The room we enter is a large room with light-gray walls. Many windows allow the sunlight to fill the space: as they're made of one-way glass, I know that even if we can enjoy the beautiful sight of the garden behind the hospital, no one can see anything inside.

There are a lot of medical devices in the room that are set around an examination table. Eva walks to some medical trolleys and opens some drawers.

"What the hell is this?" she asks as she looks at all the instruments.

Anna does not even notice Eva's question. She points to the table, and I just sit on it.

Eva makes her way to stand up beside the table, her eyes focused on Anna.

"I didn't think you would notice anything that fast. Did anything go wrong? Do you have anything making you feel uncomfortable?" Anna's voice is solemn. Nothing like the warm, joyful voice I'm used to hearing.

"No, I'm fine. I got some clues and ended up figuring it out on my own," I answer.

You got some clues? We almost gave you the answer with Moon-Goddess. That was not just 'clues.' You little liar.

Selene almost barks in my head. What the hell did she expect? Me, revealing the entire story to my doctor in front of Eva?

Would you prefer I tell them that Moon-Goddess met me and joined with my wolf, the Silver wolf, to help me figure out that my peaceful, simple life was totally over?

She does not even reply. She just sighs loudly before she lies down.

Damn, sharing my mind with a strong-minded wolf can be exhausting.

"What do you want to know, Olivia?" Anna asks me.

She puts her hands on her thighs.

"Did Prince Alexander tell you why he wanted to keep it a secret?" I question her.

I need to know if Alec had reasons to hide it from me and who he told about it.

I suppose Jackson knows, as he was the one who talked to Anna when she first came to see me after my shift.

"He only suspected it could happen when he saw you shifted. When he saw your wolf form, he knew that the probability was even higher, as you were a lycan," Anna explains.

Before she can add more, Eva interrupts her.

"Wait a minute." She looks all around us, and after a few seconds, she speaks.

"You must be kidding me. Damn, who knows?" she asks, both Anna and me.

"I don't know. I expected Anna to tell me more about that, but it seems our dear Prince Alexander did not tell her about that. Anyway, I don't want anyone else but you to know about it. So none of you may talk about it to anyone, Prince Alexander included," I impose, looking at Eva, then Anna.

They both nod.

"I suppose you want to check how things are going, Olivia," Anna says. She gets up, and I shake my head yes.

She moves to a machine and puts it closer to the examination room.

I lie down on the table, my fists tightening with this weird feeling of nervousness melting with excitement.

Don't worry, everything is fine. Just enjoy the moment.

Selene giggles in my head.

Anna gets closer and turns on the ultrasound device. She gently puts her hands on my shirt. She slowly rolls it up so my belly can be examined.

"That's gonna be a bit cold. Sorry about that," she says.

I don't even react to her words as my eyes focus on the dark screen of the ultrasound device.

Then she takes the transducer and slowly moves it over my belly. It's not long before the peaceful melody of heartbeats resonates in the room.

"Well, we've got a little surprise in here." Anna's voice is full of joy once again, sounding more like the one I'm used to. Two forms are moving together.

"Twins. I'm pregnant with twins. One girl and one boy. Am I right, Anna?" I ask her.

The moment the words get out of my mouth, Anna looks at me with questioning eyes.

"Can you confirm, Anna?" I add hurriedly.

I need to know if I have to make sure my children need to be even more protected than simple heirs to the throne.

"Even if the babies are bigger than I expected, I can't be totally sure right now," Anna answers.

Then she stays silent as she moves the wand-like thing on my belly, slowly biting her lips.

I want to shake her to make her say something.

Eva is not much better as she moves her tightened fists regularly against her legs. That's quite surprising to see this incredible warrior and bodyguard acting nervously.

After what seems to last like hours but must not be over ten minutes long, she breaks her silence.

"I can't be sure, but I think you are right, Olivia. I can tell you they are perfectly fine, even if they are bigger than expected. I'm not an expert on lycan pregnancy, but I suppose they might develop faster than normal wolves' babies. If it goes this way, you might not be able to hide it for long." Anna's news creates an unpredictable reaction inside me.

At least, if you don't know, I'm pregnant with twins and that I'm a gray wolf. Should I add the silver wolf?

Tears start to fall down my face.

At first, they are tears of joy. Our babies are fine, perfectly healthy, and growing up perfectly. I suppose that's every mother's wish to have perfectly healthy babies.

But then, fear and sadness fill my heart. Anytime soon, my belly could threaten my will to hide my babies' existence from the world. The moment people find out, my babies might be in potential danger.

I remember the Moon-Goddess telling me about her greedy brother stealing the gray wolves' babies.

If Evangeline had sent her babies away, it means she understood the rogues were after them.

I move and grab Eva's wrist firmly.

"They are looking for us. The rogues are looking for us. The babies and I," I sob as the words escape my lips.

"What do you mean, they are looking for you? How do you know that, Olivia?" Eva asks in a hurry.

Anna gets up quickly, her smiling face disappearing once again.

She takes some tissue to clean my belly. As she cleans it, panic rushes in my veins, and my protective instincts take over me.

I almost jump and step back from her, twisting Eva's wrist that cracks loudly. She lets out a growl, and I let her go.

"Moon-Goddess, what did I do?" I say as I look at Eva's face, which turns a little pale.

"I'm so sorry, Eva. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"That's okay. I wasn't expecting that, but that's gonna be fine soon. I just need some minutes to heal. Don't worry," she answers as she walks to one chair near the desk on the other side of the room.

Anna quickly follows her and takes Eva's wrist to check on it.

"That's just broken," she says as she turns to me after a minute or two. Then she turns back to me.

"She will heal within ten minutes, Olivia. Lycans heal fast. You need to try to relax. Think about your babies. They need a calm mother." Anna tries to hide her anxiety and smile.

Still, she is not great at faking ease.

"Why do you think they are after the babies and you, Olivia?" Eva asks, trying to change the subject.

Tell them about Evangeline's babies. Not everything, but Eva knows about this story. She'll understand the link between Evangeline's babies and yours.

Selene is back on alert, ready to shift the moment I feel in danger.

"You know about the Black Stone's Alpha and Luna's story. They were under recurring attacks, and these attacks suddenly stopped the moment they lost the babies. They were after the babies. I'm almost sure about that. If it wasn't the reason, why did they stop their attacks?" I quickly explain.

My brain is functioning faster than ever. And then I realize something else. Evangeline had twins, and they wanted them.

Do they know about the gray wolves? How could they know about gray wolves? I've never heard of them before. How can they know about us?

"We need to make sure no one knows about them being twins. We need to protect this secret," I whisper.

I turn and face Anna's and Eva's faces. As soon as my eyes meet theirs, I feel like Selene is giving me some strength so I can act like the true silver wolf I am, full of power.

"If someone finds out about my pregnancy and asks you questions, you must hide at all costs that I'm expecting twins. Never mention that I'm pregnant with a baby girl. Mention my son if you need to get rid of them, but don't talk about my daughter. Even to Prince Alexander."

My tone has never been so hard. I need these two women to stay quiet until they get out of my womb.

"Am I clear?" I ask them. They bow their heads.

"Of course, Olivia. I will protect them and you with my life. I'll keep the secret and try my best to avoid the Prince's questions so I don't have to lie to him. He could force me, but I won't fail," Eva answers.

"If Prince Alec is about to force you, tell him you will reveal the truth only if only the two of you are in the room or able to hear the truth. If he gets angry or keeps on asking you, tell him it was my request and that he is supposed to trust me no matter what. He will let you go." This sounds like an order, not advice. Selene's voice mixes with mine.

Both Eva and Anna bow their heads.

"We will protect your babies, Olivia. We'll keep them safe until we find out who is trying to get you. Are you sure you don't want to warn Prince Alexander?" Eva comes to me and takes my right hand in hers.

"If Prince Alexander did not mention the babies to me, I suppose he's already found out that the wolves attacking our Pack were after us. If not, he would have been happy to share the news."

I stay quiet for some time. Eva frees my hand and moves to the windows to look outside.

As she watches the garden, I see her muscles relax a bit.

Anna does not move, simply looking at Eva's back without a word. After a few minutes, Eva finally breaks the silence.

"The only reason the Prince would hide something that important would be that he suspects there is at least one mole in your pack or...." I interrupt her before she can finish speaking out her reflection.

"Or among the lycans. Jackson came to us with my brother, and they told Alec that they were right. Lycans work hand in hand with the rogues," I reveal to the two girls in the room.

Anna's face turns white, and she rushes to a chair to sit. On the other hand, Eva's face doesn't change.

"We've been suspecting it for weeks. Wolves who can hide their smell are rarer. Despite that, the rogues succeeded," Eva says aloud, but her face appears to be more like thinking out loud than explaining things to us.

"How can they do that? How could lycan hide other wolves' smell?" The more she talks, the more her words turn to whispers, almost inaudible even for wolves' ears.

"The same way you train to use your ability to disappear," Anna says.

Both Eva and I shift to face the pale doctor. We don't have to say a word: the moment Anna sees our eyes, she understands two lycans are waiting for answers.

"Lycans and werewolves are not different species. They both originated from the same ancestors. They parted for some reasons that are not totally clear, but at first, we all lived together. At least, that's what some ancient books recently revealed." Before I can react, Eva grabs Anna's hands.

She holds them firmly, pulling them towards the ground so Anna can't get up.

"What do you mean by ancient books recently found?" Eva growls.

"I haven't heard of such a thing."

"Books. I haven't seen them. Someone posted this information on some historical website, saying they found these books and that they changed the whole mythology about the superiority of the lycans. I don't know more, but I suppose that if it is true, that wolves are equal to lycans, they can hide their smell and presence. They just have to evolve," Anna says.

Selene, is that possible? Can werewolves evolve to become lycans? If that appears trustworthy, that will be a thorn in the flesh.

Wolves cannot turn into lycans, that's for sure. Despite your common origins, Moon-Goddess told you that bloodlines split into lycans and wolves. That's about genetics, and you can't change it. Someone is re-inventing history.

Selene sounds surprisingly calm. She paces inside me even if our shared body stays immobile. Then, after a moment, she stops, and I feel like she's leaving me.

What the hell is this feeling? Emptiness is awful.

I can hear Eva asking some questions to Anna.

Where did she read it? Did many people react to the news? Are there any scientific signs that it could be true? Anna answers all the questions with 'No,' 'I don't know,' and 'I've never heard of that."

Then Selene's voice covers all these talks once again. The feeling of being entire comes back to make me feel alive.

Moon-Goddess thinks that with some training, wolves might hide their presence. But it would be only for a short amount of time. That's not an absolute power like it is to lycans who easily do it. It's more like hard training that would allow them to be better hunters, like normal hunting animals. No matter who is behind the whole thing, they've been planning this for quite some time.

Selene growls loudly before she lets me take complete control of my body.

"Selene thinks that this is not about wolves being able to turn into lycans. It is more like training to go back to primal instincts and turn into efficient bestial hunters, able to hide their presence like normal wolves or lions can do when hunting their prey."

The moment I say that, both Eva and Anna look at me.

"Don't ask me how she knows that. She just does, and I totally trust her," I say as I move toward the two women. I put my hands on Eva's shoulder.

"Let her go, Eva. We've got things to do. I know she won't reveal anything to anyone, right, Anna? Better lock it in your pocket, takin' this one to the grave" I say.

As Anna looks at me, her eyes reflect nothing but intense fear. No matter if I want to appear to be friendly, things that are going on are putting my kids in danger, and I won't let anyone hurt them.

Friends or not, I won't hesitate to kill anyone who would try to harm them.

"Of course, Olivia. I know nothing. I promise," she whispers. Eva growls, making Anna shiver. As I move towards the door, Eva follows me.

"Where are we going, Olivia? What do you have in mind?" Eva asks me. Her tone is serious. She is my guardian, my warrior, my partner to solve this mess from now on until I know enough to tell Alec.

"We're going to greet our special guest."