HelenaI was having tea in the garden when I noted the leaves were changing colour. Winter would be there rearing its head soon, and I wouldn’t be able to sit outside and just enjoy the warmth of the sunlight.“I thought I would find you here.” Louisa joined me and I smiled, pouring her a cup of tea.“You know me. I prefer summer.” I winked.“Oh, no, give me winter any day.” Louisa’s cheeks turned red as she smiled, and I just knew where this was going. “I love sledding and cuddling in front of the fires.” She smiled, sipping her tea and I burst out laughing.“Do you remember that first winter when we found out you were pregnant after you came flying down the mountain!” Tears formed in my eyes as we laughed and Louisa nodded.“I think my favourite memory will always be the first time the children could go down the mountain alone. Noah was so excited he nearly peed his pants!” She squealed with laughter and I nearly choked on my tea at the memory.“We’ve had incredible memories with th
EmilyIt was the saddest time in the kingdom, and our news took a back seat, but I didn’t mind. It gave me the time I needed to get used to the idea that Noah was more than just my best friend now. He was my mate. The news of his grandmother broke the next day, which immediately focused all attention elsewhere, but as soon as the mourning period was over, it was right back where it used to be.On us as the new royal couple. His mother made everyone go out as soon as the snow stopped, and I watched as people laughed and played again like children. Small ones were building snow men while the bigger children and a lot of the adults came flying down the mountain.“Shall we?” Noah held out his hand to me and in his other hand he had a beautifully carved wooden sled. I grinned as I took his hand, and we made our way up the mountain. Our cheeks were bright red from the cold by the time we reached the top and I waited for him to get on, but he smiled at me.“You first.” He pointed at the sled
EmilyI instantly recognized the hunger in his eyes as our game suddenly turned serious because I was feeling that very same hunger. I stepped back to get perspective and the spell we were under broke as Noah cleared his throat and took a couple of steps away from me.“This damn mating ceremony can’t come fast enough.” He whispered under his breath and I giggled. I couldn’t help it. I was lucky I was a female, or my lust would also have been out there for the world to see!“Oh, goodness! Is that the time? I’m late!” I shouted as I caught sight of the watch on the wall behind Noah and I kissed his cheek before rushing off. I was supposed to have my last fitting for my dress and I had been so mesmerized by Noah that I clean forgot. I ran into Queen Louisa’s bedroom trying to catch my breath and everyone turned to look at me.“I’m sorry I’m late. I was in the armoury.” I couldn’t very well tell the queen that I was ogling her son, could I?!“Oh, honey. A queen is never late. That also in
EmilyI was woken by my omega on the big day and I noticed that the sun was already shining brightly. I couldn’t believe that I had slept so late for once. My biological clock usually woke me before the sun rose, but my omega believed it was because of all the stress of the past couple of weeks.She brought me breakfast in bed, which was a nice change of pace since I didn’t have to rush to get ready for breakfast and soon my room was filled with women. Half of them were there to get the rest of us ready for the important event.Chairs were brought in for everyone and laughter quickly rang through the room while hair and make-up were being done. Everyone got dressed as soon as they were ready, and I was the last one to get into my dress. My hair was pulled up, and I had small curls falling down the side of my face.I almost didn’t recognize myself when I looked in the mirror, while my mom carefully placed the veil in the bun at the back of my head.Queen Louisa placed a beautiful tiara
HelenaI nudged Louisa the moment I saw the two lovebirds disappear, and we couldn’t help ourselves as laughter rang through the air.“Ah, young love.” Louisa sighed contently and I nodded.“Do you remember being that age? I mean, I do, but it seems to be so long ago.” I smiled as I noted the other children mingling with their friends.“I remember thinking there was no way I would be able to be a queen!” Louisa cried with laughter.“I remember wondering how on earth I was going to be intimate with my best friend.” I giggled. Louisa and I had become more than sisters-in-law. After what we had been through with the war and raising our children in the same home, we were more like biological sisters.We had our differences of opinion, but we were closer than I ever was with my own brother. Bennie and Liam, of course, were almost like blood brothers. They sometimes remind me of the days when we were just mated, and we all would just have fun with life and with our kids. Those two never gre
EmilyI guess it was no surprise when we announced just two short weeks later that I was pregnant. Everyone around us was incredibly happy, of course, but it was no surprise. Most royals usually produced an heir as soon as possible to secure the crown.It was a very old tradition, but still one that was very important. Especially in our world. All the rulers had to have someone, whether they be a boy or a girl, to take over one day. If they didn’t, other packs would think them weak and attack in the hopes of taking over.We hadn’t seen war in our region for many years, but it could very well happen at any time. I felt relief in the air as soon as we announced the pregnancy. I still had to arrange Bernard’s birthday party, but suddenly, I had a lot more help as well as a lot more people around me telling me to take it easy.“It’s infuriating! I’m not made of porcelain just because I am pregnant!” I huffed on one of the occasions that Noah and I were alone, and I could blow off a little
HelenaHow did I tell my son that his mate was the daughter of a traitor? Did I even tell him? Liam had done everything in his power to make sure that most of the pack didn’t know about our little secret, and we had been carrying it all these years without most of them finding out.The Duke of Ironmoon had betrayed us and that was how the northerners got the perfect opportunity to wage war. The duke had told them all about our defenses as well as our grain stock and, in return, the northerners would have given him a title and land.We were never able to find out exactly how much, but it was clear that it was a lot more than his title and his house in our kingdom. The duke was a very ambitious man. He never cared for anyone other than himself. It was obvious the day he was arrested. He was more concerned about his own welfare than that of his mate and child.That was when Liam decided on this elaborate plan to protect them from the duke. Unfortunately, that young woman is now my son’s
HelenaI could see that the young woman was very uncomfortable, and it broke my heart to see my son looking so confused about it all. It was infuriating that life had to be so difficult sometimes. My poor boy was born in the belly of the castle as war started. Why couldn’t he just have this one thing?“Son, we need to talk.” I sighed as he ran after Arora, who was clearly on her way to her mother. They had just come from the gardens where I gave them privacy, but I kept a close eye on them just in case. The last thing we needed was a scandal where there was none. People so loved to talk about the royal family and I knew they would be talking about Bernard and Arora.“Mom, I’m just …” He looked a little agitated.“Now son.” I gripped his arm a little tighter, and he looked into my eyes. He sighed and nodded, and we made our way inside the castle. I wasn’t sure if I should tell him everything, but I had to warn him somehow.“Mother, what is so important that you had to stop me?” He only
EmilyI pushed to break through a mind link and I finally felt it releasing. He was one of us.“My apologies, your majesty. I have been gone for so long, it is difficult to open my pack link.” He finally answered through the link and I studied him carefully before ordering the guards to stand down.“Who are you and why have you been gone for so long?” I frowned. I couldn’t remember any of our spies being out in the world. Everyone had returned home for the celebration.“I’m Ares, your majesty. I was sent out by your father three years ago to try and find you a mate.” His cheeks turned red and I rolled my eyes. “I guess I know now why I couldn’t find one.”AroraThe news about Emily’s mate spread like wildfire through the kingdom, and before she even walked through the doors with Ares, we knew she had met him. Ares was one of Bernard’s young recruits that should have formed part of the queen’s guard, but Bernard sent him out to try and find a mate for our daughter.We hadn’t heard from
AroraI kept my promise. The day that Bernard and I retired from royal life and handed over the reigns to our daughter Emily was the proudest day of our lives. She had grown into one of the kindest people I had ever known, while at the same time standing her ground when it was needed.She was strong and brave even though she had not faced a war. She was ready to rule, and the people were ready for her to take over. Emily was much loved by our people as she had grown up in the streets of the city and knew most of them by name.She took all the lessons I taught her over the years to heart and made sure that the people were taken care of long before she became queen. I could hear the rumours again of how much she reminded the people of the old rogue queen, and it made me feel proud that the pack loved her that much.Sadly, new rumours were starting to flare up all over the city, and they unsettled us a little. Emily was old enough now to mate, but unlike most of the royals, she didn’t fi
AroraForgiving the royal family a second time was probably one of the toughest things I ever had to do, but I knew that if I didn’t, there would be no end to the cruelty that would definitely follow. I had preached forgiveness before everything happened, and this gave me the opportunity to again remind people how to forgive.I made sure they saw me happily interacting with the royal family at each event and I made sure the royals that remained spent time with the people. The kingdom grew prosperous again under Bernard’s rule, and with my help, the people became happy again. We announced my pregnancy soon after I passed the second month mark, and very soon after that, I began to show.The royal baby grew fast in my belly as time slowly ticked by. I spent my days in the old queen’s vegetable gardens and tending to the flower gardens as much as my body would allow. I joined the omegas to do the shopping for the castle and made sure I knew what every one of our supplier’s problems were,
AroraMy omegas helped me to get dressed early the next morning. Having a warm and comfortable bed to sleep in and proper food to fill my belly, helped me to at least get some sleep. I was sure that the news about my release had already spread through the kingdom and was surprised when I walked into the dining room and saw the faces of the royals.Most of them were covered in shame as they should be, but I held my head high and took my seat beside Bernard. After the omega left the night before, Bernard told me everything that happened. He told me how he tried to find evidence against Irina and that he only believed her for a short while. It hurt to think that he had so little trust in me, but I pushed it to the back of my mind.None of them were to blame for any of this. Irina was the one who was to blame. She was the one who was going to face trial now and, thanks to Bernard’s genius plan, they had more than enough evidence to sentence Irina without spending much time on a trial.“Ar
AroraBernard took his time. He even postponed the trial for two days so they could find a witch to explain what each item in their mound of evidence was used for. My only glimmer of light was seeing Irina losing her patience the longer Bernard postponed the inevitable. It was clear as day from the looks I was getting in court. All the nobles believed that I was guilty.Bernard was digging deeper into the hole with each move. I didn’t have any hope that they were going to save me. Even with the visits from Bernard and his mother. I don’t trust them anymore. My fate was sealed. Now he just had to make the final decision. He had to judge me. He had to decide how and when I would be killed.IrinaThe glass flew through the air and shattered against the wall as I screamed out in frustration. My cousin was just postponing the inevitable in the hopes that I would slip up. I noticed he now had four guards following my every move. I couldn’t even use the secret passages without having them po
AroraPrincess Helena snuck into the dungeons to see me, and she brought me some food, but I was still so cold that I was having trouble moving. I also wasn’t sure if I could trust the food they were giving me. If they saw me as a traitor, they could very well try to poison me. My trust in all of them had been shattered, and I wasn’t sure if it would ever be possible to repair it.I had been waiting for this shoe to drop since the very moment I found out Bernard was my mate. Almost as though I knew they would just turn around and betray me, but I started to trust them and believe that they would trust me. I couldn’t help the way I was feeling. They all turned on me so fast after seeing all those things in Irina’s little secret room.Nobody believed me. It was as though none of them really knew me at all. Why would I ever trust any of them again? Bernard’s face came to mind and I felt my heartache. He should have believed me right from the start. He should have trusted me. He should ha
AroraIt wasn’t as cold on the cot as it was on the floor, but the night was long, and it still felt like the cold had found its way into my bones. I had no idea what was going on upstairs and, if I was honest, I didn’t care. They were so eager to believe Irina that they didn’t see how cruel she was.They all deserved whatever she had planned for them. I knew she made sure the proof pointed to me, but I couldn’t help myself. They should all have known by now that I wouldn’t have done that. Yet, even Bernard believed I was the traitor. I wasn’t sure if we would ever be able to find our way back to each other after all of this.The memory of Bernard visiting me and whispering came to mind and I pushed it to the back of my mind. I didn’t dare hope that things would work out in the end. Irina had been far too clever so far. She was going to make sure Bernard wouldn’t be able to prove my innocence. She was going to make sure the entire family believed her lies.The cold pushed through my t
BernardNone of this made any sense. Unless I didn’t know Arora as well as I thought I did, but I couldn’t imagine her doing the kinds of things Irina had accused her of. We found notes in the room that referred to even worse actions and I didn’t want to even think about it.I was torn between what I thought I knew and what possibilities there were. Was Arora a cruel and evil person who took revenge on our family or was she the kind heart that helped us to save our family from total ruin? Not that I thought the pack would ever revolt against us.I sat back in my office chair, not wanting to go to our room and not wanting to face my family. There were still far too many unanswered questions and I wanted to be able to answer at least some of them when I faced them again. The most prominent would probably be if I was going to put Arora on trial.“What are you doing here alone, cousin?” Irina wondered in my office and I sighed deeply. She was the last person I wanted to deal with right no
Arora“She planned this.” My voice was soft, but one of two of them heard me. “Irina planned this!” I shouted. “My omega followed her today and found the room. Irina wants all of you to think that I’m the traitor so she can get rid of me. Bernard, you have to believe me.”“His Majesty, don’t have to believe one word that comes out of your traitorous mouth!” Irina shouted from the back. “Your father was a traitor, and so are you!” She hissed and I could feel the atmosphere turning.“We need to hear from the omega, Bernard.” Princess Helena spoke up, and I breathed a sigh of relief. The omega was dragged up the stairs and I could see in her eyes that this wasn’t going to go my way. She kept looking at Irina and I wondered what happened in the short time we were apart. What could Irina have done? She was right there with me the entire time.“Please tell us what happened this morning.” Princess Helena took the lead.“I … Please, don’t make me do this.” The omegas eyes filled with tears as