Rejected By My Mate

After hugging the twins one by one, Azrael and the others looked at the twins while feeling anxious. Their heart rate quickens while waiting for the twins’ explanation. Nervousness, longing, sadness, excitement, and all other emotions were visible in Azrael and the sisters’ eyes.

After knowing Azrael is their father, the twins were feeling ecstatic and Yzzabelle quickly sat in Azrael's lap while Ezzekiel kept his cool and sat between Azrael and Willow, although he wanted to sit on his father’s lap, too. Though he keeps staring at Azrael and Yzzabelle while smiling. Now he knows where Yzzabelle got her brown hair.

Azrael couldn't explain his feelings. He was happy yet sad because the twins grew up without him by their side. He wasn't even there when they were born and held them close. It was his dream to cradle his babies in his arms while singing them a lullaby to sleep. But now they can already walk when he meets them. His inner wolf, Khael, also shares the same feelings. Well, they were both devastated when Alice left, even though they know the reason why she has to leave them. But they didn't even know that Alice was pregnant back then. Now they were remorseful, but there's nothing they can do anymore.

“Can you recall where your mother was?” Damona asked, nervously.

The twins nodded reluctantly and let out a deep sigh as if they shoulder a big burden. “Mother was... inside a cocoon. She was sleeping all the time.” Yzzabelle said with a sad expression

Everyone gasped and froze for a moment, and the silence was deafening. A baby’s giggles broke the silence, and that made everyone reacted unbelievably and loudly. “WHAT?!”

The baby was startled and cried because of their loud voice. Echo tried to shush the baby but didn't stop. He stood up and brought the baby away from the others. The other kids present on the other side were also startled and stopped playing for a while. The half fox triplets, Yzzabelle, and Ezzekiel were also startled a little because of the adults’ sudden reaction.

"What happened to her??” Demonise asked anxiously. The thought of Alice inside a cocoon makes her heart clenched tightly.

The twins let out a deep sigh with a sad face. “We don’t know. We are waiting for her to wake up.” Ezzekiel replied, with his shoulders drooping down.

Everyone fell silent and lost in deep thoughts while trying to decipher what happened to Alice. Their anxiety grew, and they fidgeted. A lot of what ifs were running through their minds.

While the adults lost in their thoughts, Ariya smiled at the twins with her goofy smile and said, "Yzzabelle, Ezzekiel, you can call me big sister from now on!"

“Sure!” Yzzabelle agreed right away with a huge smile on her face.

Ezzekiel looked at Ariya and her appearance. He was amused when Ariya’s big fox ear slightly moved when she talked with giddiness.

Alexia and Azel were also thinking deeply while imagining their mother inside a cocoon, and they frowned deeply.

Damona cleared her throat and got everyone's attention. “Kids, tell us everything about what happened and how you found us.” she uttered, then everyone's attention was back on the twins again.

The twins looked at each other and nodded. “We remember we were inside a small, golden, transparent cocoon enough for us to move around. Beside our cocoon was also a big cocoon and someone was inside. We were looking at her every time and we tried to wake her up by knocking our feet into our cocoon, but she didn't respond, no matter how much noise we made. Although I think the noise we made was so muffled because of our tiny feet.” Ezzekiel said, with a look of reminiscing.

Yzzabelle nodded and continued explaining. “One day, a fox spirit with blue fur appeared outside the cocoon and he said that the woman inside the cocoon is our mother, named Alice. He teaches us how to say our mother's name and we quickly learn how to say it. It's the first word we utter.”

“A fox spirit? Is it Blue? That's why he also disappeared that day. It turns out he was with Alice all along.” Xandra said and sighed. She remembered looking for Blue when she couldn't find him together with the triplets the next day after Alice's disappearance.

"We don't know if that's really Blue. But we can ask Alice about it. So what happened next?” Val asked, eager to know the full details. Although her heart was racing in anticipation.

"After that, the fox spirit disappeared and never appeared again. We were sad, and we tried to get out of the cocoon, but to no avail. All we could do is to watch mother sleeping and call her name all the time until we grow bigger little by little.” Yzzabelle said. She looked at everyone and they were intently listening to her. Then she continued, “One day, someone appeared outside our cocoon. She helped us out of the cocoon successfully and we are so happy that we're out in the open, but when she tried to get mother out, she failed. Mother's cocoon never breaks, no matter how many times she tries.”

"Yeah. And since we couldn't walk on our own, she kept us company in the creepy forest and kept us protected from dangerous animals. She then taught us how to walk and speak little by little. And after many days, she tried to convince us to leave the forest and live with her in the village outside the forest, but we didn’t agree. We don’t want to leave our mother behind. In the end, Ashley stayed with us and taught us how to speak clearly and properly. She gave us clothing, shelter, and food inside the forest. She teaches us everything a child should know.” Ezzekiel said with a smile, remembering those times when they were learning.

“We learn faster, so she also taught us how to use our power properly. And then one day, she just vanished without a trace. We are waiting for her to return but it's already 3 months passed by and still she never showed up.” Yzzabelle said sadly, with a longing expression.

Ezzekiel grip Yzzabelle hand and squeezes it. He continued, "And then we decided to look for her. And to protect mother's cocoon, we successfully transfer her above our tree house. After securing mother’s safety, we get out of the forest and look for Aunty Ashley everywhere until we arrived in a big town with many people. We heard from an old man that we look like the great sextuplets, so we asked him who they were. The old man told us all about you and it piqued our interest when he mentioned the name Alice. Then, we saw our mother's statue at the church so we hurried to meet all of you.”

The five sisters couldn't help but feel amazed and now their emotion is like a roller coaster. Their niece and nephew were geniuses. At a young age, they learned how to communicate well with others, even talk like adults. Whoever the woman was with them all these years, they were so thankful for taking care of the twins on their behalf.

Willow felt a tugged in her heart, so she hugged Ezzekiel tightly. “I'm sorry. Aunty wasn't with you when you needed someone by your side.” she said while wiping her tears, but it keeps flowing down nonstop. She just couldn't stop herself from being so emotional. She really felt sorry for the twins. They haven't even hugged their mother yet.

The other sisters were also wiping their tears repeatedly, as well as Azrael, who were so emotional after hearing what they went through. He also hugged Yzzabelle tightly while kissing the top of Yzzabelle's head.

The twins smiled at the sisters. Then Yzzabelle lifts her tiny hand to wipe Azrael's tears.

Azrael smiled at the little action of his sweet little girl. “Can you bring us to your mother?” Azrael said, and the twins’ eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Of course! How about now?” Yzzabelle and Ezzekiel said in unison, completely forgetting their mission of finding their Aunt Ashley. Since they met the sisters and their father, their focus was diverted and now they are so excited to see their mother again, even though Alice was still sleeping inside the cocoon.

“Then let's go. I'm dying to see her.” Azrael said, and the sisters shared the same sentiment. They wanted to see Alice now, whether she was unconscious or much better awake.

"Okay!"

Everyone agreed that only Azrael and the five sisters will accompany the twins. The others will just wait for their returns, hoping they will bring Alice back to end their sorrow. They tasked Cybelle to inform Sabrina and the others about the news, and she left right away. And Echo, with the dark magna trio, was tasked to take care of the children.

The half fox triplets couldn't stay put as excitement rushed through their veins. They longtime hoped to see their mother again, and it's a dream come true. It was the best birthday gift for them. To reach faster to their destination, the twins urge Azrael and the sisters to use their wings. When they saw the twins’ golden wings, they gasped in awe and felt the powerful aura from the twins. The energy that surrounds the twins was incomparable to them. They wonder what power the twins possessed. At a young age, they surely know how to use their powers appropriately.

It took them two hours to reach their destination. The forest that the twins were talking about was in the eastern part of the magic realm, which was at the bottom of the highest peak of a mountain in the entire magic realm. It was a secluded area where no one dared to visit because of the heavy pressure of the wind that surrounded the mountain. Only powerful beings can withstand the pressure.

When Azrael and the sisters saw the twins swiftly flew past the heavy pressure of the wind like it was nothing, their jaws dropped in awe. The twins giggled at their reactions. “Come on, you can do it!" Yzzabelle yelled from inside. Azrael and the sisters feel embarrassed.

But Willow chuckled and also flew past the heavy pressure like it was so easy.

"Aunty, good job!” the twins uttered while giggling. Willow also giggled in return. If not for her experience with Alice before, for sure she will have a hard time passing the heavy pressure.

Seeing Willow fly past without difficulties, Azrael and the sisters quickly followed confidently. But they were almost swept away by the strong pressure. They sighed in relief when they couldn't feel the heavy pressure anymore. It turns out that the heavy pressure of the wind blocks the entire mountain. The atmosphere on the mountain was different and full of spiritual energy. They can feel their body slowly absorbing some energy. Maybe the forest is the reason why the twins have immense energy.

They followed the twins and slowly landed on the ground. Then they walked together inside the forest silently. It was full of life inside the forest and they noticed the different magical fruit tree that they didn't see before. When they heard some growls from an unknown creature, they became wary and on high-alert. The twins giggled at their reaction.

“Nothing to be wary about. All the animals living here were our friends. They won't attack as long as you are with us.” Ezzekiel said and Yzzabelle nodded in assurance.

They sighed in relief and continued walking. The walk took longer than they expected. It was so dark and hard to see the road because of the fog everywhere. The atmosphere changed when they walked deeper into the woods. Mist formed when they breathed. Without the twins, they will surely get lost.

"Are we there yet?” Demonise asked for the nth time, which received a chuckle from the twins. “Almost there!” Yzzabelle replied without stopping.

Even with the assurance from the twins that the forest is safe, they still can't stop themselves from being alert. They never know what creatures live in the unventured forest.

Suddenly, the twins halted while looking uneasy and ran ahead in a haste. They looked confused and quickly followed the twins with heart thumping in nervousness. They could tell that the twins’ reaction was not good.

Later on, they stumbled into a small area with a gigantic tree standing alone in the center and they spotted the twins climbing up the gigantic tree. When they looked up, a tree house was sitting above the tree. They looked around the area; it was full of unknown plants, herbs, and flowers. It was perfectly planted according to its species. But they have no time to appreciate what they saw when they remembered the twins’ reaction. They also climbed up the tree house using the hanging rope that pulled them up automatically when they held the rope. Their heart rate quickens when they hear a loud thud followed by a wail of the twins. Azrael climbed up the stairs in a hurry and when he reached the floor the twins were in, he saw them on the floor crying while looking at the broken and empty cocoon.

"Mother, where are you?!” Yzzabelle sobbed loudly. Azrael hugged the twins and tears also poured down his face while looking at the huge empty golden transparent cocoon. He felt nervous and lost. The sisters were at a loss when they saw the empty cocoon. Their chest clenched tightly when they couldn't spot Alice around the room. Hearing the twins’ wails almost broke their hearts. Xandra composed herself, trying to stay positive.

“I'm sure she's just around. If the cocoon was empty, it only means one thing—she already woke up.” Xandra said, and everyone's face instantly lit up.

“Really?” the twins mumbled, then wiped off the tears on their faces.

Xandra nodded with a smile. She just has a feeling that Alice was here a while ago. Though she felt strange because something was not right. The twins said that Alice was sleeping and when the woman that helped them tried to break the cocoon; she failed. Was Alice really awake or someone powerful took Alice away? She shakes her head to erase those negative thoughts.

“Then what are we waiting for? Let's go look for her!” Val uttered hastily and turned around first to climb down the tree house. The others quickly followed without wasting time. They have to find Alice, no matter what, to ease the worry in their minds and hearts.

5 years ago.

After sealing the demons in the abyss of darkness, Alice was riding Darius (or Destiny) without looking back at the entire magic realm. She refused to do so or else it will affect her decisions later. However, on their way, Darius put Alice to deep sleep and a dark circular motion twirling dangerously appeared suddenly, then Darius flew past to enter the deep and unending portal until they arrived at the divine sacred place called eternal unknown. Darius transformed into his original form—not the human form that Alice knew of, but a creature form who has different forms; with a body and a dual face of a human, with a deer's horn, and a ring of light above its head, with sixteen foxtails, and a white wings with golden glitters. His golden hair and skin are glowing in the vast space like milky-way.

The vast space that seemed unending was full of gravity and the golden glitters falling horizontally, vertically, slanted, and sometimes like waves with every step the destiny made. Thousands and thousands of live images popped up now and then nonstop. Destiny just took a glance and walked down an endless path. Alice's unconscious body was floating behind him and automatically followed his direction. The path that seems endless makes a two-way direction after a long walk; both are unknown paths. Destiny stopped walking and smirked. He raised his hand and Alice's body automatically flew towards the two paths and stopped right at the center of the way.

Destiny snapped his fingers to retreat and go back to his own domain to watch everything unfold. He grinned when the outcome wasn't what Alice expected to happen, because everything was under his control from the beginning of time. The fate of the universe was at his mercy. At first, all was according to his plan, but it got shaken when Alice tried to change the future of Callie. And she and her sisters were punished and sent to the mortal realm with only one body as a vessel. So when Alice dies in the mortal world, Destiny has no choice but to go down to the mortal realm to change the flow of the future and pretend to be Darius and Alice's dragon. And now Alice has no choice but to choose a path that either changes her future or leads to her death and her children.

When inside the eternal unknown, even he can't predict the future because of the powerful void that Alice has in her heart and mind. The only being that Destiny was wary of is Alice because her future keeps changing. Inevitably, even he had no control over. Alice thought he had complete control of her fate, but the truth was it's not him but the fate itself. Because when Alice was born, the two cursed chains of fate were bound in her soul and body.

To unbind herself of the curse, the process would be extremely painful or worse, Alice could die from the pain. But Destiny took pity on Alice's suffering, so to repay her kindness and love, he decided to help her with all his power. However, the feat would be too difficult and Alice's body might bear the consequences.