One Year Later
“AS AN ALPHA, you will need to stare death in the face and laugh,” Axil told our three-month-old son Koa Cyrus Moon as he lay nestled in his father’s arms. Koa looked up at his father with bright blue eyes as spit bubbles formed on his lips and I smiled.
“Teaching him the ways of the big bad wolf?” I asked as I entered the room.
Axil looked up at me with adoration. “Alpha training starts young.”
I snickered. “Quite young indeed.”
I moved to his side and placed a kiss on his cheek. “You sure you guys will be okay without me for three days?”
“Are you kidding? Koa has two wet nurses, his crazy Aunt Liz, and I have an entire palace staff. We’ll be fine. Have fun with your friends.”
Kailani had arranged the first of our annual queens’ retreats. We were going to stay at a well-known elvin hot spring in the mountains for three days. Just me, Kailani, Madelynn and Arwen.
I smiled at him and one of the nursemaids came in to take Koa for his feed. I thanked her, kissing him goodbye and then looked at Axil. Sometimes I couldn’t believe that we’d made it. That I’d met my mate at fifteen and against all odds we now stood before each other as husband and wife.
“So, I’ve been thinking.” Axil reached out and yanked me closer to him so that my body slammed flush up against his. “Koa needs a sister,” he breathed along my neck and I burst out laughing.
“Koa is still on the breast! A sister can wait.” I pawed at his hand which was creeping up the back of my tunic.
Axil pouted, sticking his bottom lip out. “Isn’t that why you have two breasts? You can feed two at a time. Arwen does.”
I let loose with a wild carefree laugh and I couldn’t help but feel my heart swell. “You want a daughter?” I asked him, suddenly dropping into my bedroom voice and letting my eyes go half lidded.
He swallowed hard, nodding. Reaching out, I stroked a single finger against the waist of his trousers and his eyes shuttered closed. Making love to Axil was something I couldn’t get enough of. He knew every inch of my body, everything that pleasured me. “What if we get another son?” I asked, raking my lips along his jaw.
“Then we keep trying until I have a daughter who’s as feisty and beautiful as her mother,” he panted.
I smiled, pulling back to remove my tunic. “What if that takes a dozen children?”
He looked up at me and grinned. “I can think of nothing better than having a dozen children with you, my love.”
Dropping to his knees, he kissed my stomach and heat traveled down from my chest to the sensitive spot between my legs. Anticipation thrummed through me. Since Koa’s birth, our lovemaking had been sparse. Up late with feedings and his cries of hunger, it was hard to make time for that sort of thing.
Axil trailed his tongue along the ridge of my trousers and I swallowed hard as he untied them and they dropped to the floor.
“I’ll be late for my carriage to Archmere,” I huffed.
He looked up at me with yellow eyes. “I don’t care.”
I grinned at his wolf.
Hello, nice to see you.
I loved when Axil got forceful and dominant in bed. “Well, you better make it worth my while then, Axil Moon,” I commanded.
With that he lifted me up and threw me over his shoulder, eliciting a squeal from me as he marched me to our marital bed.
When he threw me back down, I could see his gaze drowning in desire as his eyes raked over me. “That sounds like a challenge.” His wolf was back and I grinned as he lowered himself on top of me.
We’d done it. Against all odds we’d found our happily ever after and I had to agree with Axil: it was worth the wait.
I WAS LATE TO MY GIRLS’ getaway trip but no one seemed to mind. For the next three days it was going to be massages and clay mud masks and girl time. When I arrived, I was led into the living quarters at the elvin spa that Kailani had arranged for us. When I stepped inside the luxurious drawing room, I noticed the three women standing over a platter of dried fruits and cheeses. Arwen spun to face me, her belly swollen with pregnancy.
My mouth dropped open. “You didn’t tell me!” I ran to her and Kailani turned as well, showing off a smaller bump than Arwen.
My eyes grew wider. “Is everyone pregnant!” I screamed in excitement as I hugged them both.
“Wanted to surprise you all.” Arwen patted her belly. “We think it’s twins again.”
That would scare me but she seemed to take it in her stride.
“Mine better not be twins,” Kailani offered.
Madelynn strode over to where I stood and smiled at me, patting her flat stomach. “I’m not pregnant yet. We want to take a year and travel.”
She pulled me in for a hug.
“That’s a great idea. Come visit us in Fallenmoore,” I told her.
“How’s little Koa? Keeping you up often in the night?” Kailani asked.
We sat down and talked for hours then. We spoke about family, our hopes and dreams, annoying things our husbands did. Everything. It was so nice to just relax and speak with other strong women and leaders. These ladies had become fierce allies and loyal friends over the past year. Kailani and Raife had traveled in for Koa’s birth in case there were any complications. Arwen and Drae flew over with the twins once a month for play dates with Koa, and Madelynn and I had developed a deep friendship through letters. She had a little sister Oslo’s age and we both shared the protective burden of taking care of our families.
“Hey,” Madelynn said, sipping her wine. “We should have our kids do a yearly retreat like our husbands did, make sure everyone stays strong and bonded as our kingdoms grow.”
“Yes!” Arwen agreed.
“Totally,” Kailani chipped in.
I nodded with a smile but a thought struck me. Should we invite any future heirs of Nightfall? The queen was dead and her more sensible son Callen had taken over and was due to be married soon. But the machines that had been destroyed could be rebuilt. Having all of the children of the realm together each year for a retreat would ensure a lasting peace.
“Yes, and we should extend a standing invitation to the future heirs of Nightfall,” I added.
All three women went still, seeming to think it over.
“Yes! I love that,” Madelynn said as she popped another piece of fruit into her mouth.
Finally, Kailani nodded her agreement. “Agreed. You’re so sensible, Zara.”
I laughed and Arwen raised her glass of juice to me. “Zara is right. The future of Avalier depends on all realms getting along. Nightfall included.”
“Especially them,” Madelynn added, raising her glass.
We all clinked and then Arwen sighed. “Should we invite the heirs of Necromere?”
“Don’t get crazy,” Madelynn told the dragon queen and that caused us all to erupt into fits of laughter.
We then talked for another hour about the war and how well things were doing now. When the sun started to go down, Arwen stood with a gleeful smile and ran over to her bag in the corner.
Reaching down, she pulled out a brand-new blue tin box and set it on the coffee table.
“What’s that?” Kailani asked.
Arwen grinned. “I thought the boys’ little memory box was a cute idea. I think we should all write ourselves letters and then open them in twenty years when our kids are grown.”
“Yes!” I shot up from where I sat and grabbed a piece of parchment and an ink quill. The others did the same and we all rushed to separate corners of the room.
I plopped down with the parchment in front of me and began to write.
Dear Future Zara,
In twenty years, you and Axil will probably have a dozen children and they will all be fighting their way up the pack to the most dominant position. Your life was hard in the early years, losing your parents so young, losing Axil at fifteen, having to raise Oslo like a son when you were barely grown yourself. And then losing Cyrus almost broke you. But I hope you can look back on this and smile, because things can only go up from here. You’re a mother to a beautiful little boy, you’re a mate to a man who loves you more than life, and most of all, you’re strong. You’ve learned that no matter what life throws at you, you can do hard things. So on the off chance life does throw you some curveballs in the next twenty years, I just want to say … don’t worry. You got this.
You’re the strongest woman I know.
Love,
Z
I LOOKED up from the letter, happy to see my girlfriends smiling as well as they wrote their own, then I scribbled a last line.
Oh, and don’t ever forget … Life is better when it’s shared with friends. Cherish them.
SOMETHING THAT HAD BEEN empty inside of me since my parents died was filled in that moment. I had everything I could have ever wanted. I had family, friends, a kingdom, a child. I felt so happy and complete and I knew that no matter what life threw my way, I could get through it.
