Epilogue - Part I

"Your Royal highness!"

"Yes?"

"Lady Hilda wishes to see you," she said with a smile on her lips as soon as she said her name.

"Could you please bring her in?" She paced back and forth around her chamber, impatiently awaiting her arrival.

Hilda pushed open the doors as she noticed the young Princess pacing in the chamber,

"Ríona!" As soon as she heard her voice, she turned around.

"Aunt Hilda!" She was snuggling into her warmth in an instant.

"How much you have grown!" Hilda cooed as she pulled back and gazed over the platinum-haired young Princess. Her violet eyes twinkled with wisdom and confidence, and her aura exuded power and dominance. Her well-developed muscles had concealed the traces of her juvenile body, and she was now a fully grown Alpha Female. She resembled her father, but with her mother's nose and lips. Even so, she reminded her of someone else.

"Aunt Hilda, I've missed you so much! How have you been?" Ríona drew her to a seat beside her on the lounge chair.

"I have been well. How have you been these past years in a foreign pack?" Ríona was sent away to a foreign pack for her final training before she took over her father's throne. Even though she left as a juvenile, she returned as a warrior, a Queen.

"The people of Vidurnakčio Pack weren't very nice to me, even though I didn't expect to receive any special treatment but the training was very hard. Harder than what I endured here..." as she continued with her tale, Hilda stared at her amazed. She resembled so much of her!

"Did you visit your mother?" Hilda inquired, and Ríona shook her head. Hilda sighed and gently grasped her cheeks

"You should go see her and your father. But before that, read this." Hilda held an old diary in her hand, and Ríona looked at her and the diary, perplexed.

"This was given to me by your mother. She wished for you to have it when came of age." Hilda smiled and rose to her feet.

"I've picked up some fresh peonies from the garden; bring them with you when you go to see her." Hilda exited the chamber, closing the doors behind her, and Ríona nodded. Throughout her life, she had received many things that had once belonged to her mother, the female who had given birth to her, but she had never felt her mother's warmth. Throughout her childhood, she had many mother figures, including her Aunt Hilda, the Gamma female Rosalind, Lady Megan, and others. But she was never lucky enough to experience her mother's love and warmth. Since she was a newborn pup, her father Aiden had always held her close, bathed her, changed her, and fed her. He tried everything he could to replace the empty place of her mother, but she still missed her.

Her fingers ran through the diary's hardcover, she opened the first page and ran her fingers over the black ink cursive handwriting.

'A diary is an object without my honest words; with them, it is a portal to the soul, a gateway, a map of the journey and struggles to become the angelic self.' She turned the page and started reading through,

-

"My dear child,

You are a true gift of the Goddess. I want you to know how precious you are and will always be to me. You are my first child. My first everything. In the years to come, I will teach you so much, but you have already taught me infinite amounts. You have taught me what it is to be a mother. You have taught me to be selfless. You have taught me, pure love. You have taught me that it is possible to have a piece of my heart outside of my body!" She smiled as she read the first entry and proceeded to the next page. Throughout the pages, she could only read about how much her mother loved her before she was born. How many things she wished to share with her, she did with her. Her writing was full of happiness throughout the pages, but then everything changed.

-

My love,

I have so much I want to tell you and share with you. I have been keeping this in the depth of my heart for all these years but the burden is too heavy for me to bear.

I'm sure you've heard of Princess Seraphina and what a wonderful female she was. She had saved my life more than once, and she had continued to save me even after her death.

She had wished to see me on her deathbed, not her grandparents, not her dear friend, not her lover, but me. Everything was hazy from the first step through the hallway to her room, but I'd never forgotten her words, her cold hands when they grasped mine.

"Never let him go, never deprive him the warmth. Don't do the same as I did. You are so beautiful, kind and so warm. I can see why Goddess choose you!" She urged me with a beautiful ghostly smile. She told me I was beautiful, but I knew I had nothing compared to her. She was a warrior, a Queen, and the most beautiful person I had ever seen. No wonder your father was so deeply in love with her. I knew her for a very short time, but I saw how wonderful of a person she was. She was vicious, cruel when she needed to be but so kind and gentle the other times. She could tear down a whole civilization to dust but she held the kingdom like it was a defenseless flower. I could never compare to her. The small smile vanished on her face as tears slowly pooled out of her hazel eyes.

"It hurts so much, it hurts so fucking much. I didn't get the chance to tell him that I love him. I love him so so much. Will you tell him that for me? Please?" She had pleaded. I couldn't stop my tears as I saw the raw pain and love in her eyes. Fate was so cruel to break her apart this way. One last wish of her, to let him know she loved him so much. The hold I had on her cold hand had tightened as I vigorously nodded my head.

"I will!" I barely uttered two words but the shimmer I saw in her now velvet eyes had me shivering to my core. I remember her every word.