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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐋 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍
𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺-𝘵𝘸𝘰: 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘴
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𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬
I WATCH AS EVERYONE'S face goes into shock. Well, everyone except Aleksandr. His face brightens and he runs over to me, hugging me tightly as he thanks me for making him an uncle of 'two amazing children that have their father's eyes'. I push him off me and my children tackle their strange looking uncle in a hug, happiness radiating from them both.
"Stiles," Kol says, his eyes confused. "How old are they?"
I raise my eyebrows. "Now, that's a rude question. Ina is two years older than Max. Max stopped ageing at fifteen, and Ina stopped ageing at seventeen. They would be around... 475 millennia give or take."
"Wait. Hold old are you?"
"Huh... That's a good question. Hey, Alek. How old are we?"
Alek pauses and frowns. "Some where near the 50 to 55 millennia mark. I don't know. Call mum from the Other Side. She will know."
I shrug. "There's your answer. Around 50 to 55 millennia. Maybe older. Most likely older."
Everyone goes dead silent and I look around at my Pack. Their eyes are wider than humanly possible and Erica looks like she is about to faint. Then she does, followed by Allison and then my sister. Well, they aren't the only ones, but you get the picture. A lot of my Pack fainted from a shock overload at first, and then it really hit them and some more males lost consciousness.
"Well," I say, shock covering my face. "I have to say, I expected more of you to either pass out or freak out."
Kai screeches. "Freak out?! Freak out?! You want to see us freak out?!"
Kol and Theo wack him on the head. "Shut up, Malachai."
I roll my eyes. "Damn, guys. I thought you would have figured out by now that I am way older than I look and seem to be. Judging by the looks on your faces, I'm going to say that you didn't. When I say a 'couple of millennia', referring to my life before the Original Family, I mean around about 5 to 10 millennia because the years have just blurred together."
"Holy shit."
And, with that, Derek and Lydia pass out. I fly forward and grab Lydia from Derek's arms, holding her close to my own body while my eyes turn molten orange and I stop Derek in mid fall. He starts to hover and I walk up the stairs, his body following me. I walk into the room next to mine - Derek's room - and place him on the bed, laying Lydia next to him.
My Mates have gotten closer than they ever were before they knew about me, and it is making me happy. Almost as happy as the days my children were born. The instant they were born I knew that Ina was a Kasai Kitsune, and that Max was a Umi Kitsune - Fire and Ocean. They were said to be opposites, but they are as close as myself and my former lover, a Tengoku Kitsune, were.
Fire and Ocean.
Void and Celestial.
Everyone thinks they would battle for supremacy, but that is not the case. One cannot live without the other. One cannot exist without the other. Light must have Dark. Ups must have their downs. Water must have Fire. Destruction must have its opposite, Creation. Everything has its opposite, no matter whether it be living or dead.
Regression to the mean, as Deaton once said. It's a bit of a technical way of saying things will always even out. It is like saying that things can't always be bad. So, no matter how good or bad things get, they will always come back to the middle. Well, in most cases, yes everything will come back to the middle, but with my life it has either been one extreme or pretty close to it.
Maybe it's time for a change.
• • •
Nothing could get better, but it could get worse. My children, my brother, my adoptive siblings, my Mates, my Blood Bonded, and my Pack. All under the same roof; all having a meal together. Yes, we have human food. Yes, we have blood. Yes, we have human flesh. I'm joking there. No human flesh that has been cut from anyone anyway.
Although, ever since the Blood Moon, I have been having a minor craving for human flesh thanks to my Ghoul and Wendigo sides. As I said before, my Werejaguar/Werehyena side does not desire human flesh at all. Oh well. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a tiny bit of craving coming from there, but I wouldn't know.
"Hey, Sti," Derek says lowly, nudging me. "Are you alright? You seem a bit under the weather."
I look up at Derek and smile. "Yeah, I'm alright. Just having my children here is bringing up memories of Serenity. It's slightly tormenting, but it's not as bad as it was when she first got murdered so long ago."
"Hey, it's going to be alright. You have your family and your Pack here. Although, I'm pretty sure Pack are family, and family are Pack. Am I right?"
"Yes, sourwolf. You're right. Ina and Max are Pack, and so is Alek. My children and my brother. I never thought I'd see the day when they would be together."
"You are seeing it. It's not a dream."
"When is a dream not a dream?"
Derek's eyes turn dark. "Riddles, Stiles? Really?"
I shrug. "It's not a riddle. I'm asking a question.
"A dream is not reality, but who's to say which is which?" Lydia inquires, looking up at Derek and myself with bright eyes. "There are instances where a dream feels like reality, and then you wake up. Then there are the instances where reality feels too good to be true and it turns out to be a dream."
"Now you're making me think that this is a dream, Lyds."
"Ten fingers. It's not a dream. I promise, Sti. None of this is a dream."
My ears catch faint but rapid sounds. "If this isn't a dream, then tell me something. Why do you have more than one heartbeat?"
Everything goes silent and Lydia looks slightly worried. I meet her green eyes and tilt my head to the side, waiting for the answer that I already know, but that I want to hear for myself. I look over at Derek to see him focused intently on his food, ignoring my stare until I grasp the back of his neck gently and lift his head up, my eyes kind and warm.
"Do you two want to tell me here, or should we go somewhere private?" I ask, my eyes flitting around the room and staring everyone in the Pack down until they return to their meals and conversations. "I'm guessing the last one. Now, come on. This conversation is not waiting until later."
I stand up and walk up to my room, Derek and Lydia following me. They walk into my room and I shut the door, my eyes burning orange as I sound proof the room. Lydia sits on my bed and Derek on my window sill, but he doesn't remain there for long. He moves over onto the bed with Lydia and I, an arm wrapped around her waist.
"This is why you're so close lately," I say, my eyes lightening with each word. "I knew it was something, but I couldn't lay my finger on it. Until I heard the heartbeat."
Lydia stares at the bedspread. "Stiles..."
"Why do you sound sorry? There's no need for it, Lyds."
Her eyes shoot up to mine with surprise, and even Derek looks slightly shocked.
"Did you both think I would be mad at you?"
They nod.
"Why in the world would I?"
Derek swallows before answering. "Because it's not yours."
"Oh, Der. You have a really thick skull don't you? You are both my Mates. Remember?"
Lydia's eyes brighten. "So, you're not mad?"
I take both of their hands, squeezing them. "Lydia, Derek, I'm not mad. I'm ecstatic, and kind of confused to be honest."
"Oh. You don't know when it happened. I'm about a month along. So, when you went crazy."
"Well, that makes sense. Now, onto the other confusing bit within this whole relationship."
Derek picks up on where I'm heading and his eyes seem to laugh. "You don't know what you are to the baby."
I nod. "Exactly. You're the father, and, Lydia, you're the mother. That just leaves me."
Lydia squeezes my hand. "You're still the baby's father, Sti. Just not biologically. You and Derek will raise it together. They will know that Derek is their biological father, but they will know that you are also their father because you are both Derek's and mine Mate."