~Devon~

My chest kept buzzing, alongside my head too. Maybe, it was because I was so afraid that Black Moon would  come for us if he knew Dad was still deep in sleep.

But mummy assured us that he was gone for good but it felt like he took Dad along with him for revenge.

I had been trying to learn the light stuff in secret, and also to get stronger fast. I’d have become the man of the house if I was older but with my training, maybe I could.

Even though it was so hard to get it right since Dad was my trainer and I was mean to Uncle Killian too. Don’t even mention Lila because she was so busy trying to keep mum calm.

I held my hands over the bowl, whispered in frustration, “Come on. Work.”

To my surprise, it did.

“Ha,” I smiled. “I wish they were here to see it.” 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Dad would have been so proud.

I pushed again, and the light came, and then it slipped away as if it were shy. I frowned, and I tried again and again and again.

“Stop being silly,” I muttered to my hands. “Mum does this so easily so it should be the same for me too.”

The silver glow wobbled, and I stomped one foot in the dirt.

Footsteps came behind me, and I spun around fast.

Mum stood there with her arms folded, and her face looking troubled.

“Devon.”

I grinned weirdly, and I hid the bowl behind my back, hoping she didn’t see it.

“What are you doing out here?”

"Training".

“At this hour?”

“Yeah.”

“With a stolen bowl?”

“I borrowed it.”

She made one long breath, and then she crouched so we were face-to-face.

“Your body still aches, and your magic still jumps around, so why are you out here trying to grow eight feet taller in one night?”

I shrugged, and I looked at the dirt. “Because Dad is not around to protect you and I want to step up for him.”

“Oh, baby.”

“I’ve guards for that. Even the Beta too and Killian.”

“Uncle Killian is back?”

The color on her face wiped away, “No but he promised that he’s just a phone call away if we are in danger.”

“Still, it wouldn’t hurt to train.”

“Look, I know you miss your dad and you feel doing this connects you to him in some way but..” She paused then drew out a long sigh.

“He would prefer you wait till he’s back so he won’t miss out on those happy moments of you perfecting your powers.”

“I thought you’d be happy that Dad is unstable. You both were always fighting and you chose Killian over him.”

“Do you suddenly love Dad again because Uncle Killian abandoned you?”

In the back of my mind, I expected her to scold me and guess what? She absolutely did.

Mum pulled away from me, raising an eyebrow that screamed, ‘watch your mouth, little boy’.

Then she raised her hands up and I flinched,  “Are you going to hit me?” I asked, squeezing one eye shut and the other open.

“No, I just wanted to see how you’d react if Black Moon struck but you’re clearly not ready.”

“Now go upstairs to your room and I never want to hear you mention Killian’s name in this pack again.”

“Am I understood?”

“Yes, Mum.” I nodded my head and ran straight to our wing.

Diana was awake when I got back to our room. Sitting up in bed with her knees pulled to her chest.

“Let me guess mum caught you and scolded you?”

“Yeah. Since what happened with Dad, she has become mean.”

“You can’t blame her. She loves him and it’s not easy.”

“She can let us help her though. That’s what families are for, right?”

“Mum prefers dealing with her issues on her own. You saw the way Dad tried.”

“Only Uncle Killian could get access to her.”

“Maybe that’s why she’s been off.”

“Do you think we should get him back?”

“How? Don’t tell you want us to sneak out again? Mum will have us grounded till we have our first kids.” Diana kicked against it before I could land.

“In that case, we should pray that either Uncle Killian or Dad returns.”

I preferred our Dad coming first but I knew Diana didn’t mind who did.

“What do we do till then? I’m getting bored and don’t suggest sleeping because my nightmares won’t let that happen.”

“Every time I close my eyes, I see Dad getting hit and all that blood.”

“Me too.”

“Really?”

“Yes, we are twins, remember?”

“Except in my dreams, Black Moon is still alive. He stands over Dad and whispers things to me.”

My stomach suddenly tightened. “What kind of things?”

“He says next time, he’ll take us and Dad won’t be able to stop him.”

“Diana, he’s gone. Mum destroyed him.”

“But what if he comes back?” Tears started running down her face. “What if Dad becomes scarier than last time?”

“Stop thinking that way.” Sitting up fast, I moved to her bed.

“I can’t help it. The nightmares won’t stop.”

Wrapping my arms around her felt like the only thing I could do. “Black Moon is dead. The array is destroyed. Dad is going to wake up fine. Everything is going to be okay.”

“You don’t know any of this for sure.”

“Yes I do. Because we’re stronger than Black Moon and his shadow magic. We beat him once and if he comes back, we’ll beat him again.”

Diana pressed her face into my shoulder. “I’m scared.”

“Well, I’m not, so I’ll protect you.”

“Dad wouldn’t want us falling apart while he’s fighting to wake up.”

“I miss how safe I felt when he was awake. Even when he was being overprotective and annoying.”

Eventually Diana fell asleep but sleep wouldn’t come for me though.

Later, when the house was completely silent, I snuck out of our room again.

Mum was probably in Dad’s room. The guards were patrolling outside.

Dad’s room was dark when I got there. Only one small lamp in the corner giving off any light.

Mum wasn’t there. Maybe she’d gone to her own room to shower or sleep for once.

“Hey, Dad.” I muttered. “It’s me. Devon.”

Obviously he didn’t answer.

Moving closer to the bed felt like approaching something fragile but what was the worst that could happen? A loud noise might trigger him to wake up.

“I, um...” Swallowing past the lump in my throat was harder than expected. “I wanted to say sorry. For a lot of things.”

“I’m sorry for sneaking out during the battle. For putting Diana in danger. For making you have to save us.” My eyes started burning. “You almost died because of me. Because I couldn’t just listen and stay where it was safe.”

Dad’s face stayed peaceful, unconscious and unaware that I was even there.

“I finally get it now. Why you were always so overprotective. Why you kept trying to keep us safe even when we complained.” Tears started falling before I could stop them. “You knew how dangerous everything was. You knew we weren’t ready. And I called you overprotective like it was a bad thing.”

“But you were just trying to protect us. And I was so stupid and stubborn..”

I couldn’t even finish the sentence because I broke down crying instead then  my head down on the bed beside his arm and sobbed.

“Please wake up, Dad. I can tell you all this when you can actually hear me. So I can apologize for real.”

Something moved under my hand.

Lifting my head fast, I stared at Dad’s hand.

His fingers twitched like he could hear me.

“Dad?” Grabbing his hand properly, I held on tight. “Dad, can you hear me?”

His fingers moved again. A small squeeze around mine.

My heart nearly exploded. “DAD!”

Jumping up from the chair, I ran to the door. “MUM! MUM, COME QUICK!”

Footsteps pounded down the hallway. Mum appeared seconds later. Her hair was a mess and her eyes wild.

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

“His hand moved! He squeezed my hand!”

Mum rushed to the bed. Grabbed Dad’s other hand. “Dominic? Dominic, if you can hear me, squeeze my hand.”

We both waited, our breath hitched.

Dad’s fingers twitched again then he did just as mum requested.

Mum let out a sob. “He’s still in there. Thanks to the goddess.”

“Is he waking up?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. Call Lila, the healers and everyone.”

Running felt like flying. My feet barely touched the ground as I sprinted to find help.

Dad was coming back.

Finally.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​