Chapter Ninety-Two

***Hadrian***

It’s been a week. A week since Scorpius got back to the pack carrying a bloodied, unconscious Kautious with a knife sticking out of his abdomen. A week since the doctor told us they weren’t sure if he’d make it. A week since we had all basically lived in a hospital room, none of us wanting to leave his side in case it was his last time. I let a sigh slip past my lips as we settled back in at home. I still can’t believe he woke up so coherent from being in a coma. He didn’t even seem the slightest bit groggy, which is unusual. We are now back home, settled in bed. Kautious is propped up on pillows against the headboard. Faye has her head on his stomach as she lays between his legs. Scorpius is lying next to them, stroking Kautious’ hair. I sit on the other side, watching my mates with loving eyes. After a few minutes, I can’t take the silence, “So, what did you want to tell us?” Kautious’ eyes light up, “The moon goddess is what actually kept me in the coma.” We all look at him, puzzled, until Faye speaks up, “What?” Kautious recounts everything he and the moon goddess talked about, leaving us completely astonished. I take a moment to process, “I am grateful she did that. Otherwise, we may have lost you, which none of us want. But I also think it’s extremely rare that she visits anyone. It has to mean more… The problem is we may never know what.” Kautious looks at me, “I know it is rare and means more, but keep in mind that she did give a lot of information. Faye’s pregnancy will be healthy. You and Scorpius will be safe and happy.”

I kiss his cheek, “But what about you, love?” He smiles a lopsided smile and places his head back against the headboard, “I have a reward coming, apparently. We just have to wait and see what it is.” I sigh, “The way she made it sound was that you were going to die soon, and I don’t like that. I don’t like that it was meant to be a positive thing with good news, but there was just that ominous message hidden in there.” Kautious grabs my hand and squeezes it, looking deep into my eyes, “Everything is fine. It will all be okay. Stay positive. Now, tell me what I missed.” Scorpius sucked in a harsh breath, “Well, we took down your pack. You watched me kill your mother, the stealth team killed your father, and the rest of the teams took out everyone else. Your list of people got out safely, Jack and Rollie made sure of that. Speaking of Rollie, he’s worried out of his mind. We should probably let him come visit.” I nod, “Yeah, everything worked out, and they won’t be causing us any more trouble. We have taken down another evil in the world, and we are working towards our goal of making it all better. And yes, we should let Rollie come visit when you’re ready. If it isn’t soon, though, I think he’ll start causing issues for everyone out of worry and nerves.”

Kautious nods and leans down to kiss Faye’s head, who fell asleep on him, “I’m glad everything worked out. Scorpius, can you go get Rollie, please? At least let him see I’m alright so he doesn’t cause a scene.” Scorpius nods and does as Kautious asks. I sit there quietly, rubbing my thumb over Kautious’ hand until he squeezes mine, “Hey. It’s okay. Don’t think too much about the words the moon goddess spoke to me. Focus on us being happy for a while. That is the best course of action.” I nod and kiss his head, the 3 of us sitting in a comfortable silence until Scorpius returns with Rollie. Rollie immediately rushes to the bed, looking Kautious over but trying not to wake Faye as she sleeps. Kautious takes his hand and smiles at him, “I’m okay. Everything will be okay. We did it. We came out on top.” And for the first time since I’ve known Rollie, I watched as he broke down in tears beside his little brother over the thought that he could have lost him. Kautious smiles sweetly at him and holds his hand tight while Rollie lets his emotions out. Cooing and whispering words of comfort, I can’t help but think Kautious is a blessing to us all. He’s someone that everyone could use in their life at some point.

After a while, Rollie gets up and leaves the room, saying he’ll visit tomorrow so that we can have some time together and thanking us for letting him come today. Once he’s gone, Kautious slides down the bed, adjusting Faye’s position so that they can cuddle better while he slowly drifts off to sleep. Scorpius is sitting on the other side of them, staring ahead blankly. I gently tap his arm, accidentally startling him, “What’s on your mind?” Scorpius gives me a sad smile, “I almost let our precious mate be killed by his own mother, Hadrian. Yet he doesn’t blame me at all. All he wants is for the three of us to be happy in life. He is the most selfless creature I have ever known, and I almost got him killed.” I give his shoulder a firm squeeze, leaning him sideways, careful not to smash the omegas, for him to lay his head on my shoulder, “It isn’t your fault, Scorp. You couldn’t have possibly known that would happen. I am just grateful you both made it back to us.” He turns his head to bury his face in my neck the best he can, taking a deep, shuttering breath, “I would be so beyond lost without all of you. I was so terrified. I know you’ve heard this all week, but I would never forgive myself if he were killed. I will barely forgive myself now, but at least it’s a little easier since he is alive and well. I know I don’t always seem like it, but I doubt myself a lot and need constant reassurance. And even though I don’t voice that, he somehow knows. He knows everything.”

I nod, agreeing, “I know it can be a bit creepy at times.” He chuckles softly, and then a look of confusion dawns on his face, “I remember when you and Kautious first found their little camp. He said something was weird with you. It caused Faye and I to look into the prophecy more. We were never able to discuss any of this because we had to attack so soon, but we found a lot of useful information. There’s a second part to the prophecy, and I think that’s another reason I was so horrified when Kautious was hurt.” Scorpius then proceeds to tell me about the end of the prophecy they found, how the world came to be in the state it’s in, how each of us has a ‘superpower’ of some sort, and even mentioned he somehow found a journal written by my father. I sit there, processing all this information, and the pit of my stomach drops as I think about the fact that no matter how we look at it, our lives will end in despair the moment one of us is gone, but it’s even more nerve-wracking not being prepared and not knowing who it will be.