CHAPTER 122: BURY HIM..

*~ Cayden’s POV~*

My mind was hovering..buzzing and restless like a swarm I couldn’t swat away. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking. The alcohol was starting to take full effect, burning through me in waves. Dammit. I shouldn’t have had that much. I shouldn’t have even touched a drop.

What kind of man drinks while his wife and babies are out ther...—maybe in danger, maybe... worse? I should be out there with them, not here, sitting useless, waiting for the ones who went to find them. Four hours. Four long, endless hours, and still nothing.

Are they dead? Are they alive? I can’t stop my mind from running to the worst answers.

I’d already told the witches Aurora had been training to use their tracking spells, anything that could give me even the smallest sign. "Anything yet?" My voice roared across the hall.

"Nothing," one of them said.

"None," another added.

"We still haven’t been able to reach them."

Dammit! My fist shot out before I could stop myself, smashing the vase behind me. The shards scattered across the floor like the pieces of my patience. "Where would they be?" I muttered, my chest rising too fast.

Then I saw movement...my mother stepping forward slowly. Her heartbeat was uneven. Her hands trembled just reaching toward me. When did it get this bad? When did I become the kind of man who made even his own mother afraid to speak?

"Son," she said softly, "calm down. Caspian is strong. And Aurora too. They’ll come back."

"But they’re not here yet!" My voice broke between anger and fear. "We can’t reach them. I’m not even sure they’re still alive."

"Son." Her tone was firm now, almost pleading. "Just calm down. Everything will be fine. I promise you."

I didn’t believe her—not fully—but I wanted to.

Then it happened. A thin ribbon of smoke curled in the center of the high house. One of the witches gasped. "I think they’re here."

I didn’t wait. I rushed down toward it, heart pounding. The smoke thickened, brightened—then heat swelled into the air as a huge wooden box materialized in front of us.

Aurora appeared next, her back strapped with my babies, Hazel limp in her arms. Caspian came behind her, carrying the box that had arrived first.

For the first time in hours, my lungs actually pulled in air. My chest loosened. I rushed to Aurora immediately, taking Hazel from her arms. She was unconscious. I laid her gently on the floor and pulled the fabric of my shirt to wipe away the blood from her nose and lips.

"Cayden." Aurora’s voice pulled me back. She was already untying the cloth sling from her back, carefully bringing the babies down.

And then... my heartbeat stopped. It just—stopped. My chest went still, my whole body freezing in place.

It wasn’t the alcohol. It wasn’t the shock.

It was them...My babies.

The first time I had seen them alive truly alive. No blue or veins on their skin, no coldness, no stillness. They were warm, fresh, breathing. My vision blurred instantly. Red filled my eyes..not rage, but something else entirely.

I had never felt this before...My hands were shaking so bad I couldn’t even bring myself to collect them.

"Cayden," Aurora said gently, smiling through her own tears, "they’re your babies." She took a shaky breath. "They’re safe now."

I nodded, but my throat was too tight to speak. Caspian’s gaze didn’t even flick to us—he was locked on the coffin.

My mother came forward without hesitation, her eyes wide and glistening. She took the babies from Aurora’s hands and pressed her lips to their tiny heads. "My grandbabies," she whispered, voice breaking. "They’re alive."

She turned her head toward my father. "Claus! Come and look at your grandchildren."

My father came closer, his face already softening as he reached for the babies. He took them from Aurora and cradled them like they were made of light. "Ha! Healthy babies!" he said, his voice booming through the hall. "Blue Moon finally has their heirs—a boy and a girl. Hooray for Blue Moon!"

The pack erupted into howls.

Then my father handed them over to me, and the moment my arms closed around them, my heart swelled so hard it almost hurt.

The boy... he looked just like me—soft azure eyes, the same shape as mine. The girl... she was her mother’s reflection, down to every delicate line of her face. But her eyes... her eyes were red like mine. And that was when it clicked...why Hazel’s eyes had shifted to my color during her pregnancy.

The two of them smiled at me like they had been waiting all their lives to see me. The girl reached out and pinched my cheek, tiny fingers warm and stubborn. The boy gave me a small, perfect smile that made me feel like the strongest man alive—and the weakest at the same time. I actually felt heat rise in my face as I bent down and kissed both their foreheads, gentle, careful.

The hall was full of joy... except for one person. Caspian. He didn’t smile, didn’t even glance at the babies. His eyes were locked on the huge wooden box at his side.

"Caspian," I said, my voice cutting through the noise. "What’s in there? You know, don’t you?"

He didn’t answer—just stepped forward and opened it.

My mother’s shriek pierced the air. The light in her face drained instantly as she rushed toward the box. "Cyrius! Cyrius!"

My father moved quickly, stepping in front of her, covering her eyes.

"He’s alive," Caspian said flatly. "And if we’re not careful, he’ll wake up in the next few minutes."

My mother froze, then looked away like it physically hurt her to see him.

"Please, Aurora," Caspian went on, "get the dagger. He needs to be buried with the other vampires."

"No. No!" My mother’s voice cracked. "Please don’t bury him."

"I’m sorry, Mother," Caspian said, shaking his head. "Hazel must not see him. And he’s not the same Cyrius she once knew. He’s a vampire now. If you saw him, you’d run—and he’d chase. He’d kill you." Caspian’s voice wavered for the first time. "I love Cyrius too. He’s my brother. But we have to put him down."

I barely heard them. My mind was still wrapped around the warmth of my children. But when Aurora came back holding the dagger, I forced myself to move.

I handed the babies to my mother, my chest tightening with every step I took toward that box. I took the dagger from Aurora’s hands, the weight of it settling into my palm like a promise.

"This," I said, my voice low and cold, "is a lesson. To anyone who harms my babies, my wife, my family, my pack."

And I drove the blade down into Cyrius’s chest.

His eyes flew open for a split second—but there was no life in them. Then they slid shut again.

I closed the box. Nodded to Caspian.

He lifted it without a word, and together they carried him away... to bury him.