**Ch 118: Destiny's Blessing

Moments later, Kai, Glenn, Rome, and a few of Kai's guardians arrived at the Collin-owned hospital, perfectly coinciding with Jack's arrival. Within minutes, they located Victoria's room. Everyone else stayed outside and proceeded to the guest room, while Kai entered her room. Inside, not only did he notice Zoey examining his wife, with Darlene standing off to the side at the wall, but to his puzzlement, he also discovered Ryder positioned by Victoria's left bedside.

Upon noticing Kai's presence, Zoey quickly came over, pulling him outside the door and shutting it behind her.

"What are you doing? I need to see her!" Kai exclaimed, doing his best not to get too hostile with his sister-in-law as he faced her blocking the door.

"Before you enter, I must talk to you," Zoey insisted, holding the door handle behind her back with her bent arm.

"How is she?" Kai asked, stressing about his wife's condition, as he feared the worst possibility of losing her.

Pangs of severe pain struck his heart as he sensed his offspring were even detained.

"She's stable. I just healed her sprained ankle, but her temperature is still low," Zoey calmly informed him, hoping to keep him composed, as she knew Kai didn't always show his mettle in dire situations involving his wife.

"Okay, now can you tell me why Ryder is here?" Kai questioned sternly, seeking direct answers.

"That's what I need to explain. He saved the Professor and Victoria, but now he won't leave her side. Levi is on his way here to deal with him," Zoey tried to explain, but it seemed as though Kai only partially heard her.

Anxious to be with his wife, as he was unable to handle another minute of being separated from her, Kai plowed through Zoey and pushed the door open, completely disregarding Ryder's presence. For a split second, his dark gaze briefly flared at Darlene, who was there at the scene of Tyler's attack. Unfortunately, she was too weak to stand against Tyler and his clan to do anything about it.

"Master, forgive me..." Darlene lowered her head. "I tried—"

"Don't speak!" Kai curtly cut in, hardening his heart against the slight antipathy he felt towards her.

He didn't wish to outright vent his spleen on her, very well knowing he couldn't put the entire blame on Darlene. For now, Darlene was better off staying quiet at the moment, as he didn't want to wrongfully take his anger out on her by mistake. Slither vampiresses weren't warrioresses, which was why he had awakened her brother to handle such matters as these.

Taking the hint of his warning seriously, Darlene zipped her lips and kept her head down as he reached Victoria. Beside Victoria's bedside, Kai fondly traced her hairline as she slept, while Ryder closely studied his every move from the opposite side of her mattress.

"Thank you for saving her," Kai gently spoke, keeping his tone restrained and at bay. "You can leave now."

Ryder felt heart-sickened about the idea of leaving, while watching Kai place a delicate kiss on Victoria's head. Frozen in place, he could only idly stand there and observe how Kai held his wife. When Kai caressed a gentle stroke over her deflated baby bump, Ryder's heart ached.

An insufferable pain burned a hole within the core of his very being. He was about to step closer to the bed when a firm hand grabbed his arm. Before he comprehended what had happened, Ryder was outside Victoria's room, and the door abruptly snapped shut by Zoey from inside it. In a daze, Ryder's eyes sought the source that had his arm, only to find his dad giving him a concerned look.

Gently whispering to avoid any disturbance, Levi questioned his son, "Why are you here?"

Making a scene, Ryder began wrenching his arm from his dad's grasp. "Let me go!" he clamorously exclaimed, yanking himself free. "She needs me!"

"Victoria doesn't need you," Levi reasoned, trying to get through to his son.

Just as Ryder's friends had reported to him, it's as though Ryder had lost his mind. And Levi couldn't comprehend what was going on with him.

"No, you don't understand!" Ryder snapped at his father, then he darted back towards the door, peering through the window. "She's awake!"

Levi peered around his son's head and saw Victoria was asleep. But when he witnessed Kai's finger gently wiping away some dribbles of blood from her mouth, it suddenly dawned on him. Realization struck him like a bolt of lightning, and Levi's eyes widened. He noticed Victoria's once-deflated baby bump had visibly swelled to its full mass, and he observed the unborn vamp babies kicking alert upon receiving their father's blood to awaken them. It was then that Levi discovered his son had been blessed with a destined mate.

Shaking uncontrollably, Ryder turned away from the window. "I... need... to leave..." he claimed, horribly trembling in his tone of voice.

"Ryder, wait!" Levi called out, reaching for his arm.

"I want to be alone!" Ryder growled, swatting his father's hand away.

Spontaneously, the raucous commotion brought the attention of not only his father's advisors but also Kai's advisors and guardians, along with Ryder's clan, all came out of the guest room to see what was happening. Before anybody could intervene, Ryder dashed down the long, stretched-out corridor, getting far away from everyone.

As Ryder's clan hustled forth to chase after him, Levi quickly extended his arm and immediately stopped them. "Give him space," he advised.

"Shouldn't someone be with him?" Ryder's advisor asked, clearly expressing his solicitude for Ryder.

"Discreetly follow him," Levi adamantly instructed. "Avoid approaching him."

Vampires blessed with destined mates experienced a mercurial whirlpool of emotions. Some emotions can turn more hostile or volatile than others, which is why Ryder needed space to sort through them. Otherwise, without meaning to, those unsteady emotions could explode like a violent cyclone upon those who mistakenly get caught in their internal storm.

Vampires were typically solid when it came to emotions, so experiencing an overwhelming surge of feelings striking all at once would overload their senses to the brink of shock. Unlike Ryder's mateless friends, Levi understood that his son was wracking with an indescribable amount of emotions that they couldn't fully comprehend.

Understanding their orders, they vanished to track down their clan Alpha. With everything settled, Kai's friends returned to the guest room as Levi stood smiling. He couldn't believe Kai's unborn daughter was his son's destined mate.

Levi went to tell Kai but stopped at the door once he realized it wasn't the best time to reveal such news. Honestly, Levi wasn't sure how Kai would react to the news, especially if he told him at the wrong time, like now. So, he backed away from the door, deciding it was best to give Kai his space.

Ready to leave, Levi declared to his clan, "Let's return home."

They nodded in response, suspecting that destiny had blessed Ryder with a mate, though they didn't outwardly ask. Instead, they vanished after Levi informed Kai's friends that he'd be in touch with Kai after things settled down.