Clara’s POV
“This may sound insensitive but did you already accept the fact that your child is,” Ellie said but didn’t finish her sentence.
“I already did but Erik doesn’t,” I said softly. Ellie looked at me with a sad expression. I smiled at her and looked down at my hands that were resting on the table.
“He still looks for our child, he tries to hide it but it was pretty obvious and I just stayed quiet,” I said sadly at Ellie.
“Maybe because you still have some hope within you that your child is alive,” Ellie said.
“Maybe, but I do believe he is gone and I accepted that already,” I said and Ellie rushed to my side to hug me. I didn’t even notice that I was already crying.
Ellie hugged me while she was standing. Smelling and feeling her warmth reminded me of my mother and I cried until no tears were left for me to cry. “You’ve been through a lot and I thank you for not giving up” Ellie whispered and touched my head.
“It was really hard” I sobbed and whined to Ellie like a five-year-old. “Shhh, everything’s alright now, no one can hurt you anymore” Ellie reassured me and whispered sweet words. Now I know where Erik got it from, he got it from his mother.
I calmed down and wiped my tears. I looked at Ellie and I saw her looking back at me with a warm smile. We both laughed at each other and smiled warmly. “I’m so glad that you are here with us Ellie,” I said she was shocked for a second but she immediately masked it. She smiled at me and we hugged each other one more time.
“Let’s go and have breakfast together” I invited Ellie while looking her straight into her eyes so she not refuse. She nodded and we both left her room together.
Before we went to the kitchen, we first went to Erik’s office to call him.
I knocked a few times and Ian opened the door Erik for me. He greeted us respectfully and I smiled at him. Once I entered, the scent of my mate greeted me and I unknowingly smiled just smelling his scent. I looked at his desk and saw him looking at me while smiling sweetly. He looked happy that his mother finally went out of her room. I walked towards Erik and kissed him on the cheek. He smiled and put his arm around my waist. “Breakfast?” I asked and he nodded.
“My Queen is here to fetch me so I will leave the decision about what to do on Alpha Louis’s territory,” Erik said using the most serious voice he has. Tia and Vincent agreed with Erik’s words. While Erik was wearing his coat, I went to Tia.
“How are you? You look pale” I said with a worried voice.
“I’m alright, just tired,” she said and I just nodded.
“Breakfast?” I asked and she smiled.
“Well, I’m a little hungry. I’ll join you guys” Tia said while smiling and I smiled back at her. I linked my arms to Tia and Ellie, and we three left the room while Erik is following from behind.
We three women joked around while we were walking, when we arrived at the kitchen Lia who has been busy being a warrior was there cooking together with Angela. The two were surprised to see Ellie with us but didn’t show it to Ellie so she is not uncomfortable.
“Right timing! We are just about to be finished cooking” Andrea said while serving the food that they finished cooking on the long table.
We all sat down and waited for the last dish to be cooked. Lia came to me and hugged me. “How are you?!” She said but suddenly got tense. “I mean, how are you, your highness?” She rephrased what she said and formally talked to me. I giggled at her actions and hugged her.
“I missed you!” I exclaimed and she laughed.
“I missed you too” She replied. We had a few more words before she sat across me at the table. Erik and Ellie were sitting at each of my sides. In a few more minutes, Andrea finished cooking every dish and served us all of the food.
Erik being sweet as he is served me food and his mother. Both his mother and I giggled at his actions while Tia rolled her eyes at us. “What you jealous?” I asked playfully at Tia and she just scoffed at me. I laughed at her and just started eating.
The breakfast was great, talking with loved ones and having a good laugh with them is precious. After we finished our breakfast, Ellie said she wanted to visit the garden since it was so long since she took care of it. Erik went back to his office and Tia said she needed some sleep so she went to their house. When I went to my library, even after I didn’t come here for so long there is no speck of dust everywhere. It was obvious that someone took good care of my library and I’m thankful for that.
It feels so long since I haven’t smelled the scents of books. This is one of my favorite scents, the smell of books. I roamed around the library until I found a book I like and took it. I made myself comfortable on the sofa inside my library and started reading the book in my hand.
Erik’s POV
Having breakfast with the family like before really ease my mind. All of my fatigue vanished after breakfast. My head instinctively turned to look at the door when I heard someone knock. “Come in” I calmly said.
“I’m back,” Vincent said using an exhausted voice.
“That was fast,” I said while stopping myself from laughing at his face.
“Well, it went more smoothly than expected. The prisoners from Alpha Roy’s pack accepted their fate and went to Alpha Kyle’s territory without a fuss” Vincent reported and I nodded at him.
“What about the other task I gave you?” I asked.
“Still nothing” He replied seriously and I smiled awkwardly.
“I see,” I said and slumped my back into the chair.
“Don’t stop looking” I said and looked at Vincent who is looking at me with worried looks. “Don’t worry, I don’t expect anything, I just want to find my child, whatever is left of it” I added and Vincent just nodded.
“Anyways, I checked the progress of the wall and it was being built nicely,” Vincent said while giving me a piece of paper that has the drawing of the wall on it.
“Make sure it is sturdy,” I said while scanning the piece of paper he gave me. The drawing of the wall looks nice but we need to make it sturdy so that nothing can break the wall easier.
“Yes, your majesty” He replied. “Make time for a visit next month” I ordered and he nodded.
Vincent was about to leave my office when I got reminded of Tia’s recent attitude. “Hey, Vince?” I asked.
“Hmm?” He replied while turning his head to look at me.
“Are things between you and Tia, okay?” I asked awkwardly.
Vincent’s eyes grew big with surprise and rushed towards my table banging his hands on it. “Why? is there something wrong that I don’t know about?” He asked with a panicky voice and wide eyes.
“Ah no dude, it’s just that she’s always cranky so I thought you two fought,” I said and pushed his face away from me.
“I thought something happened” He sighed with relief. He brushed his hair off using his hand, looking frustrated.
“Well, you’ll know what happened soon,” he said and left the office.
“Soon? So, they will announce something huh” I said to myself and continued doing my paper works.
“Maybe his mate is pregnant,” Liam said and I just scoffed at him.
“I know that Tia is still not ready for that” I replied and Liam just grunted in reply.
But what if Tia is pregnant? That would be nice. I hope this pregnancy will not bring back all the pain that my mate went through. If she is pregnant, why would she hide it though? I shook my head and focused on the paper works on my table. After a few hours of working, I felt my head was about to explode so I put the papers that I was holding on my table. I slumped my back into my chair and rested my head. While gazing at the ceiling, I unintentionally smiled when I remembered our breakfast earlier.
It was nice seeing the family all together and just having a peaceful breakfast. I was relaxing on my chair when someone knocked and opened the door of my office.
“Hi” She greeted using her sweetest voice. I smiled back at her and motioned for her to come near me. She giggled and rushed towards me. She sat on my lap and my arms found their way to her waist.
“How is my beautiful Queen?” I asked Clara after kissing her on the neck.
“It was wonderful but it feels new to me,” Clara said feeling dejected and I looked at her with worried eyes.
“How so, my love?” I asked.
“So much thing has happened and it almost destroyed us. I think that’s why” She said while hiding her face in my neck. I was surprised at what I heard and I immediately hugged her tight.
“Everything is alright now my Queen, we are stronger than ever and will remain strong. You are safe now, we are safe now.” I whispered and kissed her head.
“Yeah, I know” She replied with a sweet smile on her face and suddenly she looked at me with an excited look. She must have thought something.
“Are you busy?” She asked and I shook my head in reply.
“What are you planning?” I asked while grinning at her.
“Let’s go for a run to that place,” She said and I chuckled while nodding at her idea.
“Shall we?” I asked and she excitedly nodded. She stood from my lap and offered her hand to me. I gladly took her hand and we left the pack house holding each other’s hand.
When we got out at the pack house, she grinned at me as if challenging me to a duel. She immediately transformed into her wolf form and I followed her. Even after so many times that I saw her wolf form, it never ceased to amaze me. Her wolf form is so majestic and beautiful that you can’t help but feel awe. She ran towards the forest without a second thought and I howled in excitement before running after her.
“My King” Ian's mind linked me with a worried voice.
“Leave us,” I said with a commanding tone and blocked him.
I focused on running after Clara, she looked so happy and free in the wild, running around and I love seeing her like this. I thought of provoking her so I fastened my pace to run before her. I looked back at her and she growled playfully before trying to match my pace. I laughed at my head and we ran side by side until we arrived at our favorite place throughout our territory. We both rushed to the beautiful lake to have a drink and both lay down on the ground close to each other.
“You know I love you right, Erik?” Clara said. I was surprised that she talked using her voice, not in the mind-linked but I was more surprised at what she said.
“Of course I do hon, I also love you and you know that” I replied while licking to tickle her ears. She growled lightly and nudged my head away from her.
There was a moment of silence when she looked at me straight into my eyes and licked me on my neck. “Thank you for coming into my life and I will always be thankful to the moon goddess for giving you to me as my mate,” She said and started to cry. She transformed back to her human form and I followed. I immediately hugged her tight and cupped her face while facing me for our eyes to meet.
“Whatever happens I will always love you. I am the luckiest of all for having YOU as my mate. Thank you for not giving up on life, on us. I love you always my Queen” I said and kissed her. Her arms immediately found themselves around my neck and I grabbed her waist to get closer to me.
She broke the kiss and looked me in the eyes with a smile on her face. We both sat on the ground while enjoying the beautiful view in front of us until her stomach started to growl. She was shocked and embarrassed that she covered her face using both of her hands. I laughed so hard that she slapped me on my shoulder. I stood while laughing and she raised her head to look at me, pouting. I offered her my hand and she gladly took it. “Well then my Queen, let’s go back to eat before someone says that I starve you,” I said while trying my best not to laugh. She rolled her eyes at me and shifted to her wolf form.
We both ran side by side and enjoyed the fresh air until we got back to the pack house.