Traces of Elijah

Chapter 37

Hours had gone by, Elijah and I have been asleep. At some point, Elijah shakes me a little bit and I wake up.

"I got a text from your dad...she's out of surgery."

"She is? Can we see her?"

"No...not yet. Ross is with her for now. He'll tell us when she's away. The doctor couldn't save her child but she will survive."

"She's gonna be so sad when she wakes up...but at least she's alive." He nodded.

"Yeah...she's always been a fighter." He smiled at me.

"She and Ross can try again." I nod. "She will grieve but at least her hope for heirs isn't gone right?"

"Well...the doctor said it was so close that only time will tell if it's safe for her to go through it, full term."

"But we heal better, faster than humans. Why can't she just heal and be okay?"

"We may heal faster but we still heal like them. She may heal but her odds...they're kinda 50/50."

"I don't believe that...she won't give up so easily. She's gonna want to try again- she's a always wanted to grow up and have a family of her own...she won't let it go...so I'm praying her odds are stronger than that. She deserves more than that."

"I agree with you. I hope she had better odds as well and she deserves that happiness..."

"She would be happy to hear you say that." I nod and nuzzle him. "I hope she wakes up soon..."

"They've got her on a morphine drip right now so when she wakes, she won't be in so much pain."

"That's good..my dad really texted all the details huh?"

"Yeah. He wanted me to keep you fully informed."

"Well I'm glad. She's my twin sister. We have a bond that can't be broken...Brel can sense her life force. We've had that bond since birth." I sigh.

"I can tell...you two have always been two peas in a pod." He smiles at me. "You'll be running around like old times."

"If I'm back now...does that mean my dad will make me be alpha now...?"

"I don't think he'll force you to do that. He knew you were only trying to be the alpha male son he always dreamed of just to make him happy. He wouldn't take that away from Jru either. She loves being in charge."

"I don't doubt that." I laugh a bit. "She's gonna hate having to rest so much..."

"I know but she's gonna heal quickly. She won't be stuck for a long time."

"Yeah. We should go talk with my parents...I want to connect with my mom." I nod.

"Okay." He kisses my forehead and gets out of bed. I get up and head downstairs with him. We join my parents once again and I walk up to the woman I've been wondering about my whole life.

"Josilus..."

"Hi mom...I want to talk with you in private...I have a lot of questions."

"Of course, I'll answer anything you have for me." She nods. "Come, I'll take you to my favorite spot. I used to walk around a lot while I carried you. Sadly it was one of the reasons I nearly lost you two along with my own life...I wish I never left, stayed and fought but, your father and I were still young and naive, we didn't know the first thing about war and I didn't want your father to start one over me...luckily he didn't start one because of my 'death'."

"He couldn't put his children at risk...he was too focused on us to think about a war. Darius' father payed with his life after attacking you like that and that was enough for him. He had twin newborns to raise. He couldn't focus on a war and he thought it best not to punish an entire pack for one man's jealousy and stupidity. He protected us as he thought he should. He doubted his parenting and his ability to care for us a few times of course like when I was kidnapped and almost sold to another pack's alpha for...breeding, or when Jru got into a brawl with a girl over whether or not Ross could be best friends with another girl but he did his best."

"Josi...I never knew...I'm so sorry that happened to you...did the people who took you...they knew me didn't they...?"

"Yeah...they took me and treated me like a prized cow or something...it was horrible..."

"I'm so sorry Josi...that was all my fault...they tried to come back for me by Darius' father's orders...luckily I was with your father when it happened. He protected me." She looks over to him and smiles a bit. "Always the protector....I'm glad he got you back. I know he had to have fought like hell to get you home."

"He did...he tore the woman apart before my eyes and took me home..." I nod, "I was terrified, thinking I had no hope, on top of that I was basically told you weren't dead, I didn't know what to think. I thought I'd never go home nor find out the truth but...here we are."I smile.

"I'm glad we are here. I spent years wondering whether you would hate me if I ever had a chance to come home to you...I missed out on the most important moments of your life and it kills me...I truly hate that I brought my personal troubles to you...I should've been there...I should've protected you and your sister..." she tears up.

"Hey, hey..." I rub her arm comfortingly, "you're here now...you'll get to see me go through the most important moment of my life...becoming a parent. I was terrified to go through this alone- truly alone while trapped with Darius. Now I'm free to parent to my twins with Elijah."

"You're having twins?! Oh Josi, that's wonderful news!"

"Yeah...except for the part that miraculously, one is Darius'..."

"What..? Oh I'm so sorry my child..." she wipes her eyes before hugging me.

"Elijah and I decided to never tell the child who their real father is and raise them as we would've despite that small DNA difference. I'm just hoping the children take after me like Jru and I so we never have to explain why they look...different than us."

"Well it is true Darius had a darker complexion but the child will know who their family is no matter what."

"I know but I don't want them to know their real father is...dead or that the reason they exist is because a random spell." I sigh. "I just don't want them to feel like they're not loved because of who their father was..." I think for a moment. "Maybe that's how Darius felt..." I rub my forehead, feeling immense guilt wash over me.

"It's it's okay to grieve him...you were his mate for a time, whether you wanted to feel what you felt for him or not...you really felt it, it was real. It may have not been ideal given that he would physically abuse you...but you had no choice but to feel a connection due to the fact that you mated...under a spell but still, it happened. It shouldn't have but it did. It was real and now you're free of him. You can breathe and you can grieve. You have so much pain built up from all that time with him right?" I tear up and nod before finally beginning to sob. I've been through so much...and now it's over...it's truly over...I'm finally home, I'm safe, I have twins on the way...I've survived...I should be dead...I really should be but I survived and I will continue to survive. With Elijah by my side, I will be unstoppable.