The Forbidden Wolf King: Kings of Avalier, Book 4(64)

The burden of one’s lineage was something I knew Axil could relate to and in that moment he slipped his hand into mine.

“Are you married? Children?” Drae asked him.

He shook his head. “I run a profitable ore mine, no time for a wife.”

Arwen chuckled at that. “Well, you’re king now, that means taking a wife and having children.”

We’d suddenly all taken to giving this young man counsel on how to rule.

He looked stunned then. “I guess so.”

He appeared so overwhelmed and I felt for him, but we needed to make sure that this was a smooth transition so that Nightfall never rose to power again.

“I have an idea,” I proposed and everyone looked at me. “King Callen, this is your chance to change things, make them better than they were before,” I told him and he nodded his head in agreement. “What if, along with signing the peace treaty, you agreed to take a wife from one of our realms?”

The entire room fell into a stunned silence. His mother had been a purist, humans against those of us with magic. And then when she couldn’t naturally have what we had, she stole it.

“It would send a message to your people that the new Nightfall kingdom is one of inclusion. Not just an empty peace treaty with our kind, but one married into with generations of heirs,” Drae added, seemingly delighted with my idea.

Callen swallowed hard, as if the very idea of marrying a woman who shifted into an animal terrified him. “Please forgive my ignorance, as I live on a mountain and do not travel often. Could I … have healthy children with someone who is not my kind?”

Kailani chuckled at that. “Of course! Your children will be half human, half whatever your wife is. They would have some of her abilities, whatever those might be. I’m half elf.”

He relaxed after hearing that and I had to remind myself that this man had been sheltered away in the mountains and probably fed lies about our people his entire life.

“It was just a suggestion,” Drae said. “But it might be too much of a leap from—”

“No, I think it’s a good idea. A marriage to bridge our kingdoms. I would be honored to choose a wife from any of your realms,” he said diplomatically but I could hear the nerves in his voice. I wondered if it was because he’d just agreed to choose a wife who carried magic, or that he’d have to get married at all. He was very handsome and young and had just admitted he was rich. I was betting he could have any woman he wanted where he lived. He’d have to give that up, become king and change his entire life overnight. It was a lot to process.

Drae pulled the prewritten treaty out and spread it across his desk. “Alright, well if you sign here, we can announce your desire to take a wife while our men are still posted here just in case there is backlash.”

He grasped his quill and ink. “I appreciate that,” he told Drae. “I can’t imagine that news will be taken well.”

“You might be surprised,” Kailani offered. “I grew up here and many of the people just did what your mother said because they were scared of her, not because they agreed.”

Drae held out a hand over the treaty, blocking Callen from signing. “Don’t you want to read it first?” he asked. “It also requires the destruction of all of your mother’s magic-stealing machines.”

Callen shivered. “I hated that invention. Good riddance. I just want peace upon our lands.”

Drae moved his hand and Callen signed easily as each one of us sighed in relief.

It was done and by my account it looked like Callen was already shaping up to be a decent king.

One by one we shook his hand and I had to admit he’d earned my respect. It would be hard for him from here on out but he seemed up to the task with a little help.

“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.