Shadows of Destiny

141 Longing And Waiting

~Tamia~

We finally finished creating the darts. Amelia had complained about why I was making so much, and

Linda couldn’t wrap her head around it. We had finally finished, and it was much. The Omegas that

were helping us helped pack them carefully into packs.

It was evening, and Susan had called to inform us a few hours ago that they had arrived at Mountain

and settled in. I stood by the window in the studio to look at the setting sun.

I wondered if all of this would indeed be over in five days. I hated to think of the battle, and the fact that

we wouldn’t be there was killing me.

I was worried for everybody, and I did not want to carry on alone. Still, I guess the possibility of that

outcome came with the burden of bearing the crown. I stood motionless at the window and watched the

orange sky.

“Tamia,” I heard Avery’s gentle voice behind me, and I turned to look at her.

She was tired, and I could see the longing in her eyes; it mirrored mine. We all missed our children. No

matter how we tried to keep quiet, we could not hide that we missed our children dearly. We could not

hide the fact, and it was painful.

“What are we going to do with all the darts, Tamia,” She asked me, sounding tired, and I placed my

hand on her shoulder.

“You should get some rest, Avery?” I said, and she shook her head.

“I do not need sleep. I need peace. I sleep most of the time, so that time will pass, Tamia. I want to

wake up, and someone will tell me this is all over and our lives are back to normal. I want to hold

Marvin in my arms, Tamia, and apologies for losing so much time,” She said, and tears began to

stream down her cheek.

We all hated what Yuri had done to our world. Had we known this, we would have taken Larry more

seriously when he told us there was more to come. We shouldn’t have dismissed him. Our actions had

bought us a year of peace and given the enemy time to attack us fiercely.

“It will be okay, Ave,” I said, wiping away her tears.

This pregnancy was different from her first. This one made her emotional and tired. I guess they were

right when they said no pregnancy is the same.

“As for the darts, we are dividing them into two. I plan on arming ourselves here. We can’t afford to be

sitting ducks. It would buy us time to fight and get away should Yuri attack while our men are away,” I

said, and she understood.

“Come on, go and freshen up. Sylvester has called for a general meeting, and the only reason we are

invited is that it has to do with us,” I said, and Linda joined us. She was listening to our conversation

because she chipped in.

“They want to officially tell us we aren’t coming,” She said, and I nodded. I knew that was what

Sylvester wanted to do. Even though we had figured it out independently, seeing how they planned to

exclude us.

They had not told us precisely that we would remain. They had implied it, but with the day approaching,

it was time to let us know we would not go to the West with them.

Nicole was sleeping on the couch in the studio, snoring and mumbling her children’s names.

I went to wake her up so she could go and freshen up. She looked disoriented when she woke up, and

drool was on the corner of her mouth. She must have been tired to sleep with her mouth open.

“Come on, Nikky, You need to freshen up. The King has summoned us to his lounge for the meeting,” I

said, and she nodded and stood up.

“Tanya, Lisa, Justin,” Nicole said, and I knew the separation was getting more challenging.

“Come one, go freshen up. We will soon see them, okay,” I said, and she rubbed her eyes gently. It

wasn’t to wake her up; I knew it was to fight back her tears.

“Lounge?” She finally said with a shaky voice, and I nodded.

We all left for our rooms.

I linked Katya and Claudia to inform them of the meeting in the lounge, and they assured me they

would be there.

I went to freshen up and left to join Sylvester in the lounge.

When I arrived, the men were already there, along with Claudia and Katya. The rest were on their way.

Sylvester asked me to sit beside him, and I did.

He pulled me close and kissed his mark on my neck.

I knew he wanted me to relax, but how could I when we were counting the days to a deadly battle. A

battle that we could not predict its outcome. A fight against freaks.

I maintained a calm exterior, as a Queen should, while we waited for the others.

They all finally arrived, and it was time to start the meeting.

“We have received the dart, and we are grateful for your efforts,” Sylvester started; I wanted to tell him

to get to the point badly, but I decided against it last minute.

“We all know we will be heading to Gad in four days to prepare for the battle on the fifth night, and we

all hope to be victorious,” He said and sighed.

“We do not know the future and can only hope the outcome will favour us. Because of this, we have

decided to come to this conclusion,” He said and pulled me close to his body.

“You all are strong and supportive women. You have come through for us times without a number,

never disappointing, always there to lend us a helping hand and take charge when needed. Know that

you are highly appreciated for this, and we truly value you,” he said. I could feel his nervousness.

He believed we would make it difficult for them.

“This battle could swing either way, and we have children to care for. They are our future. No matter

what happens to us, they have to survive,” He added.

“because of this, we will be asking you all to remain here while we head West,” he said and paused,

waiting for us to say something, but no one spoke.

“We will need you to hold the Forte in the Estate so you can escape with our children and carry on if

anything happens,” He said, and I pinched my thigh to stop myself from speaking and crying.

“As hard as this is, we have to face the reality that we might not come home, but that does not mean

we won’t try. I implore you to let Tamia lead you if it ever comes to that,” He said; he was silent.

We were all silent.

The lounge was glum.

There was no life in it.

All that permeated the air was fear and uncertainty.

I had never hated Yuri more than I did at this moment.

“We will hold the forte, but you all must come home. Do not ask us to move on without you,” I said, and

Sylvester was silent.

“Know that if you do not take him out, he will hunt us down like he did to Luis Ivanov’s wives, and he

will kill us and maybe our children.

So there will be no room for failure. No matter what happens, you must win and survive the bastard

because no matter how far we run, he will hunt us down and finish what he started,” I said, stating a

fact that they might not have thought off.

It was easy for them to come up with an idea and believe it would work, but they also needed to think of

how the enemy’s mind worked, and Yuri had a habit of hunting people down.

If they fail, he will be more trouble for us. Just like he was a problem to Maurice and now Sylvester, he

will be a problem to Liam, too, that is, if we survive.

There was nothing to say. We just pondered on the matter and hoped for the best.

We were silent for a bit, and soon we decided to go and check on Jake in Erik’s lab.

When we arrived, we were surprised that Jake was looking fine. There was colour on his skin, and

Stephanie was stroking his hands.

“Wow, Erik, you did a good job,” Sylvester said, and Erik smiled.

“I wouldn’t have succeeded if it weren’t for Claudia, her friends, Nelson and my assistants. Most

especially Claudia.” He said, looking at Claudia, but she looked haunted and gave him a shell of a

smile.

I could understand how she was feeling. She was married once and lost her husband, and now

Sylvester had just told us that they might not return. It was bound to spook anyone. It was a wonder

that she could stand and even fake a smile.

Erik noticed it, but he chose to ignore it.

“So when are we leaving?” he finally asked, and Sylvester shook his head.

“You will remain with Tamia, Erik. You’re too valuable to be on the battlefield,” Sylvester said, and there

was anger in Erik’s eyes.

“You mean I am too small and deformed.” He corrected Sylvester, and he shook his head.

“If I could transfer your brain to someone else, I would take you to the battle. Trust me, you are more

valuable than a thousand warriors. I can’t risk losing you. Think of the change you will bring to our

world once this is over. It is unmeasurable. I cannot risk your life, Erik, so you will remain with our

mates and care for them. It is a big task because Yuri might try to attack the Estate.” Sylvester said,

and Erik calmed down.

He understood Sylvester’s point and let the matter rest.

We watched Jake for a bit and decided to retire to our rooms. We decided to spend the remaining days

together before they finally left. I planned to start spending that quality time tonight. Sylvester must

understand why there is no room for defeat.