fist could fit in there.
"What did you say?", Yasmin asked breathily while touching her stomach.
"You are pregnant.", Talia said. "Twins. Congratulations."
Cornelia was also shocked. "How is that possible? We saw each other only two days ago!"
Yasmin shook her head. "You forgot about changes in time. For you, it was two days, for us, it was two months."
"Oh…", Cornelia felt silly. How did she forget that?
Meg was bouncing from excitement. She-wolves have heat that starts shortly after marking and happens every six months. "I had my first heat after arriving at the Midnight Guardians pack. I was under the effect of medications and supervision of healers, so Kai and I couldn't…" She didn't finish, but everyone knew what they couldn't do. "We hope for better luck next time. However, Yasmin is a witch, and her cycles are more like human's. We will have Alpha pups!"
"Are you sure?", Axel asked Talia while staring at Yasmin's stomach like he wished to see through it.
"Axel?", Yasmin called in a small voice. "Aren't you happy?"
"Shocked is a better term.", Axel responded.
Yasmin hugged her stomach. "Don't you want us to have babies?"
Axel realized that Yasmin was upset, and he was quick to pull her into his embrace.
"Of course, I do. Even if we have hundreds of children, I would want more if that's what you want. My shock is not because I'm not happy, but because it's not possible. At least I didn't think it was possible. We didn't have a child born in our pack for two decades. The Oracle said that we were punished by the Moon Goddess…" Axel's voice trailed as he turned to look at Talia. "The Moon Goddess punished us because we lost you." He didn't want to say that their parents gave up on Talia. "Now that you are back, as an Alpha, the curse was lifted. You really are a blessing for our pack."
Talia was not superstitious. Curses? Blessings? Wasn't that just mumbo-jumbo to control the masses? But the truth was that she could feel every member of the Midnight Guardians pack, and there were no children present. Axel was right that they didn't have any births in the last two decades.
"Then, your babies are much more than just a new life.", Talia said. "They carry the hope for our pack that things are changing for the better. Take care of each other."
After another round of hugs and congratulations, Axel and Yasmin headed back.
Cornelia was happy about Yasmin having a baby. And it's two of them!
Witches also didn't have children in ages, but that was because they didn't have males to produce offspring. She wished to be there when Evanora finds out about Yasmin's pregnancy. How will the high priestess take it?
