The Candles Will Protect You

Chapter 22

"Are we living in a simulation? Is this for real?"

Eros erupted in laughter, leaning his head on the back of the sofa, the beautiful piece of paper still in his hands.

Chloe rolled her eyes, taking the invitation out of his hands, examining it.

"I don't see what's so funny about this, babe."

"Well, I think it's fucking hilarious."

I glanced at Ares. His eyebrows were furrowed as he was zoning out, looking at the wall.

Tiffany shook her head, a smile on her face.

"Why are you guys so shocked? I mean, accidents happen all the time..."

"Yeah, I sure hope it was an accident, and they're not actually this dumb," Eros scoffed.

"We know one of them is," Tiff said jokingly.

A few seconds later, Ares seemed like he managed to process the new information.

"I can't believe he got her pregnant..."

"I definitely can," his brother shot back instantly.

"It's just... Lysias being a father?"

"Poor child," Tiffany grimaced.

"Maybe they won't be that bad at parenting," I shrugged.

Everyone turned to me with raised eyebrows and surprised expressions.

"I mean, you never know."

We were sitting in the living room as silence took over us, then Selene walked in the room, followed by her husband, Endymion.

"What is it?" Selene looked at our silent group. "Did something happen?"

With the paper still in her hands, Chloe walked over to the couple, handing it over to the woman.

After reading the short invitation, she broke out in an excited grin.

"How exciting!"

Eros looked at her mother with wide eyes, not believing his ears.

"Excuse me," he shook his head. "I must have heard you wrong, mother. Did you just say... Exciting?"

"Don't be so rude, son. Pups are amazing. Maybe instead of making fun of your relative, you should think about starting a family yourself."

Chloe's cheeks turned a few shades darker, while Eros just rolled his eyes.

"Your mother is right. It's very smart of Lysias to start a family this soon, he does need an heir for his pack after all," Endymion joined in.

"Yeah, I'm sure this pup was created by choice," Tiffany murmured.

Eros stood up from his seat, crossing his arms.

"Well, I'm not an Alpha, so I don't think I have to rush with the baby making."

"Do you want to tell me something, brother?" Ares narrowed his eyes at him.

"Come on, I didn't mean it like that."

"Sure."

"Surprisingly, Eros has a point this time," their father smiled lightly, looking at his firstborn. "You won't get any younger, you know."

Ares stepped behind me, snaking his arms around my waist in a protective way.

"I won't do anything until Rhea's ready, so with all due respect, please get off our back."

Selene looked at the two of us with a gentle smile.

"And that's how it should be, no one's rushing you, child."

"Yeah, but if you take too long, Lysias Junior might try to take over our pack. Just saying," Eros shrugged.

"What if it's a girl?" Chloe furrowed her eyebrows.

"Oh God, I hope it's not," his eyes widened at the thought. "I don't think the world could handle another Bich, it can barely deal with one."

"I said no," Ares raised his voice, a stern look on his features.

The room died down, no one daring to look straight into his eyes.

Slowly, I turned around in his hold, reaching my hand up to touch his cheek, which seemed to relax him.

"Should we go outside?" I whispered.

He took in a deep breath, then nodded. Taking my hand in his, he guided me out to the garden. He sat down on a swing bed, pulling me down next to him.

His shoulders were still a bit tense, so I pressed a kiss to his cheek, hoping it would work.

"What is it, Ares?" I asked quietly.

After a few seconds of silence, he turned his head to look at me.

"I'm sorry about them."

"What do you mean?"

He clenched his jaw.

"We just talked about this, and I know that you're not ready. Rhea, I'm not going to lie, I would be ecstatic if you were pregnant with my pup, and I can't wait to start our own little family together, but not until you feel the same way. You're still young, and I wouldn't dream of doing anything to you that would make you uncomfortable in any way. I truly understand if you need time, not everyone's ready to start a family at such a young age. Please know that I'll wait, I'll wait for as long as you want me to, even if my family doesn't like it. I love you too much to not do that."

By the end of his little speech, my vision was blurry. A tear escaped my right eye, but Ares was quick to catch it.

"Thank you," I smiled lightly.

Taking my face in his hands, he placed a gentle kiss on my mouth.

"No," he smiled back. "Thank you. For everything."

He leaned in to kiss me again, but before he could, a loud voice interrupted him.

"Aye! Are you two lovebirds done, or what?"

"Eros, leave them alone, for crying out loud!"

Ares pulled back, clenching his jaw.

"I'm going to kill him," he murmured, which caused me to chuckle lightly.

"Oh, please. You couldn't."

He raised his eyebrows playfully.

"You sure about that, love?"

"Yes, I'm sure," I smiled. "He might be a pain at times, but you still love him."

"True," he nodded. "But I love you more, so if he comes between the two of us, I won't hesitate to do something."

I narrowed my eyes.

"Uh... He just did that, like, a minute ago."

He froze, thinking my words through.

"You're right."

With that said, he shot up from his seat, walking towards the door.

"Eros, where are you?!"

I just shook my head, laughing as I stared at his figure.

God, I truly did love him.