Dylan's POV - Wednesday November 2nd 2022:
It had been a couple days since we arrived at the cabin, everyone seemed settled for the most part. Once everyone had found out about Ivy's pregnancy all the plans immediately changed. Instead of everyone else going back to the castle, they had decided to stay at the cabin as well. Ivy's parents wanted their daughter to have as much protection as possible. Luckily the cabin was quite huge, a lot bigger than I was picturing anyway. The cabin had 8 bedrooms each with their own ensuite bathroom. The main floor had a huge open concept kitchen and living room. It was decked out with chef grade appliances and the fridge was filled to the brim with food. There was a lake not too far from the cabin. However our parents had banned us from leaving the house currently. They didn't want to risk anyone seeing us wander through the woods.
So far the cabin had been really relaxing. It was probably the most relaxed I've felt in weeks. With school and football out of the mix my brain felt like it could breath a little easier. With the news of Ivy's pregnancy came a different type of stress. I felt like I had suddenly become a helicopter parent. Constantly helping Ivy with every little thing. Ivy however constantly reminded me that she was more than capable of doing things herself. I just couldn't help myself it was like something was triggered inside of me when I found out about our little bean.
"Dill seriously you need to give me some space" Ivy said her arms crossed tightly against her chest as I carried her into the living room.
"How much space?" I asked with a coy smile.
"How about you just go spend time with Aria and Alex. I'm sure they are missing you." Ivy said as she stretched across the couch.
"I'll come check on you in an hour?"
"I'll come to you because as I've reminded you a million times I do have legs." Ivy rolled her eyes at me. I couldn't help but chuckle at her.
"Fiiiiiine I'll give you your space" I said dramatically.
"Thank you, now off you go." Ivy said waving me off.
I gave her a quick kiss before leaving the room. I wandered through the large cabin searching for my mates. Aria and Alex were most likely in the sun room, since it was the closest to outside we could get. The room actually had a gorgeous view of the lake. It was the only room other than our bedroom that had a decent view of the lake. My mates and I had watched the sunset from there both days we had been here. When I entered the sunroom both Aria and Alex were on the couch. Aria was sitting crossed legged with her nose stuck in a book. Where as Alex was laying down with her head resting on Aria's thigh. She was scrolling through her phone, probably surfing through social media.
"Hey!" Aria said as she noticed me entering the room.
"Where's Ivy?" Alex frowned as she sat up.
"She said I needed to give her some space" I said rolling my eyes.
Both Aria and Alex burst into a fit of laughter. Not only had Ivy told me to given her space but Alex and Aria had both told me to as well.
"I so told you that you were hovering over her too much" Aria said with a smug look on her face.
"We both told her that, but in typical Dylan fashion she didn't listen" Alex said as she winked at me.
"I just don't get how everyone is so laidback about this" I sighed taking a seat in between them.
"I don't know it's still so early that it doesn't feel real yet I guess" Aria said with a shrug.
"Yeah I mean she's not even showing yet" Alex said resting a hand on my thigh.
"You guys aren't worried at all about being parents?"
"I mean there is four of us. I think we are more than capable of handling one baby."
"What if you two get pregnant?"
The room went silent for a moment. I watched as the gears turned in Aria and Alex's heads. Aria's brows furrowed for a less than a second. If I didn't know her so well I wouldn't of noticed the expression. But it appeared just as quickly as it disappeared. Her face smoothed out and now I couldn't read the expression on either of their faces.
"Honestly I'd be okay with it. I've always wanted a big family." Alex said as she rubbed soothing circles against my thigh.
"Yeah me too. Ivy and I had already spoken about starting a family prior to us meeting you two."
"Well that's good to know. I feel kind of stupid not using protection the first time we slept together." I said sheepishly rubbing the back of my neck.
"To be fair we were pretty distracted at the time" Alex winked.
"This is totally off topic but tomorrows the Blood Moon, are you excited to finally shift?" Aria said nudging me playfully.
"Well minus the fact that it is going to be extremely painful yeah I am a little excited"
"A little excited?" Alex said her eyes narrowing.
"Okay okay I'm really excited" I said trying to suppress a smile.
We talked about tomorrow night and about the preparations we needed to do. Apparently Lycans can shift into two different forms. There's the regular wolf form which would look similar to my mates forms. Then there was the Lycan form, which according to my mom was a more unstable form. We had to make safety preparations because no one knows what I'll shift into tomorrow night. My mom's friend Claire had been staying with us to keep casting spell around the area. Her spells would keep us hidden, without them who knows how long it'd take for someone to find me. Claire had said that the night I shift she will cast a shield around me to stop me from hurting anyone. It was the only way we could ensure the safety of everyone.
Dinner rolled around faster than I had expected. We had spent all day hanging out in the sunroom. Ivy stayed away from us all day which I wasn't too happy about. I wanted to respect her space but it also killed me to stay away from her. Aria and Alex had noticed how stressed about it I was so they made it their mission to keep me distracted. Which in hindsight had been a lot of fun. We played board games, monopoly specifically which I crushed my mates in. Alex had gotten pissed and ended up flipping the board. That put a pretty quick end to the game so we had decided to watch a movie instead.
The three of us wandered into the kitchen hand in hand the cabin was pretty quiet. That was until we had gotten closer to the dining room and the sound of laughter drifted through the air. When we stepped into the dining room there was a large table that looked like it could seat minimum twenty people. The table was covered with all kinds of food. All the different smells caused my mouth to water. As I glanced around the room I noticed that Ivy was no where to be found.
"Mom? Where's Ivy?" I asked as I frantically scanned the room.
"She's taking a nap in your bedroom. You should probably go wake her. Word of advice I would watch how much you are coddling her. I think it's a little overwhelming for her." I nodded with a small frown before exiting the room.
The last thing I meant to do was overwhelm her. I had honestly thought I was being helpful. Although if someone had done as much as I've been doing I'd probably get annoyed as well. I made my way towards our bedroom which was on the third floor. Yes this cabin had three floors not that you can really call it a third floor. The only room up there was our bedroom it was more like a private suite. Who ever had built this place had also put in an elevator to get up to it. The elevator required a retinal scan to get up to the suite. That feature had put me at ease knowing that no one other than me or my mates could get up there. Even Aria's parents had made sure the retinal scanner wouldn't work for anyone else in the house.
The elevator doors opened giving me a perfect view of the large bed in the center of the room. In the center of the large bed I saw a small frame curled in the fetal position. Her red hair cascaded around her in waves. Ivy's lips were slightly parted and her breathing sounded relaxed. I quietly climbed onto the bed trying my best not to disturb her. I laid down behind her wrapping one arm around her waist.
"Dill?" Ivy's voice was raspy with sleep.
"Yes sweetheart it's me. I just wanted to come get you for dinner. Everyone's already down there." I whispered against her neck.
Ivy rolled over to face me, a small smile pulled at her lips as she looked into my eyes.
"I must have slept for awhile then. The last time I checked the time it was 1pm." She chuckled.
"You slept for like five hours it's 6pm now" I said peppering her face with kisses.
"I did miss you three today. I'm sorry I pushed for space. Everything has just been a little overwhelming lately." Her lip began to quiver.
"Oh sweetheart it's okay I know I've been a little much lately. I just have this overly protective urge and it's been hard to fight. I know you are capable of doing things I just wanted to help. But clearly I've gone way over board so anytime you want time to yourself you just tell me okay?" I said squeezing her gently.
Ivy nodded burying her face into my chest. I wrapped my other arm underneath her pulling her up onto my chest. A small sigh left Ivy's lips as she made herself comfortable.
"You know we should probably go down for dinner" She murmured against my chest.
"Just give me like ten minutes. I just want to enjoy this." I said squeezing her a little tighter.
My body felt like it was melting into the mattress as Ivy laid on my chest. Her body was warm and the sound of her breathing made me relax even further. I could feel my eyes start to drift shut as I enjoyed the feeling of Ivy on me. Suddenly the feeling of lips on my cheek stirred me awake.
"You fell asleep" Ivy said with a smirk.
"Not my fault I just got so cozy" I yawned.
"Technically it is your fault. You were the one who wanted to cuddle for 10 minutes." I checked my phone quickly and let a breath out when I realized it had only been about 5 minutes.
"Well luckily I was only out for a few minutes. Honestly I could probably pass out for the rest of the night." I said stretching my arms above my head.
"Would you rather sleep? I can bring you up dinner." Ivy said placing a soft kiss on my cheek.
"Really?" I asked with a raised brow.
"Yeah you look tired and tomorrows going to be a big day for you." She said laying a soft kiss on my cheek.
Ivy climbed off me, she pulled back the blankets so I could crawl in. She tucked the blankets around me before leaning in to give me a kiss. Our lips met softly but the kiss quickly evolved into something deeper. Her tongue slid into my mouth and I couldn't help but moan into her mouth. I felt her smile against my lips as she began to pull away.
"Get some sleep babe. I'll be up later with some food." She kissed me on the forehead before disappearing into the elevator.
?????? POV:
"I swear to God if the next words out of your mouth aren't 'We captured her' I will kill you with my bare hands." I said through gritted teeth.
"Not exactly ma'am. It's your daughter she's uh missing...." The guards voice was shaky.
"What do you mean she's missing?! All you had to do was watch over her and help her capture the Lycan child." A low growl left my throat. I was getting sick and tired with how incompetent everyone was.
"I don't know what happened she was gone when I woke up. All she left was a note saying she was going to track the Lycan. I haven't heard from her since."
"Well track her scent then. It's really not that difficult." I rubbed my face with one of my hands.
"That's the problem I can't find her scent anywhere. The only place that still has her scent is her dorm room. It's like she vanished into thin air."
"Ugh do I have to do everything myself?! Just come back I will send some soldiers to scout the area." I hung up the phone slamming it against the table.
This wasn't good, tomorrow night was the Blood Moon. If this Lycan shifted the chances of getting a hold of her were significantly lower. If I was lucky there would be other packs looking to kill her as well. Suddenly an idea popped into my head.
"Marcus?" I said mind linking him directly.
"Yes ma'am?"
"Send out a message to all the packs in the area. Actually contact the witches and vampires as well. Tell them there is a rogue Lycan born on the loose. First person to seize and bring her to me will be rewarded beyond their wildest dreams. Tell them I need her alive though otherwise the deal doesn't stand."