Bound By Blood

Chapter 2: A Normal Life

“They deserve a chance at a halfway normal life, Ash, even if they can never be entirely free of the spotlight, being children of the royal family." Leila smiles, and I can tell she's feeling a little better after making that vow. But then she frowns and looks at me intently, with a gaze I can never refuse. "Please tell me you understand what I'm saying."

"Of course, I do, Lei, more than you know." My tone is sincere, without any of my usual mockery, and I know she can sense it. "I want that for our daughter more than anything in the world. I want her to have a chance at a halfway normal life and not know what we did." She smiles again before furrowing her brows. "Oh no, what did I say now?" I groan, and she tightens her grip on my hands for a moment. "Ouch, seriously, what did I do now?"

"More than anything?" She repeats my words, making me groan again and roll my eyes. "Are you sure you don't want to reconsider what you just said before something happens?" Her eyes, a mix of sky blue and moonstone, spiral, and I realize what I've done, luckily knowing what to say before she gets even angrier.

"Almost anything," I reply, attempting to give her a chaste kiss. However, Leila twists in my arms, and the kiss deepens beyond what I think we should be doing in front of others. Not that she shows any signs of stopping. "Lei, enough." I try to speak between her kisses, but it's nearly impossible. Or at least, almost impossible. "Lei? Beloved, please." I keep trying, but she doesn't let go for some time. By the time she finally releases me, I notice Rosa doing something similar to my brother, Hunter. "Lei?"

She makes a contented sound, and I hear Eris sigh. My eyes find my redheaded friend, who looks between where Leila has me trapped and where Rosa similarly has Hunter. "Oh bloody hell," she sighs, rolling her eyes and throwing up her hands in a defeated gesture. "Remind me never again to willingly trap myself in enclosed quarters with two horny and pregnant wolves." She tries to fight the smile I can see on her face, but even though she maintains a faintly disapproving expression, her eyes betray her amusement.

"I'll try to remember that for next time," I eventually manage to say when Leila releases me. I see Eris's eyes widen. "Don't worry, Eri, I wasn't entirely serious. I think we'll have to see what happens this time before we think about having any more children." I hear Leila snort at that comment, and I sigh, using my semi-free hand to rub soothing circles on her back, trying to keep her calm.

Silence settles over the group we've gathered inside the palace walls. It's the safest place for Leila and Rosa to be until their children are born. It's also the safest place for those who stood with us against Amber and her allies. Although it has been a quiet six months, none of us are naive enough to think that it will last. The fragile peace we brokered when we had nothing left that night at the abandoned industrial warehouse, where we were held hostage and tortured, still trying to heal from the ordeal. She will come, one day, at some point, and when she does... when she does... we will all be in danger. Including...

That thought interrupts my calmness. It prevents me from thinking clearly, as a stronger protective instinct than the one I had to save Leila, one towards our unborn daughter, threatens to overwhelm me. Trying to push back the thought, I can tell when Leila senses that something's wrong. She focuses on me with a frown, a concerned look on her face. What's wrong? That's what her eyes seem to be asking, but I'm stuck. How do I tell her what I've discovered now, just after promising that our daughter would never know the horrors of the brutal world we live in? How can I tell her the one thing that will break her heart more than anything I've ever known?

"Ash?" Eris breaks the silence, realizing that by now, Leila isn't the only one watching me. The wolves that make up our pack, as well as the witches, are also looking up, huddled close in their true forms. The witches who were browsing through spellbooks to find information about the witch jewels and keys that Amber is after, the ones that could do God knows what. "Ash, what is it? What did you find? Remember?" Eris keeps talking to me, but it's as if I can't hear her. It's as if I'm separated by a wall that allows me to see her, with her mouth moving, but doesn't letme comprehend the words.

Finally, I manage to find my voice, my words barely a whisper. "Lei," I say, locking eyes with her, "I... I found something. Something that... that might change everything." My voice wavers, betraying the weight of the information I'm about to reveal.

Leila's expression shifts from concern to a mix of curiosity and worry. "What is it, Ash? You're scaring me. Just tell me."

I take a deep breath, trying to steady myself. "I... I found out that our daughter... she's... she's marked, Lei. Marked by the prophecy."

Leila's eyes widen, and her hand instinctively moves to her belly, where our child grows. "Marked? What do you mean? What kind of prophecy?"

"It's an ancient prophecy, Lei," I explain, my voice still trembling. "It's about a child born under unique circumstances, destined to bring about a great change. The prophecy speaks of powers and abilities beyond imagination, but it also foretells great danger and sacrifice."

Leila's face pales, and she reaches out to hold my hand tightly. "No... Ash, you must be mistaken. Our daughter... she can't be burdened with such a destiny. We promised her a normal life."

"I know, Lei," I reply, my voice filled with anguish. "But this is the reality we face. The prophecy has been accurate before, and we can't ignore it. We can't protect her from it."

Tears well up in Leila's eyes, and she leans against me for support. "What do we do, Ash? How do we protect her? How do we keep her safe?"

I wrap my arms around her, holding her close. "We'll do whatever it takes, Lei. We'll gather our allies, strengthen our defenses, and prepare for the challenges ahead. We can't change her destiny, but we can be there for her, guide her, and love her with all our hearts."

Leila nods, her voice trembling as she speaks. "You're right, Ash. Our daughter deserves our love, our protection. We'll face whatever comes together, as a family."

I press a kiss to her forehead, my heart heavy but filled with determination. "We will, Lei. We'll face it together, and we'll do everything in our power to ensure our daughter's safety and happiness. We won't let the prophecy define her. We'll define her future."

As we stand there, holding each other, I can feel the weight of the world on our shoulders. But I also feel the strength of our love, the resilience of our pack, and the unwavering support of our allies. No matter what lies ahead, we will face it head-on, for the sake of our daughter and the hope of a better world.

Eris’s POV:

I can see how distressed Ash is by the way his eyes keep trying to look away, no matter how much he tries to hide it. No matter how much he tries to keep his eyes on mine, I can tell that whatever he has found out is tearing him apart, almost as bad as when Amber tried to use him to torment and kill Leila by tearing her apart in that dark, disused warehouse they had been trapped in.

"Ash, what is it, hon?" I ask slowly, trying to see if I could ease my friend's suffering. His eyes look like someone has taken everything from him in one go. "Ash, whatever it is, I have a feeling we need to know now before it goes any further than it already has, causing any more damage." I try to reassure him, but my sixth sense, stemming from my witch heritage, seems to be telling me that whatever is off with him is deeper than that. Deeper than a secret that could make a small ripple in our lives. It's deeper and stronger than that. "Ash, please talk to us. Whatever it is, I can tell it'll be better out than in."

He offers a weak smile in my direction, but I can tell it's Leila's presence that's steadying him more than any of us. The way Rosa does for Hunter. "Are you sure?" That's what his eyes seem to be asking, but I can tell that what's eating at him concerns more than just him. More than Leila and more than Hunter and Rosa. It's something that concerns all of us. He looks at me like he's afraid I'll ask him again, but I know I don't need to. And I know that because he knows that what I'm saying is right. We do need to know.

"Okay," he sounds as if he'd rather be anywhere other than here, having to do what we're asking, but I also know him well enough to know that he'll be honest, no matter what. "It's about... well, the two of you." He looks between Rosa and Leila, and I instantly know what he means. The children. As if he's heard my thoughts, Ash spares me a tortured look I know all too well, and I feel something inside me tighten, expecting an impact. "You know what I mean, don't you? Because of what happened to the four of us. What it means for them and whoever they end up being paired with. In more ways than one."

With their eyes on me, I can tell when the others realize what he has done. Leila pales but says nothing, hiding her head in his shoulder as she cries silently. Rosa pales and does something similar with Hunter. The two brothers share identical tortured looks over their partners' shoulders. Everyone knows what he means, but no one wants to be the one to say it out loud. To be the one to shatter the fragile hope we were all holding onto. But someone had to. Someone had to say it, and I knew none of the four it concerned would want to since it was about their children.

Someone had to say it. "They've been pulled into this, haven't they?" The words come out of my mouth before I can summon the tact to phrase it differently or not speak at all. Ash lets out a shaky breath and pales even more but nods once, his eyes showing more emotion than I've seen of this caliber in a long time. Fear. Worry. Pain. All seem to be present and strong in his eyes. "They would be replacing the four of you since the power transferred into them as it did with the four of you when you were born. Meaning the people they would be linked to would be... like you? Bound like you all are to each other?"

Ash pales even more and nods once. Leila moans into his neck where she has buried her head, and he holds her gently, mindful of where she is carrying another child, doomed to take up their parents' role in this game. Doomed to be bound into a game that can't be stopped until one side is vanquished.

"Yeah," Ash sounds shaky, and I can tell that Rosa's past talking since, like Leila, she is now crying silently while Hunter still holds her gently, his eyes on the ongoing conversation. "Whoever Lunae chooses for their wolf parts would be Bound and Mated to them as I was to Leila and Hunter was to Rosa. Only it's worse for them." His golden eyes seem to darken with more pain than I've seen before, and that worries me. "It would be worse because they would have the power of two of us in one of them. Mine and Leila's in Edana and Hunter and Rosa's in Kalliope."

"Worse how?" Rosa's tone is haunted by hollow grief, and I know it tears at the four of them equally, given how they are all invested inprotecting their children and preventing them from experiencing the same pain they endured.

Ash takes a deep breath, his voice barely above a whisper. "The power... it's too much for one person to handle. It's barely manageable for us, and we've spent our lives learning to control it. But for them... it could consume them. It could tear them apart, body and soul, until there's nothing left."

Leila's grip on Ash tightens, and she raises her tear-streaked face to meet his gaze. "We can't let that happen, Ash. We won't let our children suffer the way we did. We have to find a way to protect them."

Ash nods, determination shining in his eyes. "I won't let anything happen to them. We'll find a solution, no matter what it takes. But we need to be prepared for what's coming. We need to train them, guide them, and shield them from the dangers lurking in the shadows."

Hunter steps forward, his voice steady and resolute. "We'll do whatever it takes, Ash. Our children will have a chance at a normal life, free from this curse. We'll protect them with everything we have."

Rosa's voice trembles with a mix of fear and determination. "We'll find a way to break this cycle. We'll find a way to end this game for good."

I step closer, placing a hand on Ash's shoulder. "We're in this together, Ash. We'll support you and each other. Our bond is unbreakable, and we'll use that strength to fight for our children's future."

Ash's eyes meet mine, gratitude mixed with pain flickering in their depths. "Thank you, all of you. We're going to need every bit of strength we can muster. But remember, we're not alone. We have each other, and together, we'll face whatever comes our way."

As the weight of the revelation settles upon us, we form a circle, our hands clasped together, a symbol of unity and determination. We know the path ahead won't be easy, but we also know that love and resilience can overcome even the darkest of challenges.

With renewed determination, we prepare ourselves to face the future, ready to protect our children and break free from the cycle that has plagued us for generations. Together, we'll find a way to rewrite our destinies and create a brighter, safer world for the ones we hold dear.