[ The Old World : Skarthheim Pack territories ]
Autumn sat all alone at the edge of a narrow stream.
Her toes dipped into the cold water, creating tiny ripples that shimmered red beneath the red moon. The crimson loomed high above the forest canopy, casting everything in a surreal hue...trees bled maroon, rocks gleamed like molten wine, and the stream sparkled like a vein of ruby winding through the rusty land.
She sat with her knees drawn up, robe wrapped loosely around her. A soft silence settled over the glade, broken only by the lazy gurgle of the water and the occasional rustle of the trees.
Her hand drifted over the small swell of her belly. The bump was still subtle but a little bulging by now. Two tiny lives growing inside her. Their heartbeat pulsed gently beneath her palm, anchoring her to something beyond the chaos she had fled.
She whispered to them softly, like telling bedtime tales."You see that tree over there?" she murmured, brushing her thumb along her lower abdomen. "That’s a weeping birch. It leans like it’s tired, doesn’t it? But it’s always the one that gets kissed by the wind first."
Her voice dropped to a hush. "Kind of like your father... Always carrying everything on his shoulders.For him his pack always comes first."
Her throat tightened. But she smiled through it, her eyes shining."That bastard!" Then after a pause she added. " But I hope you both inherit his strength.He is strong...much stronger than me.Ah!!!" She heaved a heavy sigh. " I fear what you will look like. Honestly, I don’t know how I will bear it if you end up looking like him.You know what... it’s true... I miss him. I miss that fucking bastard even after everything he has done... damn.. "
She scoffed quietly, brushing a fallen leaf from her lap. And then... she felt a presence.
A hand, warm and steady, settled on her shoulder.
Autumn was absolutely startled. She turned her body half ways.Her heart leapt, but it wasn’t fear that gripped her...just surprise.
" It’s Father... or Daddy... or Da... whatever you want to call me... even Thorgar is fine if you need time... but not Alpha... that’s what others call me. Not my damn daughter! "
He stood beside her, towering in the moonlight, the silver in his beard catching the crimson glow as well. He held two mugs, both steaming.
"Mind if I join you, darling?" he asked with a crooked grin, holding out one of the cups.
She blinked, caught off guard by the casual warmth in his voice. "What are you doing out here?"
"Seeking company." He winked.
Autumn accepted the cup.
It was warm to the touch. Smelled like cinnamon and crushed wildflowers.
They sat in companionable silence for a while, side by side on the boulder. The moon shimmered in the stream.
Finally, Thorgar spoke again. His voice was quieter this time. "I am sorry."
She glanced at him. "For what?"
He didn’t meet her eyes. "For not knowing that I had you. For not being there when you were born. For not protecting you when you needed it. For... not being the kind of man your mother deserved...for not being a Father to you,sweet pea."
The smile slipped from her lips.
By now, she had come to know the truth of her origins. The scar it left in her chest hadn’t fully healed... but her own troubles hadn’t let her ponder much over it.
"I know what you are thinking," Thorgar murmured. "And I don’t blame you. But... it’s not exactly what you think."
"No?" Autumn scoffed, still facing the water. "Because it makes sense to me now. I have always felt like I was a mistake... a shadow. Something born of pain. No wonder I ruin everything I touch."
Thorgar turned to her sharply. "Hey..." He grabbed her hand in his massive, calloused palms. "Don’t you ever say that."
She finally looked up at him.
His eyes were bright. Pained. Proud.
"You were never a mistake, my sweet pea. Your mother loved you more fiercely than anything in this world. She kept you despite everything. And your birth... it was prophesied, even before we were born. You don’t understand, but you are not just a girl caught in a war...you are a...."
Autumn’s lips trembled. Her eyes shimmered.She did not let him finish his prophecy bullshit. "So what, you love me now? Just because fate says you should?"
"No," Thorgar said, voice firm. "I love you because I finally see you. Because I have waited my entire life for you. And now I finally have you. Radiant. And more powerful than anyone knows."
Autumn looked away, brushing a hand over her stomach. "Whatever..."
She took another sip of her drink.
Her fingers spasmed. The mug slipped from her hand, shattering on the stones below.
Thorgar turned immediately. "Autumn?"
She was staring ahead, unmoving...eyes wide, pupils dilated.
The cry ripped through her like lightning through the dark sky. Her hand flew to her chest, the other clutched the edge of the boulder.
Pain lanced through her midsection like molten iron.
Thorgar lunged towards her. "Autumn?! What is it...?!"
Tears streaked her cheeks. She looked up at him, terrified.
"What’s...what’s happening?! This pain...fuck....Father...Father help me!!!"
But his arms caught her just as she collapsed, falling to his knees with her in his grasp.
"...What did you call me?" he whispered, stunned.
Autumn was shaking violently now, clawing at her chest. Her whole body convulsed. "Nnnaahhh! It hurts...it hurts...save my babies! They are kicking...AAHHHHHH...they are....Father, please..."
He could feel her tremors as they came.He could feel how restless the babies were getting.
Even the stream behind them moved at the edges.
Her abdomen contacted and expanded violently, as if her unborn children were fighting something. Kicking. Clawing. Trying to scream through her body.
And then... She convulsed violently again. Harder.
She slipped from his grip with a guttural cry, falling to the muddy floor with a thud. That rattled the rocks.Autumn threw hands and legs.
Thorgar scrambled to her, but she was already seizing...her limbs jerking, her breath wheezing, her eyes rolling back.
She gargled.He fought to hold her back.
Then her voice reverberated...almost torn and shredded..."Kieran Blackmoon... WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"
The earth trembled beneath them.
The red moon above flickered...just once.
And Thorgar Ulfsen , Alpha of the Skarthheim Pack,member of the Ancient Alliance, for all his strength and power...could only fall to his knees beside his daughter, clutching her trembling body, holding her close to his heart.