The days before the fated meeting, my body felt strange. The first change was my breast which got tender from just wearing clothes. Then slight fatigue set in, making me not able to keep up with Fenris as much as I could before. Most of it I wrote off as stress caused by the upcoming meeting.

Even when my cycle was delayed, which usually happened when I was stressed about something. Made me not pay much mind to it. Though I found it odd how Amara checked on me every day. She wanted to study my body since it was one-of-a-kind, but she never said much about what she was observing in me. Though I did not ask.

The day of the meeting, though, from the moment I woke up, my world was set anew. I felt sicker than I had since the festival events. Fenris startled awake from me, running into the bathroom. I expelled everything that was in my stomach into the toilet. My world felt like it was spinning, even though I remained idle.

Fenris joined me quicker than lightning. It would have been a comfort if I did not pant heavily. He slowly soothed my back, dialing Amara to come to check me. After finishing up the call, he texted Liam to come as well. Placing the phone away, he turned his full attention towards me.

"Are you okay?" Fenris worried, soothing my back.

I did not know how to answer him. This was a first for me. Even with my fever moments, I never felt like this. The nausea had me pinned.

"I do not know..." I struggled to say as more of my stomach contents threatened to come out of me.

The prior night, I had eaten nothing too heavy. I had already felt off. So, my stomach was relatively empty. Yet, I felt like everything wanted to come up. Acid and all. And it burned.

"You think what you ate last night might have done this?" Fenris tried to get information about what might be happening to me.

I joggled my head, not knowing what was wrong. For a while, he tried to comfort me, as we waited for Liam and Amara to come. It only took a couple of minutes for Liam, who Fenris had given a key to the room, to open the door, letting the medic inside.

Shade was by the door the whole time, watching everything unfold. Amara asked me a series of questions that I struggled to answer. Fenris hesitantly left the bathroom to give the medic space to work. After a few analysis spells, Amara sighed in relief.

"Do you know what is wrong with me?" I mumbled, still feeling ill.

Fenris's phone answered a call outside of the bathroom from Ryker about the meeting time and place. It caused the elf hesitantly to look outside.

"Yes... but..." Amara peered around, unsure.

"But...?" I echoed the elf's words, puzzled by them.

Something did not seem right. I did not feel right.

"Have you been taking the pills I gave you?" Amara asked, changing the conversation.

I gazed at her, utterly baffled by her. How did that have anything to do with it? She had given me some pills, telling me it reinforced my system about two weeks ago. Vitamins of some kind.

"Yes, but I want to know what you think it might be," I started, feeling unwell again.

The urge to hurdle my contents made me hug the bowl. She sighed in response.

"I cannot tell you right now. I need more analysis to be done before, I am sure." Amara tried to sway me from my current course.

"What? Am I dying?" I asked, not knowing if what I had done in the festival might have caused permanent damage within my body.

In response, she grabbed onto my hands, worried I might have gotten the wrong idea.

"No! You are not dying," Amara grumbled, glancing back at Shade.

The little familiar tilted her head in response.

"Shade... can you please close the door?" Amara asked the curious cat, who did as she wanted.

Once the door was closed, she took out a portable sigil. She usually used it for her patient’s confidentiality. Slowly, she leaned into me and brushed my hair away from my ear.

"I cannot keep this up for long. But I cannot tell you because this room is probably wired. I am sorry. It is not safe for you." She whispered in my ear, quickly taking off the sigil, hoping the boys were none the wiser.

"What?" I mumbled, unable to follow her.

‘Wired? Is someone listening to us speak here?’

Fenris probably knew, though. It would explain why he avoided speaking about anything important while we were in here. He would only allow certain topics when we were in there. The council probably did something when they rebuilt it. After all, he only used it to make love to me.

"You have food poisoning. Probably what you ate last night did not go well with all the stress you are in." Amara concluded, closing her kit.

Fenris opened the door, worried about what was happening behind it. He heard her diagnosis, though.

"Will she be fine?" My wolf asked anxiously.

The elf stood up from the bathroom floor.

"Yes, she will be. Just give her some plain biscuits to eat. Oh, eat bland foods not too. And nothing too hot either for a while." Amara recommended.

Fenris gently helped me up. My world was still woozy, but calmer than before.

"The meeting is in the afternoon. Will Lily be okay to travel by then?" Liam asked, sitting down by Fenris's bed.

His expression, though, showed the brown wolf was worried about me, too. I wondered how many colors my skin was turning. Fenris slowly led me onto the bed.

"She will be fine. I will be there just in case too." Amara assured the boys, glancing at Fenris, who was tracing my cheek, troubled that I was too pale.

"Your dad is going to let you?" Fenris asked the elf.

She huffed in return before getting back at him.

"Try not to stress her too much." Amara took a slight jab at Fenris, who growled at her tease.

It was true he had been drowning himself in me. We both were. His touch was not what caused this. Or so I thought. After Amara left, Fenris gave me some salt cookies. They felt decent on my upset tummy.

However, I could stomach nothing else. A few minutes passed before everything returned to normal and color returned to my face. Fenris was unusually protective of me. He was reluctant to leave me with anyone alone longer than a minute or two, even if that person was Liam.

Fenris kept me close even when Melody joined us. For the past month, she had been training with Liam on how to control herself. Their relationship had also strengthened since the night of the festival. She kissed him the moment; she came into our room.

For the first time, I felt what Melody experienced when she saw Fenris and me kissing. They seemed happy together, though. Instead of caring about them. My wolf hounded me, making sure I felt fine before we left the room for the last time. The meeting was on the top floor of the Cerberus building. Even though I tried to keep up, it was not long until Fenris had to pick me up on his back. The fatigue was showing again.

Even the short distance to the elevator was too much for me today. I never intended to come into the room on Fenris's back, but I could not help it. Otherwise, it would have taken me too long to get there. Melody held on to my dress behind Fenris, feeling intimidated by everything that was happening.

This day was completely new to her. And it was one she thought would never come. Liam led the way in the front while Fenris made sure that we were both okay. In this meeting, Melody's ranking would be reevaluated. Something to look forward to. Though, I would also make my case to the council and Lycan elders about everything that was happening.

Once we were by the doors, Liam opened them to reveal a group of people inside. For the Lycans, there were five elders, Amelia, Ben, and Layla. The other races had two people representing them. The only seat missing was for witchcraft, who would sit next to the human representative if it existed.

Setting me down, Fenris addressed the council, who all bowed the same, greeting us. Ryker was next to the sun elf representative when Amara came into the room. She demanded to be let in, much to Ryker's embarrassment. Small bickering ensued between the two as she huffed, leaving him behind, standing on the side with the other high-ranking onlookers. I was the only witchcraft user in the room, though.

In the center of the room was a table where the head of every race sat down in their chairs, waiting for me to address them. For a moment, I felt afraid to even speak. All their eyes were colder than anything else I had experienced. They all knew who I was, too.

Fenris stood beside me to reinforce my feelings. It helped me push my nerves away. The individuals I was facing today, were named Jaxon from the moon elves, Nyla from the earth elves, Roman from the human faction, Evan from the Lycans, Asher from the vampires, Charles from the sun elves, Jasper from the ocean elves, and Kaiden from the blaze elves. They were the only ones from the people in the room who would address me directly.

After this, the Lycans would have the stage to discuss their issues.

"I requested a meeting with you all... because of something I need to know." I started only to be intercepted by Jasper, who seemed impatient.

He did not want to be here. Those blue orbs seemed unhappy.

"Then spit it out, child. We do not have all the time in the world." Jasper urged me to speak quickly.

I tried to hold my annoyance at his dismissal. Ocean elves and their precious time for their laxities.

"The soul cairn," I sighed, triggering everyone to send glares my way.

If they wanted to get straight to the point, then so be it.

"How do you know that name?" Nyla asked curiously.

After all, I knew a name that should have been forgotten long ago. Not even elves with their long lives remembered.

"Alijah told me," I answered, only to be met with silence.

All the other races that did not have fluffy tails or ears seemed to be confused by what I had said. However, the elder Lycans seemed uneasy when I mentioned his name. It annoyed me how they said nothing to help.

'Liars...'

"I want no more lies. Just tell me the truth. Why was the soul cairn deleted from people's memories?!" I moved past what seemly was going nowhere.

Jasper was right about something. And that was how precious time was. We had already wasted a month on this meeting. We could not afford any more delays.

"Because one witch took it too far. While everyone else fought for its control." Kaiden answered.

I tried to focus on other things. After all, I needed to know more about the unknown. He would not distract me. And I knew how to hit them. They tried to make it about one witch, but it was more than that.

"No… it was because of the god artifacts." I asked.

Charles nodded to confirm.

"Yes, in the past, elves used their own lives to farm these souls to make them into these holy relics. But that is just another reason it was banned from our world." He informed, beginning a chain reaction from the council.

"For the most part, it used to be just part of life. Until your race came along with the crazy idea to open the gate, allowing those beasts out." Asher said, glancing at me more like I was a pest.

His red orbs were full of disdain, too.

"Let’s not pretend like that was the only reason. No, before then, wars were fought over the realm. So, we decided it was enough and closed off the public’s memory. This includes most of the population in our world." Roman informed, trying to take some heat off the humans.

"So only a select few can know the truth?" I questioned, feeling off about it.

How would we stop history from repeating if we could not learn from it?

"Girl... Only Lycans and vampires benefit from the soul cairn. The only ones who can withstand their power until you came along. So, no one else would have missed it." Jasper said, trailing his hands on the table.

It almost seemed as he was uninterested in the entire event. Ocean elves were really one of a kind.

"It seems it is more than just that now, isn't it?" I continued to peruse.

It caused Jaxon to laugh in response.

"Yes. Somehow, you managed to make yourself a vessel for the cursed realm. Hooray." Jaxon sarcastically pointed out.

Nyla shook her head in disapproval.

"Seems you can even summon those things, too. From what the reports say. What a waste of trees though." Nyla huffed, throwing pieces of paper on the table.

Earth elves with their nature.

"I can," I said, feeling a bit off again.

Was it from this morning? I certainly did not have to puke again. Did I? Even the whispers had felt irrelevant at this point. Just what was wrong with me?

"Then it is worse than we thought." Roman sighed, glancing towards his fellows.

"The world seems to be at your whim, witch," Charles declared.

I tried to snap out of what was happening to me to deny them. It was hard, though. I really was not myself.

"I am not the danger to this world!" I tried to reassure them.

Fenris tried his best not to step in to help me. If he did, it would be over. I would have to stand up by myself if I wanted to be heard by them.

"Oh, but you are. You see. If elves figure out that, they can try to capture the shadow beasts. They will produce more god artifacts. Of course, lesser ones. Even so, those things are unkillable while in our world." Jaxon smirked at me.

His smile rubbed me the wrong way. Moon elves...

"I do not want to do anything to this world. All I want is to be with the one I love!" I declared to them.

They seemed unimpressed by my words.

"Girl, the world does not work that way. Eventually, power corrupts even the best of hearts." Nyla informed me.

I shook my head even though what she said was true.

"No, I..." I struggled to find the right words.

Power corrupted the best of us. It would corrupt me eventually, but I... It did not help I was not feeling like myself.

"Look, the girl seems to struggle now." Jaxon exasperated me.

It triggered me to fire up once again. He was annoying, but he sure knew how to push the right buttons to keep me going. Maybe that was what he wanted.

"This girl has a name, Lilith. And you will hear me if you want to survive what comes next!" I tried to reach them.

Though some of the council members remained unimpressed. However, Jaxon seemed to enjoy my fighting spirit.

"Threats will do nothing here, girl," Asher warned.

His words caused me to glare at him, not wanting to back down either. Maybe if the world would stop spinning for a moment, I could think better, but it did not seem to be in my cards. No... What I had to do was something else. Something I would not like.

"All of you treat me like I am the enemy. Perhaps I should be one." I sighed, turning back to Jaxon.

He seemed to be the one pushing me forward, so maybe he would help me prove my point. Moon elves used to be close allies for witchcraft users. Maybe today it will be the same.

"Go for it, moon elf. Look at my memories. Show them everything." I pointed towards my head, smirking.

"Perhaps that will wipe everyone's grin off their faces." I walked over towards the table, leaving behind my beloved.

Fenris, knowing full well what I was going to do, tried to stop me, but Shade halted his advances by shifting and standing in his way.

"Ah... so you know what I can do?" Jaxon smiled, amused by my willingness to prove them wrong.

"Of course, I do. I know what every race is capable of." I assured them, showing little to no fear of what I was asking him to do.

Moon elves could see through memories, even project them into the room with their spells. However, it was not a pleasant trip for whoever was being probed.

"No, I can’t let you do that, Lily." Fenris tried to sway me.

Shade did not let him through. I knew what I was biting into.

"No, lover boy, right now you stay where you are." Shade warned Fenris, who was not too happy about her standing in his way.

However, this was the only way for the council to believe my words. Especially since the Lycans refused to speak. With this, everything would become undeniable.

"Very well, barer of the soul cairn. Let us see what worries you." Jaxon said, standing from where he was before walking towards me.

Pressing his hand on my forehead, I heard Fenris call my name as Jaxon chanted a spell in an unknown language. Instantly, my body throbbed as my memories were projected into the room. Jaxon grabbed me by my waist so I would not fall to the ground. Fenris protectively tried to get to me, only for Shade to stop him in his tracks once again.

This was the only way they would listen. However, it was excruciating to experience. It was as if needles were trying to rip my mind open even though it was willingly. It was usually a technique used to find answers from crime perpetrators. I tried to focus away from the pain. And into what they needed to see to make it easier for me.

No more, no less. In front of their eyes, they saw everything I had experienced through my eyes. Alijah... The soul cairn... Everything relevant to what today was about. Seeing enough, Jaxon pulled away, stepping back from me. Part of him did not believe me until the moment he saw everything. There was no denying it.

All of them heard the same words that were said to me from the soul cairn and Alijah himself. All the races glanced toward the Lycans while my body reached its limit. I tumbled into Fenris's arms.

"So... the wolf that went mad is a true tale." Jaxon laughed, placing his hands on the desk.

Amara ran to me to check if I was alright. Somehow, I kept my consciousness in one piece, even though my head felt it was being split apart.

"Stupid. Why did you do that?" Fenris whispered, holding me close.

All I could do was cling to him. His heartbeat was soothing to hear. However, it hurt to speak. In response to my inability to answer him, his anger only grew.

"This was too far, Jaxon!" Fenris growled.

Jaxon gently smiled in return.

"No, the girl... Lilith knew what she was doing. The order would not have believed her otherwise. Now your kin has a lot of explaining to do. I suspect not even you know about that Lycan, young silver blood." Jaxon assured Fenris that this was the right action.

 Even though I was worse for it. Amara was trying to remedy my pain. Though what helped the most was being in my wolf’s tender embrace.

"We have nothing to say," Evan said.

The other Lycan elders seemed uneasy about the entire event. They were determined to keep their secrets.

"Nothing? Did you not see what we saw? Hear it? Just who was that black-haired Lycan?" Roman questioned.

Evan went on the defensive.

"It could have been her imagination." He deflected back onto me, who could not respond to even though I wanted to.

Though the others would not stand for it.

"That was not her imagination. That was real. Do not question my ability to tell memories from a dream." Jaxon seemed ticked off that Evan would even suggest his spell was a failure.

Arguments continued until the point Fenris had enough of their bickering.

"Can you all shut up? This is going nowhere. Everything she said was real! Why even deny it?" He handed me to Melody, who had joined us.

Once safe in her arms, he turned to face the council himself.

"You will speak, grandfather because I demand you do." Fenris slammed his hand on the table, startling everyone around.

He was angry, and it was showing. A low red aura radiated from him as his power responded to his frustration. Everyone knew he was like Alijah, but inexperienced.

"Do not make any demands. You, a child, are not ready for the role of being a leader." Evan denied not fearing him one bit.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Fenris snarled at Evan, who seemed unshaken by his grandson's hostility.

He knew Fenris would not harm him. At least, he thought.

"You have been frolicking around with a human. Disgusting. You bring nothing but shame to our clan." Evan started, bringing up what we had done in the room when he was present.

However, before Fenris could answer back, someone else was angered by his comment. Someone who was not willing to stand by any longer.

"Ha? Shame??? Excuse me, mortals, the only shameful things I see are you a lot." Shade made herself known in her tiny form, hopping onto the table, pacing back and forth.

She wanted to hurt anyone who tried to come between Fenris and me. No longer would she allow anyone to hurt us.

"Shut up! You have no place to speak here, demon." Evan tried to dismiss Shade.

She sat in front of him and smirked. He did not fear her as he should. A mistake he would not soon forget.

‘Oh, touch me, mortal, please, give me a reason to make your squeal.’ She wished.

I was in no position to stop her. Everything felt so off for me.

"No, I have all the fucking right to speak." Shade hissed back.

Evan pointed towards the security around the room.

"Will someone escort this beast out!" Evan ordered.

Shade tilted her head in response to his demand.

"No... You will not because whoever tries will lose a head or two." Shade warned, halting anyone who tried to even come close to her.

All but one, Fenris, who picked her up from the table and placed her on the floor.

"Enough, Shade, you made your point." He sighed.

She grumbled, jumping on me again. Thanks to Amara, my head pounded less, allowing me to process things better. However, what was said next would cause my heart to race faster than I thought it would.

My wolf was not a pushover anymore.

"Grandpa, I will fuck with whoever I want, and I will marry whoever I desire. That is not for you to decide anymore." Fenris growled firmly.

Shade poked at him.

"I mean if you fuck someone else, I might end up hating you, little wolf." Shade snuck in a snarky comment.

It caused him to growl at her, too. His cheeks were slightly pink, much to her pleasure.

"Shade, you are not helping." Melody scolded.

In response, Shade huffed. Nothing would silence her until I picked her up in my arms. Her soft fur was so soothing to me. Though, I was trying to hide how her comment flustered me, too.

"You make a mockery out of this council." Evan declared.

The rest of the council remained quiet at his remark. They had enough of being kept in the dark about matters that could affect them.

"No, you do that, Evan." Nyla finally broke the silence.

Her words reflected on all the others who were unpleased by everything too. Her words unleashed the floodgates on the unsuspecting Lycan elder.

"Nyla?" Evan called out to her, perplexed by her stance on the matter.

"You are hiding something from us. Which we do not take kindly." Asher said, standing up from his chair, annoyed by the complete revelation, too.

"We thought we knew everything," Kaiden grumbled, irritated at the indecision of the Lycans.

In his orange orbs, they needed to share what they required for the world to prosper.

"Obviously, we do not." Jasper yawned, not wanting to be here a moment longer.

To him, this seemed like a waste.

"The boy, although young, has gained his power. He is to ascend to the seat which you will step down from Evan. It was a mistake to let you have it in the first place. Ben was right." Charles announced, astounding everyone in the room.

"What?!?! You can’t possibly do that!" Evan confronted Charles.

The sun elf glanced around his fellows to only receive their agreement. For once, they all aligned.

"It has always been temporary for you. It was a mistake for us to think your eldest grandson could not hold the chair because of his injuries," Jaxon added to the conversation, much to Evan's dismay.

"Whoever he sleeps with or caress at night is none of our concerns either," Nyla mentioned, not pleased with how things were going.

She could honestly care less about who Fenris bedded.

"You are out of bounds! You don’t control what we Lycans do!" Evan fumed.

Things were not going his way.

"No... but we do control who has a say at this table. And I believe we agree for once that you are not part of it any longer." Charles declared, standing up from his chair.

"You cannot do this!" Evan pleaded with the council.

The old fool was stuck in the old ways when it used to be the Lycans deciding everything. But all of that shattered when his eldest son died.

"We can. This is the reason the council was formed. Plus, I am sure the young blood can best you in the old ways if needed." Jaxon pointed out.

It triggered a glare to come from Evan towards him. In the days of old, Lycans would fight for the spot of alpha. Only the strongest wolf would wear that title, and it belonged to Fenris undoubtedly. He had shown his power when he saved everyone from me, when I lost control.

"The young silver blood will be the new representative for the Lycans." Charles declared, once again bowing his head to Fenris.

My wolf seemed completely surprised by their sudden decision.

"This is not what we agreed!" Evan protested on this outcome.

"No... but as we can see, you cannot be trusted anymore. And if the peace is to last, this will have to stop. After all, we already tried having one leader before and it failed." Jasper commented, irritated that he was still sitting on the chair next to them.

Ocean elves hated anything that had to do with authority. Free spirits, they called themselves. Though, that was not the only reason the council was favorable to too many of the members gathered here. It gave everyone an equal voice. And for changes to be done, there had to be unanimous agreement.

"Are these new terms to your liking?" Charles asked Fenris.

The poor wolf had not shaken off the council's sudden ruling. For a moment, he blinked, unable to believe how smoothly things had gone. Though it would not last long since my beloved wolf was quick to shake his amazement off. Well, after being addressed.

"Of course. I never intended to dissolve the council. Even when I took my place as the head of the pack and Cerberus." Fenris announced, much to the council's pleasure.

They did not want to go back to the tyranny the Lycans used to have over them.

"Ah... you made him wise, Ryker." Charles commented to his fellow, who smiled at Fenris.

The elf had seen the wolf boy grow from an orphan to the man he grew to be. He could not be prouder. Even when they had their blows and disagreements.

"No, the boy came to this by himself," Ryker assured his leader that Fenris was a natural for this.

For a moment, Jaxon shifted his gaze from Fenris and onto me. Melody slowly picked me up from the floor. It seemed everything ended well for us. The council agreed to help us with Alijah and the rogue witches. Having all the races focused on one task would be best.

Fenris continued to address the council with everything that we had learned. However, Jaxon walked over to me, curious about something he had felt.

"Lilith, why did you not tell me of your condition before we started?" Jaxon bowed his head to me apologetically.

I gazed at him, confused. Amara, on the other hand, seemed worried about what he was about to say.

"What condition?" I muttered, not knowing what he meant.

My head slightly throbbed when I took a few steps away from Melody, holding Shade's soft fur up to my face. I really needed to put her tongue on a leash. Though the kitty was happily purring.

"Jaxon, do not do it." Amara tried to sway him from his current course, grabbing the unsuspecting elf on his shoulder, but there was no stopping it.

Fate was a fickle little thing that could not be stopped when it desired to happen. And what the moon elf would say next would change the world for me. Pulling away from Amara, he glanced down at my abdomen. I placed Shade on my shoulder.

"I mean, if you would have told me. I probably could have gone easier on you." Jaxon kept going on.

I softly glanced at him, not quite following what he was saying.

"I don’t know what you are talking about," I repeated.

In response, Jaxon smiled.

"I am sure of what I felt. You are pregnant, aren't you?" Jaxon announced to the world, shocking everyone in the room.

My brain could not fully process what he said. Instinctively, I reached for my lower abdomen.

"What?" I mumbled, unable to keep up.

 In an instant, my world was turned upside down. However, someone was worst off. The announcement had Layla's whole destiny ripped right out of her hands.

Fenris seemed shocked by the news that had spewed out of Jaxon's mouth. He turned to face me. Along with every other Lycan in the room. The most affected, though, was Layla, who could not tolerate losing her fated role at that moment.

In a second, she closed the gap between me and her. Instead of me though, she met with Shade, who ripped the arm Layla was about to use to claw into me. In reaction, Melody, who was the one closest to me, pulled me into her arms protectively.

Everything was changed in a simple instance.