Chapter Ninety-Two

***Hello, everyone. I apologize for the short chapter yesterday. I was having an issue with the app, and it refused to post the entire chapter. The rest of that chapter is in this one. Thank you! - KeyKirita***

"Our babies are aging so quickly if it keeps going like this, they won't live long," I said, my heart aching and my eyes welling up with tears. *'I didn't want to say it, but it's true. If our babies continue to age at this speed, they will die in only a few years. I can't live with the thought of living longer than my children. I cannot.'*

"Don't say that, Bastet." Damien snapped, shaking his head in anger. "Yes, they are aging quickly. But remember for a moment what they are. Half-vampire, and half elemental. Two immortal beings. Chances are, once they get older, they will stop aging."

"They aren't half elemental. The babies are a quarter elemental and half-vampire."

"Oh, I forgot you weren't there when Octavia was explaining. She said royal elementals can't be less than half. So, even if you are half, the babies will be too."

I felt a sense of relief when he said this but found it hard to believe, as it made no sense to me. "How does a vampire forget anything? And how could that possibly be true?"

"We can have Octavia explain it again when we meet up with her, and I don't forget, but sometimes it's just not at the front of my mind," Damien said with a shrug as he stood, and walked into the babies room, returning a few moments later with two outfits, two sets of shoes, and two coats for the babies.

I smiled when I saw this, and shook my head, laughing softly. "I guess it's a good thing you spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on clothes and shoes for the babies, they've grown out of so many sizes so far, they'd never have clothes if you didn't."

"Yes, I assumed they would grow quickly," Damien responded as he handed me Ciaran's clothes, and sat back down to dress Azeneth, chuckling softly as she whined. "You must wear clothes, little one. You are a young lady, and going about naked would be most unladylike."

*'He's so good with the babies, he wasn't kidding about reading hundreds of books'* I thought as I started to dress Ciaran. Damien picked an adorable white onesie, with a blue teddy bear on the front, and a pair of pants, with little brown boots. Azeneth had an identical outfit, but with a pink teddy bear on her onesie. "Damien, what would happen if one or both of our kids were gay, or grew up to identify as a different gender?" I asked him after a few minutes. He'd always dressed them in their gender-specific coloring, so I wasn't sure if this was something he would be upset with or not. *'He is very old, and in his days, those things weren't common, and people were oppressed. I just hope Damien could adapt to a new view on those things. I don't want our babies to feel like they can't be who they are, because their father is so old fashioned.'*

"They are my children, and I will love them regardless. If Ciaran grows up and wants to be known by a female name, I would support it. And that goes the same for Azeneth. I know you are afraid that because of my age, I wouldn't agree with such things, but even in my human days, there were women to loved women and men who loved men. Same as today's day and age, some who loved both. If they were found out, they would be killed for it. I never agreed with such things, and I understand that sexuality is not something you can choose. You love who you love, and you shouldn't be judged or hated for it." Damien said, shaking his head, his blue eyes darkening in anger as he put on Azeneth's shoes, smiling as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her tummy. "I feel like you can understand me, little one. Just know, your daddy will love you no matter what. I will destroy anyone who makes you feel like a lesser person for being who you are. That is a promise." He mumbled as he kissed her chubby cheeks, and chuckled when she laughed.

"Things were much worse in my days, sadly," Sinclair said as he walked in the front door, then sat on the couch behind me, playing with Ciaran's hand as he held it out.

"So, what are your thoughts on it? Are Sam or Samantha coming with?" I asked as I handed him Ciaran, making sure he was holding him correctly before sitting on the couch next to him.

"My thoughts are the same as Lucifer's. I had friends who would never admit to being attracted to someone of the same sex because they'd surely be killed." Sinclair commented as he carefully put on Ciaran's jacket, then held him to his chest. "Samantha and Alastair are not going to be attending, as they are in a fight."

"They're in a fight? What could Alastair have done, that would make Samantha so upset?" Damien asked as he handed Azeneth to me, before cleaning up the toys from the floor.

"What makes you assume Sam was in the wrong? What if Samantha did something?" I asked, but I already knew Damien was right. Samantha was a very laid back person, and it seemed pretty far fetched that she would be the one to cause the fight. It was hard to even picture her upset. *'Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen Samantha mad, or even really bothered by anything.'*

"Because the chances of Sam doing something to start the fight are insurmountably higher than if Samantha did something," Damien responded as he carried the babies things into their room, putting them away.

I stood and picked up the blanket once the toys were picked up, and folded it, before setting it down on the rocking chair off to the side. "You're right, the chances of it being Samantha are way lower."

"It was Sam, as you both already assumed," Sinclair responded, shaking his head at us. "Since we've been here, Valerie has still been calling and texting him. And Samantha is upset about it."

"Why is Valerie still calling him, and how do you even know this? It seems pretty unlikely that you would be the one Sam vents to, instead of Damien." I said as Damien and I started putting a bag together for the babies. "Will you grab diapers and wipes, please?"

"Unfortunately, my house is close enough to Sam and Samantha's, to hear the fight. I asked Octavia if I could get a house on the outskirts of town, but she laughed and said no." Sinclair growled, shaking his head again.

"Why did she say no?"

"After saying no, she said to deal with it, or learn to tune it out. The houses on the outskirts of town keep us further away from the mimics, and might make them trust us less."

"I can see that, yeah," I said with a nod as we clipped the babies into their carriers, then started carrying them out to the car, waiting for me to sit between them, before securing them.

"Are you ready for this? It's a big town, so it will not be easy." Damien asked me as he started the car and drove towards the entrance of town.

"I know it won't be easy, but I think it will help me learn to control my power long term, especially if it burns me out," I said as I Ciaran started to cry, then put the pacifier in his hand.

"I suppose that makes sense. Learning while you're recovering from a drain may be the best thing for you to do." Damien said as we arrived at the entrance of the town, where Kerr and Octavia were waiting.

"Good morning, how are you feeling?" Octavia said as she pulled me into a hug, then gasped as Damien pulled Azeneth out of the back seat. "Oh my god, they've gotten so big!"

"Yeah, they are aging pretty quickly," I said as we walked down the road, alongside the forest. "Why are we walking this way? I thought we were going to repair the border?"

"We are going to repair the border, but I don't think we should do it in the center of town, but we should do it on the outskirts," Octavia said as she turned just past the treeline, then stopped about halfway to where another forest began. "The town spans over miles, so we may have to do this on both sides, but it depends on how much you can do. You guys should stand back, in case something happens. But Bast, remember the summoning feeling for the earth, and tap into that. But don't do anything just yet."

"Okay, I remember. Feeling like you're united with the ground. Got it." I said after smiling softly at Damien, then closing my eyes, as that made it easier to connect with my abilities.

"Now, try and feel the border around the town. Remember, it's a decent-sized town, so it may take you a while before you can connect to all four sides."

"All four? What about the entrance? That isn't blocked in." Kerr asked, furrowing his brows in confusion as he leaned against the hood of their car, watching us from afar.

"It's not blocked in, no. But it usually makes it easier for me to imagine the entire outline, so it might be easier for Bast to do the same." Octavia responded as she sat down to take off her shoes.

*'I guess it makes sense that being barefoot would help you connect better. I may as well do the same thing.'* I thought as I sat down to take off my shoes and socks as well. As soon as I tried to connect, I felt like the connection was over ten times stronger, just from touching the earth, than it was standing above it with shoes on.

"A lot better, isn't it?" Octavia laughed, then closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. "Tell me once you think you have the border."

I nodded and closed my eyes again, taking a deep breath before connecting with the ground beneath me, feeling the trees surrounding me. It took me a few moments, but I finally found something, which I think was the border. I could feel a dome-like shape in my mind, and I could feel everything inside of it. The foot-steps, the feeling of life inside of it. *'This is amazing! I can feel every life and heartbeat in the town when I do this!'* "I got it." I said once I felt like I had a firm grasp on the "dome" in my head.

"Okay, now try to picture the trees and the air surrounding it. Tell me once you have that, and we will move on to the next step of actually reinforcing the border."

*'Okay, so kind of like you can feel the people, you need to feel the trees. C'mon Bast, you got this. Wow, the trees feel alive when I do this. Maybe feeling the life in nature is what gives us the ability to command it? Either way, focus on the border.'* I told myself, and I started to feel the trees responding to me like they were standing in front of me like a human, conversing.

"Shit! Okay, just keep doing whatever you're doing." Octavia said, pulling me out of my thoughts. After she said that, I could feel her connecting with the trees as well as she'd somehow joined the conversation. Although I didn't understand how or why it was happening, I knew it was amazing to connect to something on such a level. "Bast, focus on strengthening the trees, like arms, wrapping around the town to protect it."

"Like arms, okay." I thought, but the moment I thought it, I could feel the lives in the trees doing what I said, and growing, then intertwining with the trees on the other side, closing the gap at the top. But I didn't let it stop there, I continued to push the trees until the branches wrapped to the ground on the other side.

"Jesus Christ, your powers only get scarier the more of it I witness." Kerr gasped softly, making me realize I could hear my babies' heartbeats, even though they were hundreds of feet away.

I opened my eyes to find that I'd managed to tap into my abilities, without realizing it, again. *'Must be because I was using my elemental abilities, but I didn't think using one would automatically link to the other.'*

"The part that should scare you; is that Bast did that on her own," Octavia said, chuckling as she shook her head and motioned for me to follow her.

"What do you mean I did it by myself? I felt your connection." I said as I kissed Damien, before walking past him and to the middle of the road, where Octavia had stopped and was waiting for me.

"I was connected, but you did all of the work before I could even attempt to assist you. I felt the trees and the branches bending to your will, so I stayed connected until you stopped, or to see if you would tap yourself out, in which case I could help or pick up the slack." Octavia explained as I stood beside her, then pointed towards the town, showing me that I'd shaped the border like a dome, with the trees intertwining so tightly, that the town could not be seen at all from any side, or the sky.

"Wow, I seriously did that by myself? I'm sorry, I guess I couldn't stop picturing a dome, and I ended up creating one." I apologized when I saw the shape, as I imagined, Octavia did not want her town to be outlined in a dome shape.

"Look at what your mother can do! I wonder if you will be as powerful as your mother, little one." Damien said as he, Sinclair, and Kerr joined Octavia and me to look at the town. He'd taken Azeneth out of her carrier and was holding her head to his chin, trying to show her what I'd done.

"That reminds me. Damien said something about our babies being half royal, even though they're a quarter?" I asked, turning my attention back to Octavia.

"Let's go back to town, I'll explain it to you, the best that I know, as I had to sell my soul to get that information," Octavia said, shaking her head and waving for us to walk back to where we left the cars.

We followed her back to the cars, then followed her to her house, where she led us back to her inside forest and grabbing a bottle of whiskey from the bar in her basement.

"So, what did you mean when you said, our kids are half? How is that possible?" I asked after taking off my shoes and socks and resting my legs in the water. *'It's a good thing I decided to wear shorts today.'* I thought as I took off Ciaran's boots and pants, then held his feet just above the water, letting him splash and play.

"He is so adorable," Octavia mumbled softly, giggling as she watched him. "They are still technically a quarter, but it turns out, a royal can never have powers less than a half-bred can. So, in other words: they are still a quarter, but they have the same abilities and benefits that you and I do."

"I'm sorry for bringing this up, but I am quite curious about it," Damien said as he followed suit, and let Azeneth play in the water as well. He waited a few moments before continuing, "Kerr is still aging, and now you've stopped. What happened when he dies of old age, whilst you are still in your twenties?"

"I... I never considered that." Kerr said, blinking his eyes a few times, before turning to look at Octavia.

"He is my lune, before the pack. He stopped aging the moment we became mates." Octavia explained with a shrug, before pouring herself a glass of whiskey, then handing the bottle to Kerr. "For as long as I remain alpha, you will stop aging. If something is able to remove me from my place, then you will start aging again. How do you not know this, Kerr? You're a mimic for godsakes, and that's common knowledge."

"That's incredible. I wasn't aware that alpha's do not age." Sinclair cut in as he leaned against the wall, watching us.

"I always feel like I'm going to sorely regret telling you things about mimics that other species do not know. I don't know if it's your eye color or just the way you act, but I feel like you're plotting against me while acting to be my ally." Octavia said, narrowing her eyes at Sinclair

"I do not know why you would think such preposterous things, alpha." Sinclair responded, shaking his head.

"You realize that statement, including the sarcasm in your voice, only makes it worse. Correct?" Damien asked him, chuckling softly as he lifted Azaneth out of the water, and drying her feet, before laying her down on a blanet.

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about."

"Okay, he's definetly planning an attack. I refuse to believe differently." Kerr said, growling, his mimic rippling through his face as he glared at Sinclair.