Beauty's Beasts
Chapter 118: Late night visitors

Chapter 118: Late night visitors

Ray looked outside the house from the corner of his eye, he had felt a familiar presence and knew it was no hallucination.

His eyes shot back to Sydney who was done drinking water. "Go back to bed." He urged her gently.

What of you?" She asked

I’m fine. I’ll stay around for a while before coming up." he said and looked at Shawn signalling him to send Sydney back up.

I’ll head up first then. Good night " She whispered and walked out of the kitchen with Shawn. Her eyes couldn’t help looking over to the dark corner but it was only for a while.

This small action didn’t escape Ray’s sharp eyes. Once he was sure she was in the room from the sound of the door closing, he made haste and walked outside.

Sydney who had just reached the bedroom brought her hand over to her chest. There was a dull ache and it wasn’t going away. she rubbed the spot for a while before walking over to bed.

*

Ray walked out of the house and saw their late night visitors. He sucked in a breathe looking at this group of children. It was different to know they are here and also different to see them eye to eye.

Why. .what are you guys doing here?" He asked.

Is it a crime?" The young girl asked.

I didn’t mean to make it sound like that!" Ray always had trouble talking to this girl!

It seemed so." she rolled her eyes and looked back to the second floor. Despite the endless darkness, her eyes were sharp and she had no trouble seeing in the dark

"Where are the others?" Ray asked again seeing they didn’t want to talk to him.

"They are safe." The black haired make replied roughly.

Oh...Ray didn’t know what else to say. Back when they were forced to run, he had been the one in charge of looking after all the young ones and Sydney had trusted him to handle this matter but this lot were just as rebellious as their mother! Once they had a grasp of how to survive, they didn’t hesitate to treat him like trash and beat him up! As outrageous as it may seem, his hands were tied as these were his beloved mates’ children.

"Do you want to come in for a while?" he asked.

There’s no need trying to curry favour with us!" The white haired male said hatefully and looked up at the bedroom window. "Let’s go." He said and turned on his heels.

Bring me mom’s birthday invitation." The little girl instructed before burying her head in her elder brother’s neck.

They had been as discreet as possible but it seems nothing could escape these children’s keen eyes. "Okay." Ray helplessly sighed looking at their silhouettes blend into the night.

*

*

What they didn’t know was that all this time, Titan who had managed to conceal his presence was looking at the children who had eyes like Sydney’s, the boys were likely to be panthers and despite the distance, he could smell Ash’s scent on them. The girl was different as she had red hair like Sydney but her irises were pitch black.

They also kept on referring to Sydney as mother. This revelation left Titan with a blank mind.

The morning came like the events of the night never existed.

Ash who was inside his cave woke up with his head pounding heavily. This phenomena was the first of its kind in his life! He sighed and sat up then looked around where he was. He remembered having fallen while at the entrance but now, he was laying on a stone bed and he had been covered?

His whole body shuddered as memories begun to dominate his mind. He had suffered a great deal last night but it was no different in the morning. He groaned and thrushes around in pain.

Images of Sydney, a different but same Sydney, she was smiling at him, laughing as she ran around a green grassland with him right behind her! The wind was soft and the ambiance was just right! He felt full and life was just perfect!

A voice called him and her and they both turned to look at the other party. He was a muscular male specimen oozing with warrior blood. Sydney smiled upon seeing him and rushed over before pouncing into his embrace.

Did you just return?" She asked and the male looked at her with indulgence before nodding. He cupped her small face and kissed her gently. "Want to go for a ride?" He asked and Sydney was so happy!

He took on an Hawk’s form and scooped Sydney into the sky. What followed was her laughter and squeals.

A black lion dashed over with concern in its eyes but when it saw the two of them, he sighed before shifting back into his human form and looked at Ash with accusing eyes. "That gave me a fright!" Ray murmured his eyes locked on the pair in the sky.

"Hahah." Ash only laughed. "Bound to!" He teased. Not long in their talks and a group of unruly cubs came dashing before running into the two men. Behind them was a soft looking male who was drenched in sweat.

"Seriously..like mother like children! Ray! Ash help me will you?" The male was almost in tears unable to handle the children at home

Ash looked over in a distance and there stood their majestic home! He smiled but that smile slowly fell as the scene before him changed.

In his hands was the body of their family who had died at the schemes of the falcon king and from the house, he could hear Sydney’s broken cries since she could feel the mate bond break.

The bright and sunny days begun to fall as one after the other died! Sydney no longer cried when the mate bonds broke but life could be seen slipping from her eyes slowly by slowly!

He wasn’t there when she died since he had gone before her.

*

*

Ash slumped to the ground with tears in his emerald eyes. All this....he tried to get himself off the ground but his body disobeyed him. He heard voices at the mouth of the cave and stumbled over. Those voices drew him in!

When he reached there, he saw four children standing at the entrance. They didn’t expect him to he awake and their eyes widened in surprise.

Ash felt a lump in his throat looking at the three boys who looked like him, two white panthers while one was a replica of himself. In the black panthers’ hands was a girl with a face like Sydney’s, hair like Sydney’s but the eyes reminded him of his great friend. The picture of the girl while she was a baby overlapped the girl’s current face.

His tears fell. He regretted all of it. "I’m sorry.." the pain in his voice couldn’t be hidden.

Let’s go!" The black haired male said to his brothers and they listened to him without question.

"Wait!!" Ash called out to them desperately. "wait...please...please...okay...let..let father see you a little bit more!" His voice broke with each word that left his mouth.

The group halted. The black haired male gritted his teeth and turned to look at his father. The others followed suit and turned to face Ash.

Titan who had comuflaged himself watched all this. "Right...it hadn’t been a mere dream..it’s all real!" He muttered to himself.

*

*

Back in the city.

Ray dragged Shawn into a corner and strained his senses to ensure that no one was in the vicinity.

What?" Shawn asked seeing Ray’s odd behaviour.

The children were here last night." Ray let the words flow from his mouth stunning Shawn. "What?!" He whisper yelled and his heart begun to roar from the inside .

Keep it down! Lilly wants to attend her mother’s birthday party and asked me to send her an invitation...I don’t know what to do!" Ray shook.

Shawn looked at Ray and remembered he was the one incharge of the children at that time. "Are the children safe? Are they okay? Do they have enough food? OH MY GOD! Why don’t I go and live with them?" he tagged at his ears.

"Be my guest!" Ray looked at Shawn with admiration.

Shawn swallowed back his concerns. How could he forget who took his sight? His whole body shuddered! "How close are they?" He asked having second thoughts on his concern earlier.

"They left last night but will be here again I’m sure." Ray rubbed his face of the non existent swear.

"Then Ash?" Shawn noticed he hadn’t seen Ash since morning.

"He left last night." Ray replied.

What are you guys whispering about?" Sydney’s voice scared the two male’s out of their skin. Shawn’s tail was rigid and stiff Ashe looked at Sydney.

Ray nearly fell down and collapsed.

"You really don’t change!" The two involuntarily said it out loud at Sydney’s face. She was really good at giving others a fright!