Chapter 188: A Clean Slate.

Chapter 188: A Clean Slate.
Thorne’s POV

EPILOGUE. 

“Well aren’t you a cutie…”. Ruelle coos, stroking the chubby cheeks of our two months olds with her fingertips. His little whines fill the room, tiny fingers grabbing and smacking at the air in front of him. 

“Yea… he looks just like his mother.”  I call from behind her on the bed, not raising my eyes up from the paper in my hand. I only raise them when she turns to look at me, a smile on her face. 

Without a word, Ruelle moves up on the bed to be beside me, pressing a chaste kiss to my cheek. I look at her and shake my head, leaning in to capture her lips in a long and greedy kiss. It only lasts for a few seconds before our door is suddenly shoved open. 

“Where is my baby?! Can I see him now please?!”  Ruelle’s sister, Valka marches into our bedroom with her hands already outstretched in front of her. A gasp leaves her lips as soon as her eyes land on little baby Aeron. 

She rushes to him and picks him up gently, completely ignoring our existence. She coos little praises to him and kisses him. From the open door, Carlos comes into the hallway and leans against the doorway, sending a nod my way. I send one back, followed by a smile. He quietly watches his mate whisper little nothings to our baby without regarding anyone else and I am certain a glint of longing flashes through his eyes. 

Valka and Carlos were still on quite a rocky path, after discovering that they were mates after so long. Valka had known the moment she saw him, and Ruelle had known for a while too. But Carlos had been in the dark. At least until whatever was covering his eyes wore off and he could finally see it. He has refused to leave her side ever since, even though she barely pays him any mind. According to Ruelle, that is exactly how Valka felt all those years of him being in the dark, so it is understandable that she may want to give him a taste of it. 

But it was obvious that regardless, the two were absolutely and completely smitten with each other. 

Ruelle clears her throat, pulling Valka’s attention. That is when she notices us, her face immediately turning contrite. 

“Oh hi there.”  She greets hurriedly and turns to leave, adjusting Aeron in her arms. Carlos follows her out, shutting the door behind him. Ruelle’s mother and sister were in the living room, so their chatter and laughter drifted in from there. 

“Don’t go too far in case he gets hungry.”  Ruelle calls out, and gets ignored. She rolls her eyes before turning back to me. “Can they hurry up and settle so they can have their own baby?”

“Don’t worry, that shouldn’t take too long.”  I tell her and she laughs, leaning in for another kiss. 

Ruelle and I were still in the cabin in the woods. We wanted to stay here for a while because firstly, that was what she wanted all along. For us to be together somewhere far away and secondly, I am allowing her some rest time before we head back to our duties in the South. 

A lot awaited me. 

The first and most important being the inauguration of the new Council. Vander and his companions were already on board with it and this time, the Council is to be an unstoppable assembly of Alphas who would bring peace and order to the Coast. 

The brawl had ended splendidly, although most of my soldiers had lost their lives. It was for a great cause. 

Immediately after that brawl, as per Carlos’s words, he and some guards hunted down Mudrich, the old corrupt leader of the Council and brought him down to the South, where he got the punishment he truly deserved for all the lives he had taken, including my fathers. We had been generous enough to simply opt for hanging him naked on our border gates for every one to see. We did the same to Rhyder, even though he was long dead by then. 

Nyra was aware of his death, and even consented to hanging his naked corpse from all the way across the Coast where she finally decided to focus fully on learning sorcery. 

As for Garron, he was still alive. Sadly. But I just couldn’t bring myself to kill him. He is still in my dungeons, and everyone in Ruelle’s family knows and consents to it. Mainly because it was obvious that he was supposed to die, but I was still kind enough to spare him. 

The Northern Reach was working on appointing a new Alpha, since Garron had been dethroned. But the new Alpha still comes from Ruelle’s family line, which makes them still of noble blood. 

It was a fairly good ending for the Silvermane family, despite their Father’s disreputable conduct in the Coast. It is not nearly as tragic as what was expected considering the amount of wrongs he committed in the Council. 

But for now, all these things were simply behind us. Our little recess time was almost over, and soon we would return to our Keep where we would start on a fresh slate. Our wars aren’t completely over, but at least there are the ones we fought and won. 

And that is all that matters. 

THE END.