I will be your reaper...

Preparing to leave

Lily Haven's POV

It was now February 11th. The weather was still cold, but at least the snow had melted. At the conference, it was decided we'd celebrate the twin's birthday over three days starting the 11th. We'd celebrate together with the pack and then leave tonight to catch a plane. It was only an hour away by plane, but it was faster than driving and Queen Latla was letting us use one of her private jets...That she would be on. It was nerve-wracking that the first ones we'd meet would be the Dragon Royals. But during the conference, they didn't seem all that...Royal? They were quite laid back and silly, honestly. While I was thinking, Talia came over with the banner and asked me where Quinn and Evan were. "I think they said they were just going to go check on the kitchen. They should be back soon." Talia nodded and draped the banner over a chair for the men to put up while she perfected the dining table. A pair of Omega women were giggling as they rolled out a red carpet from the driveway through the hallway of the packhouse. Everyone seemed to be having fun decorating and anticipating the twin's celebrations.

We didn't celebrate Christmas again this time around. Well, we had a very nice Christmas dinner and exchanged a few gifts, but no decorations or anything. Chelsea and Evan took Nicholas to visit Evan's mother's pack over boxing day and like Ere had said, Nicholas was playing tag with some other kids and got lost. They were looking for him for hours before finding him asleep propped up against a tree near the border of the pack. It could have been a disaster, honestly, with all those rogues lurking. Thankfully Nicholas was fine and Chelsea scolded him for hours. Talia and Noris have been buying clothes for a baby girl left and right after Ere and Dia told them they finally got the girl they wanted so badly. The nursery that Noris has decorated is beautiful. It's grey and white with pastel pink accents and decorations. Talia looks effortlessly beautiful as usual, just as she did when she was carrying five troublemakers. Speaking of which, the quintuplets and Nicholas were currently sitting in the playroom, wrapping gifts they picked out for the twins. No doubt Janet was helping them heavily. I giggled at the thought and continued to blow up an assortment of balloons.

Quinn and Evan came back from the kitchen, cake frosting on the corner of Evan's mouth. Both of them looked like guilty puppies and as soon as Talia caught a glimpse of them and began yelling, they looked even more guilty...If that was possible. "Taliaa~ The cakes looked so good, we couldn't help ourselves" Evan whined, Quinn looked around like he was innocent. Talia pointed to the banner and told them to get to work, the two men sighing and dragging themselves to work. Chelsea came over to help me blow up balloons and we chatted for a while. "So, have the twin's memories really gone?" I nodded at her "They have. The entire day just disappeared. Dia actually came up to me the next morning and asked me why I let them sleep so long." Chelsea and I giggled. "Honestly, the twins haven't used their abilities since then either. It's almost like they can't."

Chelsea frowned "Do you think that maybe...The 'how' of using them was forgotten too?" I thought about it for a second before sighing, tying the end of a yellow balloon. "Honestly, Chels...I don't want to risk asking them. We all know that the twins using their abilities can be dangerous, we don't know what kind of attention they'll attract." Chelsea nodded in understanding. We all discussed heavily that there was someone in the shadows pulling the strings, it was dangerous for all of us, but the twins especially. We all wanted to know what the Moon Goddess had planned, but no matter how much Celeste had been doing divination since the first time, Selene wouldn't allow us to be privy to her plans. "I wish they were just normal kids. No abilities, they don't even have to have wolves...Just...A normal, happy, healthy life. It's eating me alive to not know what's around the corner for them, or any of us."

The only time I wished Erebus would use his golden eyes...To tell us about their future. Alas, it was no use. Celeste has a theory that, like how Dia couldn't peek into Selene's plans in December, Ere can't use his eyes to see his own future. Chelsea nudged me with a smile and I smiled back, blowing up the rest of the balloons with her. We had an hour left to finish everything up before the twins came back from a shopping trip with their grandparents. My parents as well as Alpha Elias and Luna Elizabeth were adamant about taking them into the city so they could pick their own gifts. Before they left, Jessica gave me a very guilty look and mouthed the word 'sorry' before rushing to get in the car. I knew that wasn't going to be good...

Just as we heard giggling coming from outside and little footsteps rushing for the packhouse, we all quickly took our places. Just as they rushed in, we all jumped out yelling 'surprise' and their little eyes glittered with pure glee, 6 pairs of feet rushing them with gifts that were wrapped by tiny hands. The quintuplets showed the gifts and then placed them on the table at Dia's request. She gave each a kiss on the forehead and a hug, Ere following suit. Nicholas offered up his gift and Dia and Ere did the same for him, the scene warming our hearts. Nicholas rushed to his father with a flushed face and tried to whisper to him "D-Did you see, Daddy? Dia kissed me!" Even chuckled and nodded "I did, buddy! That's great!" Nicholas nodded proudly and Chelsea covered her mouth in false shock "What do you think Lily? Maybe they're destined to be mates!" I raised my brows with a pout while Quinn growled slightly "Nope! Nope! My little girl will never! She's going to stay with Daddy forever. Isn't that right, my little diamond?" Quinn scooped Dia up protectively and Dia nodded "That's right! I'm gonna stay with Mummy, Daddy and Ere forever!"

Quinn nodded proudly, his chest puffed out. You'd never know that Dia and Ere weren't his biological children. He was so proud of his little pups. I was just about to ask Ere his thoughts when their grandparents burst in, my father and Alpha Elias were carrying mountains of presents while my mother and Luna Elizabeth looked proud of their shopping trip and Jessica was completely wiped out. "W...Guys, what the hell is all of this?!" My father tensed at my voice but Alpha Elias just laughed in that booming, gruff voice "Of course, it's presents for our grandchildren! We decided to buy everything their eyes landed on!" I swiftly brought my palm to my face and sighed heavily, Quinn nodding in agreement with Alpha Elias. They quickly came to put the gifts down and each gave the twins a kiss, Elias placing Dia on his left shoulder and Ere on his right shoulder. "Grandma Louise and Grandma Beth said we can only go home after draining the bank accounts of Grandpa Conrad and Grandpa Elias!" I looked at my mother with a confused face while she quickly looked away, whistling like she could do no wrong. Jessica dragged herself to a chair with a huff "Just wait until you see 6 million mansion my mother brought them...They've got a pool and EVERYTHING."

I looked at Luna Elizabeth with my jaw on the floor but she just followed my mother's example. Evan was practically rolling across the floor with laughter while Chelsea tried to get him up and pull himself together. Talia and Noris pursed their lips and acted as if they weren't expecting this but my husband? He high-fived them all! The audacity! I grabbed his ear and pulled him toward me with a growl "And what if our children become brats? What then, Quinn?" he visibly gulped and tried to slip away, not feeling an ounce of guilt. It was then that more people burst through the door, adding more mountains to the two that came from the grandparents. If I had to guess based on sight alone, Felix had about forty gifts for the twins, Celeste pouting that she only had about thirty, Michael was in a tie with Celeste, Sophia and her mate, Ashley were both carrying about twenty each...But Jaxon? He was already carrying so many that he had to use magic to carry the rest and even brought his assistant with him to help. I had to sit down...These twins...They were going to be spoiled brats, weren't they? They all put the gifts down and Jaxon rolled his shoulders "Dear God...I can't believe they made me carry their gifts with mine as well!" I tilted my head to the side "What? They're not all yours?"

Jaxon shook his head "My coven brought gifts for the twins too. They forced me to bring them. Said they couldn't make it themselves because of how deep into research they were." My head was spinning. I noticed Celeste slowly shuffling to the gifts. I just watched her out of the corner of my eyes, nobody else seemed to notice. She tapped a ring on her index finger and suddenly...A mountain of gifts just piled out...They continued piling out, not stopping...It was so loud that everyone stopped what they were doing to look at her who was as red as her hair. "S-Sorry...I didn't realise how much was in here...It's from the Gaia coven and the other three covens as well..." That was it. How on EARTH were the kids going to open all these? Celeste quickly skittered to hide behind Jaxon and his wife while I held my head. If this wasn't bad enough, the Royals proclaimed they had gifts for the twins as well and all of this was on top of the gifts myself, Quinn, Talia and Noris, Evan and Chelsea and our parents had brought, plus the gifts from the pack members. Were we even going to have time to pack and leave? I better get started while they open gifts..."I'm going to start packing our things, kids, go ahead and open your gifts. Don't forget your manners!" The twins nodded and dived into the gifts that basically filled one-half of the dining room. The men tried to make it easier for the kids by putting Ere's gifts on one side of the room and Dia's on the other. I smiled at the sight as I watched them open their first few gifts.

Dia opened one gift from Talia and Noris. It was a gorgeous, beige plaid dress with a matching bow and little black shoes. Ere's from Talia and Noris was a large beautiful painting of butterflies parading through a field in full bloom - We'd discovered that he absolutely loved butterflies. Dia's second gift was from Felix and his wife and I dreaded it. She opened it and revealed a certificate. I sighed as she read it out - a certificate of ownership for A Pagani Zonda HP Barchetta with custom modifications and sprayed a similar colour to her eyes. Ere's gift from the two was the same, but his was gold in colour. Ere's third gift was from Elias and Elizabeth, another dread. It was a Louis Moinet watch from the Meteoris collection. Their gift for Dia was a 2.8 million Cartier necklace that I recognised from the news. It was sold to an anonymous wealthy couple three weeks ago at an auction. Of course that wealthy couple was Elias and Elizabeth, good goddess...I had to flee upstairs before I witnessed any more gift opening.

I opened the door to the twin's room first and began to pack their clothes. Now that I was alone, the nervousness from earlier was setting back in...