Page 76 of The Forbidden Wolf King
“And I hate to add another thing but your mother had aligned with the necromerians and we killed their king too. He’s in your dining room.” I winced as I told him.
His eyes bugged. “The necros?”
So I was right, he hadn’t been on the battlefield. The outfit was all for show.
“There might be retaliation for that. You will want to amass a council to give you advice,” Lucien offered.
“I need a drink,” Callen said and we all burst into laughter.
Drae reached across the desk and clapped Callen on the shoulder. “It will be okay, young king. Just pretend you have it all figured out, until you really do.”
“Noted,” Callen offered, but was wearing a rueful smile.
With that, we left. The war that I hadn’t even known about two weeks ago was over and now all that was left to do was bury our dead and mend our hearts.
TWENTY-ONE
I was actually showing a little, my belly slightly swollen with pregnancy. It had been two months since the war ended and we’d decided to get together in Archmere with all the kings and queens of Avalier to have a memorial ceremony for our fallen ones. I’d buried my brother Cyrus the day we’d gotten back and then promptly fallen into a week-long depression. The only things that pulled me out of it was Oslo, Axil and this baby.
I rubbed my belly, sucking on the piece of ginger my lady-in-waiting had cut for me this morning to keep the nausea down. Eliza sat next to me in the carriage as Oslo rode alongside Axil. Axil was teaching Oslo all of the manly things one needed to know to be an alpha and leader. Since Oslo’s escape from the dungeon in Nightfall, he had shown great dominance and seemed to be coming into his own.
Axil said in another three years he would give Oslo a safe position in his army to start learning the ropes and one day my brother would make a good commander.
“Auntie ’Liza,” Eliza said, pulling my attention from my thoughts.
“What?”
“I’m trying on names for the baby to call me. Eliza is too long.”
I smiled at my pack sister. Although Axil had claimed me for Death Mountain pack, and Eliza had remained with Mud Flat, we had a bond that could still be felt as if we were in the same pack. No one could explain it. It was unbreakable. Forged with trust and a life debt on both sides.
“Auntie Liz.” I shortened it even more.
Eliza grinned. “I love that.”
Eliza had flourished in the Mud Flat pack. She’d not been dominant enough to take my spot but she was sixth, which was still pretty impressive. She lived in my childhood home and helped to take care of my brother’s widow and my nephews that he’d left behind. I went out there to visit them once a month.
“Amara told me you’ve been spending long nights with Shane under the stars,” I said in a syrupy sweet voice. “What’s going on there?”
Eliza scoffed. “A lady doesn’t kiss and tell.”
“So, there’s kissing!” I accused.
She burst out laughing, going bright red in the cheeks which made me smile too. Her laugh was contagious and I was so grateful that against all odds, we’d both made it out of the Queen Trials alive.
We slowed, and Axil popped his head in. “We’re here.”
I wasn’t used to riding in a carriage but now that I was a pregnant queen, Axil said a wolf sled wasn’t appropriate or safe enough.
We descended from the carriage and Oslo dismounted, slipping his hand into mine.
“Are they going to have Cyrus’ name carved into a tree or something?” he asked me.
I reached up and smoothed his stray hairs. “I don’t know. Probably not.” The elves had asked to be responsible for the task of honoring the fallen. Five hundred and thirty-seven bodies were recovered from the war. Fae, dragon-folk, elvin and wolven. I didn’t know what kind of memorial they would do but Kailani had sounded pretty excited about it in her last letter to me.
It was just getting dark, the sun setting on the horizon. The elves had been very clear that the unveiling of the memorial should be at sunset.
Hundreds of people had traveled from throughout the realm to be here tonight. I spotted Madelynn in the crowd with Lucien and she waved me over. When we reached them, she pulled me in for a hug and squeezed. “You’re showing!” she cooed over my belly and I smiled at her. Axil and Lucien clapped each other on the back and then Kailani was suddenly before us.
