Chapter 21

Mavros' hand was wrapped around my waist protectively when I woke the following morning. I carefully turned as I did not want to wake him up. I just wanted to look at him. I missed him so much. His voice, his touch, his kisses. I missed all of him. At this point, I felt happy and fulfilled. Thankful, too. I did not know how Aspro did it, but I was thankful to him.

"You don't know how happy I am to have you around." I drew an invisible heart on his chest. "I feel like I can do this now."

It was true. Having him around was one heck of a support. I felt stronger and fearless.

"Thank you."

I lifted his hand off of my body and tiptoed into the toilet to do my business. I brushed my teeth, showered, and got out. I had to go see the doctor today. I brought out an orange maxi dress that stopped just above my knees. After I did a very simple makeup, I put on a pair of black flats.

"Where are you headed to?"

My eyes flitted to Mavros when I heard his voice. His hair was slightly messy, but he still pulled it off.

"Hospital," I answered. "For checkup."

"Really?" He got out of the bed. "Let me shower and join you." He stopped in front of my room's door. "Don't leave without me."

"I wouldn't dare."

"Good."

*

"Thanks for breakfast," I slid my chair back, grabbed my plate and went into the kitchen to wash them.

"Thank you." I heard Aspro say before he came to stand beside me. "Let me." he put my hands under the tap to rinse off whatever dirt was on it.

I watched as he washed my plate and his. After he was done, he began drying them. "How did you sleep?" he inquired, glancing at me.

"Pretty good." I admitted. "Mavros told me what you did in Alynthi. Thank you."

His lips stretched into a smile. A genuine one. "I saw how sad you were because of his absence. Especially after the dream you had weeks back. I decided to do something to make you smile again. He makes you happy."

"He does." There was a pause. "Aspro, I'm sorry."

He put our plates in the cabinet. "You don't have to be. It doesn't matter to me who you love, Valeria. Loving you in your past life is enough for me. All I want is for you to be happy. I'm happy if you're happy."

"Can we be friends?"

"Aren't we already?" he held open his arms for me. "Come here."

I hugged him. "Thank you for always being there for me."

"You don't have to thank me. I'm always happy to help."

He pulled away from the hug and turned to the entrance. I followed his line of sight to see Mavros just staring at us with an expression I couldn't read.

"I've got to go." Aspro avoided his brother's eyes. "Drake asked me to help him plant some trees."

"Oh, okay."

He walked out of the kitchen without sparing his brother a glance. I wondered if they would ever get along like they used to.

"What was all that about?" Mavros questioned, washing his plate.

"Nothing much. I was only thanking him."

He faced me. "For what?"

I reduced the space between us and kissed him. "For bringing you back to me."

He grinned. "Are you that happy to have me around?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Why?"

"Mostly because I have a lot of paperwork to attend to and I know you'll be more than happy to help me."

He raised his left eyebrow. "You wanted me back for paperwork?"

"You don't want to help?"

"Of course I want to help, but seriously? You wanted me back for paperwork?"

"Yes."

His smile turned upside down and he stalked out of the kitchen, completely ignoring my calls. He went over to where I kept my car keys, picked one up and left the house with me still calling his name. He went over to the passenger side and opened the door for me.

"Get in." was all he said before going to the driver's side.

"Mavros," I got into the car and shut the door. "Are you getting upset?"

He gripped the steering wheel. "I am already upset."

"You know I didn't mean what I said, right?"

He did not respond.

"Mavros,"

No response.

"Come on, you can't get mad." I rubbed his thigh. "I was joking."

He finally looked at me. "How do I know you were joking?"

"You can read my mind. I'll allow it."

He stared at me for the longest time before leaning in for a kiss that I returned with a smile. "I forgive you." He started the car and drove out of the palace yard.

Trees went by in a blur of green as Mavros sped past them. He controlled the wheel with one hand while holding hands with me with the other hand. I felt like I was in a movie. Who would have thought that after the death of my destined mate that I'd find love? The strange thing was that I fell in love with the one who forced me to murder my mate. It didn't matter anymore, though. I was happy with him.

"How does it feel?" Mavros asked, flicking a glance at my protruding stomach. "Being pregnant."

"It feels new, but I'm hoping I'm good at it. I don't know if I'll be a good mother, especially since I'll be giving birth to twin hybrids."

He rubbed his thumb against my hand. "You'll make a great mom. I know it."

"You know, as much as I cannot wait to see them, I'm worried about what Selene told me."

"What did she say?"

"After you disappeared from my head, she told me I would not die, but someone I cared about would die in my place. I don't want to lose anyone."

He gave my hand a comforting squeeze. "We'll figure it out, alright? Don't think too much."

I sucked in a deep breath to calm my nerves. "Okay. I won't think about it."

"That's my girl."

He drove into the pack hospital and parked the car. Just life before, he jogged around the vehicle, opened the door for me and helped me get out. We got into the hospital and went to see Doctor Halsey.

"Good morning, Halsey." I greeted.

She stood up. "Good morning, Alpha. How are you?"

"I am tired." I sat down when she motioned to the chair. "When do I push them out? I can't take it any longer." I noticed Mavros stand awkwardly in the corner. "Hey, come here."

"Good morning..." Halsey trailed off when she realized she did not know Mavros' name. She only knew Aspro.

"Mavros."

Her eyes went wide. "You're the god of destruction?"

He smirked. "The one and only."

"Wow," she breathed, sitting back down. "It is a," she searched her head for what to say. "Um, it is a pleasure to meet you, Sir Mavros."

"Likewise."

"So, Alpha," Halsey put both hands on her desk. "What exactly is the problem?"

"My back hurts a lot more than normal and it feels like they want to rip me open. Sometimes, I feel so dizzy and I cannot explain it."

Halsey's eyebrows furrowed. "The back pain is normal in your case and the father of your kids has explained the part where you feel like they want to rip you apart is normal. But if you want, we can check to see if everything is alright in there."

"Please do."

Halsey applied ultrasound gel on my tummy and used a device to check on my girls after I had laid down a bed with my dress up. Mavros stood beside me, holding my hand. I could hear his increased heartbeat and it brought a smile to my face. He was nervous. She checked the monitor for some time before saying something.

"Something is odd about this one," she pointed at the child on the left. "I can't really say, but something isn't right." She was silent for a while, "Pardon me, Alpha." Halsey's eyebrows were furrowed deeply. "This is the first god pregnancy ever recorded in our world. A lot of things are new to me."

When I looked at Mavros, he was very into what was displayed on the screen. It was as if he knew what was wrong. He confirmed my suspicion when he asked Halsey for a wipe. When handed one, he cleaned the gel off my tummy.

"This might hurt a little," his eyes were soft. "If it hurts too much, tell me, okay?"

I nodded. "Okay."

He placed his hand on my tummy and almost immediately, a sharp pain shot up from my stomach. Halsey just watched like a medical student learning from her teacher. It was not as if she could ever do what he was doing. Still, she remained interested. The pain made me clench my fists and close my eyes. What the hell was he doing?

"I thought as much." He removed his hand and returned to holding my hand.

"What's wrong? Is something wrong with them?" I asked, worried.

"One has an ability that's going to affect both you and the other child."

"What ability?"

"You've got a blood sucker in there." He simply stated. "Her fangs are not yet developed, but until you give birth, expect dizziness. She needs more energy if she's going to develop well."

I pulled down my dress and sat up. "I hope she doesn't grow fangs in there. I'd hate to get bitten."

"You'll be doing the biting, my love."

My love?

As much as I wanted to address the nickname, the sentence before it had to be explained. "I'll be doing the biting?"

"Yeah. Have you forgotten that you'll be displaying their abilities before they are born?"

My mouth resembled the letter 'o' after he explained what he meant by I'll be doing the biting. I would crave blood like a damn vampire. I'd tasted blood before, but I never drank it. Well, there's a first time for everything.

"I'll give you some drugs that should help with the dizziness," Halsey said. "Please make sure you take them."

"Got it."

After we took the drugs from Doctor Halsey, Mavros and I returned to the parking lot. Once we were in the car, I put on my seatbelt and turned to him. He hadn't noticed I was looking at him, or if he did; he said nothing about it.

"My love?"

He looked at me. "Huh?"

"Back there," I leaned back in my seat. "You called me your love."

"Isn't that what you are?"

"I did not know that."

I smiled when he pecked me. "Well, now you know."

He drove out of the hospital and instead of heading in the direction of the house; he drove toward the sea. I noticed the path ahead would make it almost impossible to drive through. Wherever we were headed meant we would have to walk to get there, since there was no road.

"Stay there," he turned off the car, got down, jogged around and opened the door for me. "Give me your hand. I'd hate it if you fell."

I gave him my hand as I came down from the car. "Where are we going to? This is nowhere."

"Just trust me, will you?"

"Alright."

For the next few minutes, I did not ask questions about where we were going. I quietly followed him, taking in my surroundings until we came to a stop in front of a cliff; a tower of grey rock that looked like the god of the sea had chiseled it himself. The sun glared and the sea breeze whipped at my form, making me wish I had put on a jacket.

"We're here." He said, checking my face for an emotion.

"A cliff," I stated. "We are at a cliff."

"Yes. I'm sure you're wondering why I would bring you to a place like this."

"I am."

"I brought you here because I want to ask you something."

Was he going to ask me to marry him?

No, he wouldn't. It'd be too soon. We only confessed our love for each other yesterday.

"What's that?"

He held both of my hands in his. "V, you love me, right?"

"Of course I do."

He let out a breath of relief. "Then how do you feel about making me yours?"

I was confused. "What do you mean by that?"

"I want you to mark me."