Chapter 389 FINALLY PEACE

Chapter 389 FINALLY PEACE
ARTEMIS' POV
"Hello, Mom."
Greeted with silence as always, the wind picks up, swirling around me in this peaceful and tranquil moment. "I’ve come to pay my respects again."
I've always wished my relationship with either of them could have been closer. Perhaps then, standing here now, I might have felt...more. Maybe I would have mourned them longer.. . Maybe they’re also finally together in the afterlife. It all happened for a reason, though. Even the times when I was a childish and spoiled brat who cared for no one but myself...when I let every hurt I felt affect the way I treated those around me, before she came along and changed everything. She gave me new friends and a family, made me appreciate every second I had with them. "I know it's pathetic of me to say, but I'm terrified of tonight. There’s no exact reason for it. I wonder, Father, how you felt in your own time when you were officially crowned King."
It took five years to finally have this crown ceremony, not without good reason. I had so much to clean up before I felt worthy enough to take on the title because there was so much to do and clean up after the incident that happened. Packs were divided from the destruction, with other races planning on cutting all ties from us because of countless misunderstandings and their fear. And yet, somehow, with years of work, everything is finally as it should be. There is finally peace. I spend another hour sitting there before I head back into the castle to finally get ready. Walking into my room, the first thing I notice is the window I remember shutting now wide open, freezing at the door. My instincts instantly tell me someone is in my room, someone trespassing. Nothing as exciting as this has happened in a while, and I feel my blood pumping harder, an excuse to expend some nerves. A sound comes from behind the couch, and I slowly approach it with poised, quiet footsteps, peeking through before whoever it is can get away. And she pops out suddenly all on her own, both hands raised, forming beastly claws, taking a stance that is supposedly meant to terrify me but does the opposite. "Rawr!"
I stare at her for a second, dumbfounded by her simply being here.. . I wasn’t expecting her here this early, completely speechless and stupefied by how gorgeous she looks even now. Somehow she’s neglected cutting her hair, and now it’s gone way past her waist, covering her eyes, but the green emerald shine is still in them. "Surprise?" She announces clumsily once my reaction isn’t close to being terrified. I drag her closer by her wrist, first of all, hugging her as tight as I can without strangling her, taking in every bit of her essence I had missed to the point of madness. I squeeze her against me until I can pull apart and watch her, humoring her attempt at a surprise with a smile. "Trespassing into your own home? That was your idea of a surprise, Sera?"
She pouts like a child, expanding her fluffy cheeks I want so badly to bite right now. "Well… it was the best I could come up with on the way here," she defends herself. I draw closer, pulling her against me by the waist and placing a kiss on her forehead. I want to kiss every inch of her now that I can touch her. "We have a front door, though."
"If I’d come through there, everyone would have rushed at me, and by the time I’m finally free, I won’t have any energy left to meet you."
"Then maybe you shouldn’t have left for so long."
A moment of silence passes between us… a solemn and guilty look forming in her eyes. "You know why I had to."
Yeah… I do know why she had to leave and for three years. I could never forget the reason behind it, sometimes it haunted my dreams as a nightmare even to this day. I didn’t want to let her go then… it was painful. And that’s why the wedding had been fast and small… intimate. "Welcome home… I missed you terribly." My head rests on hers. "I missed you, too," she whispers. Our lips finally merge, soft and sweet like ambrosia, something I’ve been craving for the past three years. I take more time tasting and sucking on her lips before her lips open and I take her tongue. Desire that’s laid dormant inside me revs to life with only the swipe of her tongue against mine. I have to pull away to calm myself, to grasp control again. "Did you ever resent me for leaving?"
I stare at her, stroking the scar on her neck, visible when she has to look up at me. "Never… it hurt though, even with the countless letters we exchanged and you visiting my dreams almost every night with your magic… none of it could replace feeling and touching you."
"I’m here now."
"Will you ever leave again?"
"Never." She clutches onto me, snuggling into my shoulders. I laugh at her sudden clinginess, loving it regardless. "Are you ready for tonight? It’s our coronation."
"Oh… hell no."