Chapter 62: Chapter 62

~Aurelia Storm~

I escaped the darkness when I felt movements in my stomach, which I also felt in my hand. I don't know why, but these movements made me feel happy. I felt my lips curl up in a smile before slowly opening my eyes.

Light flooded my eyes and as I adjusted, I became aware of Arsen's figure sitting at my side, holding my hand on my stomach.

When did my belly get so big?

A small smile could be seen on Arsen's face, which graced his lips. I would have loved to stroke his light beard.

Then I felt a movement in my stomach again. How long was I gone that my stomach is suddenly so big?

"Arsenic?" I choked out weakly.

Immediately, Arsen's gaze shot to my head and he looked like he'd seen a ghost. Just the disbelief in his green eyes made my body tremble. But not from fear, but from joy that he is here with me now.

"Aurelia?" His voice cracked as he said my name.

I nodded and the next moment I was in Arsen's arms. He hugged my torso tightly against his and it seemed like he would never let me go.

"I thought I lost you forever." His voice sounded so shaky I imagined he was crying.

He pulled away from me only to grab my cheeks the next moment. I looked deep into his eyes and was right. There were really tears in his eyes.

"I'm here. I'm alive." I tried to calm him down. God knows how long I must have slept. How long he must have thought that I would never wake up again.

But at that moment, all the memories flooded back into my head. The attack, the knife and Steven.

"Steven?" I asked hopefully. If I'm still alive, then maybe he is too.

Arsenic, however, did not respond.

"Steven?" I asked again. This time it was my voice that was shaking. But Arsen didn't take my worries away. Instead of telling me that everything is fine and that he'll come visit me soon, he shook his head to confirm my worst suspicions.

Tears rolled down my cheeks and Arsen took me in his arms again. He pushed me to the side of my bed a bit and then lay down next to me so I could cry on his chest.

He didn't say anything, just rubbed my back soothingly.

"Where is he buried?" I asked after an hour of endless crying. My eyes were swollen and my bags were empty. I was still trying to comprehend that Steven is no longer among us living. I wanted to at least visit his grave to myself to adopt.

"I made him a grave on the flower meadow, where I asked you if you wanted to be my wife. I wanted him to have a nice place for his funeral. A place where you can mourn. I know how important he was to you..."

"That's a really nice place to bury him," my tired voice came out of me.

"It's just a place to remember him. He's not really buried there."

I looked at Arsen in disbelief.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

“When the battlefield was cleared and the dead were counted, some weren't there. The rogues retreated, but took a few more corpses."

"What do you want with that?" I didn't want to imagine someone desecrating my best friend's dead body.

"I think I shouldn't tell you that now. You just woke up from the coma."

"Arsenic!" I admonished my mate. Maybe he's right and I don't want to know, but I have to to confirm myself. What have they done to my best friend? Steven has been like a brother to me. Hard to believe I'll never see him again.

"Some of the packless have been cast out for feeding on other wolves." That was answer enough for me. I burst into tears again.

How can you...? I didn't even want to say it in my mind.

We lay in this bed for a while. When suddenly the door of the hospital room opened. dr Malcolm and Lucas both entered. When they saw that my eyes are open, they both looked surprised.

"She's awake," Lucas said, immediately walking towards us. Arsen turned a little to give me more space, but he didn't leave my side.

"How are you doing? Do you remember who I am?" Lucas asked, a little worried.

"Yes, don't worry. I just can't tell you what day it is," I replied. I tried a smile, but it didn't work that well. Steven's death was far too deep.

"1. November," said Dr. Malcolm like a shot.

"I'm six months?" I asked. So I missed so much of the pregnancy after all. The first movement. Maybe even the first hiccup.

But then it occurred to me that you could already tell the gender. Did they find out without me?

"What will it be?" I inquired, cupping a hand on my stomach as I looked up at the doctors.

However, they looked behind me at Arsenic. So I turned my gaze to him as well. He also placed a hand on my stomach before looking into my eyes.

"We're having a boy."

'A boy,' I repeated in my head. We're having a son.

This time I managed to smile again. At that moment I didn't have to think about Steven for a moment. I only thought about my future with arsenic. How we are both raising our son while I expect more children from him.

But Steven would not be in that future.

~Aurelia Storm~

I trudged through the snow to the big pond. Arsen walked beside me and held my hand tightly in his.

Once outside, he wouldn't let go of my hand for fear I might slip.

His concern for me was cute, but I also knew there was more to it than that. He was afraid the packless would attack again. But they haven't done that for a long time. And somehow I don't believe that they want to try it again.

Arriving at the pond, I first needed a breather. Being pregnant is really exhausting.

I would have loved to sit down now, but the benches were all covered in snow and I didn't want to get a bladder infection unnecessarily.

Luckily Arsen noticed my panting and stepped behind me to hug me from behind. He wrapped his hands around my waist and pulled me to his chest. So he was able to support me well, for which I was really grateful to him. Although he was only wearing a T-shirt at these temperatures, his arms were still in the warmest place on earth.

I leaned against him and watched the children playing on the frozen pond. The snow had been there for weeks and the ice cover of the pond was at least a meter thick.

"Well there," I heard Costa's voice. Shortly thereafter, a loud cry of a baby was heard.

"I told you to let her sleep in the car." Inala's voice scolded.

Arsen turned to the two of them with me in her arms and we had to watch as Costa struggled to calm a crying baby. He held it against his shoulder and rubbed its back soothingly to calm it down somehow.

As far as I could tell, it was Elvira. She was quite a crying baby and is said to keep many in the pack house up at night. Luckily I'm not a werewolf and I don't have sensitive hearing.

In contrast to her, her brother Sebastian lay calmly in the twin car and slept. He didn't seem to hear his younger sister's screams. It's hard to believe that one day he'll be our son's right hand man. In any case, it seems to be a haven of peace.

Arsen's chest heaved behind me as he started to laugh. Costa just glared at him. I couldn't stop myself from scaring him a little either.

"Maybe our boy will be a screamer too," I teased a little. Maybe he'd keep us up at night, but I wouldn't care. He's my baby.

"He won't yell, he's a Storm after all." Arsen said proudly.

"You yell all the time too." Arsen's expression darkened. But my grin got wider.

"Ow," I said as something stung my abdomen.

"Are you alright, little one?" Arsen immediately stood in front of me to eye me with concern.

"Yeah, it's..." Suddenly it got wet between my legs. I looked down, startled. The snow was melting under me and my pant legs were completely soaked.

"Is the..." Arsen began.

"...The water ruptured? Yes, I think so," I answered his question.

Arsen's eyes widened immediately. We've been preparing for the birth for months, but suddenly he gets terribly nervous.

"Fuck", said softly.

a/n: up next is the epilogue. You can skip chapters to read it because the following chapters would be an excerpt of my upcoming book. Epilogue is on Chapter 70, enjoy!