Chapter 673: THE NIGHT AT THE INN

By the time we found the inn, the sun had already begun to sink, dripping gold between the crooked roofs of Sira’s Oak.

The inn was small, old, and smelled faintly of thyme and damp wood.

Wolves moved in and out carrying crates, plates, fabrics… most barely sparing us a glance.

Otto spoke to the innkeeper, and after a brief exchange, he turned back toward me with a grimace.

“There’s only one room left,” he said.

My stomach fell.

“Oh.

“It’s fine,” he added quickly. “You’ll take the bed. I’ll sleep on the floor.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but he held up a hand.

“Jasmine, you’re pregnant. There’s no negotiation here.”

I didn’t push further.

The room was small, barely four walls and a bed that creaked if you even breathed too loudly.

Otto ordered food while I sat at the edge of the bed, staring blankly at the faded cloth curtains.

Dinner arrived.

They were roasted herbs, warm bread, and a thin stew that smelled far better than anything I’d expected from a town with no rules.

At first I hadn’t been so hungry but Otto grumbled at me as he pointed the scattered chicken leg he ate. “Better eat. You’re eating for two now.”

We ate quietly, the silence gentle this time, not heavy like before.

Afterward, Otto stepped outside to “give me space,” as he called it, while I washed my face, brushed out my newly blonde hair, and tried not to look lost in the small mirror above the basin.

When I was done, I opened the door a crack.

“Otto… you can come in now.”

He stepped inside, rubbing the back of his neck.

The makeshift bed he created was a blanket folded twice over and a spare pillow flattened from years of use.

“It’ll do,” he said with a shrug.

We settled into the room, the fire lantern flickering weakly, shadows dancing across the cracked walls.

Luckily enough for us, the room was warm.

The entire inn hummed with soft noise wolves downstairs laughing over drinks, pups running in the halls.

But inside the room, everything was still.

Completely still.

I lay on my side facing the wall, my mind not letting me sleep.

After several minutes, I whispered,

“Otto…?”

His voice came softly from the floor. “Yes?”

“I won’t lie,” I said. “I’m scared.”

I heard him shift, the blanket rustling as he sat up slightly.

“Of what?” he asked gently.

I swallowed. “Losing the baby and dying.”

Silence, then a soft exhale.

“I understand,” he murmured. “But this time will be different.”

I laughed weakly. “You don’t know that.”

“You’re right. I don’t. But the Goddess does. And if she allowed this child to exist after everything you’ve been through, then there is a way for them to enter this world safely.”

I turned on my back, staring up at the low wooden ceiling.

“My last pregnancy…” My throat tightened. “Otto, it was hell. And even before the baby died… I kept wondering how I would give birth. I’m an unshifted wolf. How does a human body deliver a wolf?”

“I know,” he said quietly. “But Jasmine… you’re not an unshifted wolf.”

I blinked. “What?”

“You’re too… complicated,” he said. “Too strange in ways normal wolves aren’t. Your dreams. Your strength. Your entire being. Your connection to magic. A siren recognizing you. Everything points to something different.”

I felt a shiver run through my spine.

“Once we get to the distant lands, once we find your father or your mother’s family…” he continued, “you’ll finally know what you are. And once we know that, we’ll know how to help you give birth safely.”

I stared at the ceiling for a long moment.

Then, quietly, I said, “Otto… I saw them.”

He paused. “Saw who?”

“My mum. And… my father, I think.”

He sat up fully now. “What?”

“I didn’t see his face,” I whispered quickly. “Only that he was blonde. And he was lying on her lap, laughing with her. She was so beautiful, Otto. So, so beautiful. And happy. And she looked… young. Like twenty. I thought she would be older.

Otto’s voice softened. “Jasmine… maybe that’s because she died young after giving birth to you.”

A coldness spread through me.

Like someone had poured ice water into my chest.

“That means…” I swallowed hard. “That means she died giving birth to me at that age. Otto, what if I—”

He cut me off gently. “No. You are not her. And this is not then.”

But his reassurance didn’t sink in.

Instead, another memory surfaced.

“Do you remember,” I whispered, “when I asked you about the siren death song?”

“Yes,” he said, cautious.

“I told Pearl I had been humming it all my life. And she said the only people who know the song are those who died and were brought back by a siren.”

“Yes I’m aware of that”. He nodded and then he paused. “You’ve been humming it?”

I nodded slowly. “She made me hum it. And then she said she had never been more confused in her entire life.”

He stared at me, bewildered. “Jasmine… hum it for me.”

I hesitated, then took a breath and softly hummed the melody.

The moment the last note left my lips, Otto blinked rapidly.

“Wait… what was that?” he asked.

“The song,” I said.

He smiled happily and seemed about to say a word but then his voice trailed off.

“No, Jasmine—” He rubbed his forehead. “I can’t remember it. It’s already gone.”

Exactly like Pearl said.

“Only the one who died remembers it,” I whispered.

Otto stared at me like I had become something he didn’t fully understand.

I stared at my hands, the room colder suddenly, even with the lantern on.

“I told Pearl I’ve never died,” I whispered. “I’ve never met a siren. Not until that day.”

I placed my hand over my stomach.

“But in the dream… my mother sang it. And somehow… deep down… I know I learned it from her.”

And then I paused and for a second all I could see was my mother.

“I heard her sing that song.” I explained. “So perfectly well, it felt like I had heard it before. Which is impossible because I was a baby when she died.”

I paused again and turned to Otto. “You know everything Otto. Why am I seeing my dead mother?”

He was quiet and then said. “Some questions Jasmine, even I don’t have the answer to.”