Fate Stained - Part Two

“You— you what?”

Atropos breathed out slowly and locked her eyes with mine.

“I know who the father is, Quinn”

I had to admit, that was not what I’d been expecting her to say. Yes, it was huge news - monumental news - to find out who the father of the baby was would change absolutely everything as I knew it and would potentially destroy the life of one of my mates. But I still couldn’t figure out the look in Atropos’s eyes. She looked sad and almost distraught. Not necessarily the eyes of someone with news of a paternity test, more like someone with the news of a death.

“Ok,” I muttered, “That was all? Healthy baby, strong baby…baby daddy. Nothing else my body told you when it threw you across the room?”

The Goddess pursed her lips and shook her head.

“Then why do have the face of someone who just ran over a kitten?”

Atropos tried to sort out the array of depressing emotions that distorted her face, but she failed miserably, now looking more distraught than she had before.

“I— It’s just that— Are you not nervous to find out who the father is? Surely either Jayce or Kyanite is going to be left pretty devastated, doesn’t that upset you?”

“Of course it does,” I answered immediately, “But why does it upset you? There is something you’re not telling me Atropos. No secrets, remember?”

If I hadn’t been certain before, Atropos’s averted gaze and the shuffling of her feet confirmed it for me - there was most definitely more to tell.

“I— I don’t think it’s wise I tell you. Zeus made me promise—”

“Atropos. Need I remind you who is responsible for this whole mess? Chain of events, remember? And it all started when you cut a thread that you shouldn’t have. The amount of favours and broken promises you owe me is endless”

I didn’t like playing the ‘you owe me’ card, but right now it was essential. If there was something about my baby that the Goddess knew and I didn’t, something that Zeus didn’t want me to know - then I most definitely needed to know.

“Quinn. Once I tell you, there is no going back. I know if it was me was in your position then I wouldn’t want to know. Knowing won’t change anything”

“Well you’re not in my position, are you? Tell me what has you so bloody upset. I have a right to be upset too. Whatever the news is, I won’t hold it against you if you tell me. Just tell me!”

The Goddess groaned and raked her fingers over her face, then signalled to the bed.

“Sit down Quinn. I’ll tell you”

My stomach flipped and I swallowed dryly, making my way to the bed and sitting on the side.

Shit. Do we want to know? I don’t know about this. I don’t feel good about this.

Rogue’s panicked voice echoed through my head but I knew I couldn’t go on without hearing what Atropos had to say. It was a distraction I couldn’t afford right now. I needed all cards on the table and a clear mind.

“Go ahead”

“You were never meant to have three mates Quinn, it was a mistake all along. It was a fuck up from other Gods…not me this time”

“I— I don’t understand”

“With you being a tribrid - part wolf, panther and bear - it was up to one God and one God alone to choose a mate for you. There was meant to be a competition to see which one of your deities would chose your mate, but instead, Selene - the Goddess of the wolf and moon - decided to take it upon herself and fate Jayce as your mate. Your two other deities, Artemis and Apollo, were furious. But instead of going to Zeus about Selene’s dishonesty, they too fated mates to you. Apollo fated Kyanite and Artemis fated— well, you don’t need to know as your bear mate is no longer in the equation”

“No longer in the equation?” I asked.

What did she mean? Was my third mate dead?

“Zeus revoked the fated mate bond with him when he was made aware of this disaster. Unfortunately by the time he found out that you had three mates, you were already pregnant, so it wasn’t as easy as just revoking one of the other bonds—”

“What?! So, if I wasn’t pregnant, Zeus would have just severed my bond with either Jayce or Kyan? Can he do that? Surely that would destroy me and them!”

My heart hammered in my chest and my hands instinctively moved over my belly, cradling my bump at the thought of losing one of my bonds. I’d heard first hand about the pain and destruction that losing a mate could reek on your mind and body. Shifters had been driven insane to the point of going feral or taking their own lives just to alleviate the hurt.

And it didn’t even have to be the death of a mate, it could be just as simple as your fated mate rejecting the bond.

“Yes, he can do that. He is Zeus, he can do whatever he wants. Quinn, multiple fated mates is a travesty to everything that the mate bond represents. I was able to convince Zeus to hold off severing the other bond until the time—” Atropos sighed and dropped her shoulders, “—until the time we discovered who the father of your baby is”

Suddenly, everything around me seemed to go quiet. The sounds of birds outside drifted away. The sounds of the cicadas, the sounds of pack members talking and calling out to one another…everything faded away into the distance until the only sound to be heard was the beating of my own heart; and the baby’s.

Goddess. We can feel her, hear her, smell her…

This whole pregnancy I hadn’t been able to feel or detect the baby at all, due to whatever power she’d used to keep herself cloaked and protected. But now I could feel it all. She had the hiccups. Teeny tiny little jumps inside my belly, blended with the strong and steady beat of her perfectly healthy heart. And her smell…I closed my eyes breathing in deeply as my unborn daughter’s scent filled my lungs, creating a blanket of warmth around me, a security that I so desperately needed in this time. She comforted me, eased my worries and my stress. I knew while she was with me and I with her, that everything would be ok, that everything would be as it should be.

I breathed in deeply again, detecting something else in the familiar aroma - a musk that could only be associated with one other person, a smell that I knew inside out - the smell of her father…

Opening my eyes again, I looked up at Atropos and I could tell that she knew I knew. The Goddess reached forward, her thumb wiping away a tear that ran silently down my cheek. A tear that represented the joy of knowing who my family was but also a sadness that reflected the knowledge of who was about to leave it.

“Are you ok Quinn?” She asked gently, her voice soft and soothing.

I reached out to Rogue, feeling around my subconscious but only getting and emptiness and silence in return.

“No” I answered back quietly, “I don’t think I am”

Kyanite POV

I inhaled deeply, the familiar smells of Panthera drifting away and the also familiar smells of the forest surrounding Fern Creek flooding my senses. I now had five of the Panthera Kingdom’s best warriors with me and it wasn’t just their fighting skills that made them valuable assets, it was their loyalty to me and their Shifter Queen.

“Welcome back”

Turning around I smiled as I caught sight of Flynn leaning up against a tree. The tribrid-warlock stood alongside the Beta and three wolves in their animal forms.

“What’s with the cavalry?” I asked hesitantly, “What happened?”

“Darius made a move. Vincent and his offsider are dead - delivered to us in a nice little body-less package” Cameron answered.

Fucking piece of shit.

“Fuck. Is Quinn ok? Where is she?”

“She is fine” Flynn replied, “She was more worried about you. She’s exhausted but wouldn’t rest until she knew you were safe. Hence us being here. I’m going to open a portal from here and take us all back directly into the compound”

Typical Quinn. Worrying more about the men in her life than looking after herself. I could just picture what the conversation would have been like and the terribly adorable, stubborn look on her face as she put her foot down and refused to have relax. As long as she was safe and resting now, that was all that mattered.

“Sounds good to us” I answered, “Portal away”

“Where is Onyx?” Cameron asked, looking behind me to my warriors.

“She’s staying back. If things don’t go our way then I want her safe. Sorry to steal your babysitter from you”

The beta snorted and shrugged his shoulders. I didn’t even know why he was here. When Quinn had the baby there would be no way I’d be leaving her side. Blake had barely popped and her mate was out galavanting, protecting people that didn’t even need his protection.

“Alright. Everyone step back. When this portal opens there is only a small window to get us all through. No hesitations, straight in. Ok?”

The group of wolves and panthers nodded their heads in unison and Flynn stepped forward, raising his hands in front of his body and chanting some jibberish that sounded like a drunken blend of Latin and Nordic.

Within seconds the atmosphere before him began to crackle and flicker, a swirling spiral of blue appearing. The portal started small then as Flynn’s chant progressed the swirl increased in size until it was ready for us to pass through.

“Now!” Cameron yelled.

Without a second’s hesitation, the two wolves that were in their animal form jumped towards the portal -but before their body’s disappeared into the blue hue a flash of silver tore through the air right beside my face and vanished into the portal with them, but not before it separated their heads from their bodies.

“STOP!” I roared, just as one of the other wolves and my panthers were about to follow, “Close the fucking portal!”

Flynn lowered his hands, the portal instantly disappearing. I knew from the look in his eyes that he’d seen what I had. Everyone had seen. We were under attack.

Without a moment to spare we all shifted into our animals, the sound of bones breaking and clothes tearing echoing through the forest. But this sound was quickly met by the thunderous rumble of feet and large bodies crashing through the trees.

Turning my body to the left, I snarled and braced myself, as did my panthers, for the impact we were about to receive. Not even twenty metres ahead of us, ten - at least ten - fully grown grizzly bears barrelled toward us, their teeth gnashing and saliva frothing from their jaws.

Kill them all! I linked to my warriors. Do not give any of these beasts the chance to get to your future queen!