The Prophecy Of The Wolves I - The Beginning
~ Chapter Twenty-One ~

Cayden couldn’t wait for his little dove to get home so that he could surprise her. Liliana had been training herself ragged, both physically and magically. He wanted to cook dinner for her. Then run her a bath and give her a massage. He knew that she needed it. He could tell by how she sometimes moved that she needed the massage.

Cayden was finishing some paperwork when his mother burst into his office in a panic. He could tell she was frantic and instantly knew something was wrong. He reached for the mate bond, but there was nothing. He felt his heart racing as he tried not to think of the worst. But his mother confirmed his fears. Atlas had gotten to his little dove, and he hadn’t been there to protect her. “When did this happen?” He demanded.

Autumn took a deep breath and let it out. “About twenty minutes ago,” she said in a trembling voice. “We were leaving the mall, and Liliana said she had to run to the restroom quickly. Liliana practically threw her things at me and ran to the restroom before anyone could say anything. We thought that she’d be fine,” she swiped at the tears sliding down her face. “When she didn’t come out immediately, I went in after her, but she was gone.”

Cayden scrubbed his hands over his face as he felt his heart shatter. “Did you smell any specific scents?” He questioned as he felt his legs tremble under him.

Autumn nodded. “A vampire and a warlock.”

Cayden placed a hand over his heart and again sat down in his chair. “It has to be Martin and Samson. Has to be,” he glared at the paperwork on his desk. “They must’ve teleported. And it has to have been quick if she didn’t even have time to call for help.”

Autumn nodded and sniffled. “I am so sorry, Cayden,” she whispered brokenly. “I should have never let her go alone. I should have been with her.”

Cayden stood up and walked to Autumn. He pulled her into his arms. “It wasn’t your fault, Mom,” he said softly. “We’ll get her back.”

Autumn nodded. “Um,” she cleared her throat and held up the small bag they had gotten to surprise Cayden. “This is what she was getting. I’m sure she would want you to have it.”

Cayden frowned. “A gift isn’t important right now. We need to replace Liliana.”

Autumn sniffled but gave him a small smile. “You’re going to want to open that one. I don’t know if it’ll make this easier or harder, but you need to know.”

Autumn left his office, and he sat in his chair once again. Cayden stared at the gift bag in front of him, wondering what could be so important that his mother wanted him to open this now.

Cayden stared at it for a few minutes as he tried to think of how to get Liliana back. Finally, when he couldn’t think of anything and felt hopeless, he opened the gift. He took out the small box and set it on the desk in front of him. Cayden pulled the ribbon off and lifted the lid. He frowned when he saw a small piece of fabric. He lifted it and let it fall open. He felt his heart speed up at what it said. ‘Strong like my daddy.’ He looked in the box, and ultrasound pictures were at the bottom.

The tears started racing down his face as he picked up the pictures with quivering hands. It was his child. They were going to have a baby. It was too early to tell the gender, but they were pregnant. Liliana was pregnant. Cayden felt his heart shatter even more at the thought of his pregnant beloved in the enemy’s hands. He was supposed to protect them. He had promised her.

Cayden wiped the tears from his face and gently caressed the ultrasound picture. “I promise that I will replace you and your mommy. I will bring you both home.”

Cayden gently set the pictures against the framed photo of Liliana that was always on his desk. Then, he stood up and stormed out of the house as he sent a message through the pack-wide mind link. ‘Pack meeting in five minutes. Everyone must attend.’

Cayden cut off the mind link and went to the usual place for pack meetings. He stood on the stage and waited for everyone to arrive. Once he was sure that everyone was there, including the few allies that had come, he spoke in a rough voice. “I apologize for the urgent meeting,” he cleared his throat. “Unfortunately, I do not bring good news,” he took a deep breath as he willed the tears not to fall. “Our beloved Luna, my darling little dove, has been taken from us,” he said hoarsely. “Atlas had her kidnapped while she was at the mall earlier today,” he sighed heavily. “He had sent a vampire and powerful warlock to teleport her to his dungeon. I’m sure Atlas has the worst in mind, and I do not doubt that he’ll be sending her to Tartarus, where he has been holding Jacques prisoner the last few weeks.”

“Do we know where Atlas’s base is?” Sebastian questioned from the front of the crowd.

“We do not,” Cayden said. “However, I don’t think it matters. As I’ve just said, I have no doubts that he’ll be sending her to Tartarus.”

“How are we supposed to rescue her if she’s in Tartarus?” Lucas questioned with a frown.

Cayden shook his head. “I don’t know yet. I will try to contact Artemis as soon as we’ve finished here. Hopefully, she’ll have some information that could help us,” he looked over the crowd. “Now, I know that we are all apprehensive about her, but she would want us to keep going with everything. So, we are going to continue building and welcoming our allies. I will do everything in my power to replace our beloved Liliana,” he ran a hand through his way. “If you have questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to ask Sebastian or me.”

Cayden didn’t wait for any response. He climbed off of the stage and started walking to his house. Everyone let him go without stopping him. They knew that Sebastian could answer all of their questions. Cayden needed to focus on replaceing his little dove and bringing her and their unborn child home.

Artemis was sitting in her usual meadow with Hades and Apollo when she heard the prayer. She tilted her head slightly to the side and closed her eyes as she listened. ‘Please, Artemis. Please help me. Atlas has taken Liliana, and I don’t know where to start looking.’ There was a brief pause before he continued with nothing but grief and heartache in his voice. ‘Please. She is carrying our child. I don’t know what Atlas has planned for her, but I know it can’t be good. Please help me replace her.’

Artemis gasped as her eyes flew open. “Liliana’s in trouble,” she gasped as she rushed to her feet. “And she’s pregnant with her first child.”

Apollo and Hades climbed to their feet. “Do we know where she is?” Hades demanded.

Artemis shook her head. “No, but I know where she’s going to end up,” she said tremblingly.

Hades frowned. “Where?” He questioned.

“Tartarus,” Artemis mumbled. “Atlas is going to throw her in there with Jacques.”

“Shit,” Apollo swore. “You said that no one could get through the shield they have around Jacques,” he said as he looked at Hades.

Hades nodded. “That’s right.”

Apollo started pacing as Artemis folded her arms over her stomach. “I’m going to bring Cayden here. He needs to know that we’ll be looking for her as well,” she ran a hand through her hair. “I also want to summon Eileithyia. Maybe there’s something that she can do to protect her unborn child.”

“I think we should summon Eileithyia first. Maybe she can give us some good news that we can relay to Cayden,” Apollo said.

Artemis nodded and quickly summoned Eileithyia. The goddess of childbirth appeared within minutes. “Hello,” she looked around and sighed. “Is there a reason you’ve summoned me, Artemis?” She questioned.

Artemis took a step closer to her. “We need your help,” she ran a hand through her hair. “Atlas has taken Liliana, but she’s pregnant. I was hoping that there’s something that you can do to help protect her child before we summon her mate here.”

Eileithyia frowned. “How far along is she?” She questioned.

Artemis shook her head. “I’m not sure.”

“Summon Cayden here, and we’ll figure it out then,” Eileithyia said as she sat in the grassy meadow.

Artemis did just that. She summoned Cayden and watched as he appeared in front of them. Cayden fell to his knees as tears streamed down his face. “You heard me,” he said in a broken voice.

Artemis knelt before him and gently held his face in her hands. “I am always listening, my dear,” she pressed a kiss to his forehead before leaning back on her heels. “We will do everything we can to help bring Liliana back home.”

Cayden nodded as the tears continued to stream down his face. “Thank you so much.”

Artemis shushed him gently. “There’s something we need to know,” she said softly.

“What?” Cayden mumbled as he stared at his hands.

“Do you know how far along Liliana’s pregnancy is?” Artemis asked.

Cayden pulled out a copy of the ultrasound picture he had decided to keep on him. “This is from today,” his tears started anew as he looked at the picture. “She was going to surprise me when she got home,” he whispered. “I just know that she was so excited,” he shook his head with a small smile. “I finally got her to agree to at least start trying. We didn’t know that it would happen so soon. We didn’t even notice the signs,” he let out a humorless chuckle. “We thought it was just from stress and all the training we’ve been doing,” he caressed the ultrasound image again and shook his head as he sniffled. “I should have known. If I had only known, I would have been able to protect her,” he clutched his chest over his heart with his free hand. “I promised her that I would keep them safe.”

Artemis pulled him into her arms and hugged him tightly. “She’s strong. She can pull through anything that Atlas throws at her,” she pulled back to look into his eyes. “And I know she will do anything she has to do to keep your child safe,” she glanced at Eileithyia and gestured for her to come to them. She could tell that Cayden wouldn’t let go of that picture. “Is it alright if Eileithyia looks at that picture for a moment?” She questioned softly.

Cayden hesitantly turned the picture so that they both could see it. Then, after a minute, Artemis gave him a single nod, holding the image to his chest again. “Is there anything you can do to help protect the baby?” Artemis asked her quietly.

Eileithyia sighed heavily. “Sadly, there isn’t. The baby is too small. Not even a half-sized baby yet,” she bit her lip. “I can try to put some protection spell around the baby. But I can’t promise that it’ll work. And if it does, I have no idea how long it’ll last.”

Cayden looked up at her with nothing but grief, pain, and torment in his eyes. “Please,” he said brokenly. “Anything that you can do to help.”

Eileithyia sighed heavily. “I’ll do what I can,” she closed her eyes and focused on Liliana. She started breathing as she mumbled a spell to herself. It seemed like it took a couple of tries, but her shoulders finally relaxed. Her eyes slowly opened. “I managed to put a protection spell around her womb. Nothing will be able to touch your child. Even if someone harms her stomach, your child will come to no harm.”

Cayden practically broke down. “Thank you so much.”

Eileithyia gave him a slight nod before disappearing.

Artemis sighed as she looked up at Hades. “We will do everything we can to replace her and help her if we can,” she said softly.

Cayden nodded as he forced himself to climb to his feet. “Thank you. You have no idea how much I appreciate your help.”

Artemis gave him a sad smile. “Liliana would surely do the same for any of us,” she whispered.

Cayden glanced around before Artemis said. “It’s time to return to your people Cayden. You will be the first to know if we learn anything of Liliana’s whereabouts.”

Cayden bowed his head in gratitude. “Thank you.”

Artemis blew him a kiss and sent him back to his home.

Cayden stared at the ultrasound picture, still clutched in his hand for a few minutes before finally getting to his feet. He knew that he couldn’t wallow in grief and guilt. Instead, he had to try and replace her before Atlas sent her to Tartarus.

Cayden left his house and went to replace Daedalus, Prometheus, Lucas, and Roman. Undoubtedly one of them would be able to answer the question swirling through his mind.

Cayden found them all on the training grounds, teaching a group of warriors how to take down a harpy. He cleared his throat as he approached them. “Sorry to interrupt,” he said as he stopped beside them.

“Are you okay?” Lucas asked in concern as he studied him closely.

Cayden took a deep breath. “No. Not at all,” he muttered. “But she wouldn’t want me to let grief control me. Liliana wants me to stay strong and do what I must.”

Lucas nodded. “Did you speak with Artemis?” He asked as he gave Cayden his full attention.

Cayden nodded. “Yes. Artemis said that they would do everything that they could to replace her. Once they do, I’ll be the first to know,” he ran a trembling hand through his hair. “However, they think Atlas will send her to Tartarus soon. They said he probably wants to do some damage and ensure she’s not in bad shape when they send her there.”

Lucas shook his head in anger. “That’s pathetic. A titan like him can’t even face a young woman like Liliana on the battlefield.”

Cayden took a deep breath to steady the tornado of thoughts running through his mind as grief and anger coursed through his veins. “I’d rather not think about that at this moment,” he exhaled roughly before looking at Lucas. “I need to ask you something.”

Lucas gave him a nod. “Of course.”

“Do you remember anything about the first Titan Rebellion with Atlas?” Cayden questioned as he folded his arms over his chest.

Lucas scoffed as he turned to face the group of training warriors. “Everyone knows the story.”

Cayden shook his head. “I’m talking about more specific details.”

Lucas frowned. “Which detail specifically?” He questioned.

“Did you ever hear anything about where Atlas had his base back then?” Cayden asked.

Lucas frowned. “I don’t think any stories I have heard ever mentioned it,” he furrowed his eyebrows as he studied Cayden closer. “Why?”

Cayden let out a soft exhale. “I think it could be a good start to try and track him. Surely he isn’t stupid enough to use the same base, but it could at least give us an idea of where he could be now.”

Lucas nodded in agreement. “That’s smart. Sadly I don’t know,” he tilted his head slightly. “Kaine should know.”

Cayden felt a tiny bit of relief flood through him. “Thank you.”

Lucas waved him off. “Liliana is an angel. She doesn’t deserve any of this. This entire prophecy business was forced upon her before she was even born,” his eyes turned sad. “She should have been able to live in peace.”

Cayden couldn’t help but agree with Lucas. He patted his shoulder. “Okay. I’ll see you later.”

Cayden rushed off to replace Kaine. He found the warlock in the library. “Hey, Kaine,” he said as he sat down across from him.

Kaine lifted his head and gave him a sad smile. “Hi, Cayden. How are you holding up?” He asked as he leaned back in his chair.

Cayden cleared his throat. “As well as I can be right now,” he said quietly.

Kaine nodded. “It’s never a good feeling when your beloved is in trouble, and you can’t help.”

Cayden knew from that statement that Kaine had lost his beloved, possibly quite some time ago. “I was wondering if you could help me with something.”

Kaine shook his head as if he were shaking the haunting thoughts from his mind. “Sure. What is it?”

“I need to know where Atlas had his base during the first rebellion,” he clicked his tongue. “I’m hoping it’ll give us a clue to tell us where he might be today.”

Kaine nodded. “Sure. I can take you there.”

Cayden sighed in relief. “I’d say put us a bit past the border just in case. I doubt he’s stupid enough to use the same base but to be safe.”

Kaine agreed as he stood up. “Let’s go then.”

Kaine grabbed Cayden’s arm and teleported them beyond the base’s border. Kaine used his magic to keep them invisible as they moved closer and looked around. “I’ll be damned,” Kaine scoffed. “What an idiot.”

Cayden had to agree as he studied the creatures on the castle’s walls. “Liliana has to be here,” he mumbled.

As soon as the words left his mouth, there was a scream that he instantly knew was from Liliana. Cayden tried to rush towards the gate, but Kaine held his arm firmly. “You’ll get yourself killed if you go in there.”

Cayden tried to shrug him off but failed as he growled out. “I can’t just leave her in there to be tortured.”

Kaine quickly teleported them back to the packhouse. Liliana’s screams were still ringing in both of their ears. “Take me back!” Cayden growled as he turned to glare at Kaine.

Kaine shook his head as he looked at him with sad eyes. “You know I can’t do that,” he grabbed Cayden’s arm. “You know where she is now. You can gather intel and replace a better way inside. Be smart about it. You’ll get yourself killed if you go in there blind. You’ll be no help to her then.”

Cayden took several deep breaths to calm himself down. “You’re right,” he breathed out after a minute. “I need to do this smart. I can’t help her if I go running in there without a plan,” he let out a light chuckle. “She would have my head if I did something stupid and killed myself.”

Kaine nodded. “Exactly. So go to your office. Make a plan. Think things through.”

Cayden gave him a single nod and went to his office. He couldn’t help but take a minute to admire the picture of Liliana and the ultrasound picture in front of her. He let that sorrow cloud his mind and soul for just a moment before concentrating on what he needed to do.