104

104
When I shatter, he finally loses control.

The evening blends into night as we explore each other’s bodies like two newlyweds. When my stomach rumbles, he reluctantly lets me go.

I take a bath while he orders food to be sent to our room. When I come out of the bathroom, rubbing my hair with a towel, he has also washed up and is waiting for me.

“That’s a lot of food.” I sit down beside him, looking at the covered dishes.

“Get used to it.” He looks amused. “Once the full moon hits, we will be eating a lot because we’ll be burning a lot of energy.”

“I’m not having ten children, Cedric,” I tell him, my eyes narrowed. “At the most, I’ll do five.”

“I’ll take however many you want to give me.” He leans over to kiss me. “Seeing you back home makes me feel like everything that happened before was just a nightmare.”

I study him, my eyes soft. “That’s what it feels like to me as well. I’m glad you came to the human world and found me.”

Cedric piles up my plate with food and sets it before me. “I heard you’re planning to start making some changes.”

I smile at him. “I want to start at our castle. Let the staff see the changes. Once they understand them, word will spread. Slowly but steadily, I’ll expand to the villages and the towns. I want to open a few schools and teach different things. I know it’s going to take time, but I have a lot of that.”

Cedric is quiet as he listens to me. Then he says, “The Silver Ring Organization isn’t going to stay quiet for long. They’re going to strike again.”

I nod grimly. “I know. We’ll be prepared this time.”

“Vivian’s father sold my mother and father to them. My parents weren’t kidnapped on the road; their food was spiked, and they were taken from the palace. I managed to get a little bit of information from Vivian’s uncle before he killed himself. I think we have enough to start hunting the organization down. We now have open access to the Eastern Kingdom. Rothan is going to act as the delegate there.”

I give him a serious look. “I have to avenge Maya’s death. She did not deserve to die. If you and Cassian ever cross paths, I want you to take his head.”

Cedric smiles viciously. “You have my word.”

We eat in silence, and then I lean against my mate on the couch. “I know we’re going to have our ups and downs, Cedric, and we’re probably going to disagree about some things, but I’m glad we’re together.”

When he looks down at me, I see the love in his eyes. “I am yours, remember? You told me so.”

I grip his cheeks and climb into his lap. “Yes, I did.”

As I push him back into the cushions, the sounds of our bodies moving together fill the room, and my heart is overflowing with a happiness I never dreamed I would experience.

I didn’t think I would ever have to set foot in the Eastern Kingdom again, but I want to look into the matter of Cedric’s parents’ deaths. So, half a year later, we finally make the trip. The changes within the kingdom are huge. With Rothan as the delegate and the young king, who is named Alexander and is the only remaining royal, there is a somber aura to the environment.

The townspeople—who had once prided themselves on being better than the brutes of the North—are now our subjects, in a way. Trade between the two kingdoms has opened, and Rothan is ruling with an iron fist.

Not to say that he is being unfair to either kingdom, but now that the noble families who were involved with the Silver Ring Organization have been wiped out, there are only two noble families remaining. Rothan has recruited people from the North to be stationed within each town and village to make sure no unscrupulous actions are being carried out. After all, he’s protecting this kingdom for when Alexander can finally take charge.

Speaking of the young king, he cannot be more than five years of age, and ever since he and Finn met, Alexander has been following my son around, besotted. Finn is being oddly tolerant, and during this three-week visit, he and the boy have become inseparable.

“I almost feel that it is unfair for us to leave this child here,” I murmur when two days are left before our visit ends.

Cedric is playing with my hair while I lie on my back against him, between his legs. He snorts. “We are not adopting him.”

“I’m not saying we have to adopt him,” I argue. “But he lost his mother and all his relatives. He’s so isolated. What if he comes to visit us every couple of months? It will be good for him, and he’ll be able to build bonds with our kingdom, as well. Plus, it would be great for the future if he and Finn can become close friends.”

My mate is silent, his fingers still toying with my hair. “I’ll think about it.”

I pat his knee. “Great. I’ll tell Rothan to make arrangements. We’ll have Alexander visit us in two months.”

Cedric touches my belly, annoyed. “How are you going to look after Finn and the young king when you’re eight months pregnant? That kid barely leaves you alone now.”

My heart tightens as I look toward the two young boys crouched by the stream with sticks in their hands, trying to catch fish. Cedric is right. Young Alexander has also gravitated toward me in my three weeks here. He must miss his mother.

I know it’s probably the hormones, but my eyes get teary as I look at the small child. “It was necessary to wipe out his family. I understand that. But I feel so sorry for him. I don’t want him to have to live without a mother.”

Cedric’s voice is tense. “His mother was deeply involved in the organization. And I didn’t kill her, Leanna. She took her own life. And she would’ve taken her son’s, too, if Rothan hadn’t stopped her.”