Fate Stained - Part Two
Chapter 31 - Clarity

Two heads in a basket - not really what we’d hoped to achieve out of organising this meeting with Vincent. Probably not what he’d been hoping for either. Death was never the outcome I ever wanted from meetings with other packs, regardless of how I felt about them. It was always my aim to be able to change their mindsets and steer them into a better direction if they’d strayed toward the side of evil. It was too late for Vincent now.

Even though none of us had met Vincent before, we’d had a fair idea it was him and his wolf-mage hybrid in the wicker basket. The only person that could actually confirm it though was Fern, and that she did.

“Yes, that’s him” she choked, “And that’s his best friend, Anton”

Flynn wrapped his arm around Fern’s shoulders and pulled her protectively into his body, shielding her from the sight before them.

“Who did this?” She breathed, “Was it my father?”

It was a question we’d all been asking ourselves since the gruesome discovery in the forest. Who did it? My guess was on Alpha Rhys. If somehow he’d intercepted the communication between Cameron and Vincent then he may have decided to take matters into his own hands and prevent the meeting from ever occurring. Which meant that he was close, along with goddess knew how many more members of the Point Invictus pack. I’d linked all of my fighters that were currently on patrol and told them to be more observant. I didn’t want any of my men meeting the same fate as Vincent and Anton.

“We aren’t sure yet” Cameron said in answer to Fern’s question, “But yes, our current thoughts are that it was your father…or your pack anyway”

“I don’t think so” Quinn muttered.

I turned my body towards her. She was staring at the basket that contained the severed heads, even though the lid was on. She crouched down in front of it, her narrowed blue eyes intently studying the weave of the wicker.

“What is it?” I asked.

I crouched down to Quinn’s level, following her line of sight, trying to see what it was that she was seeing.

“This basket” she said, her fingers gently tracing over the patterns, “Does it look familiar to you?”

I looked closer at the patterns that Quinn was referring to. She was right. There was something about the intricate designs and even the actual weave of the wicker that was triggering some sort of memory in my brain; but for the life of me I couldn’t figure out where I’d seen them before.

“It’s Baltic wicker” Moira’s voice sounded from behind us.

Quinn and I both rose to our feet and turned to the wolf doctor who walked towards us with a book in her hands. She pointed to an image on one of the pages; several baskets with the exact same patterns and weaves as the one in front of us.

“Baltic wicker?”

“Yes. From the trees that Baltic amber is harvested from”

“Yo-Na” Quinn growled under her breath, “I knew I’d seen these baskets somewhere before. I have several in storage that Norah gave me as gifts when I was healing from the fight with Magdalene”

“So this was Darius?” Cameron asked.

I nodded my head and quickly sent out a link to my wolves. If there were bears in the forest then it was safe to say, with the power of their shamans, that they would be thoroughly cloaked.

“Why would Darius kill wolves that aren’t even a part of our pack?” Quinn asked, looking up at me.

“I don’t think he really cares. He hates all wolves and regardless of their pack, this is a message”

“What’s the message though? Norah isn’t here and Meadow told him that. It doesn’t matter how many wolves he kills, we have no way of giving him what he wants even if we wanted to”

“Somehow I don’t think Darius is one for thought out plans. He knows you and Norah are close, maybe he thinks she told you where she was going. Who knows? What we do know though, is that he is happy to kill whoever he replaces in that forest as I way of getting a message to us—”

“—Kyanite!”

Quinn’s eyes grew wide and the instant panic was evident in her face. Kyanite would be returning at some stage today from Panthera with some of his panther warriors. If they were detected by the Yo-Na tribe then they wouldn’t be safe either.

“Can you mind link him if he is your mate?” Fern asked innocently, “Isn’t that how it works?”

Flynn squeezed Fern’s shoulders gently and she looked up at him.

“What? I thought that’s how—”

“We never completed the bond” Quinn said, preventing Fern from further embarrassing herself or Quinn…or me for that matter, “I can’t communicate with him through the link”

“But aren’t you the Queen of all shifters? Surely you can communicate with all of us”

Flynn gave Fern a gentle nudge this time and I almost smirked at his soft attempt at getting her to be quiet.

“I have a level of control over all shifters, yes, but I’m not able to mind link them unless there is a blood or mate bond”

“Well that’s stupid” the redhead grunted.

Quinn sighed and turned back to face me. I’d be lying if I said that part of me - more than likely my wolf - didn’t secretly hope that Darius and his warriors had already located Kyanite in the forest and maybe there was another basket full of heads coming our way. But the second I looked into Quinn’s sad, worried eyes, that thought quickly faded away. As much as I hated that fucking panther, I didn’t think I could bare to see the trauma his death would cause to Quinn. Wether I liked it or not, his presence was something I was just going to have to get used to; somehow.

“I’ve let some of the fighters know to remain in the area of the portal to make sure Kyanite and his men get to us safely. He won’t be in the forest unaware of the possible danger”

Quinn nodded. She looked exhausted. I knew the woman was tough, she was the strongest person I knew, but this baby was draining her. As if Flynn’s train of thought was exactly in line with mine he nodded in the direction of the pack house.

“Quinn, you look wrecked. How about you go home and have a lie down?”

Quinn rolled her eyes and I rubbed her back softly. She looked up at me and rolled her eyes again, letting out a frustrated sigh at the same time.

“I’m fine! Honestly” she moaned.

“I know you’re fine” I assured, “but what if Darius or one of the wolf packs decide to attack the compound in the middle of the night? Why don’t you just try to get a little rest while you can? That’s all we are suggesting”

“Not while Kyan is out there”

“What if I go out to the portal site and meet Kyan and the other panthers there? I could create another portal to bring them directly here” Flynn offered.

“I think that’s a great idea” I said, hoping Quinn would too.

The Luna looked like she was thinking it over for a few seconds before shaking her head.

“No. I can’t be worrying about you out there too”

“I’ll go with him” Cameron offered, “We’ll be fine. Matt is already at the portal sight with three other wolves and it’s not far anyway”

“Quinn” I offered gently, “It’s a good idea”

I slid my hand into her’s, giving a small, reassuring squeeze. I knew she was worried. She didn’t want anyone she loved in danger, but we were at war…everyone was in danger, that was just the way it was.

“Fine” she finally said after a few seconds, “But if you get yourself killed I’ll make Blake bring you both back just so I can kill you again”

Quinn POV

I felt like I’d been benched. I was pregnant, not broken. I knew Flynn and Jayce were just trying to do what they thought was best but I wanted to be as useful as anyone else - I wanted to fight.

As if my body so desperately wanted to prove me wrong, a long, drawn out yawn forced it’s way between my lips and I gave in, lying down on the bed.

My one small win was that Jayce had agreed to leave me alone and remain near the front gates with some of the other fighters. If I was benched then there was no way I would have him sit in the pack house with me - leaving two of us out of commission.

I lay back on the bed, my head resting on the soft pillows and my fingers gently tracing over my belly. I thought about Vincent and Anton, two wolves that I’d never even met before, but for some reason felt an overwhelming wave of sadness due to the sudden end to their lives. They were both sons; mothers had raised them from tiny little, innocent babies into the men they were today. A mother fed them, changed them, toilet trained them, taught them to walk, speak, write…a mother loved them.

I spread my palms and protectively covered my swollen stomach. I already loved this baby so much. The loss of my last child all but destroyed me. Imagine raising a beautiful little life just to have someone that never even knew them - never even had any reason to hate them - end their life so quickly and brutally. Right now there were mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, mates, pack members…all hurting, their lives shattered because of the actions of one disgusting, poor excuse for a King. It made my blood boil.

“Anger isn’t good for the baby”

I opened my eyes and turned my head to face the translucent woman that had appeared next to my bed. It had been a while since I’d seen Atropos. I’d called to her a few times but she never came to me. I raised my brow at the Goddess, wondering what possible reason she could have for appearing now.

“Long time no see” I sighed, sitting up so my back was against the head board.

“Sorry. Zeus has been keeping me quite busy. I’m sorry I didn’t answer your calls. I could feel you and I sensed that you were ok. If anything had been seriously wrong then I would have answered”. The goddess’s eyes moved down my body and rested on my stomach, “I see the future Shifter Queen has made an appearance. You look beautiful”

“Yes. This was actually one of the things I wanted to ask you. Moira and Flynn have been trying to look into why my belly seems to be getting bigger a lot earlier than it should, but at the moment they haven’t found anything”

Atropos nodded her head and moved closer to the bed. She reached her hand out tentatively.

“May I?” She asked.

“Of course”

The Goddess let her hand hover over my stomach for a few minutes. I watched her facial expressions closely but the deity gave nothing away. Every now and then she would smile, which seemed to coincide with the baby’s kicks; but the rest of the time she remained stoic and silent.

“You can touch it if you want” I said quietly.

Without giving Atropos a choice, a grabbed her hand - and even though I’d partially been expecting for my hand to pass straight through her’s, it didn’t and I held it firmly against my stomach. One thing I hadn’t been expecting though was the sudden power that passed though my whole body and projected out of my abdomen, throwing the Goddess to the other side of the room.

What the fuck was that?!

I sat up quickly, my eyes growing wide and my hands instinctively moving to cover my belly. I watched as Atropos scrambled to her feet, her face looking how I felt - shocked.

“What the Hell was that?” I breathed.

Atropos shook her head and cleared her throat. She wouldn’t make eye contact with me, looking everywhere in the room except for at me.

“I don’t think— I don’t think the baby wanted me touching you…or her” the Goddess muttered, “I should— I should probably go…”

There was something about the look in Atropos’s eyes. There was something she wasn’t telling me, something had happened when she’d touched my stomach, something that - for whatever reason - she didn’t want me to know. I jumped out of bed a walked over to where the Goddess stood.

“Atropos. Please, what is it? What did you see?”

“I should really go—”

“—please! This is my baby. No secrets”

The deity sighed and finally her eyes met mine.

“Fine. Your baby is healthy and strong…very strong. And she’ll be here a lot sooner than what we were all expecting. I can’t tell you when, but just be prepared, ok?”

I couldn’t help the smile that spread widely over my face. She was strong, healthy and she would be in my arms soon. The news was amazing, and I was elated…but the news that Atropos gave didn’t meet the look in her eyes - the look that was full of sadness, pity and pain.

“Atropos. There is something else isn’t there?”

The goddess nodded, her shoulders and her eyes both dropping in unison as she spoke her next words.

“Yes” she whispered, “I know who the father is”