A year passed before everything finally calmed down enough to be a tad less chaotic. Witchcraft had solidified itself in our society. While we still struggled against prejudice, it seemed like things were changing for the better.

Our life, though, was hectic, even in these peaceful times. We juggled our children with work, leaving little space for anything else. Usually, we ended the day exhausted to the point that we had barely had any time for each other. There still were no leads of the eternal witch.

Edna was playing the long game, like always. After work, I usually fell asleep earlier than Fenris. This bothered me. Sadly, he was already out by the time the next morning came. Even with Amelia's constant help, it was overwhelming to take care of four babies. They also were slowly learning to walk.

Melody, who usually would help too, had just given birth to her own baby girl, Sofia. Of course, Liam was the child’s father. They had gotten engaged soon after the pregnancy, too. They conceived the night we came back from Celestelia. A night I passed myself in discord with the babies and Fenris. We were trying to adjust to our new normal.

Even though work did not give in to my desires, I was more focused and desperate to find some time alone with Fenris. Especially now that I was fully healed. The trauma of the birth left me battered. Even though Amara tried her best to help me through it with her magic. It took a long while for the bleeding to stop and for me to recover.

Thankfully, I already felt better. The only pains I had were from taking care of the quad. They were becoming more than a handful. Even Shade was trying to stay strong when they treated her like a stuffed toy. Usually, the worst perpetrator would be little Rem. She was ruthless. Shade always complained about her treatment. But I could tell she loved every minute she spent with the babies.

The whole manor was baby-proofed by Amelia the moment the babies crawled. The twin boys tested the limits of this. They were the most robust next to Rem. Vera was calmer than her other siblings. From this point, I knew the ones who would cause me more trouble in the future.

However, today was a special day. They finally acknowledged me to be the witch's chair in the council. Leaving my little ones behind, I headed towards the council with Liam. He got me instead of Fenris. My beloved wolf was at Cerberus, going over some reports that had come up with Ryker.

However, Edna was still nowhere to be found. There were no signs of Alijah either. Though what was more worrisome was Liam. He did not seem to do well. Deep dark circles were under his eyes thanks to baby Sophie's mewling at night. Even so, he could not stop commenting on how cute his baby girl was.

This continued all the way to Cerberus, where I was met by Aria, a witch that had become my right hand in the last year. She was an asset to help me deal with the witches and warlocks. With the negligible amount I had between raising my little ones and trying to lead our kin towards peace, she was essential to me.

I had no choice but to depend on her for most of the work. Luckily, Aria was nothing but loyal. She had beautifully dyed amber hair and vibrant green eyes. Being older than me made her wiser in many of the dealings that had to be done. I found myself depending on her.

The meeting itself went well. Most of the members accepted me after proving my loyalty. This happened when I banished Alijah into the foreseeable future. In their eyes, I had bought us time to figure out what to do when he returned.

Though all we could do was hope. Alijah was something else entirely. With this new ruling, it stabilized the witchcraft users into society. Although not everyone was glad about that outcome. After everything that we endured, some still wanted to be paid in blood. Something I denied them in every turn.

That alone was stressful. Though that did not stop me from devoting myself to work on a cure for the new wolfsbane variant. Stella called it Iris. We had found this detail in my grandmother's grimoire that we got from her dead body. It seemed Edna did not care if we had her grimoire. That was for good reason, as it pertained nothing to what she was or had planned. In the end, Stella was a pawn, and nothing more.

Though, all we found in her grimoire was how the new variant was made. In honor of my mother's name, Stella used witchcraft to combine the iris flower with wolfsbane, making it a completely new plant. One, easily grown and harvested, carrying the potency of the original.

Sadly, this meant we had no way to know how many 'irises' were carrying this new threat. It would take me three more years before I found an antidote. And that one would have to be taken within minutes after the poisoning for it to be effective.

Though the antidote I created was hard to produce, so Cerberus had negligible quantities once it was accomplished. Still, it was a major goal to hit for our peace. After all, Lycans affected by iris were a danger to anyone around them.

However, that was something soon to come. The same day of my confirmation into the council, Amelia noticed my recent change of mood. She approached me, offering to take the babies for the night. This was to allow Fenris and me the alone time we desperately needed.

I had not seen him since the council meeting ended, but he was due to be back by nightfall. Amelia even when to get me some cute lingerie to wear for Fenris, but I could not find the courage to wear them. The pregnancy had a heavy toll on my body.

I had stretch marks that decorated my scarred body. It did not help I also had some loose skin around my belly. Amara had told me these changes were normal, but I had never felt comfortable in my skin. And now more than ever, it seemed to affect the self-esteem that I had slowly built.

‘Perhaps, this is why Fenris is not looking my way too.’

A silly thought. After all, he never cared about how my outer shell appeared. Yet I could not help but think that maybe he wished it were different. I had used none of my powers to correct myself for him. Though that was for two reasons.

The first was that I did not know what Edna had done to me the day my babies were born. My magic seemed more unstable than ever. Even a brief burst of casting incantations ended with my nose bleeding. If I were not careful. The second was that I did not wish to do it either. I had kept my usage of my powers down low.

After all, any event that I might lose control of my magic terrified me. Just thinking about it sent shivers down my spine. My children were everything. And I wanted their world to be safe. Though one thing I was free of was that my death would not doom the world. Yet that did not sever the connection I had with the realm.

No, something would always connect me to the gate of shadows. And I would also focus on trying to understand why it existed. But that would take most of my life. Yet that would not stop me from trying. After all, this was something my children would have to deal with, too.

While I waited for Fenris to come home, Shade laid in her new, bigger tower that Amelia had gotten for her. Fenris's sister was really coming around with us. It was nice. Shade took the opportunity to sleep peacefully. This would be the first nap she had with no babies around to stop her.

When Fenris arrived, he seemed dead inside. Even though he always slept next to me every night, today he seemed more tired than usual. Then again, I usually was out cold by the time he came, but this evening he was early.

Winter was also starting, so it slowed down work somewhat. It almost seemed that even the baddies took the season off. The moment our eyes met, I felt my heart skip a beat. This was the first time in an entire year that we had been alone. Something he quickly noted.

"Where are the kids?" Fenris asked, taking off his coat.

It seemed to have been snowing. The cold never bothered me while in the manor, though. He looked around for clothes to wear after his bath.

"Amelia took them for the night," I answered, glancing down towards the floor.

For some reason, I felt shy about the whole thing. Even though this was far from our first time together, it felt like I was cornering him.

‘Why am I feeling so embarrassed after everything we had done? There is no use in feeling this way at all. Lilith, he is your man. Get him! Like Melody said to me earlier!’

The whispers had come back after my pregnancy, but they were less persistent. Mostly muffles. Probably because of the change in our connection.

"She did?" Fenris sounded more surprised than anything else.

 It just added to my nerves. I nodded my head to confirm.

"Yep," I mumbled, fidgeting with my fingers.

He stood there for a moment, trying to figure out what was happening. A chuckle erupted from his lips soon after. It triggered my cheeks to go from pink to bright pink. It burned almost.

"Don’t laugh!" I grumbled, trying to not feel too much into it.

Though it made me wonder if he still wanted to hold me.

"Ah... Well... want to join me?" Fenris teased me further with a sly smirk on his lips.

He found my attempts to find some alone time with him adorable. For a moment, I stayed quiet, grabbing onto the sheets of the bed with my fist.

"Dinner is soon," I informed, trying to keep my nerves in check.

Why did it feel like it was our first time all over again?

‘Get a hold of yourself, Lilith!’

"Hm... That does not mean we can’t have a little fun before it." Fenris noted, sitting beside me.

His words caused me hesitantly to glance up at him. He had fully caught on to what I wanted. Before I could give my answer, a yelp left my lips. Fenris picked me up bride style while I held onto him for dear life. He walked out of the room and into the bathroom with me in his arms. I had already showered, but even so, he stripped himself of his clothing, slowly doing the same to me.

For an entire year, we had done nothing more than a kiss and cuddle at night. After my birth, even though Amelia tried to repair most of the damage, it left me barren. If it was because of what Edna had done or not, there was no way to know. Though I thought it was more because of the birth itself. Not that it mattered to us. We already had four adorable children to raise.

We still did not know what Edna had done, or where Layla was, but that was something that had to be pushed aside. This would be our first night alone in an entire year. Fenris traced his fingers down my back and onto my abdomen.

There laid the most significant of my scars. The only one I was truly proud of. After all, it signified the birth of my baby girl and how we all survived that day.

"Does it still hurt?" Fenris asked.

To this day, he had vivid nightmares about the entire event. In most, he failed to save me, leaving me to comfort him every time he woke up. A change of roles almost. In my case, though, my terrors seemed to have died down since that day. I had left every one of them behind.

"No." I simpered, feeling embarrassed by his touch.

It was so welcoming, and all my worries from before melted from the way his eyes gazed at me. They were full of love and desire. Never once did he look at me differently. I was his world, and he was mine.

Before I knew it, my cheeks had been cupped in his hands, tugging me in for a tender kiss. His tongue played with mine. In such a way that by the end, I was left breathless. When we separated, a smile broke on his lips. He had been looking forward to this moment for longer than I realized.

Of course, he moved at my pace. Though we were both worried about the other. To the point, we could not realize we both wanted this.

"I love you," Fenris murmured in a husky voice.

It triggered me to get jittery in response to his touch and loving words. Did I ever feel cold in his arms?

"I love you too," I replied.

With a smile, Fenris picked me up with ease. I warped my legs around his hips. Slowly, he descended the stairs and into the big bath. It was always cleaned and refilled after every use by the maids of the manor. Once in the water, Fenris kept my mouth busy as one of his hands traveled through my body. The other caressed my breast.

Even though the water was warm, his hands were more so. I played with his tongue while he made sure I felt him here with me. With a brief hesitation, I felt Fenris's fingers intrude in my depths. A gasp left my lips as I felt like it was foreign. It had been an entire year, after all. Upon hearing my reaction, Fenris pulled away a bit from my lips and gazed at me full of concern.

"Does it feel okay?" He worried that I may have felt pain, instead of the pleasure he wanted to give me.

It was probably the reason he had only cuddled me to sleep, even after the bleeding stopped months ago. My beloved wolf was just too loving.

"It is fine. I love it," I reassured Fenris, nuzzling his nose with mine.

He smirked in response to my confession of loving his touch. There was no reason for him to hold back anymore after hearing that. Not that I minded. I was more than healed. His hand that he had been using to caress my chest traveled down my back, resting on my bum.

To assure him of what I was feeling, I let out a moan close to his ears. It seemed to surprise him since he pulled away and glanced at me, eyes slightly glowing crimson red.

"Love, don’t tempt me. I want to treat you gently." Fenris warned with a slight growl.

Instead of backing off, I licked my lips temptingly, wanting him to lose it. I looked forward to it. Not wanting to wait any longer, I tugged myself up with my arms and lapped his lips with my tongue. He seemed surprised by my assertiveness when I was being so shy before.

"Do what you want to me, my love." I purred to Fenris.

He bit into his lip, grabbing onto my hips, and suddenly finding his way into me. I whined in response to his sudden fill. Licking on my neck, he thrust himself into me as I held onto him tenderly. My moans of pleasure echoed around the room.

The sensations were consuming us both. Fenris groaned lovingly into my ears, allowing me to know that even though I had four babies. My body still pleased him. Unlike before, he did not need to worry about if I was fertile or not. I could carry nothing to term anymore.

Almost as if it was the first time we both found our release. It was faster than the other times we had held each other. Fenris chuckled in response, kissing me deeply as we enjoyed our time together.

When the morning came, we were still in each other's arms. Fenris had called Liam, letting him know he was in charge for the day. It was also to let Aria know I would be away for the day as well. Amelia still had the babies in toe with the help of the maids, leaving us yet another day to ourselves. Even though we had just pulled an all-nighter.

Fenris and I were still getting our fill of each other. After all, we had missed an entire year of affection. He told me all the times he had pushed his urges aside to make sure I was okay. But that was not needed anymore. I was his, no matter what. At the end of the day, he was the one I wanted to spend my life with. Even though we had not placed our vows yet, I already felt like his wife.

By the time noon came, we had fallen asleep in each other's warmth when the first call came in. Groggily, Fenris grabbed the phone off the table, answering it. I tried to snuggle myself into his chest only for him suddenly to get up, hearing what Liam had to say.

In an instant, Fenris's demeanor changed, alerting me that something had happened. After finishing the call, my beloved wolf kissed me lightly, getting up to get ready. While he did so, he turned to me and said I should come too. The seriousness of his voice alerted me to a significant shift.

My mind wandered to think of Edna or worst Alijah. With brief hesitation, we left for Cerberus to find out that there had indeed been a change. A hybrid village near the howling forest had sightings of big black, blue eye monsters roaming around there. One even took a picture of the beast in question for us to identify, and indeed, it was one of the shadow demons from the soul cairn.

Unlike the ones I summoned, they seemed docile if no one got close. It was almost as if they were roaming the soul cairn itself. Sadly, one villager, who inspected closely, ended up being eaten by the shadow beast. It disappeared soon after his death.

Immediately, Fenris sent scouts to investigate the event, as I had nothing to do with their appearance. That was when we found out part of what Edna had done. This had to do with the spell we assumed she used Layla's life for.

The eternal witch had torn part of the gate out of me. She merged it into this world, allowing these demons temporarily to come out of their realm. The periods at first only lasted a few minutes, but with time, the amount grew longer. It even came to the point of lasting hours.

Our only saving grace was that the beasts that emerged were docile for a few minutes, but if they saw anything living near them. They would attack with no hesitation. It first started in the forest where we stopped Alijah's rage, but slowly it spread around the world. Eventually, they could come from anywhere.

This made me remember that ever since my pregnancy, the whispers had died down a bit. They were still in the back of my mind, but weaker. I had thought it was because I had the babies, but my connection to the soul cairn had grown weaker. Though I still did not know what Edna did to me.

Though, the whispers that remained tried to gawk at my sanity when I was under stress. Luckily, I had people around me to help keep me on track. However, with the spread of the soul cairn through our world. Their persuasion got stronger again. Witches and warlocks around also gained an increase of power thanks to it as well.

With that boost, they could even give the Lycans and vampires a challenge. Even though that was a boost for us, it also made Edna even more dangerous than she was. It seemed her proper goal that day was not to capture Alijah, but to draw me out, which she achieved. But how did she know, though?

It would have been impossible unless Alijah told her. But that alone made no sense. The black wolf would never have trusted a witch like her with any information about me. After all, he planned on finding me after killing the witches that helped him.

There were many mysteries that I could not uncover alone. Thankfully, I was not. I had Fenris, his family, and my kin to help me. Together, we would figure a way out of the mess we found ourselves in. With each passing day, we broke advancements thanks to the magic that I used to combat this recent issue that arose.

We could create tracking devices to find these rogue beasts. This was accomplished by syncing them to the soul cairn's energy pattern. Thanks to Shade, who we tested the device on, we found it worked perfectly. Though it was short-range detection, making them useless when the demon needed to be right on us to notice it.

We hoped to make the devices better with time. But to accomplish this much was amazing. My team comprised witches, warlocks, humans, blaze, and ocean elves. The elves themselves helped me with all the devices that needed to be made. Within months of accomplishing that, I also created a way to subdue the shadow beast with weapons made from their magic.

This was done by using my power to create an incantation. This was to extract some of the demon's energy and place it into a gem. It differed completely from the artifacts the elves could do. It was also weaker than a weapon containing a soul. Though that process was slow since I had to rest one week between each batch. This was to avoid backlash coming towards me.

I no longer had the abilities my babies gifted me while I was in my pregnancy. This made me vulnerable again to the influences of the soul cairn. Usually, I would push myself until the point where I got a nosebleed, something Fenris did not appreciate. If it were up to him, I would do nothing.

However, using my magic was a must. We needed to fight these beasts that threatened to appear from anywhere without warning. Luckily, the beasts seemed to come one at a time, with long periods in between. That allowed us to gather everything we needed to equip some officers in every village of every nation with at least one weapon.

It was always better to let the demons be if they were docile, though. Shade herself seemed pleased with what we had accomplished, even though it affected her too. She called it a fighting chance for us mortals, snickering off to her tower. Compared to the others of her kind, Shade was something else.

Most of the weapons I created had little to no effect on her. At most, they would temporarily repel her away. This made her unique, even among her own kin. Or maybe she was a high-ranking god than the others that had popped around our world. It terrified me to think what would happen if another one like her emerged into our world. Would we be able to stop it? Doubtful.

Sometimes, I wondered if Shade was the god who heard my pleas that day. She truly differed from the rest of her kin. Whenever anyone engaged against one of these beasts, it was always a fight against time. We could only hope they would disappear quickly. The weapons were mostly there to use as a repellent than for damage.

After all, these demons were immortal. With the detection devices and the weapons at hand, most events ended with few casualties. Luckily, the events were sporadic, allowing us to adjust to this new normal with little deaths on our hands. Though, where we had our blessings was nothing of Shade's caliber ever popped from these random events.

However, even though we had the means to protect ourselves, it was hard every time the detectors went off. Usually, someone would receive a serious injury or worse. In Silverant, they at least had me. I could send the beast back with ease. The rest of the world had to fend for themselves with what I could give them.

A year later, after we had slowly adjusted to this new normal, Fenris and I wed. It was a small festivity with our two-year-old toddlers running around the whole place. Rem had to be in her dad's arms most of the time. If she was not, then she would start crying. Those little heterochromia eyes would shine brightly every time she would pout too. She even held his leg, refusing to go with Amelia while we took our vows.

Not that we minded Rem being there for them. We had a small gathering for our wedding. Only our truest friends were there. Melody and Liam had already married each other. While Ben had gone traveling with Tania, but came back for it, too. 

Tania was always more concern with her job than the relationship. Something Ben did not mind since his loyalties laid with his family too. Though I could tell he wished she would come to him to settle down. But he knew traveling was what she loved. Her career was first. So whenever he was not busy with his brother, he would go join her.

After all, Fenris did not need him to babysit him any more. The day of our wedding, Amelia insisted on me wearing a beautiful white dress. I was not comfy about it. Though Fenris seemed amazing in his white tux. And like always, he called me beautiful.

Vera, who was more attached to me, stayed nearby, staring at me with those beautiful purple orbs. They glossed every time I went too far from her. She was the shyest of the rowdy bunch, while Caden and Aiden all seemed to be more interested in the surrounding people.

Although Aiden wanted to be with little Sophie more than anyone else. With that happy memory, it marked the time I develop my magic even more. I ended up creating a new type of magic because of it. It was all to stop Alijah whenever he came back into this world.

Although the soul cairn gave us, who used witchcraft, a boost, as it was a realm full of death. It gave me something special. Something only I and my offspring could possess. Back then, when I sent Owen to his death, I thought I had used necromancy, but Aria told me it was something else entirely.

Necromancy was more about bringing the dead back to life, soulless, rather than dealing with life itself. What I did seemed to have no name, so I called it Spirit Magic. It seemed to involve people's spirits or souls alive or dead. I also could summon the dead souls of god-like beings for my aid. Though that was something I tried to limit.

Witches and warlocks always could deal with souls, but it was more for the dead than anything else. I could also summon the shadow demons, which no other witch could do. Because of this, I was called a summoner. While I studied this new magic, I found myself lost in its capacity to expand.

By the time little Vera was ten, she seemed to have inherited that trait from me. Rem also appeared to be sensitive to this magic. Although, it was too unstable for her to use thanks to her closer connection to the blood moon. By that same time, I found out that souls were comprised many components.

This happened in my efforts to save Alijah from himself. I tried to separate the part of me who he loved, only to find out it was missing. The only thing left inside of me were fragments of where it used to be.

Souls were made from the memories that they experienced while alive. So, I hoped to create his Lilith by extracting the memories from my past life. This would have culminated in me creating a new body for them. A homunculus. I did not know how that would have ended. Though it did not matter.

That was when I realized what Edna planned to control Alijah with. It was not the new variant of wolfsbane, iris, but the prospect to see the one he loved once again. Edna had already outplayed me in this sense. With that in mind, I tried to put all my efforts to find this missing part of me, but everything led to a dead end.

Edna knew how to hide. After all, she had hidden for thousands of years before this. She had even survived a purge of her kind. A subspecies of witchcraft that could only be female.

After meeting failure once again. All I could do was try to stop Alijah, but nothing of that came fruitful, either. In the end, no matter how hard I tried. My only choice was to end him. This witch was winning at every turn, and I saw no other way. It was almost as if she could see into the future. A trait that eternal witches did not have.

By the time Vera awakened to her powers, I trained her in everything I had learned. Her magic was more stable than my own, though. Though, unlike every other witch, she possessed no grimoire. In a year she got the familiar hound, who was cockier than Shade herself. Their personalities would usually lead to banter in between them.

It was hard to concentrate to get Vera focused on her studies. Fenris took the helm in preparing the boys and Rem for anything that came in their path. Although, Rem was unstable in every sense of the word. She was far stronger than a normal human, which meant Fenris had to teach her how to control that strength.

They had many outings to different places. I could not help but worry each time they left. I always voiced my concerns to Fenris, but he promised to keep them safe. Even so, I always nagged at him to be careful with Rem, since she was stubborn.

Rem did not want to stay behind in everything she did, even when told to stop. Usually, she tried to follow her robust brothers and Fenris. She was completely unaware of her own limitations. Rem was the only one of them who could not shift. This essentially made her a runt which was rare among lumas who came from purebred Lycans.

Fenris was always careful with his little Rem. It was what he would lovingly call her. 

But... when fate dictates something, it usually occurs. 

One day, when we were out fulfilling our duties at Cerberus. An accident happened when the kids were twelve. A maid was supposed to be watching over the kids, but she had left them alone for two minutes to answer the phone. When she came back, she only saw Vera in the living room, reading one of her books. The other three were gone.

By the time they found Caden, Aiden, and Rem, tragedy had struck. Rem, not accepting her limitations, had been following her brothers all the way to the roof. With one misstep, she fell from the manor's roof onto the ground below.

When I arrived, Fenris was already there. The boys were terrified inside, barely consolable, while under their father was Rem. Darkness radiated from her tiny body as if she appeared to be a shadow beast herself in her wolf form. The beast within her was out of control.

Even though she showed no signs of shifting before. The moment her life was in danger, it all changed. Though she seemed possessed while Fenris struggled to hold her. He was using his own power, even though she was a child in comparison. She did not recognize her Father or me. Those red and blue orbs of hers showed pure hostility throughout most of the event.

Sadly, before we got there, Rem slaughtered five people who had come to her aid. Witnesses said she was lying on the floor in a pool of her own blood before she attacked. According to those who survived, she was unconscious with labor breathing before she suddenly went rabid. After struggling under Fenris for a couple of more minutes. She seemed to recognize him.

The moment she realized what she had done, she automatically shifted back into her humanoid form before passing out. Fenris grabbed her in his arms protectively while searching for any injuries. I ran to them. She seemed lifeless in his embrace as a dark aura slowly dissipated from her, leaving behind the color she once had.

The entire event was written off as an accident, but after that day Rem was not the same. The following day, we researched her for any traces of a curse. Much to our horrors, we located one, but it was not like any I had ever seen. It radiated with the energy found inside the soul cairn.

It led us to believe an artifact had been used. But what was worse was that it was useless to help my little girl remove her curse. No, that would plague her for the foreseeable future. However, it did not mean doom to her. No... All I had to do was kill the witch who cast it.

Usually, curses lasted if the witch lived, so if Edna died, it would free Rem. That also included this witchcraft elven hybrid of a curse she had placed on my baby girl. All I had to do was find the eternal witch and kill her. Even so, the years rolled once again. All I had to show was empty words as Edna continued to elude me.

Sadly, this turn of events meant Rem would be stuck indoors. We feared anything happened. It would have ended with her own destruction. Our other children seemed to be free of any curses, but it was unfair how she was the only one to suffer. Unlike her, they could roam freely.

Part of me wanted to keep them inside with Rem, but she refused to have her siblings share the same fate. Even though her life was already complicated enough. After all, she was a luma. She was selfless to her family. I swore to protect her from the world, but was utterly useless.

I thought I would never come to hate anyone, but Edna filled my heart with it. I was not the only one, as Fenris was also helpless to help his little girl. This led us to promise to protect her at all costs, even though it partly cost her happiness and freedom.

Part of me wondered if we were being too overprotective, but the thought of losing Rem to the unknown. It made us determined to protect her from everything that may harm her. Sadly, it took another eight years before anything else happened. But that story was not mine to tell.

No, that belongs to someone I cherish more than life itself. Through their eyes, the next part of this tale is told. And what a story it is. Who would have thought that they would try to save the person I thought was beyond rescuing? Even though I wished for it so long ago. Twenty years ago, to be precise.

This was the story of the witch who lost it all, only to gain more than she could ever wish for.