Chapter Epilogue - Diana
Sometimes I look at the way my life turned out and it is hard to believe that it is real. It has been over nine years since I accepted Elijah as my mate and in that time he has given me more love and happiness than I ever dreamed possible. We decided not to start our own family right away, instead taking a few years to focus on each other. But now that we had started having children we couldn't seem to stop. Over the last four years we have added two sons and one daughter to our growing family.
Elijah was an amazing father. He loved spending time with the children, so much so that our parents were constantly complaining that they didn't get to see their grandchildren often enough. Today would be an exception to that rule, because today was our oldest son's fourth birthday party and we were going to need all the help we could get.
Elijah had dropped the kids off with his parents early this morning then joined me to prepare the venue for the party. I had also managed to rope in a few other people to help me, including Ava and Orian. Although, looking at Ava lifting chairs and tables I was wondering if I had made a mistake letting her help us out.
She was almost eight months pregnant with her third baby and she was moving around these heavy tables as though they weighed nothing. I didn't believe she was finding this quite as easy as she was making it appear. She had a habit of hiding when she was struggling with things because she wanted to appear stronger than she was. I never understood the need that she seemed to have to prove her strength but I couldn't talk her out of it either. "Maybe you should sit down and let us handle it." I told her.
"Don't be silly, I am fine." She replied, walking towards yet another heavy table. Elijah intercepted her and managed to stop her before she could pick up the next table. He stood in front of her until she gave up and went to sit down in the corner of the room. She wasn't happy to be sidelined in that way, she scowled over at Elijah and I.
"Don't look at me like that, if you even so much as pull a muscle I am going to get such an earful from my brother."
Ava rolled her eyes at us before muttering something about Felix acting more like her keeper than her mate. I knew that even though she was frustrated she wouldn't change her mate for anything. They had a rough start to their relationship but Felix had proved himself to her time and time again over the last nine years.
The rest of us finished setting up the tables and decorated the whole room. We were tired and the children hadn't even arrived yet. It was going to be a very long day.
Elijah came up behind me, he wrapped his arms around my waist and whispered in my ear. "We have about an hour before the kids arrive, maybe we could go for a little walk." He kissed and nibbled my ear so that I had no doubt over his real intentions.
"If you are going to do that then I am leaving." Orian complained, getting to his feet.
"Don't you want to stay for the party? There is plenty of food for everyone and we even got some special drinks for the adults."
Because we were all going to need it after a few hours of dealing with sixty odd screaming children. On second thoughts, I could completely understand why he didn't want to stick around for the party.
"No, I have a few things I need to do."
He quickly picked up his jacket and left before any of us could do anything else to persuade him to stay. Orian still found it difficult to deal with large groups so I understood his reluctance to stay more than anyone else.
Arthur had messed him up in ways that had proved very difficult for him to shake, even after all of the brainwashing had worn off he had trouble fitting in with the rest of the pack. He had been steadily improving over the last few years and I was sure that the rest would fall into place when he met his mate.
Orian's POV
I had to get out of there before the party started. I couldn't bear the idea of spending the next few hours in a room filled with happy couples and their children. I had recently turned twenty four and I was starting to believe that I was never going to meet my mate. Maybe the moon goddess didn't even give me one as punishment for everything I did when I was living with Arthur. I couldn't really blame her for not thinking I was worthy.
Who would want to be mated with someone who not only stood by, but also cheered when innocent werewolves got hurt and killed. It didn't matter what I did to atone for what I did back then, it would never be enough to make up for the pain I had caused.
Once I left the pack's grounds I continued walking, quickly losing all sense of time and where I was heading. It was well past midday by the time I walked into a neighbouring human town. The moment I hit the main street a beautifully intoxicating smell hit my nostrils. I didn't need to wait for my wolf to say anything, I knew that I was about to meet my mate.
A few years ago I would have been upset that my mate was most likely a human, but now I was ecstatic. I had a mate and I was just about to meet her for the first time. I picked up my pace but once I turned the next corner what I saw made me stop in my tracks.
The moon goddess must have felt I hadn't quite paid for my past mistakes. The woman walking down the street towards me was undoubtedly my mate but she was also the woman who Arthur forced to breed with him. I remember her from the pictures Arthur used to show Cora.
It was going to be hard to get her to trust another werewolf, especially given my history but I would do whatever it took. There was no way that I would give her up though, she was my mate and I would love her always.
- if you enjoyed the story and would like to read more you can find me on face book under my pen name Cerelia Wolf