Once again, our world was shifted when Melody was revealed to be Fenris’s older sister from an affair his father had. The two brothers were caught off guard by it as the young silver wolf turned to his eldest sister.

"You knew this entire time?" He asked Amelia.

She nodded, gazing away from her little brother.

"I’m the eldest, so I remember better than Ben what happened before you were born. When your mother found out what Dad did, she wasn’t happy. It caused a storm I never wanted to relive, especially since he got another woman pregnant." Amelia closed her eyes, reliving unpleasant memories.

It probably was part of what shaped her heart.

"My son had a moment of weakness. That’s all." Evan tried to backtrack, noticing he had let his anger send his family into a storm.

Unfortunately for him, Amelia wouldn’t allow her father to be a victim like Evan desired.

"It was more than a moment of weakness! Dad loved Lora sincerely, and it broke Mom!” the white wolf clasped her hand onto her chest. “It only got worse when she found out Lora was a runt. Nothing was more embarrassing than Dad cheating on her with a runt!”

Those days were still vivid in her mind, triggering her to flinch.

“It drove Mom crazy knowing he kept seeing her even after being confronted. It led her to place a bounty on Lora's head. Luckily, Dad helped his mistress disappear by taking the attention away from her and rekindling their marriage.” Amelia sighed, triggering alarm bells in my head.

There was the thought that Fenris was nothing more than an excuse to keep his mother happy, but along that was another concerning matter—one that mattered more than a family feud. If Melody's mother were also a runt, it confirmed the curse as a generational one.

How long, though? That woman…

It would’ve been impossible to know, yet something told me Evan and the other elders knew more than they were telling—finally, something that wasn’t about me.

I can fight that.

"So... even Melody's mother was cursed. Do you know something about that?" I got my feet on solid ground.

It was easy to talk when it wasn’t about what was in my womb.

"Cursed?" Amelia asked, tilting her head at me.

She was clueless. None of the younger Lycans knew what I spoke about. They probably didn’t even realize I cured Melody.

"I know nothing about such a thing." Evan tried to deflect.

Though it was apparent he was hiding something. The way he avoided everyone’s gaze yelled louder than his words. The female Lycan from before decided otherwise.

"Well, I do." She announced.

Evan turned to her in disbelief.

"Ursula, you won’t speak a word!" the old man commanded her.

She shrugged, gazing back at me. In her eyes, there was something I couldn’t quite tell.

Hope? No... It’s something else.

"Melody is a direct descendent of Alijah. Well, his brother was cursed in battle long ago, or so the story says." Ursula informed, adding a crucial new piece of information.

Melody is a descendant of Alijah's family line!? Unbelievable…

They were nothing alike, yet I remembered that her beauty was the first thing I perceived from her. Thousands of years had passed since the red moon Lycan was in the mortal realm, so family branches were lost long ago.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Is Melody the person Tobias referred to when we spoke?

"Alijah had a brother?" I queried.

"Yes, he did. The story is longer than what Alijah told you, but I’m guessing you didn’t have the time to hear it all from him or that he’d want to live it." Ursula pointed out.

The old silver blood stepped in once again.

"This is treason." He tried to stop her by grabbing onto her shoulder.

His touch caused her to growl before glowering at him, which caused him to let go of her.

"Pathetic old fool, the real treason is trying to murder the red moon's child, even if it's a human bearing it! This is where our ancestors failed, and you wish to squander the opportunity?!" she snarled.

What?

Evan took a few steps away from her, losing control of his pack. However, it was never his pack to have. Fenris was supposed to gain the alpha title during the festival, but the attack interrupted this.

"You don’t know what you are saying!" Evan rasped, voice shaking as his eyes dilated.

He dreaded what would happen if I brought this child into the world.

An unknown. No, it's an abomination in your eyes.

Anything that wasn’t pure would be nothing more than a curse in his mind. Instead of being swayed by his worries, Ursula stepped towards me, smiling.

"Oh, but I do... a woman has her intuitions," Ursula reassured the old lycan of her beliefs, glancing towards Amara.

The elf was watching everything that unfolded. Layla had stayed behind with Ryker, who was also watching. Although if looks could kill, the scorned woman would’ve already claimed my life.

"You, medic. How many pups is Lilith carrying?" Ursula suddenly asked Amara.

The sudden shift in the subject caused me to grip Fenris again, as I wasn’t ready. If anything, I wanted to continue investigating Melody’s origins.

"I..." the elf was hesitant to say anything.

Ursula tilted her head. "Ah, I see! If you fear harm will come to her. Don’t worry. If the moon’s within her, the creed will protect her." Ursula reassured her.

Amara clicked her tongue before sighing in response. "It’s too early to tell. Something interferes with my magic, but I think at least two," the elf announced.

Her words sent me into a world I knew nothing about.

Not one, but two?!

"Twins?" Fenris blurted out, glancing back at me.

I felt worse when he said it out loud. The surprise in his voice didn’t make me feel any better about my current outcome. If anything, everything appeared to move by itself again.

"Maybe two more," Amara added, leaving me seeing doubles.

That... That... can’t be...

"I-I feel s-sick." I stuttered out before emptying my stomach contents onto the floor.

For a moment, we went from arguing to searching for a chair for me to sit on. Amelia tried ventilating the air with a hand fan while Amara checked on me.

What’s this world coming to? How can I carry a child, let alone potentially four? How can I…

In an instant, my chest felt heavy as my breath became unsteady and my vision blurred. Fenris noticed before I hyperventilated. He grabbed me by my chin and forced me to face him, pressing his warm forehead against my cold one.

"Lily... it’s okay. We’ll figure it out together." My wolf pushed aside his worries to help quell mine.

His words did very little to help me, even though I appreciated what he said.

You’re nothing like my father, but you never wanted to be a dad, either!

"Will it be loved?" I worded a thought out loud, tears falling down my eyes.

My genuine fear was that it would be hated for what it was, and that alone made me want to tear out my womb from my body.

How can I ever bring a child into a world like this? I don’t want it to have the same fate I did!

There was no point in having a child if they would suffer as I did. Upon hearing me, Fenris bit into his bottom lip, engulfing me in his arms. His heartbeat was faster than mine, pounding loudly in his chest.

"Of course, we’ll love our child! How can you think otherwise?!" His voice cracked. “I’ll love them and protect them just like I do to you, but none of that matters. First, you have to decide if you want to have my pups.”

Tears fell from his eyes as well.

“Of course, I want to have your babies!” I cried, holding onto him.

“Then that’s all that matters.” He broke, too, holding me tenderly before cupping my cheeks and forcing my eyes to meet with his. “I’ll love anything that comes out of us. No matter what, I’ll always love you.”

“Fenris… I love you too.” I cried, triggering a soft smile to rise on his lips.

“I know. Thank you for waiting for me.” He breathed.

"Ah… Lilith, I’m probably the least person who should say this, as I’ve mistreated you for years now.” Amelia sighed, unable to take how his baby brother was emotional as well.

“But I assure you, your baby… No, your babies will be loved no matter what they are.” She declared, triggering my gaze to fall on her.

There, I saw tears in her eyes again, “I’ve been unfair and never tried to understand you because I needed someone to blame for everything that happened. But... I’ll try to change. I’ve allowed hatred to rule over me without understanding anything, so I apologize for everything I've done." She bowed her head to me, leaving me wide open.

"I’ve always seen you as part of my family, Lilith. Heck, many times, I saw you as my little sister. This makes it more official." Ben smiled, petting my head.

Melody hesitantly approached us, not knowing if we welcomed her into this family huddle. After hearing her origins, she was wary about how the siblings would react to her. Upon noticing her approach, the elder brother reached for her, pulling her into the family bundle that started around me.

"Lily!" Melody cried, hugging me from the side.

Liam stood nearby, smiling at the union that the unborn babies did. Unable to contain it any longer, I wept, held by the tenderness of these wolves who were so willing to accept me.