Hope

Chapter 10

Cindy's POV

I had been up early with the twins when I decided to check in on Shyrah. She was curled up in the middle of her bedroom floor, clutching her chest. I went over to her and pulled her to me. She clutched my robe as she cried, "It hurts so much." It was whispered and broken. I held her tightly to me, offering any comfort I could to her. When the door opened it was Alice who came in. She came over to us and so easily lifted Shyrah up and laid her down. She curled up in pain and we laid with her. Alice ran her fingers through her hair soothingly. Shyrah clutched my hand, her forehead pressed to the back of it. 

We laid there for a while until the pain subsided and she laid there panting, covered in sweat. "Come on honey," I said pulling her out of bed. "You need a shower while we change your sheets." She nodded and went to her bathroom and we began to change the sheets. "He needs his dick cut off," Alice grumbled softly. "Alice," I said softly. She sighed, "I hate not being able to do anything for her. She's our daughter and I'm useless." I gave her a soft smile, "We can only offer her our care and support. She'll find her happiness soon enough." "But she shouldn't have to keep going through this in order for that to happen," Alice argued as she finished with her pillows. I sighed, knowing she was right. 

We stayed till Shyrah came out, and she looked so tired. We tucked her in and kissed her forehead before leaving quietly. We got back to the room and it felt weird not seeing Qin there. He had left a few days ago and we all Skype him every day he's been gone so far so we could physically see him, but he's always talking to us through the mind link. We also enjoyed the sexy picture we got yesterday.  It only helps a little though. 

When we woke up again it was because the guys were up with the babies so we could all eat breakfast together. At the table Mania looked around. "Shyrah not joining us," She asked us. "She had a rough night last night," Alice told her. All the guys looked at her. 

That fucker?, Pyrus asked through the mind link. 

Cindy and I spent part of the night comforting her through the pain, Alice told them.

I could feel the anger coming from the men. She may be keeping us at arms length, but we all deeply cared for all three of them. After breakfast I went to the media room with Alice and the babies while the men had to go to their various meetings. Shyrah came in wearing a pair of Jack Skelington pajama bottoms and a sports bra. Her hair was loose and down her back. She came and sat between Alice and I. She rested her head on Alice's shoulder. "Do my dads and daddy know," she whispered. "Your dads know, but I don't know if one of them informed Qin," I told her. I found it cute that for Qin they called him daddy to specify between them . They dropped the formal father after they forgave Qin. 

"Was that the first time," Alice asked her. "No," she said softly. "The first time was when daddy left to go to the new land to help form it." I wanted to tell her she should come to us when it happens, but last night, it was clear she wasn't able to really move through the pain. She then relaxed with us, watching TV. When Karla and Mania came in, they joined us. Mania was laying on the floor with the twins playing peekaboo with them while Shyrah was cuddling with Ember, Karla was bottle feeding Otho, while Alice dealt with Sabath and Amara, and I had Gaylin and Julius, when Nathaniel came in. 

He gave the girls a smile before giving Alice and I a kiss. "How did your meeting go," Alice asked him. "Better than I thought," He told us. "It ended a lot earlier too so now I can spend some time you all before I have to go to my next one." He took Julius from me since I had just finished changing him. 

"How are you feeling Shyrah," He asked her. "A little sore from being in pain for so long, but I'm fine," she told him. Her exmate was a marathoner that's for sure. Why couldn't she have gotten lucky and he been a two minute man?  Suddenly the TV changed due to one of the twins. Their magic has come in recently, and it's only complicated things. We're just lucky Gaylin, Otho, and Ember don't have access to their elemental magic yet. Unfortunately all six of our newborns are half witch due to Alice's bloodline keeping the coven filled with magic, so there is no telling when their magic is going to come. Dealing with eight babies is one thing. But dealing with eight babies who can start to use their magic is another. The twins were nearing their first birthday so we knew it was going to be any day for them. I prayed Qin will be able to come home for their birthday. I know he already had plans in place too, but I just hope nothing between now and then doesn't mess up those plans. 

Suddenly Shelton came in, letter in his hand, "Aniavin has finally replied." We all straightened. "What did they say," Nathaniel asked him. "They would like to meet with Alice," He told us. "But why," I asked him. "Because of her in-depth knowledge of magic," he explained. "They don't know too much regarding the Blood Stone, and they want to hear it from her." "It's because they have a member of their court who has the ability to tell whether or not a person is lying when he's able to use magic," Shyrah told us. "And how do you know," Alice asked her. 

"We've done some spying on them," She explained and Mania and Karla were looking elsewhere. "Does Qin know," Alice asked her. She shook her head, "No ma'am. We had trailed the team you guys sent to spy on them." That was before they started living with us. "We learned you guys may go into war with them, and daddy has shed enough blood," Mania told us. "So we wanted to see just what you guys were going to be going against." "We know you guys didn't really know us, but we knew if something happened to you guys then something would have happened to him, and then we'd be orphaned," Karla told us. "We're capable warriors and we weren't reckless in anyway." 

"Going there in the first place was reckless," Nathaniel told her. "You have no magic when you go there." "But we did," Mania told him. "The three of us don't need ley lines. There aren't any lines in the books. We possess an ancient demon ability called Molecular magic. We possess the same properties a ley line has in our genetics, that allows us to do magic when there isn't a ley line present. It's not as strong, but we still can use it. It's how we ended up in the books in the first place." 

"I don't trust Aniavin though," Shyrah told us. "There is something off about wanting to only meet with Alice. After all, if anyone really knows anything about it, it'd be daddy. He was a warlock when the Blood Stone was used to wipe vampires of their magic." "Unless it's because even if she doesn't have magic she isn't defenseless because she still has her vampire and werewolf abilities. The Aniavin are basically humans without their magic," Karla said simply. "If daddy was the one to go then he'd be basically human like them. They don't suggest the others because they may feel they don't know as much." 

"Why not meet over a video conference," Mania suggested. "That could work," Nathaniel suggested. I crossed my arms, "I don't know guys. It's Aniavin. After what they did to you two, I have trouble thinking like a ruler and not a pissed off mate. The only reason I can is because I want to secure a better future for our kids and our people."  Nathaniel smiled softly as he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, and I leaned into him. 

"We'll suggest a video call, and see what they say," Shelton said with a nod. He then gave the three of them a glare, "No more insane missions." "Yes sir," Mania said while the other two nodded. He smiled softly before leaving the room. 

After that Nathaniel had to leave to go to another meeting, leaving Alice and I with the kids once more. My mind kept swirling with intense worries regarding Aniavin. What are their real intentions?