A cool breeze tickled my arms, causing me to wrinkle my nose and curl up closer to the warmth beneath me. I moved my legs upward to cuddle closer, but my toes got entangled in the holes of the net.

Net.

My eyes shot open, and I found myself staring at the wall of what appeared to be a cabin by the rich brown colored planks. Blinking a few times to make sure my eyes weren't betraying me, I sat up slowly and stared down at the person who had their arms wrapped around me tightly.

"Alrik!"

He groaned and murmured something about wanting to sleep while I took a moment to take note of our surroundings.

We were laying in a hammock on the porch of a cabin in the middle of a gigantic field of tall grass and wildflowers. There was no sign of civilization– just a few birds chirping in the distance and two deer parading through the field to chase after a little monarch butterfly.

The view would have been stunning if I wasn't panicking about where we were.

I shook Alrik's shoulder furiously, "Alrik, wake up. Where are we?"

The troubled tone I used was enough to rouse him from his slumber and force him to take a good look at where we were.

As he studied the field, he raked a hand through his hair, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion before he finally turned his head back to me, "I don't remember dying, do you?"

"All I remember is killing Malcolm off," I muttered, laying my head on his chest once again, "Who could have killed us?"

"That's a good question," he said, pushing off one of the beams of the porch so the hammock swayed, "Meredith is in charge of your coven if something happens, right?"

"Yes, what about you? Does Reece become Alpha?"

"Either her or Aleksei if she doesn't want the position," he sighed.

We remained silent for a few moments, digesting our status before Alrik twirled his fingers through my hair and smiled comfortingly, "Well, you're here with me so I can't complain much."

His hand trailed down to give my ass a soft squeeze, and I slapped it away, "We apparently just died, and you're already pawing at me."

He smirked against my temple, "I feel that we should take advantage of our isolation. It's not like anyone will be interrupting us. "

"Ahem."

We immediately scrambled out of the hammock to stare at our guest – an elderly man with snowy hair and piercing gray eyes that were the key to identifying who he was.

His grandfather.

Alrik inhaled sharply, his eyes wide, "Dedushka? How–you–"

"Hello, boy. It has been a while," his grandfather smiled kindly, opening his arms for an embrace that Alrik reciprocated instantly.

"You speak English now!" Alrik exclaimed.

His grandfather smacked his back gently with his cane, "Yes, when I arrived here, I found out that very few speak Russian so I took it upon myself to learn the complicated language."

As they pulled away, his grandfather's eyes flitted to mine and lit up once more, "This is your bitch? She is stunning."

The tips of Alrik's ears turned red, and I almost burst into a fit of laughter as he cleared his throat awkwardly, "Dedushka, this is Jaslynn, my stunning mate. Jaslynn, this is my grandfather, the great Vadim Kuznetsov."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir," I smiled politely, even though I was dying of amusement on the inside.

He opened his arms for me as well, pulling me in for a gentle squeeze, "You can call me grandpa, darling, and you will have to forgive this old mind of mine. I cannot seem to keep track of all these words."

"Now," he released me to poke at Alrik's chest with his cane, "How dare you try to copulate on the porch of your cabin?"

While Alrik attempted to stutter out a reply, I caught onto another part of his question, "This is our cabin?"

"Oh yes," his grandfather's tone softened as he turned to me, "I built it with the help of some friends, speaking of whom, we have to go meet because we only have limited time with the two of you before you go back."

"You mean, we aren't dead?" Alrik questioned in disbelief.

"Of course not," his grandfather scoffed, "We are only borrowing you and believe me when I say, it nearly took a petition for the Moon Goddess to allow this."

Even though the term 'borrowing' should have been concerning, a sense of relief washed over me – heaven might be pretty, but I wasn't ready to leave everything behind just yet.

"Come along, children. Let me show you around the community," he said, offering me his arm. I grinned and hooked mine around his as Alrik frowned and trudged behind us.

***

As it turned out, if we had just walked around the porch to the front door, we would have discovered several other cabins a short distance away.

And Alrik's grandfather was happily pointing out all of our neighbors, describing them as vaguely as possible.

"In the cabin with the green roof, we have another old man, who is very powerful. And in the cabin with the garden, there is a man who is not so old, who lives with a wonderful woman who is also not so ol–"

"Pardon Dedushka, but are these people we should know? Because the way you're describing them, they could be anyone," Alrik blurted, clearly agitated by the lack of information he was receiving.

His grandfather took his cane and nudged Alrik's back, "What have I taught you? Patience, my young one. You will be meeting all of them eventually."

He stopped us in front of a cabin that had rose bushes lining the porch and gestured for us to enter before him, "Go ahead. I want you two to go in first."

A trickle of anxiety crawled up my spine for some reason, and I shuddered discreetly, trying to shove the unfamiliar feeling away. I had no idea why I was suddenly experiencing a bout of nausea that made me want to take a seat on the porch stairs.

Alrik pursed his lips at his grandfather's insistence and took my hand in his, giving it a soft squeeze as if to say I had nothing to worry about.

He tugged me up the stairs and gave the front door two brisk knocks before we waited for someone to appear.

It took a second, but we could hear heavy breathing as though the person had sprinted toward the door.

And when it swung open, my knees became weak.

"Mom?"

The resemblance between us was uncanny– caramel-brown curls, hickory eyes, upturned nose, heart-shaped face.

She had a hand clasped to her mouth as she gazed at me through misty eyes.

I did not know how to react. My mother left my life at such a young age that I had no memory of her, and I had never seen pictures of her. My only way to form any image of her in my head was from the description people gave me.

It felt very awkward watching her almost sob before me until she finally took a deep breath and wiped the tears that had started to drip down her cheeks.

"Can I–can I hug you?"

Mother's intuition told her I was uneasy, and I couldn't help but feel guilty that my mother had to ask permission to hug me.

But I nodded slowly and stepped forward into the cabin just as she locked me down for a hug.

And I melted into her arms.

Her hug reminded me of draping a thick, snug blanket over my shivering form during a blizzard when I had no one to face the bitter cold with – the blanket was my best friend when the world wasn't.

Every bit of doubt and uneasiness that clouded my mind before had disappeared in that moment while I tried to capture the affection I had been denied since I was a toddler. The ache in my chest was a reminder of where the hollow gap was.

When she pulled back, she had a heartbroken look on her face, "You don't remember me, but I–I remember everything, and I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you."

Hot tears were flowing down my cheeks rapidly, "Don't say that. It isn't your fault."

"Cathlynn."

The slight French accent put me through another whirlwind of emotion as my head snapped to the red-haired male, who towered over us with tears in his own pools of green and brown.

Jasper Beaumont. His name immediately flashed in my head.

"Can I hug you too?" He asked quietly as though he expected a rejection.

I let out a half-choke half-laugh as I nodded and allowed him to seize me in his tight grip.

We were silently hugging until he whined, "Why is it the only child we have looks nothing like me? I thought you would at least grow to be a red-head. All my good looks were in vain."

He flicked a lock of my hair in annoyance and released me slowly, scrutinizing my features, "Although, your mother's beauty does surpass my good looks for miles."

I rolled my eyes in amusement as he gave me another hug and directed his attention to Alrik, who was standing off to the side with his grandfather and watching us with an adorable smile on his face.

"You," my father snapped, pointing a finger at Alrik with a sharp glare.

My eyes widened when it suddenly hit me that my father might have been angry that his mother had been killed indirectly by Alrik.

"Have you touched her?"

And he was more concerned about being the overprotective father.

But before my stunned mate could reply, his grandfather answered for him, "By the marks on both of their necks. I'm pretty sure he's done more than touch her."

My father muttered something under his breath that sounded like a French curse as his eyes traveled back and forth between our necks.

"She is my mate, and I love her. I don't think there's anything wrong," Alrik said confidently, brushing off my father's glare and coming to stand next to me. He curled his arm around my waist and reached a hand out to shake my father's hand, "Alrik Kuznetsov, sir."

My father shook his hand reluctantly, "Call me Jasper. I suppose I have to accept you since my daughter did."

Alrik ignored the last statement and turned us around to face all three, "I don't mean to sound rude, but how did we get here? And why?"

His grandfather banged his cane against the floor, "The news of the war that could break the division between hell and earth spread all through the heavens, and I became worried and searched for Jaslynn's parents. We wanted to meet the two of you before the war, but the Moon Goddess refused until we convinced her to let us talk to you for a few minutes after the war."

"Were we dragged away in the middle of the war? I only remember Malcolm dying," I asked, attempting to jog my memory.

"That stab in the dick move was perfect. You really are my child," my father veered off-topic excitedly, "It was almost identical to my signature move. The only difference is I would have chopped his–"

"To answer your question, sweetheart," my mother interrupted loudly, "You'll find out everything you can't remember when you return. Unfortunately, you won't remember any of this so you'll be a bit lost when you wake up."

Alrik grumbled under his breath about being thrown around like a rag doll, and I elbowed him, "Are we leaving soon? We would love to spend some more time with all of you."

"Sadly no," Alrik's grandfather sighed, "We cannot keep you here for long without creating trouble on earth. Any moment now, someone will be here to take you two back."

"But worry not, you two will be close to us when you ascend heaven," my father pointed out optimistically, "We built you that cabin near us for a reason. I can keep an eye–"

He was cut off as a random burst of glitter erupted in the air and dissolved to reveal a tiny bald man with wings.

"I am here to transport Ms. Jaslynn and Mr. Alrik back to earth," he stated flatly.

My mother quickly pulled me in for one last hug as my father kissed the top of my head, "Stay safe, sweetheart. I wish we could spend more time together, but we just want you to know that we are incredibly proud of you. We love you so much more than you'll ever remember."

I was barely able to whisper an "I love you too" before my vision started to fade and blur.

Then, everything went black.

***

"Kroshka?"

My eyes opened partially to a squint as the sunlight blinded me with its harsh rays.

"Good, you're awake," Alrik muttered, brushing my hair away from my face.

I lifted my head slowly and glanced at our location with half-lidded eyes. We somehow had ended up in the hospital with the two of us sharing a bed in our underwear.

I furrowed my eyebrows and groaned tiredly, "What happened?"

"I don't know. All I remember is killing Malcolm, and then everything else is blank. Reece is on her way to explain everything."

My head was beginning to hurt from forcing myself to try to recollect my memories, and the smell of the cleaning liquids used in the hospital wasn't helping.

As if he could sense my distress, Alrik slid his hand down to my abdomen and massaged it softly, "Do you think our pup is alright?"

I froze at his hesitant question.

While I never had the chance to comprehend the idea that I was pregnant, there was no panic or worry in my mind that something was wrong– a feeling that should have been there considering we were in the hospital.

I nibbled my lip nervously and looked at Alrik, "I have to be honest with you."

"What do you mean by that?" He asked cautiously, narrowing his eyes like he was expecting terrible news.

"I don't think I'm pregnant."