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84
Elena's POV

After the birth, I fell into a deep sleep, during which all I could do was worry. I was still a few months away from when my child was due to be delivered. But due to my condition and the poison in my system, he had to be taken out immediately, or else he would have died. He was going to be born premature, and I wondered if that would affect him in the future.

What if he had some physical deformities or was mentally challenged? If something like that were to happen, he would be unfit to lead the pack because of such issues. The fact that there was a very high chance of my child not being born perfectly healthy worried me greatly, and I couldn't even sleep peacefully.

But after what felt like hours and hours of lying on that bed, I finally gained the strength to open my eyes and look around. I was in a room different from the one where I had delivered my son, and it was completely empty. I was hooked up to an IV drip that constantly poured a liquid into my body.

My head ached greatly, and although I wanted to leave the room and get a bit of fresh air, I didn't have enough energy to do that. Therefore, I was forced to lay there for a long time until a nurse eventually walked in. As soon as she saw that I was awake, she quickly left and returned moments later with a doctor.

The doctor asked me a series of questions, and when he was done, he nodded his head and left, as did the nurse. Moments later, Lucian walked in with a happy look on his face.

"I've been so worried about you," he said, as he held my hands with tears in his eyes.

Getting to see Lucian again warmed my heart. I hadn't seen him in so long; the last time was probably about two weeks ago. It had been so long since I saw Lucian, and I was happy that he was finally with me once more.

I had no idea what had happened, but I was glad that everything was back to normal. But then I suddenly remembered, and I immediately asked Lucian, "Lucian, what happened to Edwina? She was the one behind everything, and I'm sure you already know that by now."

"You don't have to worry about Edwina anymore. She's been dealt with. I made sure to kill her myself, and you will never hear from her again," Lucian said.

"That's quite a relief," I exhaled. "What happened to Alpha Derek?" I asked, wanting to know the outcome of their clash. I didn't know for sure, but I knew that since I was successfully rescued, Alpha Derek's pack was probably raided, and Lucian and Alpha Derek fought each other.

"You don't have to worry about Alpha Derek either. I made sure to kill him too. In our rescue attempt, a severe battle broke out, and thousands of lives were lost. One of the people that were lost in the brutal battle, unfortunately..." Lucian said and then broke off.

I knew that bad news was coming, and I braced myself. I knew that in a battle where thousands died, the ones closer to me must have fallen as well.

"Sorry to tell you this, Elena, but Artemis didn't make it," Lucian said in a heavy voice.

Hearing his words, I didn't believe it at first because of the image I had painted of Artemis in my mind. Artemis was an indefatigable god of war, and no one could defeat him. Even in our training sessions, I could tell just how much Artemis was holding back so that I didn't lose all hope and fighting will. I always felt that if Artemis were to go all out on anyone, they would definitely be defeated and killed by him.

Who in the world had enough strength to actually murder Artemis? Artemis was more than just a teacher to me, and for a short period of time where he stopped to give me advice and was gentle during training, he was treating me even more kindly than my own father. Losing him came as a great shock to me, and I could do nothing but stare blankly at the ceiling.

"Did Alpha Derek do it?" I asked Lucian in anticipation. I didn't think any regular werewolf could ever have the strength to murder Artemis because of the aura he gave off. One time in training, Artemis and I sparred with him blindfolded. I thought that I would have an easy win, but all he had to do was make one move, and the battle was over. I always viewed Artemis as an insurmountable warrior, and the only way he would die would be of old age.

"No, Derek didn't kill Artemis. Unfortunately for Derek, he actually didn't kill anyone in that entire battle. Many of his men died, and many of our men died too, but I killed Alpha Derek, and he killed no one else in that bloody battle. The ones responsible for Artemis's death were twins called Muriel and Raphael. Artemis killed them, of course, because well... he's Artemis. But in exchange for their deaths, Artemis needed to sacrifice himself," Lucian said in a sad tone.

I stared blankly, not knowing what to say or whether to even cry. Artemis was much more to me than a tutor, and I thought we would have many more training sessions in the future. I even envisioned Artemis training my child when he was old enough and that Artemis would train generations of the family.

"You know, Elena, you need to take your training seriously. After all, I won't always be here for you," I heard Artemis's voice say from a far-off distance.

"What are you talking about? I don't think you are dying anytime soon. I mean, you have a good 40 to 45 years ahead, so I'm sure you'll always be here. If you're talking about dying on the battlefield, that's unlikely. Even though Lucian is the alpha, I don't think even Lucian is strong enough to take you down," I said, not daring to believe that Artemis would ever leave me anytime soon.

"You know, Elena, Fate has its own plans. You may think that I'm invincible just because of the strength difference between you and me, but there are people out there who are capable of defeating me easily. The reason you think I may be as strong as Lucian is because you have never seen Lucian in battle. Either way, just know that strength is a primary thing, and you need to have a basic understanding of strength. Because one day, you're going to have to fight to protect not only yourself but your family. The least I can do is lecture you and give you a few pointers on how to get stronger. You getting stronger depends on your own will," Artemis said.

At the time, I wasn't even considering what he was saying because I didn't think it was likely Artemis would die. We were not at war with anyone, and the chances of Artemis going into battle in a life-and-death fight were really low. I just felt Artemis was being overly paranoid and that his old age was getting to his head. But thinking back on it now, it was as though he predicted everything, and it was me who was foolish not to listen to him.

"Elena, there's something else..." Lucian said, and his tone was even graver than before.

I stared at him and felt terror, not even wanting to believe that there was more bad news. To think that my very own tutor, who was more of a father to me than my biological father, was dead, and yet Lucian was about to deliver more bad news to me.

"Lucian, what is it this time? Could there be any news worse than Artemis dying? Or is it that the baby was born with any deformity?" I asked in terror.

If it turned out that due to me taking that poison Edwina had given me resulted in my child being born with deformities and mental deficiencies, I knew I would be completely devastated.

"No, no, Elena, it's not that. It's surprising that even though the baby was born premature, he actually turned out quite alright. The doctor said that it was because both the father and mother were in perfect health, and thanks to my genes as an alpha, the child grew to be faster, stronger, and healthier than other children. Somehow, even in its young state, he's also already on the same level as a regular child. If we had waited, our child would have been extraordinary. But even at that, we can rest assured that our child won't suffer any deformity or mental illness," Lucian said.

Hearing his words, I was greatly relieved, and I exhaled as I stared at the ceiling with a smile on my face. From all I had heard so far, there was good news all around, and there was nothing for me to worry about. But then Lucian had that grave tone just now, and I wanted to know what it was about.

"Lucian, what is it you wanted to tell me just now?" I asked as I stared at him seriously.

He looked at me for a long while, and then he hesitated. "You know what, maybe you need to relax some more. I mean, you just woke up from childbirth and survived a major incident. I can't keep telling you bad news after bad news. The fact that Artemis is dead is bad news enough. I don't know what effect it will have on your body, but I don't think I'm ready to make you lose your mind. So don't worry about it for now," Lucian said.

"Lucian, whatever it is you wanted to tell me, I'd better know it now than know it later. So tell me, please," I said as I held onto Lucian's hand and squeezed it firmly.

Lucian looked at me for a long while, contemplating. I could tell that the decision was not easy for him, and he was not ready to break this horrible news to me. But I wanted to know what it was he was holding back.

"Elena, don't take this too strongly, but I want you to know that... Lana didn't make it."