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Chapter Three

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Seven years later...

Raine stretched his legs slowly, smiling at his children next to him. Ivy, Theo, Kevin and J.D. grinned back at him, giving him a thumbs up. He turned to smile at Noelle who held their baby girl, Devon.

"Please be careful!" Noelle said, looking at each of her children, even though she was speaking mainly to Raine. They all chorused they would, blowing raspberries at Devon who gurgled in delight.

"Alright panthers, on the count of three!" Raine announced. "Three, two, one!" he and his four children leapt forward, transforming from humans to panthers. Raine let out a light growl, pleased with his children who had all successfully shifted. Ivy and Theo had been able to shift for a couple years now-since they were six-but it was only Kevin's third time and J.D.'s first. They were seven and six years old and took to shifting just as naturally as Theo and Ivy had.

In all honesty, Raine and Noelle had been pleasantly surprised when the twins had shifted to their panther forms, looking like mini Raines. When asked how they knew to shift they replied that they had seen Raine shift and decided to try it to. Just decided to try it. Like it was no big deal.

Now that they were older, Raine and Noelle figured they would know what Theo and Ivy were. However, they were neither panther nor pixie. They were a mix of the two races. Each could shift into a panther, but Theo could predict the future and Ivy was a nature empath. She could heal, speed along the growth of nearly anything, and had a sense of smell stronger than panthers.

Noelle watched the five of them romp through the forest until they were out of sight. She sighed, content, and kissed Devon on the top of her head. Kevin and J.D. had been blessings, but they didn't have the same powers as Theo and Ivy. They had panther genes through and through. Noelle assumed it was going to be the same with Devon. For some reason, the panther gene was more dominant. Theo and Ivy had been an exception. She didn't want to admit that it had something to do with Réveil or with her being the Vessel. Her children were just exceptionally blessed and unique.

She couldn't believe that Theo and Ivy were already ten years old. They were growing up fast. It seemed only yesterday that she and the women had arrived at Haven. Now, there was never a quiet moment with all the children running around like crazy.

True to Theo's word, Jed and Delilah had a baby boy that they named Bentley. It was Delilah's grandfather's name and she had insisted on it. Soon afterward Bentley, Kelsey and Lindi had been born. Clover and Ryder, to everyone's surprise had twins, Hailey and Farren, explaining the hay and iron Ivy had smelled. Tamsin had recently given birth to Mason, a baby boy, much to Fletcher's joy. He claimed that his hard work had finally paid off, not that he didn't love his two daughters. Finn and Violet had chosen to have only one child, Alexia, and stop there. They were content with one child, because everyone else had enough to overcompensate for it.

Alexia liked to follow Theo around, much to his frustration. She still called him Toe, even though she was only two years younger than him at the age of 8. It annoyed him, which was why she did it. Theo was friends with everyone, flirting shamelessly with all the women of the house and rough housing the boys. He was a natural born leader and would be a great Alpha some day.

Ivy on the other hand was an outsider. She was friends with the children, but she would much rather spend her time out in the garden or orangery by herself. She confessed to Noelle that she felt left out of a lot of things, but she didn't know how to want to be a part of anything. "I like being alone," she told Noelle, "It gives me a chance to think. Besides, nature is the bestest friend I could ever have. I just think the other kids think I'm weird because I don't like playing their silly games."

"Sweetheart, you're perfect the way you are," Noelle had reassured her. "You're a very talented girl and more mature than your friends. Eventually they'll catch up to you and everything will turn out perfectly. Okay?"

Ivy had smiled timidly and hugged her mother. "Okay mommy. I love you." She believed Noelle, because her mommy was never wrong about anything.

"I love you too, sweetie."

Noelle had smiled and kissed Ivy before sending her on her way. The only time Ivy ever felt like she was a part of something was when Raine took them for a run through the woods. Then she was a panther, just like everyone else, lost in the moment of running free. She loved chasing after the forest life and messing around with her brothers. Sometimes the other children played with them too. It was the simplicity of the matter that she loved so much.

Ivy knew she was different, she just didn't care as much as Theo did. Raine and Noelle had explained the situation to her and Theo, making sure they knew that there was no pressure on them. Ivy secretly wondered if she was going to be the evil one or if it was going to be Theo. She didn't feel evil, but neither did Theo. Personally, she thought it was a stupid story told to scare people. But Aunt Violet and Uncle Jed had seemed very serious about it. Plus, her mommy always tensed up whenever someone talked about it.

Theo on the other hand loved being so important. He had already decided that he was the good twin, not that Ivy was evil, he was just more powerful because he was the boy. Someday he was going to be the Alpha of the panthers and there was no way he would do anything bad. His ten-year-old mind couldn't process the concept of evil past lying, stealing and hurting people. Now, if he could only get Alexia to leave him alone sometimes.

He growled playfully at Kevin, swatting his head and darting away before Kev could get him. J.D. went after Ivy, tackling her from the back, but he quickly found himself pinned to the ground beneath his older sister. She nipped his throat in a warning and loped over to Raine who was watching them with careful eyes. Purring, she rubbed against his side, loving the feel of her daddy's fur.

She froze when a new smell wafted through the woods. Her back arched and her claws dug into the earth, as the smell of dog got closer. Suddenly, three wolf puppies crashed through the brush and into their clearing. A larger wolf followed them, yipping playfully. Raine seemed unfazed by it all, closing his eyes and turning his face to the ray of sun that broke through the trees.

Ivy took a cautious step forward and sniffed, trying to figure out why the scents were familiar. Suddenly it dawned on her: it was Uncle Jed, Bentley, Lindi and Kelsey! They had come out to play. She yowled at them, swatting at their funny tails and chasing them through the clearing.

When it started to get dark they headed back to Haven tired and exhausted. Raine carried J.D. in his mouth by the scruff of his neck while the other three padded alongside him.

Jed and his kids had turned in earlier since they had an early leave in the morning. It turned out that King Kristoff had wanted Jed to return to werewolf territory for a bit. After talking to Delilah about it, Jed had agreed and started to pack everything up. His kids were sad because they would miss their friends, but Jed and Delilah had told them about all the other kids they would meet. They promised to come back and visit. It would be highly possible since Kristoff would want to keep an eye on the twins.

It seemed like everyone was waiting on pins and needles to see what would happen with Theo and Ivy. No one wanted to say anything to sway things one way or another-at least, none of the good guys.

The demons were keeping on the down low for now, but they were definitely watching the twins, waiting for the right moment to strike. The Harpies, Witches and Goblins were also keeping an eye on the twins, hoping they could get their claws in one or the other. Their theory was that they could influence the child into being evil.

Almost every other race was doing their best to protect the twins, even if it was unknown that they were helping. Sometimes Raine would find Fae markings around the forest of Haven, marking that symbolized protection. More than once he had seen animals that weren't acting like a normal animal would. Shape shifters were in the forest, keeping an eye on the activities of the panthers. No one wanted to take the chance that something could go wrong.

Noelle greeted her kids when they arrived back home. Theo started telling her all about the run through the woods, describing everything with great dramatics. Suddenly he broke off as he saw a white streak come around the corner. "Uh, I'll talk to you later. Bye mom!" he turned and took off in the other direction.

"Drat!" Alexia huffed, stopping next to Noelle to take a breath. "I thought he saw me. Oh well, I'll catch up with Toe later." She grinned at Noelle and winked. Noelle just chuckled, knowing that Alexia was well aware Theo had run away from her.

"You just love torturing him, don't you?"

"It's nice to see the big bad Theo running away from a little girl," Alexia laughed. "You'd think he was afraid of me or something." She bit her lip suddenly and inhaled sharply. "Does he hate me, Aunt Noelle?"

"Does he-Alexia why in the world would you think that?" Noelle said, crouching down to her level.

"Well the other day I was following him without him knowing and saw him with Laura. She asked if I was his girlfriend and he made an icky noise before saying that I would never be his girlfriend. Then he kissed Laura!" Alexia's eyes grew wide and were brimming with tears when she finished. "It's hopeless, he'll never like me!"

Noelle was trying to comfort Alexia while still reeling from the fact that Theo was already kissing girls. Maybe it was time for the sex talk. She patted Alexia comfortably and told her not to worry about anything . Theo was just being a boy. Someday he would see how pretty Alexia was and he'd let her know. Comforted for the moment, Alexia skipped away happily.

"Raine!" Noelle bellowed, knowing he'd be at her side within seconds.

Raine came around the corner soon after a concerned look on his face. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"It's time for 'the talk'," she moaned, looking up at him. Raine's face drained of all color as he thought about how the conversation would go.

"Are you sure? Theo and Ivy are only-"

"They're ten, and Theo's already kissing girls. I know they watched that 'Where Do Babies Come From?' tape, but they need the real talk now." Sighing, Raine went to track down his two oldest children while Noelle paced and thought of what to say. Even though they were young, they were way smarter than their age group and know doubt knew a few things.

When Raine came back with the kids Ivy looked mildly curious, but Theo already looked bored. "I saw this coming a week ago," he muttered. "Too bad I didn't see the whole thing, then I wouldn't have to sit through it." Raine lightly cuffed him on the back of the head and motioned for them to sit on the couch.

Noelle cleared her throat uncomfortably as she looked at her two children. "Do you know why men and women are made differently?" she asked after a moment.

Theo rolled his eyes and leaned back into the couch. "Yes!" he groaned. Ivy glared at him and nodded her head at Noelle.

"Good, that's good," she murmured. "Uh, Raine, why don't you talk about it?" Raine shot her a glare as his cheeks turned a dark red color.

"How about you have Uncle Fletcher tell us? He wouldn't be embarrassed about sex," Theo suggested snottily.

Raine gave Theo a reproachful look, "How about you tell me what you know about making love."

"Fine," he replied mulishly. "It's when a man sticks his thingy in a girl making her pregnant. Then she has a baby. He has to do it again if they want another baby."

"That's stupid," Ivy commented. "It doesn't sound very fun. Why would anyone want to do that?" She turned to look at Noelle and Raine with wide innocent eyes.

They both blushed. "It's usually a very nice experience," Noelle explained softly. "That's why it's called 'making love'. It's supposed to be a sacred act between husband and wife." She closed her eyes and prayed for patience as she proceeded to explain the sexual act to them. Ivy had a lot of questions and even though Theo pretended like it was lame, secretly he was listening to everything his mommy and daddy were saying.

"Are we done now?" Theo whined a bit later. "I know all I need to. Besides, girls are icky."

"Boys are grosser!" Ivy growled in defense.

Noelle raised her eyebrows and smiled at Theo. "Is that so? Then why did you kiss Laura?" Raine looked surprised by this and secretly proud of his son; he was his father's son, that's for sure.

Theo flushed angrily. "I knew Alexia was watching!" His hands clenched into fists as he growled. "I accidentally bumped into Laura. I didn't mean to kiss her." His arms were crossed defiantly as he dared anyone to argue differently.

Ivy shot him a side glance before rolling her eyes. "Whatever. I'm never going to let a boy kiss me. They're too icky and immature for me!"

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This isn't really important to know, but here's who has what kids:

*RAINE AND NOELLE

Ivy & Theo - 10

Kevin - 7

J.D. - 6

Devon - 1

*FINN AND VIOLET

Alexia - 8

*FLETCHER AND TAMSIN

Laura

Norah

Mason

*PAXTON AND INGRID

Micah and Corbin

*CLOVER AND RYDER

Paige

Hailey & Farren

*JED AND DELILAH

Bentley

Lindi

Kelsey

haha I just found this chapter and the next one....forgot I had them randomly written. I'll probably post the next chapter in a little bit. I gotta finish it. P.S. this isn't a real sequel, I'm just randomly updating chapters. If you've noticed there's a large time gap between each chapter. The next one takes place 6 years later.

P.S.S. while you wait for more of this....PLEASE check out my newer story 'The Imposter' It's a romance too :)

thanks dudes!

xoxo nichole