Chapter 23

Mavros drove into the yard and turned off the car. Standing in front of the door was Maya with frown lies wedging in between her eyebrows as she tapped her foot to a rhythm on the concrete ground. I got out of the car and closed the door.

"Goodness gracious, young lady." Maya ran to me, holding out her hands. "Where did you two disappear to informing no one? Your phone was unanswered, too."

"I'm fine." I assured her. "You have nothing to be worried about."

"Are you sure?"

I nodded. "Yes. He was with me."

Only then did Maya look at Mavros. She lowered her head respectfully and he acknowledged her with a bow of his own. "Why don't you two come in? Everyone was worried about you. Logan almost called a search party, you know."

I followed Maya into the house with Mavros trailing behind me. As soon as I stepped foot into the living room, I was squished in a hug by Red. The guys just stood behind them with arms crossed over their broad chests. I was in trouble.

"Where have you been?" Melody asked, coming down the stairs with Dimitri in her arms. "You almost gave us a heart attack."

"I was with the council."

Red's hands dropped from my body. "As in the council?"

"Yes."

Aspro came down the stairs at the right time. I wanted to run to him and hug him. To tell him how thankful I was for his help. Now wasn't the time for that, though. I needed to tell them everything.

"And you came back?" Logan.

"We found out that a goddess who had been after Mavros' heart had foreseen the future and made that law so that he would stay away from me. She wanted to change the future. There was never a legitimate reason for keeping gods and mortals apart."

"You won, correct?" Drake asked.

I nodded.

"Then why do you not look excited? I thought you'd be feeling festive."

"Well, there's a reason for that." I looked at Mavros. I did not know how I was to tell them. Would they resent me for it? The thought of them not wanting to be around me scared me. I wasn't one to get scared, but with my family, it was different.

Mavros seemed to have understood it was a heavy topic for me, so he did the explaining.

"Selene appeared to Valeria weeks ago and said she would take a life in exchange for hers. It is known that a mortal cannot bear gods, so Selene will take the life of someone dear to Valeria."

"You mean to tell me that one of us will die the moment Valeria gives birth?" Melody inquired, her furrowed eyebrows portraying her confusion. "Is that it?"

"Yes."

Mel shifted her eyes to me. "Is this true?"

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I just didn't have it in me to ruin your joy."

Carter rubbed the back of his neck. "I honestly don't know what to tell you, V."

"I understand if you hate me or don't want to be around me."

"What? No." Logan hugged me. "We are family. Family don't hate each other and neither do they leave when the other is suffering. We've got your back." he turned to the rest. "Right?"

"I don't know." Melody gave me an apologetic look before lowering her eyes to her son. "I have a son, V. I cannot leave him behind. You understand, right?"

"I do. But please remember it is not in my place to choose whose life will be taken in exchange for mine." When no one spoke, I continued. "I'm so, so, sorry."

They said nothing. Even Maya. It broke my heart. They resented me. I was certain of it. Perhaps I would spend the rest of my pregnancy in my room. They wouldn't want to look at me and be reminded that one of them would die.

"Come on," Mavros took my hand. "Let's go upstairs."

"Wait." I averted my gaze to Aspro when he spoke. "I have something to say."

So did I.

"I'll be returning to Alynthi. Since you now have my brother by you, I have no reason to worry anymore. I'm sure he'll ensure your safety even though I know you can kick ass on your own." He gave me a small smile. "If I come back, it will be when you give birth. I'd love to see our girls and hold them even if it's once."

"You don't have to go." I told him. "There's room for more, you know. The more, the merrier."

"I'm not a fan of overstaying my welcome. Take care of yourself and the girls, alright?"

Despite the ache in my heart, I nodded. "I will."

He faced his brother. "I leave her in your care, brother."

Mavros said nothing. Instead, he hugged Aspro, causing a grey light to glow in between them. When they pulled away from the hug, Mavros was wearing a smile. "We still got it."

"We do." Aspro said, mirroring his twin's expression. "I'll see you in Alynthi, brother."

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Aspro arched a brow. "You or me?"

Mavros shrugged. "I've changed."

"I'll pretend you did not say that." He pivoted on his heels to Mel and the others. "It was nice spending time with you all. Especially you, Drake."

Drake lowered his head. "The pleasure is mine."

"I sincerely hope things work out for the best and that this family's troubles come to an end." There was a pause. "Goodbye."

Everyone bowed their heads in respect. Aspro wordlessly made his way to the door. I hurried to him. I needed to let him know how grateful I was for his help.

"Aspro," he halted and spun in my direction. "Wait a second."

"Is something the matter?"

I shook my head. "No. It's just that I wanted to thank you for your help in this council matter. You've always been a big help to me and I'd like to thank you for everything. Honestly, it's a shame you have to leave."

"We have to say goodbye to be able to meet again."

"I know, but do you really have to go?"

"I'd hate to be a third-wheeler, V. What I have always wanted has happened, and that's your happiness. You're happy and it's all that matters."

"Thank you."

He opened his arms for me. "A hug?"

I didn't hesitate to wrap my arms around his torso. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you, too." he pulled away, gazing into my eyes. "Promise me something, V."

"What's that?"

"Promise me that no matter what happens, you'll always be happy."

I held out my pinky and we interlocked pinkies. "I promise."

<<<>>>

ONE MONTH LATER

It was safe to say I failed to keep my promise to Aspro because after he left; it was as if I had become invisible to most of my family members. Since that day, Maya barely spoke to me. It was the same with Melody and Carter. We ate at the same table, slept under the same roof and often saw each other, but I could count the number of sentences we'd shared. Melody hardly let me hold her son, so I had been unable to speak to Zayne. It was that bad.

I only had Mavros, Drake, Logan and Red to talk to. This morning was going to be as it had been the past few weeks. Be ignored by them.

"Won't you come down for breakfast?" Mavros questioned, his eyes filled with worry. "You didn't leave the room yesterday and made me bring you food."

Just like yesterday, I brushed my teeth, showered, got dressed, and remained in bed. I didn't want to go down and have them ignore me. It was depressing.

"I'm not hungry." I sunk deeper into the sheets, hoping to hide away from what would come next.

"Young lady, I will not have that." He yanked the sheets off of me. My tummy was bigger and screamed delivery. "You're pregnant, V." He sat down on the bed. "You need to eat."

"I'm not hungry." I repeated. "Haven't you noticed how they act like I have a contagious disease?"

"I noticed, but it shouldn't get to you. For the sake of these little angels." He kissed my tummy—a habit he developed. "Please?"

"No." I grabbed a pillow and covered my face with it.

"How about I get you something to eat?" he offered.

"No, thank you."

"A blood bag?"

Because of one of the girls' abilities, I had resulted to drinking blood bags. It tasted awful.

"Nope."

"Have I ever told you that you are one hell of a stubborn woman?"

I removed the pillow. "No."

"Well, you are."

I kicked him, earning myself a chuckle. He looked like the most precious thing ever when he laughed. "I'm not talking to you." I got off the bed and stalked to the bathroom to pee.

"You're going to have to talk to me at one point."

"We'll see." I shut the door with more force than I usually would to prove to him how mad I was.

"Chill," he laughed. "I know you're upset. No need to assault the door."

I ignored him, knowing fully well he was having fun. However, nature seemed to make me want to eat my words because when I touched the band of my shorts, liquid trickled down my legs. I did not need a genius to tell me what that meant.

"Mavros?"

"I knew you'd talk to me sooner than you expected."

"Can you come in here?"

"Why?" he opened the door only to gasp. "Whoa."

"Please call Halsey and tell her to prepare everything."

"Um, s-sure." He dashed out of the bathroom, only to come back seconds later. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." I waved him off. "Go call her."

"Got it."

I stared at the strange liquid, looking away when I heard Mavros on the phone.

"It's labor, doc." He said, sounding panic. "She's in labor. What do I do?" I don't know what Halsey told him, but he responded by saying. "Understood. We'll be there in a minute."

I came out of the bathroom to see Mavros double checking a bag I had used to pack the necessary things for this moment.

"We should let them know." He did not look at me as he continued with what he was doing.

"No."

He picked up the bag and turned to me. "Why not?"

"They didn't care about me for weeks. Why should I tell them?"

"What about Logan? Drake? Even Ared. They didn't leave you, did they? You should at least inform them."

I shook my head. "I don't want to."

"I won't force you to do what you don't want to do." He walked over to me and looped an arm around my waist. With this guy, cars were useless.

In the blink of an eye, we were in the hospital. In front of the labor room. At that precise moment, Halsey came out of the labor room looking well dressed for the event at hand.

"Alpha, come in." She opened the door and led me into the room. When Mavros tried to follow me in, he was stopped. "Please wait here."

Beads of sweat had begun decorating my forehead as the pain became more intense. My waist felt heavy and my insides felt like they were being pulled at by someone. I laid on the bed with the help of another doctor. A blonde I hadn't seen before. I watched as the blonde woman took off my shorts and underwear before spreading my legs apart.

Minutes went by and the contractions became worse. Neither of the doctors did anything or asked me to push after injecting me with something. They only asked if I was doing okay. I obviously wasn't, because this was the first time I had experienced such pain. The pain could drive a man insane.

"Why aren't you asking me to push?" I asked, hating how they just watched me.

"You're not yet dilated enough to push." Halsey explained. "Just a little more."

The contractions would come almost every two minutes and my oh my, the one that hit me next made me want to rip out my hair.

I gripped my hair. "I can't take this anymore. Get them out of me." My voice didn't sound like mine. I sounded dangerous.

My tone did not faze Halsey. "A few more minutes, Alpha."

So, I waited for minutes through the pain. At one point, I hurled insults at Zariya, blaming her for what I was going through. It was her fault.

"Okay," Halsey took position between my legs. "You're dilated enough. I can see a head."

"Finally."

For minutes, I pushed with all the strength I could muster, although I had eaten nothing today. Maybe I should have listened to Mavros.

"Push." Halsey said.

As I did like Halsey asked, I couldn't stop the thoughts that came to mind.

My mother.

She had gone through this much pain to give birth to me and my brother. She had cried, screamed and probably cursed. And in the end, she didn't get to hold us. My mother did not get to see us grow up. It brought tears to my eyes. But when I heard the cry of a baby, all that sadness washed away.

"Alpha, don't relax just yet." Halsey told me while the blonde woman took my daughter from her.

I did not forget they were two. Just like me and Zayne.

So, I pushed again as tears rolled down my cheeks.

This time, my baby did not cry.

"She's dead."