Chapter Fifty-Six

Jasmine’s POV

To my surprise, Regan had succeeded in her yelling my fears.

Granted, the thought of an evil vampire King and a mad treacherous witch seeking to kill both me and my unborn pup was one that left me terrified.

But there was a big difference.

This time, I was not alone.

I had my mate, my wolf, my friends turned family and my pack, all on my side.

That brought me relief beyond words.

After spending time with my mate for a while, Lena came up to check on me.

“How do you feel?” She asked, climbing onto my bed to sit beside me and put her arms around me.

I smiled at the obvious concern in her eyes.

“Sincerely, I am terrified”, I told her.

She looked at me closely for a short moment.

“Forgive me dearest but you do not look the least bit terrified to me”, she said, making me laugh.

“Truly”, she said, smiling. “You looked quite scared earlier when the news was broken to us, but now you look quite well”, she said.

I recovered from my laughter but smiled at her.

“That is all thanks to my mate”, I told her and she smiled before her cheeks suddenly turned pink.

It reminded me of a topic we needed to discuss.

“While we are on the topic of mates”, I said, a teasing smile taking over my lips. “Have you finally spoken to yours?” I asked her.

She giggled prettily, a look I had quickly come to love on her.

“Only for a moment”, she said. “He asked to see me tonight, after the evening meal”, she said.

“Where will you take him?” I asked, already interested.

She hummed thoughtfully for a moment.

“Perhaps I will take him on a stroll in the woods”, she said. “Who knows? We may come upon a completely romantic scenery”, she said and giggled.

Her words gave me an idea.

“How about you take him to my garden?” I asked her, remembering the beautiful garden Regan had had made for me.

She frowned. “But that is your private place”, she said. “Regan made it just for you”, she reminded.

I laughed softly.

“I am aware, Dearest”, I said. “And I am sure Regan would not mind me allowing you use it for something wonderful”, I told her. “Goddess knows it should be seen by more people”, I said.

“If you are certain?” She said unsure.

I nodded firmly. “I am certain”.

She wrapped her other arm around me and pulled me into a hug.

“Oh! Thank you, Dearest!”, she cried happily. “I will tell you all about how it went”, she promised.

“I will look forward to it”, I said.

I felt her recover from her excitement and let me go before her hand slowly made its way to rest on my flat stomach.

“I cannot believe you are with child”, she said whispered.

I turned to see her eyes begin to water.

I laughed softly at her reaction.

Lena’s mood swings we’re sure to give someone a whiplash someday.

Her mate was a lucky wolf, he would never know boredom in his lifetime. Not after having her.

But she was right.

The thought of me actually being pregnant with Regan’s pup still felt surreal.

It still hadn’t sunk in that I was with child.

For one, I felt perfectly normal and no different than I usually did. I didn’t have any symptoms either, although it was still too early to start experiencing them.

“I cannot even hear his heartbeat yet”, she said.

It was true, my pup had barely formed for us to even hear his little heartbeat.

I nodded at her words.

“Regan said he can smell him”, I told her.

“Truly?” She asked, eyes wide in wonder and joy.

I nodded, laughing at her reaction again. “Truly”, I said.

Almost immediately, she shut her eyes and stayed still.

It took a moment before I realized what she was doing.

She inhaled deeply, trying to catch my pup’s scent before exhaling.

She tried this a few more times before her eyes flew open and she gasped.

“I smell him”, she said, eyes wide in excitement even though her voice came out just above a whisper.

“I smell him!” She cried out again, joyfully.

She launched herself at me, tackling me onto the bed while I laughed uncontrollably.

We were like that for some moments before she spoke again.

Panting from our play, she sat upright, looking down at me with a wide smile.

“What will you name him?” She asked.

I looked at her, puzzled at her question.

“Surely, you do not mean to name your child after his ancestor?” She said. “Granted, Johan is a great name, but do you truly wish for your son to be called King Johan the second?” All of a sudden she looked thoughtful, as if trying to solve a difficult riddle. “Or will he be the third since he is the second reincarnation?” She wondered aloud.

Before she could come up with more ridiculous ideas or theories, I spoke up.

“Regan and I will decide on the name of our pup”, I told her. “Do not trouble yourself on the matter”, I told her.

“Very well”, she said before suddenly giving an excited cry. “I cannot believe I will soon become an Aunt!” She cried out joyful as she bounced on the bed.

I laughed at her antics.

“Should we not find you something absolutely enchanting to wear tonight?” I asked, changing the topic. “After all, you will be meeting your mate tonight”, I reminded.

She giggled at my words.

“You still recall how to get there, do you not?” I asked just to be sure.

She nodded. “I know my way there”, she said, before grabbing a hold of one of my hand. “Thank you once again, my dear friend”, she said.

In typical Luke fashion, I rolled my eyes.

“Enough already”, I said. “Let us find you the perfect dress”, I urged.

She happily climbed down from the bed and I did the same.

Arm in arm, we made our way out of my room and to hers, to select a dress for her to wear to the evening meal.

As we did so, I realized that throughout our conversation in my room, she had not brought up the topic about the possibility of both me and my child being in danger. And neither had she brought up the one of her leaving eventually with her mate.

Somehow, Lena always managed to ignore all our troubles in such a way that it became as though it didn’t exist.

I knew her motive was to make me focus on all the good things happening to me, and forget the bad.

Her presence only helped to improve my mood, making me forget all the worries of that morning.

While we searched for a dress for Lena, we started to talk about our wolves.

It took an amusing turn when Lena discovered that I was yet to name my wolf, after finally getting her.

“You have still not named her?” She asked incredulously, looking at me in disbelief.

I shook my head, somewhat embarrassed.

“With all that has been happening, I have just not found the time to decide on a name for her”, I told her, feeling guilty about my actions.

“How long does it take to name a wolf?” She asked, eyes shooting her accusation at me.

I hung my head.

“It was not my intention to forget”, I told her in my defense. “With the whole marking thing and being of the Royal bloodline, I quite forgot all about that”, I confessed.

Lena’s eyes began to sparkle.

“I cannot believe it”, she said. “My dearest friend is Royalty”, she almost squealed in glee. “I suppose by extension this means I am Royalty as well?”

I laughed. “Of course, dearest Lena”, I said.

She was thoughtfully quiet for a moment and I wondered what she was thinking about before she spoke again.

“How about Snow?” She asked.

I frowned at her in confusion, unable to understand what she was talking about.

On seeing me apparent confusion, she smiled and leaned closer to me.

“How about we call your wolf Snow?” She asked.

“Oh”, I said, finally realizing what she was talking about.

“She is as pure and white as snow”, Lena said, explaining the reason behind the choice of name.

I thought for a moment and found it quite fitting for my wolf.

Apart from being white as snow, she also had a very calm temperament.

In all honesty, she was the complete opposite of Rage. And that made her the perfect mate for him.

While Rage was fire, she was ice.

While Rage was hot, she was cold.

While Rage was temperamental, she was calm and collected.

“Snow”, I said aloud, testing the sound of it on my tongue and knowing that it was the perfect name for my wolf.

‘Do you like it?’ I asked her as she laid calmly.

I saw her vibrant blue eyes glow.

‘It is perfect’, her calm voice echoes in my head, causing me to smile.

“Well?” Lena asked, since she had not yet gotten a response from me. “What do you think?” She asked.

My smile widened.

“She loves it”, I told her, earning a pleased smile from her.

As she turned around to hold yet another dress to her body, she spoke.

“If you and Regan find it too hard to agree on a name for the pup, just let me know”, she said. “I am sure I can come up with a good name for him”, she said confidently.

Knowing her, I did not doubt that in the least.

After Lena and I had chosen a dress for her to wear, we stayed in her room, talking about random things until it was time for the evening meal.

After washing and changing, we made our way over to the pack house, arm in arm.

As soon as we entered the dining hall, there was complete silence before all the werewolves already seated rose to their feet.

Confused, I simply held onto Lena as we made our way over to our place.

When we arrived at our table, everyone was standing on their feet as well, with the rest of the pack.

Regan still had his seat at the head table and mine next to him. I made my way over and he pulled back my chair for me to sit, just as he always had.

As soon as I sat, everyone began taking their seats as well.

I turned to Lena in confusion, shooting her a questioning look.

She simply shrugged and shook her head to let me know that she had no idea either.

Thinking I was probably over reacting and being too suspicious, I waited, as always, for Regan to take the first bite in order to start the meal.

However, he sat still, simply looking at me.

I looked around to see that everyone else was looking at me as well.

‘Regan?’ I called through our mind link, knowing only he could hear since he was the only one I was able to mind link.

‘What is happening?’ I asked, looking at the others and back at him.

He simply smiled, reaching out to take one of my hands in his.

‘They are waiting for you to take the first bite’, he said.

I frowned. ‘But why?’ I asked. ‘You always take the first bite’, I reminded in case he had forgotten. ‘You are Alpha’.

He chuckled in my head, pulling my hand to place a kiss on it.

‘And you are Royalty’, he said. ‘You hold a much higher rank than me, love’, he told me.

I looked around at the pack, waiting to have their meal.

‘Does this mean everyone knows then?’ I asked.

He nodded. ‘They know’.

Seeing no other choice, I lifted a loaf of bread to my lips and took a bite.

Everyone began to eat.