Chapter 62 - Surprised by Three Mates

April POV

“Mom, I can’t have this right now.. this can’t be happening.. I promised them. I can’t go there in heat.. they’ll attack me.” I said.

“Honey, it’s okay. I might have something.. I didn’t want to give it to you at first, but I know how important this is..” she said. I could tell she was hiding something.

“What? What is it?” I asked.

“It’s another elixir.. but this one’s different. It has side effects.” She said.

“Okay.. what are they? Headaches? Nausea?” I asked.

“Not exactly, sweetheart.. when it wears off.. your heat will come full force. The elixir.. it boosts your fertility like crazy. There is a very high chance you will get pregnant during your heat.” She said. I snapped my mouth closed and just stared at her.

She ran to the cabinet and grabbed a vial, then walked it to me.

“It’s your choice.” She held out the vial to me.

“Iris..” I said softly.

“Yes?” She asked.

“You want pups.. right?” I asked.

“Of course I do.. but it’s not my decision, it’s yours.” She said.

I closed my eyes and thought about my future. My pups.. our pups.. our own little family. The thought brings butterflies to my stomach, a warm feeling. It’s not that I never wanted pups. I did, I do.

“April?” Mom asked.

“I.. I’ll take it. I made a promise and I won’t break it. Who knows.. I might have mini versions of me running around.” I chuckled. Mom smiled at me and handed me the vial.

“Down the hatch,” I said as I popped the lid off and emptied the vial.

The contents burned my throat and as it went down, I could feel my heart begin to subside.

“Well?” She asked.

“Much better. Now I can go.” I said. She pulled me in for a quick hug.

“They’re waiting.” She said as she pulled away.

We walked outside where everyone was waiting.

“Well?” Klaus asked.

“Let’s go,” I said. I hopped into the car followed by everyone else.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••

“Okay, so we wait here.. I guess.” Alastair said. The men had started building a fire in the field. The moon is out, now we’re just waiting for any signs of forsaken.

“Anything?” Liam asked as he sat down beside me.

“No.. are you sure they’re coming?” I asked.

“Our queen made a promise to come back. They wouldn’t miss it for the world.” He said.

“I spotted something!” One of the warriors shouted. I shot up and made my way to him.

“What?” I asked.

“There.” He pointed across the field. At first, I didn’t see anything, but then I saw a shadow quickly move toward us.

“Everyone prepare, just in case,” I said. With the fire lit behind we stood and waited. The shadows got closer and closer and I could feel the anxiety in the air.

A loud howl came from the shadows and the men tensed.

“Wait.. it’s okay.” I said. My eyes met with bright golden ones and I knew.

“They’re here.” I smiled.

Within minutes there were hundreds of forsaken standing in front of us. My heart is racing in my chest. It’s time.. I’ve been so ready for this.

I stepped to the front and looked at them. There’s a certain beauty I see.. they’re cursed.. forsaken by their packs, and their loved ones.. turned into beasts. But they also have a kindness to them.. I know without a doubt they would never hurt me.. they truly believe me to be their queen.

“Is it time?” A small voice ran through my head. It almost sounded like.. a child..

I stepped up and looked around, spotting a small pup staring at me.

“Do you have a name, little one?” I asked in a soft voice.

“N-no..” he shyly responded. My heart fluttered as he stepped up closer to me.

“Would you like to be human? To have a name?” I asked.

“You will do that?” He asked. I could hear slight excitement in his little voice.

“I will,” I said. I kneeled and held my hand out. He sniffed it before rubbing his head against it. I closed my eyes and felt the power flowing through me..

I heard small gasps around me, I opened my eyes to a little golden eyes boy staring up at me.

“Someone get him a blanket. It’s cold.” I said. Not once did I break eye contact.

“Do you have parents?” I asked. Just then a wolf resembling his color stepped up and bowed its head.

“We are ready, my Queen.” The wolf said. Klaus ran over with a blanket and wrapped it around the little boy.

“No. I want.. to stay.” The boy said as Klaus tried to move him.

I smiled at him and grabbed his tiny hand. He couldn’t be more than 5 years old.

“Do you want to help me?” I asked him. He nodded quickly. He held my hand tightly as we stared at the hundreds of forsaken. I felt another hand snake into mine and turned, seeing my mom smiling proudly at me.

“Let’s do this.” She said. I felt moms powers pour into me, I closed my eyes and let it roll off and onto the crowd of forsaken. Everything around me disappeared except for the little boy and mom. There’s something about this boy.. I can feel power leaking off of him.

In a flash, we were on our backs, like an invisible explosion threw us back. I grunted as I reached over, seeing the little boy laying on his back with a bright smile.

Mom started laughing, then he did. I of course couldn’t contain my laughter either.

Finally, I was able to catch my breath, my stomach hurting from laughing too hard.

“That was fun.” The little boy giggled. He lunged over and wrapped his arms around me.

“Thank you, miss queen.” He said. I wrapped my arms around him and held him tight.

“No.. thank you. I don’t think I could’ve done it all without you.” I smiled. He giggled once more before he sat up and looked around.

“Baby?” A woman stepped forward and looked at him with teary eyes.

“Mama, look! I’m human! You’re human too! We’re all human!” He shrieked excitedly. He ran over to her and hugged her so tight.

“We did it.” I sighed.

“You did it.” Mom said. She pulled me in for a big hug.

“T-thank.. you. For.. saving us. I’ve been like this for so long..” One man stepped up. Mom pulled away as I looked up at him.

“Don’t thank me. I made a promise, there was no chance I wouldn’t keep it.” I smiled.

“Dad?” A voice came from behind me.

“Mark?” The man responded.

My mind went completely blank as I looked back and forth between my Dad's Beta, and this man he called father.

“I can’t.. I can’t believe it.. Igor said you’d been lost..” Mark said.

“I was.. but.. when I heard of the girl who could turn forsaken back to human.. I had to come. We all did.” The man said.

Mark ran up to him and was pulled into a hug.

“I thought I’d lost you forever.” Mark sobbed. My heart clenched at the sight. I’m thankful to have been able to give these people back their lives.

I stood up and dusted myself off.

“I have someone you need to meet.” The man said to mark. He held his arm out and the little boy and his mother joined them.

“You.. have a brother.” The man said. Mark's mouth dropped open as he stared at the little golden-eyed boy.

“I.. don’t understand.. how?” Mark stuttered out.

“We were stuck in our beast forms.. not celibate.” The man laughed.

“I.. have a little brother..” Mark said. He kneeled in front of the little boy. He stepped forward and sniffed Mark, then his eyes got really big.

“Family!” The boy jumped into Mark's arms.

“I have a little brother..” Mark chuckled.

I felt a hand rest on my shoulder and turned around to see Alexei. He gave me a big toothy grin before pulling me in and holding me tight.

“I told you, you could do it.” He whispered.

“I did it.. I really did..” I said. When I pulled away I looked at the crowd of forsaken. I took a deep breath and spoke.

“If you have family.. that you wish to find, or go home to. We will help you get there.” I said.

“But you’re our queen!” I heard from the crowd.

“I.. I am.. which is why I’m letting you go to your families. If you wish to stay.. we have plenty of room at the palace for you.” I said.

“You would let us go?” Someone else from the crowd asked.

“I do not own you. You are all your own person.. many of you had lives before you became forsaken. I would never try to take that from you.” I said.

My heart raced as they all dropped to their knees, bowing their heads.

“Long reign the Queen Pheonix.” They chanted in unison. How do they know I’m a Phoenix?

“They felt it. They’ve known of the prophecy.. the bringer of life who will save them.” Liam said from beside me. I can’t believe it.

“Anyone who wishes to find their families, you may go with Damien and Brandon right there.” I pointed to them. We brought several big buses with us and Brandon and Damien are in charge of getting the forsaken on them.

“And anyone who wishes to come to the palace with us, follow Connor and Liam. There’s food for everyone, blankets, clothes.. help yourselves. You deserve it.” Mom said.

The warriors began passing out clothes and blankets, then everyone lined up for food. I sat next to my mates and ate as we chatted about everything.

“So, what did your mom give you to stop your heat? I thought that other stuff wasn’t good anymore.” Alastair said. A smile came to my face.

“Something else..” I said.

“What? I feel like you’re not telling us something. Lev keeps telling me over and over.” Klaus said.

I giggled and my mates looked at me questionably.

“A different elixir..” I said.

“Well, what is it?” Alexei asked.

“Guys calm down.” I giggled. They were pushing and I had no idea why.

“Callum keeps telling me it’s a good thing.. what is?” Alastair asked.

I took a deep breath and let it out.

“This elixir stopped my heat.. but it will come back.. times 10 according to mom.” I said.

“What do you mean?” Klaus asked.

“Well.. she said it would affect my fertility..” I said. Alastair’s eyes widened.

“You won’t be able to have pups?” He asked. I could see the sadness building in his eyes.

“Not exactly.. it will make me more fertile.. so when my heat comes..” I looked at my mates.

“You’ll have a higher chance of getting pregnant.” Klaus finished.

“Yes,” I said with a smile. The thought of pups excited me.

“And you’re happy with this?” Alexei asked.

“Ecstatic,” I said.