33. The heir.

**Balthazar**

Someone kept hammering on the study door. Despite being ignored, the person wouldn't stop. He rolled his eyes, focusing all his attention on the paperwork in front of him, finding it difficult to look anywhere but the door.

"For Christ's sake," he whispered, irritated by the annoying person. "Come in!" he yelled. The door nearly flew open and a maid dropped to her knees in front of him. She could barely regain her breathing.

"What's the matter with you?" he groaned. Running in the halls was forbidden, especially for servants; it was a profoundly disrespectful behaviour to ignore the rules.

"Lord Balthazar, Miss Mary…" she broke off coughing, trying her best to speak, failing each time she took a deeper breath.

"Mary, what? Tell me!" His body tensed in fear, voice raised, hiding the terrifying thoughts playing in his mind.

"She, she didn't feel well, we took her to the hospital, you must hurry," she coughed out the last words, her body dropping on the floor in exhaustion. The maid fainted in front of his eyes. That wasn't a surprise, though- the hospital was located in the North Wing of the castle, while Lord's study was located in the South wing. He approached the maid, leaned down, and checked her pulse. After making sure that she had just fainted, he rushed to the hospital. Arriving there, he sent a couple of nurses to his study to check on the maid. The girl was his mates favourite for a reason; they cared for each other like a real family. If something happened to the maid, his mate would never get over it. The doctor led him to the room where Mary rested. As he entered, he noticed how pale she was; his heart skipped a beat in fear. Lord approached her bed and sat next to her, taking her delicate hand in his, squeezing it gently.
"My love," he whispered. Mary broke down in tears, she couldn't face her mate, yet again laying in the hospital bed. She wrapped her arms around his neck and sobbed in his chest.

"I lost it; I couldn't stop it, Balthazar, I couldn't. I tried, Goddess knows how much I tried, but it wouldn't stop. It happened again," she repeated over and over again as he stroked her hair lovingly.

"Shhh, it's okay, love, it's not your fault," he whispered, placing his hands on her cheeks. He wiped her tears away with a sad smile on his lips. They have been trying for years and each attempt has ended in disaster. The tears kept streaming down her cheeks like unstoppable rivers, leaving stains on her face. "Calm down; it's going to be alright. You're under too much pressure and stress. The only way we can succeed, would be to split for the time being. Living here is not easy, especially for such a caring person as you, my love." He tried to calm her down, leaving butterfly kisses all over her face. It took quite some time until she finally got back to her senses. She stared out the window aimlessly, thinking.

"How long?" she whispered. Mary's voice was hoarse from the crying.

"How long, what?" Balthazar raised an eyebrow, a little confused by her question. But that's how she was, she asked questions without meaning, to understand things which only she could. Mary was a closed person in general, and she pushed herself further away from everyone every time their little moment of success turned into a disaster.

"For how long will we keep trying? For how long will there be enough of both of us, Balthazar? I'm tired; I'm tired of failing over and over again. I want to live, to smile and laugh. I'm so sick of this… nothing. It keeps eating me alive, ripping any hope left, away from me. I don't think I can do this anymore." Mary's eyes finally met Balthazar's; they were full of pain and regret. For the first time in years, he saw her broken, wholly stripped of hope.

"We will not try again," he announced, a hit of pain in his voice.

"How can we not? How?" she yelled, tears fighting their way to the surface again. Despite the hurt and years of misery, she was not one to call quits.

"You're doing this for me; I know you are. Your love is so blind; you keep sacrificing your health and your body to give me the one thing I truly want. I cannot let this happen again; I cannot look down at your pain and do nothing. If we keep trying, one day, I might lose you, and that is not the risk I am willing to take. Call me selfish, I don't care- there is no me, without you," his voice was tender but strict. Balthazar had made his mind up after leaving his study. When he came to the hospital, he knew what he would see. Balthazar had a feeling what had happened. The Lord truly loved Mary, strongly enough to give up on anything for her, even if that would make him miserable till the end of his days.

"I'll sacrifice this life and a thousand more, just to make you happy," after hearing the hurt in his voice, Mary couldn't let that happen. She would never give up on him or his happiness, whatever it took. She would give up her life for him in a heartbeat.

"No." The Lord stood up, approaching the window and looked outside with a sour expression on his face. Mary couldn't understand what made him change his mind so drastically. They had been trying for a baby for almost fifteen years, with each attempt ending in miscarriage. Despite her tiredness of constant failure, they couldn't give up. The kingdom needed an heir; it was not only their dreams about having a family on the line.

"Balthazar," she whispered, trying to get his attention. As much as Mary wanted to leave the hospital bed, and stand next to him, she couldn't. She was still too weak to walk.

"We found her, Mary," he finally spoke. For a while, he was conflicted about announcing the news. On such a sorrow note, to keep her safe and alive, he had to come clean.

"By saying her, you mean HER?" Mary gasped in disbelief. They gave up looking for his great-great-granddaughter a long time ago. Did he start looking for her again, without telling her?

"Yes, her, but there's more. I'm not sure if we should talk about it now, giving the condition you are in. Please, rest my love. I'll explain everything after you recover." He was about to head for the door when Mary stopped him. She was kind by nature, yet stubborn as a goat.

"Hold on, mister; I'm sure you are not about to walk out on me in the middle of our conversation. I want to know the facts. Now, sit your ass back down and explain," she snarled. Lord Balthazar was an ancient man, strong enough to kill any man, warrior, or leader in his way. He had only one weakness, who was currently giving out commands. Balthazar sighed and turned around, heading back and sitting down, like a trained dog, doing whatever Mary said.

"Now, facts," she crossed her arms, waiting for him to confess.

"When we decided to drop the search, I couldn't help but feel that we were missing something. For a while, I ignored the feeling until I couldn't anymore. You fell pregnant, and I decided to hide my intentions, waiting for the moment when stress wouldn’t harm our baby," he looked guilty, avoiding looking at Mary. He felt the same as he looked; this was the first time he had hidden something important from her. Mary had proven herself a trustworthy person countless times.

"It's alright, I understand. You did it for us, to avoid any harm. I do appreciate your worries, but please, do continue," she encouraged him, a slight smile playing on her lips.

"So, I decided to contact my old friend, Theobald, the only person, besides you, I could trust a secret with. On top of that, he has great tracking abilities and a lot of friends, which would help," Balthazar explained the first step of his plan, carefully observing Mary for her reaction.

"Oh, the funny looking gnome man," she covered her mouth with a palm and giggled. She met Theobald a couple of times and had developed a liking towards the honest gnome.

"Yes, that one. He found her, and actually, he found out a little more than I asked. She was mated, chose her first mate herself, going against any stereotypes the packs had for centuries. Unfortunately, her mate died. He was a human, trained to be a pack warrior. The man stood on the front line during the rogue's attack and lost his life protecting the whole pack, a true hero." Lord felt unexplainable pride for the man she had chosen herself.
Mary sobbed, feeling sorry for the loss her mate's great-great-granddaughter had. Finding such a brave man, especially a human, was rare, and even though their time together wasn't as long as some might intended, Mary felt like the man had been a great mate.

"A year later, she met her second chance mate. An Alpha, who chose her to become her Luna, both of them are leading a pretty authoritative pack. She's doing good, but there is one detail about her. Not sure how I feel about everything I have found out," Lord clenched his jaw and Mary instantly noticed that something was off.

"I'm listening, take your time," she added, caressing his cheek.

"Theobald announced that she has a child, a boy. At first, I thought it might be a child with an Alpha, but I was wrong. Of course, I assumed that she cheated, the thought of her first mate completely slipping my mind. The father of this child, I cannot call him a child anymore actually, is her dead mate’s. Not sure if you understand what I'm trying to imply…" Mary frowned; a bit confused.

"How about- tell me the bad news first, and then tell me the good news?" she suggested, a loving smile on her lips.

"Sounds good. The bad news is that he's thirty-two years old and still hasn't been accepted as a pack member. For his whole life, he has lived as a lone wolf in the pack his mother is Luna for." The thought itself was outrageous. How could a mother not accept her child in a pack she was supposed to lead? That is not a Luna.

"That's awful. I'm sure we can deal with this matter, yet I'd like to hear the good news."

"Since his father was a human, the gene she was carrying was stronger, and it destroyed each alike human fiber in his body. She didn't have a child with a shifter- she gave birth to a clean blood Lycanthrope. Mary, he's just like me. I have a grandchild, a real grandchild," Balthazar bloomed in front of her eyes, the last time she saw him this happy was when she announced the pregnancy. Oddly enough, she felt the joy overtaking her also.

"Wait, there's more. He has found his true mate, who happens to be a human. Mary, we will see cubs, we will get to babysit real lycanthrope cubs in the nearest future." Both of them nearly started jumping up and down like lunatics. The tense feeling in the hospital room was long gone; both lovers laughed and cheered, overjoyed.

"Balthazar, you found the heir."