424- Beyond the Prophecy
POV Seraphine Valerian Averwyn:
“She’s so beautiful! She looks just like you did when you were a baby, Seraphine.” My aunt smiled at me while rocking Lioara in her arms.
At three months old, our baby was everyone’s darling in the village, and I was happy that Aunt Gretel had come to spend a few days with us. She was no longer as afraid as she used to be and promised to visit us often. I had even invited her to live there, but she preferred to stay in Germany, with her life and her shop.
We were in the warm kitchen while, outside, the snow fell steadily, covering the mountain in white. It was beautiful to watch.
“You raised her, so you should know.” Daciana stirred the food simmering in the pots. “And was Seraphine as well-behaved as Lioara? Because I’ll tell you, I’ve never seen such a beautiful and perfect baby! She only cries when she’s hungry and already knows everyone here. Just look, she’s hearing my voice and trying to peek at me!”
I laughed because Daciana behaved like an overprotective grandmother. Like the rest of us, she thought my daughter was the most wonderful being in the world. How could I blame her?
“Teo was always a sweetheart. Smart, affectionate, never gave me any trouble.”
“She takes after her mother! And she’ll be strong like her father! I can already see it!”
The two of them praised every quality my daughter would have while I adjusted my less milk-filled breasts inside my green dress after nursing her. I stood up and covered myself with the long bearskin cloak, eager for Viktor to arrive. We were going to dinner at Aldren and Elowen’s house.
My aunt and Daciana insisted that we leave Lioara with them. They would compete to see who could spoil her more.
It had become common for us to do that from time to time, going out together. We had become one big family, constantly visiting one another’s homes, the territories at peace. The brothers united like flesh and blood.
I also loved running freely through the forest with Viktor. There we could fully transform, and he taught me how to control my instincts and my transformation, as well as how to hunt. I loved my new life more and more every day.
Since I had fully recovered, we fucked like mad. In human form, half-transformed, or as wolves in the snow. And we fully mated for the first time after our daughter was born, his cock buried deep inside me while he sank his teeth into the old mark and I sank mine into him.
We truly became one, and it was extraordinary how much more deeply we bonded. I could feel what he felt and vice versa. Our connection became absolute. So much so that if one of us died, the other would die as well.
“Can we go?” Viktor appeared after taking a shower, dressed entirely in black and wearing a heavy gray overcoat that made him even more handsome. He smiled when he noticed my admiration. “How does my gypsy she-wolf become more beautiful every single day?”
“That’s the same question I ask myself about you.” I smiled back, completely in love.
“Oh, these two!” Daciana fanned herself dramatically and commented to my aunt, “I wouldn’t be surprised at all if they were already working on another little she-wolf or little wolf for us!”
“We were only waiting for Lio to get a little bigger,” Viktor stated, his eyes blazing with that golden fire around his pupils as he pulled me close. “It could happen tonight.”
Shivers of pleasure ran through me because that night, when we returned from dinner, I would open my womb to him and give him a knot. We would begin trying for our second pup.
“Ready?” He caressed my face.
“Yes.”
We said goodbye to both women and to our beautiful, cheerful daughter, her bright eyes shining.
He picked her up, showered her with kisses, and promised he would return soon to put her to bed. He was a loving and present father at every stage. Just as he was a perfect husband.
The snow was thick, falling endlessly. We had considered running all the way to Valmorin territory, but Viktor chose the pickup truck equipped with snow tires so I would be more comfortable because of my milk-heavy breasts. So we drove there talking about the day, while he told me about the large diamond deposit he had discovered in the mines.
I looked at him inside the truck, so deeply in love that it hurt. It was impossible to be happier than I already was. Then I gazed out at the landscape, the Tharnak all around us, the villages of Averwyn and Rósia now my home. I had so much more than I had ever dreamed of.
When we arrived in Valmorin, Edric and Lunara were already there.
They had also left Anton at home. Zara and Zímeron were asleep.
I kissed them both, looking at their rounded bellies and joking:
“The third time, let’s plan it so we get pregnant together.”
“Deal! Since I want about ten children running around here, it should work out!”
Elowen laughed.
“Ten?” Lunara widened her eyes.
“Maybe twelve!” She laughed at her sister’s expression.
While the three men poured themselves glasses of țuică and discussed some vampire attacks on a pack in France, the three of us sat in the living room on the soft sofas. We drank juice while they were pregnant and I was breastfeeding.
I looked at the blazing fireplace, filled with a peaceful sense of well-being. I remembered something we had discussed long ago and brought it up again:
“Is Orion doing well? After the Elders died, I know his curse ended. But I’ve always wondered whether it would be permanent.”
“He’s free, but... he’s hit rock bottom. His chosen mate, Franchesca, moved on with another wolf... she eventually lost hope that the spell would ever be broken. Now I’m trying to help them. She regrets it, but he’s in terrible shape. He doesn’t want contact with anyone. He just wants to stay isolated.”
“Poor thing. Besides being cursed, he lost his chosen mate...”
“Yeah, maybe she’s the one who lost...” Elowen fell silent in thought before continuing. “I think about everything that happened to us. If the Elders had won, none of this would be happening. But I still have some questions.”
“Like what?” Lunara turned toward her on the sofa.
“Why Kehin suddenly became so obsessed with me. I’ve come to the conclusion that the necklace Korlina left behind—the one I found in the forest—intensified his attraction to me, since she was his grandmother. But I’m investigating, talking to other witches who have started arriving. They no longer need to hide now that the Elders can’t forbid or hunt them.”
I nodded, intrigued.
“And have you discovered whether your mother really betrayed your father with a warlock? Or if she was forced?”
“It’s still a mystery. Aldren promised he would try to find the warlock who used to visit our house so we can finally get answers. My ancestors go silent whenever I ask that question. I don’t understand it.”
“Can you imagine if that warlock turned out to be your father?” Sava laughed playfully. “Wasn’t he a Shuvano, after all?”
“We’d be sisters!” clapped her hands, her blue eyes shining as she looked at me.
I laughed too.
“I’d love that! But I don’t think my father ever left the village, not even after my mother died. Unless he took a little trip to your pack and then came back. Either way, we don’t share the same blood, but I feel like your sister.”
And it was true. They smiled warmly while stroking their bellies.
I looked at Viktor with his brothers, the three of them together, talking, surrounded by peace.
Everything was exactly as it was meant to be.
New challenges and mysteries might appear, new developments might arrive, old questions might resurface. But our destiny would continue beyond the Prophecy.
A destiny forged by us.