399- Emerge Victorious
POV Viktor Averwyn:
Seraphine came running from there, desperate, followed by Daciana, who sobbed.
My fear increased, for having to leave them there, for the possibility of not returning to protect them.
The pain became something alive, to the point of shaking me from head to toe. But nothing was stronger than the certainty that hit me like a blow.
I gazed at her light green eyes, her red hair flying, her beautiful little face. The scent of lilies even stronger. The gypsy woman who had become part of me, half of my being.
I loved her. I loved her so much that I could no longer breathe without her, nor imagine myself in the world if she didn't exist.
She threw herself into my arms, and I held her tightly, devastated and altered, nervous and out of my mind. I wanted time to save her, to get her out of there safely, but there was none.
"I'm so sorry about Adelina..." she cried against my chest, her hands touching me. "I feel guilty! I..."
"Don't say that." I held her face, made her look at me. "Never say that again."
"But..."
"The blame is on that wretch. And today he will pay."
"My love..." She caressed my face, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I didn't want you to go through this. If I could change everything!"
"No one can. My daughter is dead." I swallowed that despair, eyes fixed on hers, my chest tearing more with each breath. "But you are alive. And that's how you will stay."
"Only if you are with me, if you promise me you will come back."
"Seraphine..."
"I can't live without you. Tell me you will come back to me."
"I will."
I assured her, for I could not bear to die knowing I would leave her alone and unprotected. I pulled her closer, our lips almost touching.
"I love you. It was the wait for you that made me go to that gypsy village every time, long before you were born. I wanted to speed up time, anxious to have you in my life. Now I know I rushed, because I felt that my destiny was there. My predestined one."
"Viktor..." She cried more, her lips trembling.
"I don't need any proof, I feel it inside me. You are mine, and I am yours. Never forget that, Seraphine."
"I am yours! Always! I love you so much!"
She kissed my mouth, and I reciprocated, hungry, marvelled. Forgetting the world around us. Until something different made me more alert, purging strongly.
I felt her scent mixed with mine, different, broader and stronger than ever. I pulled the blouse away from her shoulder and saw there the red, marked bite, the surrounding skin bruised. Regret and fear came, for perhaps I would not be there to see the consequences of that. And I knew I needed to take care of her, ensure she would be alright.
I raised my gaze over her small and deceptively fragile figure. The human who had taken down Lana in the fight, who had shot ferocious wolves in my kitchen, defending herself and Daciana.
I found her tear-filled eyes, full of love and devotion. My other half. Part of my soul. The one my mother warned would come to me.
The scent, that different glow, my certainty beyond everything.
It was there that the revelation came, and I understood.
I had marked her with the bite. And I had coupled inside her body, keeping her attached to me when I tied the knot and gushed against her womb. I did not open it, she was not a she-wolf. But she received me with every part of herself, in her belly, in her blood. My cells throughout her body. Love connecting us.
Seraphine was pregnant by me.
I just knew it, without any doubt. I didn't need weeks to be sure, nor premonitions. A tiny life, just an egg and a sperm, was there, fertilized. Our scents mixed. Life about to take its course.
"Fuck..."
I hugged her tightly, fear increasing. For an instant, I wavered in my rage, in the determination of that war. I was afraid of losing her and our child. Of her body not enduring and me not being present. Or of the village being invaded, with no time for her to escape.
My eyes swept around, my soldiers continuing to arrive, strong and fearless. Ready to leave their homes and family for me, for our village and dignity. The children, innocent, always happy. The women and elderly, with their losses and pains, but on our side.
I owed all of them my protection, the best of myself.
It was for every life there, for Seraphine and our baby, still so fragile, that I would fight. And to avenge my daughter and Katarina; my murdered parents, my brothers separated from me for centuries.
Strength returned doubled, and I held her arms, made her look at me.
"Stay safe. At any cost. And flee if Florian orders it."
She nodded. Then I turned to everyone, pulling Daciana with my other arm, knowing that her pain at losing Adelina was similar to mine. I spoke loudly:
"I am proud to be your alpha. I will fight to the death for every one of you here. And if something happens to me, if I do not return, protect yourselves. And help protect Seraphine. She is my predestined one. Can I count on you?"
Cheers echoed that yes, everyone exalting and letting out victory growls, assuring that we would emerge victorious.
If it depended on me, that is what would happen.