“I…I’m…I’m sorry,” she whispers as tears fall down her cheeks. “I’m sorry.” We hear crying down the hall and Davina looks out the door. She looks down at the shirt she’s been holding and up at the door again.
“Davina you have three other children that need their mother. Just because you continue being a mother doesn’t mean you are going to forget about Malayah. I promise we won’t leave her behind.”
I hold her hand and kiss the back of it. I can hear it’s Accalia crying down the hall. Davina sets Malayah’s shirt down on t her bed and walks to the nursery. I follow behind her. We enter the room and Accalia is standing in her crib reaching out for Davina. Davina walks over and picks her up, making Accalia to immediately stop crying. Davina holds Accalia close, swaying side to side to comfort our daughter.
“I’m so sorry Accalia. Mommy’s here. I promise I am not going anywhere,” she whispers to our daughter. I look over and see Thierry woke up, pulling himself up so he’s standing, reaching out towards Davina.
“Mama,” says Thierry.
I walk over to Davina and take Accalia. She squeals as I tickle her. Davina picks up Thierry giving his kisses on his cheeks, making him giggle. Davina walks towards me and Accalia, leaning her head on my shoulder. I kiss her forehead and wrap my arm around her.
“I’m sorry,” she says again.
“It’s okay. Just don’t leave me again please. I need you too.”
I can smell my mother and Gabriel are headed up. Lately they’ve been coming to check on the twins to help me out. The door to the nursery opens and they walk in.
“Davina my dear,” cries her uncle as he walks across the room to hug her.
“I’m sorry for worrying everyone. I’m not okay but I promise not to check out again.”
“I’m just happy to see you moving around and talking. We’ve all missed you,” says Gabriel.
“You were really starting to scare everyone. Maliyah will be happy to see you. We really ought to have a family dinner,” says my mother.
“Slow down mother. One day at a time. We will plan a dinner soon I promise. We have a meeting with King Bjarki this afternoon. We are officially becoming allies.”
“I didn’t realize that was happening. When did agree to this,” asks Davina.
“A few weeks ago. Prince Aspen received a similar video to ours of some elves captured,” I inform but then stop myself from continuing.
“I can tell when you are hiding something Derek. What are you not telling me.” I sigh. I’ve never been good at that.
“The rogues kidnapped a few elves and have threatened the royal family. If they don’t give you up they are going to make Malayah kill them. They already forced her to kill one to prove a point. Prince Aspen said she had tears coming down her cheeks but no emotion on her face. This did not sit well with Aspen and he wants to make an alliance to stop the rogues. He will not cave to their demands.”
“I was afraid they made her do it again. I could feel it.” I watch Davina as she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. “Okay I’ll be at the meeting.”
“Love, you don’t need to. This is the first day I’ve seen you move from Malayah’s room. Spend the day with the kids.”
“I need to be there. This is important. And I agree with Calista. Have Miss Kat prepare a family dinner.” I look at her with worry. I want her to take it easy.
“Derek I promise I won’t check out again. I have already missed so much of our twins growing I don’t want to miss anymore and Maliyah needs me too.” I raise an eyebrow at her, making her laugh. “I need you too big guy.” I smile and give her a quick kiss.
“Alright I will let the council know to expect you this afternoon as well as Maliyah,” I tell her.
We all take turns holding the twins and showing Davina their walking skills. They are both only eight months old but are early walkers. Accalia is still smaller than Thierry but she has been quickly catching up. I purchased some of those soft foam pads that hook together like a puzzle and then bought an extra long baby gate to create a mini play yard for the twins.
I set Thierry down and Davina puts Accalia next to her brother and off they go playing with their toys. Davina leans against me while we watch the twins play. I can hear Maliyah laughing with Mark as she walks into the house. Davina looks at me and smiles before taking off down the stairs. I follow after her.
“Mom?”
Maliyah spots her mom coming down the stairs and takes off at a sprint towards her. Maliyah crashes into Davina. “I’m sorry mom, I’m sorry.”
“Why are you sorry Maliyah?”
“I’ve been making this difficult for Derek. I haven’t gone to school and I hurt his leg.”
“What?” Davina looks at me and I just smile and shrug.
“It was an accident love. I shouldn’t have tried to touch her. She was upset and losing control of her powers. She was using electricity and struck my leg. Luckily it wasn’t too bad and I healed just fine.”
“Don’t be sorry Maliyah I should’ve been here for and your siblings. I’m sorry.”
“I don’t mean to break up this reunion Davina, I am happy you are back, but the council is starting to arrive as well as members of the coven,” says Mark.
“Go grab a snack Maliyah and then come join us.” Maliyah smiles, the first one I’ve seen in months and heads to the kitchen. I take Davina by the hand as we head to the conference room. Prince Aspen is already present.
“Derek good to see you again. Davina, I’m happy to see you out and about. How are you doing?”
“To be honest Aspen, I am not doing well but I haven’t given up and taking it one day at a time,” Davina replies.
“You told her,” Aspen asks and I nod my head yes. “I’m sorry for what has happened with your daughter Davina. We will find her and kill the rogues that are responsible.”
“Let’s get everyone settled and we will tell you all about him,” I say.
He nods and takes his seat along with everyone else who has arrived. The alphas are present via video conference, all the elders are here and Dimitri with his daughter, Anastasia.
“Luna we are overjoyed to see you. On behalf of the elders, I would like to offer you our condolences regarding your daughter,” says elder Carole. I really need to replace her.
“My daughter is not dead Carole. She has been kidnapped,” I snap at her. Maliyah then walks in and sits next to me.
“Alpha I do not think it wise to have Maliyah here,” says elder Franklin.
“She is my daughter. She will stay.” No one says a word against me. “Dimitri how is the tracking going?”
“It’s like a magical scramble. Every time we get close her location jumps. They were prepared for us track her and are using some sort of spell to prevent us from properly tracking her. I have a group working on what they could be possibly using so we can reverse the spell, Anastasia is in charge of the group.”
“Thank you Anastasia for taking lead on that,” says Davina.
“Of course, we all want to see your daughter safe and sound and for no one else to die,” Anastasia replies.
“Aspen how’s the tracking going,” I ask.
“We found where they were originally hiding out at. It’s a facility built inside a mountain in a place you call Colorado. It’s empty now. Nothing was left behind for us to investigate. They were very thorough,” Aspen reports. “So who is this Enzo we are looking for?” I look to Davina to ensure she is comfortable with me telling the story. She nods her head yes.
“Enzo is the biological father of Malayah and Maliyah.”
“You are not their father?”
“I am their father, not that scumbag. Eight years ago Enzo and a warlock named Jack, along with several other rogues, kidnapped my wife. This was before her seal was removed. She was beaten and raped. They meant to kill her but instead my brother Mark and his team rescued her. She returned pregnant with twins. My father was killed trying to protect Davina along with Davina’s adoptive parents. Because of her pregnancy it was decided to leave her seal on to keep the twins safe for as long as possible. The twins were six when I discovered Davina is my mate. Just before the twins turned seven they were attacked by rogues and a spell was used to force them to turn. This is when we discovered Maliyah is a dragon and Malayah is a wolf.”
“I envy your strength Davina to have gone through all that and still stand tall. That is a lot for even an elf to bear. How did Enzo get a hold of Malayah?”
“He tracked her down and manipulated her to trust him. He gave her a necklace that was spelled making it easier for him to manipulate her. We didn’t realize it until it was too late. While we were on our honeymoon the coven and my territory were attacked distracting everyone long enough for Malayah to blow a poison powder at Gabriel to bring the protection shield down. She took off and we lost her.”
“From what the video showed us he truly tricked her. Her eyes were pure black but she had tears running down her cheeks. She is definitely able to witness everything happening around her but unable to control her actions,” says Aspen. “I’m sorry Davina, I didn’t mean to upset you. We shouldn’t have gone through your history.” I look at Davina and she has tears running down her cheeks.
“It’s not your fault Aspen and you needed to be updated on what happened. I appreciate you becoming our ally,” says Davina. Dimitri brings out a document stating the alliance between the shifters and the elves. He has already visited the other alphas and all have signed.
“Everything is in order prince Aspen. All that is left is for you, Derek and Davina to sign the treaty of alliance. This treaty states that the elves will assist the dragons and shifters during this war against the rogues. The elves will continue to provide asylum to the dragons and provide warriors for upcoming battles. The dragons and shifters in turn, will assist the elves in recovering those that have been kidnapped,” says Dimitri.
“Very good. I am honored to be here making history with you all and I hope we continue this friendship beyond the war against the rogues,” says prince Aspen as he signs the treaty. Then Davina and I sign the treaty as well. A copy is made and given to prince Aspen.
“I appreciate you helping us. Please feel free to use my territory for anything you need in your search for your comrades and Malayah. I can also have a small team of my warriors assigned to you as well.”
“Thank you Derek. It would be helpful to have those who know your realm well since I do not.”
Maliyah“Maliyah, the guests are arriving!”“Coming mom!”I quickly finish doing my hair in a half up pony tail style and curl it before doing my make up. I can’t believe it’s been almost five years since the war ended and here we are, celebrating my sixteenth birthday. I stop by my nightstand with my sister’s picture and use my powers to make the flowers in the vase bloom again.“Happy birthday sis,” I whisper as I head for the door.I throw on my Ariat boots, hoping towards the door as I put on one at a time. I almost collide with my door trying to put on my last boot as I grab the handle to open the door only to end up running into Aspen. I nearly fall backwards onto the floor, but Aspen reaches out and catches my arm to steady me.
DavinaI wake with a start that it startles Derek. Sweat is dripping down my face as Derek gently cups my face.“What’s wrong love,” he says looking around the room for an intruder.“I got to say goodbye to Malayah,” I whisper. He looks at me confused.“Okay, but what has you so scared?”I turn to Derek, making sure he is listening carefully. Worry is evident on his face as I take deep breaths to calm my racing heart. I need someone else to know what she told me.“Malayah said, ‘Beware of the new comer, darkness will come for her’.”“What does that even mean?”“I don’t know. I don’t even know exactly who she was talking about, but I think it’s Maliyah. I think she was talking about Maliyah and whoever Maliyah saw in t
DavinaThe twins have fallen asleep, Thierry on Derek, Accalia on Calista and Aiden in my arms. Everyone begins going home and we had back into the pack house. We lay the kids down for bed as does Mark and Daniela. It’s nice to see the children together, safe and sound and back to what was once normal. Things may not go back to what they were but we can find a new normal for our family.The last thing I do is prepare a room for my mother with the help of Kat and Daniela. We put her next to Calista as they seem to have hit it off and have become fast friends. I am over the moon that I get to have this opportunity to get to know my mother and learn more about my family. There is so much I don’t know.With mom back in the picture, it seems to have changed things for Kat. Now that Kat has been spending time with our mother and her granddaughter
DavinaWhen we all heard Derek and Maliyah playing I immediately mind link the whole pack to meet at the memorial. Our family gathered at it’s entrance, tears forming in our eyes. I haven’t heard her play in a long time. As pack members began arriving I open the back doors so they can hear too and started passing out candles and lighting them. Once everyone has a candle, I teleport Maliyah and Derek next to the memorial and they don’t miss a note. Families begin stepping up to the memorial and placing beautiful flower arrangements at the base.Dimitri utters a spell under his breath and tells me the flowers will never die, they will remain frozen in time. Celestia and Calista help pass out the Chinese sky lanterns and pens so everyone can write a message or just the name of a loved one that has been lost. I make one for my uncle Gabriel and parents that raised me as they now have no one le
MaliyahI can’t believe what I woke up to. Dr. Smith has been examining me and taking MRI’s of my brain. I am still in shock at everything I am being told. Mom and dad tell me everything I appear to be forgetting. We take several breaks as I am constantly crying over things I have forgotten.I remember some of the information they are telling me but not all of it. After a while I did start to remember the day my sister died but it still doesn’t feel real. I don’t remember being in a coma before and waking up to having another little brother. Uncle Kale died as well as uncle Gabriel and I haven’t been able to accept that yet.Uncle Gabriel has been around all my life, even before I learned what I was. I never imagined I would have to live my life without him.“Ma
DavinaWe’ve been in the dragon realm for the past week; going back and forth to the forbidden realm to explore it more. We want to ensure we had all he details, which Dimitri has written down so we won’t ever forget this day we now call The Day of Retaliation. It’ll always be a day we will mourn as many loved ones were lost that day, but we fought back against my brother and won. I wish there would’ve been another way, but my brother was too far gone. Once we were sure we didn’t miss anything, Dimitri and his coven sealed the realm away forever. The shifter counsel all agreed that it will be against our laws to step foot into that realm so it was best to seal it away to stop temptation.The horse shifters have been learning about the human world as it has changed a lot than from what their ancestors had told them. Technology is a new thing for them and they will remain on bear