Chapter 155 FINALE CHAPTER - Adele's POV

Chapter 155 FINALE CHAPTER - Adele's POV

Finale Chapter - Seven years later - Adele

I had once believed that I would never have a future.

There had been a time when I couldn't imagine living beyond the Isle of the Forgotten, much less sitting on a throne and ruling an entire kingdom. I had spent most of my life believing that there was something wrong with me. I didn't have magic. I didn't understand the strange mark on my hip. I didn't know why I was different from everyone else.

Now, I sat on a throne beside my mate, looking out over a kingdom that had changed more than I ever could have imagined.

Seven years.

That was how long it had been since I had awakened my magic and changed everything.

Seven years since Craven's father had fallen.

Seven years since Corwin had nearly destroyed everything he had once loved.

Seven years since I became queen.

And somehow, we had managed to build something beautiful out of all the destruction.

The Vampire Kingdom was at peace, and so were the other cities on the mainland. It wasn’t the kind of peace that existed because everyone was too afraid to fight. It was real peace.

There were no more banishments to the Isle of the Forgotten. No one was sent away because they were different or because their magic didn't work the way everyone expected. The Isle had become something else entirely, a place where vampires and other people could go if they wanted to live away from the kingdom, but no one was forced there.

The kingdom itself had changed, too.

The old castle had been repaired, although we had kept some of the old fixtures and looks. Craven said it was a reminder of what happened when people allowed fear and power to control them.

I thought it was a reminder of how far we had come.

Children ran through the halls now. I had gotten used to hearing their laughter echo through the castle, something that had once seemed impossible. There were gardens where weapons had once been stored.

It was strange sometimes.

I would walk through those places and remember what they had been before we changed everything about this place.

Then I would see someone laughing, or hear the sound of music coming from one of the open windows, and I would remember what they had become.

I had learned how to rule over the years. I wasn’t perfect in the slightest and had days when I had no idea what I was doing.

Craven liked to remind me of that whenever I made a decision that he disagreed with. But we had learned how to rule together.

That was the important part.

Craven had never tried to take the throne from me, and I had never expected him to stand behind me and let me make every decision. We were equals.

He was my king. I was his queen.

And when one of us didn't know what to do, we figured it out together.

It wasn't always easy. We still argued. Actually, we argued quite often.

But seven years had taught me that arguing with your mate didn't mean you didn't love each other. Sometimes it simply meant that two stubborn people had very different ideas about how something should be done.

Craven was still stubborn. I was, too.

Neither of us was willing to admit that we were wrong very often. But we always found our way back to each other.

I glanced toward him now as he sat beside me, his crimson eyes moving across the room while another group of vampires discussed something that I had already forgotten.

He had changed, too. He was still the Feral to some of the older vampires. The name hadn't completely disappeared, although I rarely heard anyone say it with fear anymore.

Craven had never lost the part of himself that made him dangerous. I didn't want him to.

He was still fiercely protective. Still quick to anger when someone threatened the people he loved. Still capable of looking at someone in a way that made them immediately rethink whatever foolish decision they had been about to make.

But he was happy.

I knew that because I could see it every time he looked at me. And I was happy, too.

Perhaps the strangest part of the last seven years had been watching the men who had once been my guards find their own happiness.

I had promised them I would help them find their mates. And I had kept that promise.

All six of them had found their fated mates over the years.

It hadn't happened all at once. Some had found them within the first year. Others had taken longer. One had insisted that he was perfectly happy being single until he met the woman who made him forget how to speak.

I had been laughing for nearly an hour after hearing that story.

They were still my guards, though. 

That had never changed. They were my family.

Their mates had become part of that family, too, and I couldn't imagine my life without them. The castle had become louder over the years because of them. There were more people at every celebration, more voices at every dinner, and more arguments over who had eaten the last piece of whatever dessert happened to be available.

I loved every second of it.

Sometimes I would look around the room and think about how close I had come to losing it all. I had been so afraid of choosing Craven because I thought it meant I had to give up everyone else.

But that had never been true.

I could love Craven completely and still love the people who had stood beside me.

I had learned that love wasn't something that had to be divided until there was nothing left. It grew.

And perhaps that was the greatest lesson I had learned as queen.

My gaze moved across the room until it landed on Mira.

She was standing near the window with Corwin, her hand resting lightly against his arm. Seven years ago, I hadn't known if she would ever forgive him. I hadn't known if they could survive everything that had happened between them.

But they had.

Their relationship hadn't been easy. I knew that much. There had been years of hurt between them, and forgiveness hadn't erased any of it. They had to work through what happened, piece by piece.

But they had chosen each other. And somehow, Corwin had become someone I could trust.

That still surprised me sometimes.

He was no longer the man who had dragged me into a room and held me hostage. He wasn't the heir who had blamed his brother for everything that had gone wrong in his life.

He was my family now.

Together we ruled, working together, and there had never been an issue.

It was exactly what Craven had envisioned that day.

Two kings. Two queens. One peaceful future.

I looked down at my hands, remembering the first time my magic had awakened. I could still remember the fear, the pain, and the light.

I had spent my entire life thinking I was broken, only to discover that I had been powerful all along. My magic had grown stronger over the years, but I had learned that power wasn't what made someone a good ruler.

It was knowing when not to use it. It was listening. It was caring about the people who depended on you.

And it was remembering what happened when you forgot that they were people instead of pieces on a board.

Craven reached over and took my hand. I looked at him. His thumb brushed over my knuckles, and I smiled.

Seven years.

It still didn't seem possible. Seven years ago, I had been a girl who didn't know where she belonged.

Now, I was sitting beside my mate, ruling a kingdom that was finally at peace, surrounded by the family I had never thought I would have.

I had spent so much of my life afraid of what the future would bring. Now, I couldn't wait to see it.

Craven leaned closer, his voice low enough that only I could hear him. “Are you ready?”

I glanced around the room one more time, taking it all in from Mira and Corwin to my six guards and their mates.

Then I looked back at my mate and smiled. “Always.”

And this time, I knew I meant it, because whatever came next, I knew exactly where I belonged. My hand found the mark on my throat, which triggered my fangs.

I would be right here beside him forever.