We join the hustle and bustle of the banquet. The pack members dance with one another. They are laughing and smiling and having a great time.
‘You wouldn’t think we just killed their Alpha and took over. They all seem rather happy he’s dead,’ I say to Alpha Maximus.
‘Considering how he treated his own son. I can only imagine how he treated his subjects,’ he says.
My father is sitting at one of the dining tables eating. It must have been years since he has had a proper meal. We walk over and join him. Alpha Maximus pours my father and himself a whiskey and passes me a wine. I feel queasy and pass the wine onto the she-wolf beside me. She smiles and nods in thanks.
The pack members cheer for us, and we continue to celebrate. I manage to eat part of my meal but quickly excuse myself and run to the nearest bathroom. Once I’ve emptied my stomach, I feel better again. So I rejoin everyone at the table. I’m so caught up in conversation with my father about my life that I haven’t realised how late at night it has become.
‘Hope, I think it’s time for the celebrations to end so we can get some sleep before we travel back home tomorrow,’ Alpha Maximus suggests.
I nod and take his hand.
‘Papa, before I wish you goodnight, I want to know what you want to do. You can reside with Alpha Maximus and me back at our packhouse, or we can give your position back as Alpha of the Dark Moon pack here?’ I offer him.
Papa is taken aback by the offers.
‘What do you wish for?’ he asks me.
‘I wish for you to be happy, Papa,’ I reply.
He pulls me into his chest and wraps his arms lovingly around me. ‘I’m so proud of you, Hope, and your mother would be so proud of you as well,’ he whispers.
‘You don’t have to decide right now, Papa. We won’t be leaving until sometime tomorrow.’
He nods.
I take Alpha Maximus’s hand and retreat upstairs to our room. I’m so tired, and even though I didn’t eat much, I feel a little bloated.
The following morning, we wake up in each other’s arms, smiling at each other. ‘Let’s have breakfast and see if your father has decided to stay or come home with us,’ Alpha Maximus says as he climbs out of bed.
We are the only ones in the dining room, but then Alex and Nathan come down as we leave.
‘Have you seen my father?’ I ask them.
‘He was wandering around outside earlier,’ Nathan says.
‘I’ll find him and talk to him,’ I say and kiss Alpha Maximus on the cheek.
I wander out the front door and around the back to the gardens.
My father is sitting on the grass, looking at the sky and taking in his surroundings. ‘It must have been tough spending eighteen years in the dungeon, Papa, never seeing the sky or even a flower,’ I say as I approach him.
I sit beside him on the grass next to him.
‘I never thought I’d see the sky again or feel the sun’s warmth on my skin. I prayed to the Moon Goddess to let me die during the beatings, but now I know why she didn’t answer my prayers. Because she knew you were still alive and wanted us to be reunited,’ he smiles.
‘Papa…’ I say sweetly, placing my head on his shoulder. ‘Have you decided what you want to do?’ I ask.
‘I would like to be reinstated as Alpha, but I would also like to spend some time with you. The Beta can be in charge of the Dark Moon pack until I return. So I would like to spend a few months with you before returning here as Alpha,’ he says.
I wrap my arms around him, ‘Papa, I like that idea,’ I say excitedly and kiss him on the cheek. ‘You will love it at Blood Moon pack Papa. Did you know the pack house is a big old castle?’
‘Yes, we were best friends with Maximus’s mother. Is Kayla still residing at the castle? We were best friends with her parents too. We all go way back.’
‘She is still there. She has been teaching me how to make potions, and we study spells together,’ I say to him.
‘I’m so glad she is okay. When Alpha Maximus’s parents found out Anna had been sentenced to death, they hid her in their castle. The castle staff didn’t even know Anna was hidden there in a secret room. I had already been demoted and put in the dungeon here at the time. Your mother had only just escaped in time. We had also just found out Anna was pregnant with you days before. So she fled as my father took over.
Anna stayed many months at the castle until rumours spread that she was being hidden and protected there. My father decided to pay them a surprise visit. They weren’t expecting his arrival, he demanded they hand Anna over, and they denied her being there.
He had his pack warriors tear the castle apart, and they eventually found the hidden room. The only problem for him was that Anna must have known they were there and fled the castle just in time.
She would have been due to give birth to you anytime by then. I was told she made it as far as the Black Wood territory, where my father managed to catch her. So it makes sense that you were probably only around a day old when you were found.
My heart shattered and sank when my father told me he had captured Anna and burned her at the stake himself. He never mentioned a baby, so I thought she must not have given birth yet and knew it meant you would have died along with her.
I am forever grateful to Anna that she managed to save you. I wish she were here to see you and see what a beautiful, loving Luna you have turned out to be,’ he says, wiping a tear away.
‘I wish she were here too,’ I smile sadly.
The heart pendant begins to glow. I remove the chain from my neck and hold it in the palm of my hand, watching it glow brighter.
‘Where did you find this?’ my father asks in disbelief.
‘At the castle, with this,’ I say, handing him the love note.
‘I can’t believe you found this! This necklace was specially made for your mother. It has part of her soul and essence mixed with my love for her in there,’ he smiles.
‘How did you manage to do that?’ I ask.
‘It was made during a secret ritual with many mages and witches present that had accepted the love between us.
We laid upon a stone altar where the mages and witches would stand in a circle around us and chant over us. Swirls of coloured mist would emit from Anna and me. It was part of her essence and soul, and my love for her was emitting from us. The colours swirled through the air around us, and when the swirls of colour combined, it formed the ruby heart and then dropped into Anna’s hands.
It was such a magical experience. Your mother and I knew our love for each other was pure and genuine. One of her friends, a witch from the seer coven, suggested and insisted we should do the ritual that forms a pendant at the end with part of Anna and my love for her in it.
‘Oh Papa, you were quite the romantic, weren’t you?’ I say in admiration.
‘When it came to your mother, I would have done anything for her,’ he smiles, ‘Here, this belongs to you,’ he says, placing the heart and chain in my hand.
Excited to keep the pendant, I put it back in my father’s hand and turn around, lifting my hair out of the way so he can place it around my neck.
‘It belongs to you now, Hope, so you will always have a part of your mother with you,’ he says
‘Papa! Are you sure?’ I ask.
‘Yes, but I’m keeping the note!’ he smiles, pressing it against his heart.
‘Let’s go back home now, papa.’
He stands and takes my hand to help me up. We approach the packhouse where cars are waiting along with Alpha Maximus, Nathan and Alex.
I jump into Alpha Maximus’s arms. He then spins me around in a circle, holding me, and then we kiss.
‘Papa wants his Beta to run the pack house here for a few months so he can come home with us and spend time with us. Then he will return here as Alpha,’ I say.
Alpha Maximus nods and smiles, ‘I’ll speak with the Beta now, and then we will go home,’ he says and walks away.
The drive home felt quick as my father told me many stories about him and my mother. He was upset when I told him what I had gone through before I met Alpha Maximus. I reassured him none of it was my mother’s fault, nor his, and all that matters now is that I’m now safe and happy with my fated soulmate Alpha Maximus.
We arrive at the castle and give my dad a small tour, telling him I still don’t know my whole way around. He remembers some parts of the castle from when he visited but said he would become lost every time as well. We cut the tour short as I’m having another bout of nausea.
‘We will continue the tour tomorrow, Papa. You find Alpha Maximus so he can show you to your room while I go and lay down and rest,’ I say.
After emptying my stomach, I bathe and then rest in bed. Alpha Maximus enters our room. He seems worried.
‘Hope, are you okay? I have called the pack Doctor to come to check on you.’
‘I’m sure it’s nothing. I’m just constantly tired, hungry and nauseous. It’s probably just a little stomach bug,’ I tell him and then notice the doctor standing behind him.
Alpha Maximus leaves the room to give me some privacy while Doctor Matlin takes some samples and runs tests. He then approaches our bedroom door and tells Alpha Maximus he can return to the room.
‘Is she going to be okay, Doctor Matlin?’ Alpha Maximus asks.
Doctor Matlin smiles, ‘Hope is going to be fine. In fact, she’s going to be a mother.
Congratulations, Alpha, Hope, is pregnant,’ he says to us.
Alpha Maximus’s face lights up with a beaming smile matching the doctors, ‘Hope, this is the best news I could hope for,’ he says excitedly.
I place my hand on my stomach, ‘Am I really carrying a baby inside me right now?’ I ask in shock and happiness.
‘Yes, you sure are,’ says, ‘Now you have been through a lot, so I suggest as much bed rest as possible,’ he says.
He leaves the room. Alpha Maximus climbs onto the bed, kisses my belly, and then rubs his hand on my stomach. ‘Even though I haven’t met you yet, I already love you. Your mother and I will give you the best life, filled with so much love, little one,’ he says to my belly.
He looks up at me, ‘No matter what,’ he says.
‘No matter what,’ I reply sweetly.
