265

Harlyn

"I did? I don't feel like I did anything, your sister did all the work. I only gave orders."

Here he goes again, downplaying what he has done. We were really made for each other since we are very good at downplaying what we do. I wasn't about to let him get away with doing it this time. I placed a finger over his lips.

"Don't say that. You did well today and I am super proud of you."

I told him in a firm voice that left no room for disagreement. He smiled and nodded. Then he let out a sigh and finally set me down. He didn't let me go completely. His arms remained wrapped around me while we both stared at each other. I reached and caressed his face. He looked so drained.

"Have you eaten?"

I asked him. he nodded.

"I ate with Damien. He is very good at keeping me in check. Also, he said you might kill him if you find out about what he let me do. I told him that I would snitch."

Even tiredness didn't take away the funny side of him. I love that for him and me.

"What did he let you do?"

I asked out of curiosity. Honestly, I don't think I can bring myself to be mad at him today of all day. He gets a pass today.

"Promise that you won't be mad at me."

Now I wanted to know even more. Okay, maybe he might not get a pass after all.

"You have to tell me first. I will decide after I hear what you have to say."

I told him. I wasn't about to make promises that I couldn't keep. Also, not like I can really be mad at him for long. I love him too much and want to be as close to him as I possibly can every time I see him.

"I got into the back of the van with Theo after he tried to run away. Don't shout. He was really out of it so nothing went wrong. We arrived at the palace safely and I had all the talk I could have had with him in the van which saved me time. I came as soon as I was done. If I hadn't talked to him in the van, I might have taken longer."

I didn't even know whether to be mad or proud of him. He said it so smoothly that I couldn't even scold him.

"You added the last part so that I would go easy on you didn't you?"

I asked him. he smirked, leaned forward, and kissed me near my lips.

"A king doesn't lie so yeah, I did. Will you let me off just this once? I promise he was no match for me."

He assured me.

"But he could have been dangerous. You said it yourself! The bite could have made him stronger."

I pointed out.

"Yeah, and I would have defeated him. I am stronger than him. You believe me, don't you? I am really strong!"

It was my turn to kiss him. I lifted myself to my tiptoe and planted a kiss near his lips like he did to me. He frowned when I pulled back and even pouted his lips which made me laugh.

"That's all I get?"

I shrugged my shoulders.

"That's what you gave me too."

I told him.

"It's not the same thing, I was testing the waters after outing myself for what I did."

His excuse was so lame but it made me laugh.

"Okay, you are forgiven for sitting near a potentially dangerous loser so now, kiss me properly will you? I feel like you haven't kissed me since forever."

That's obviously a lie but it got me what I wanted as he pulled and kissed me again. I smiled into the kiss, kissing him back.

"I love you."

He told me when we stopped kissing. I smiled.

"I love you too. You worked hard today. I saw you on TV and was super proud of how well you handled everything."

I told him.

"I did my best. It was pretty hard for me to reveal to the whole kingdom that my supposed family members were the reason for all the bad things that happened both years ago and recently. It won't just be people of the Crimson Moon finding out about this but the whole world will too and for me, that's so embarrassing but it's all good as long as they pay for what they did with their lives."

I hugged him instead of using words to console him. he hugged me back.

"I am okay now. I have accepted what happened. I have made peace with the past and now we move on to the future. There will be a lot of change going forward and tomorrow, I will have a meeting with the remaining betas. Those who didn't turn on me. Then I will appoint new leaders and change a lot of things that have been in place for decades. It will take maybe a week or two to be done with implementing the changes that I want."

He explained the details of his plans and I listened quietly.

"It's a lot of work and I might be in and out of the palace a lot but after two weeks, you will have me all to yourself. After your coronation, we will go on a vacation. Somewhere for just the two of us."

I smiled at his promise.

"How will the king leave his king unmanned?"

I asked him. he thought for a moment.

"I have a lot of people who can do my job while I am away, there's my sister's mate, there's your brother, there's Damien and there's your savior too."

I smiled when he mentioned Hillan. Now he doesn't mind referring to him as my savior.

"Hillan has his own pack to run,"

I reminded him.

"Yes, but he is loyal to me. If I ask him to, he will come over. Besides, I can guilt trip him into doing what I want using you and Julia."

I rolled my eyes at him.

"That's not very kingly of you but I accept. Speaking Hillan, did he already leave?"

I asked him.

"Yeah, he left a while ago. He said he will be back for your coronation."

I let out a deep sigh. I still can't believe that the Sean, Theo, and their minions era was over for good. Soon, both of them will be in the past.

"Why?"

He asked me and I shook my head.

"Tell me."

He insisted.

"It still feels surreal that we are finally at the end of a long war. We really won. I mean, I knew that we would win but I didn't really expect it to be so easy for us to win."

I told him.

"Woman, I like how you make it sound so easy. Did you forget? We fought, we almost lost, we lost family, we almost lost more family. We-okay that one is on me."

I smiled knowingly. I knew what he was about to say and liked that we could joke about that now. It's all a part of our beautiful story. Also, he was right about us fighting, almost losing, and everything else. We won in the end and that matters the most.

"You are right. You are always right and I am just glad that it's finally over. I can sleep without fearing for what might happen tomorrow."

He made a face at me.

"Sleep? I don't think you will be getting much sleep tonight."

"Oh, I like the sound of that. Sleep is overrated."

I said and smiled when he kissed my nose.

"You are a dangerous woman, your majesty."

He said as he showered my face with kisses. He kissed me everywhere except my lips. I pouted when he pulled back without kissing me on the lips.

"You know, the distance between my nose and my lips is pretty close,"

I pointed out making him laugh out loud. He kissed me again, this time on the lips and he walked us both to the bed where our clothes came off and we spent the better part of the night loving each other in the most physical way that lovers do.