Chapter - 54

The smell of burning pine wood and smoke greeted me, and I walked down towards the lake. Warriors rushed past us with bloody human and wolf body parts. They had started the bonfire to burn the remains, and since the entire pack wanted to be present to celebrate the victory, they moved the bonfire to the lake.

Four of my HQ warriors carried Duke and Erik’s bodies for me. Looking at the limp bodies of the two asshöles that broke my heart and used my body, brought me peace. I was super eager to see their bodies burn.

I had called King Joel to inform him of what happened with Claire. To say he was furious was an understatement. They had captured Roy, and King Joel said he would personally deliver him to me and pick his daughter. Claire was looking forward to going home and forgetting everything that had happened. However, Noah wasn’t too keen to see her leave. From the coded mindlink conversation Nicholas and Noah were having, something was definitely up.

Nicholas excused himself to call his dad and check on his warriors while I followed the warriors down to the lake. Cheers erupted as we got close to the bonfire. All eyes were on the bodies. Clapping and howling echoed through the forest as the warriors put the bodies in front of the bonfire.

I looked around to see all the pack members mixing and mingling. The happy atmosphere had returned. Just watching them so happy again brought me so much joy.

I felt a warm hand on my shoulder. Dad smiled down at me as he, too, looked around at his pack members rejoicing.

“You did it, sweetheart. I’m so proud of you.” He squeezed my shoulder.

“It wasn’t all me, dad. You guys did most of the killing” I laughed.

“It was a lot of fun. I haven’t had that much action in so long” dad laughed with me.

“Alex,” I heard my name.

Dad and I turned to find Alpha Trent standing behind us. Next to him stood Gideon, Natalie, and Luna Leah. Natalie immediately walked over and hugged me.

“I’m so glad you’re okay.” She sobbed.

I gently rubbed her back, hugging her back tightly.

“It’s all over, Nat. You are safe now.”

She pulled back and looked at me with sad eyes.

“He's gone?” She whispered.

I looked over my shoulder, looking at the two bodies on the ground. Natalie followed my gaze and gasped when her eyes landed on the two figures. Shock and sadness flashed across her face.

“Wh-... ho-... who?” She tried to formulate words.

“I’m sorry, babe.” Matt’s voice interrupted her viewing.

Natalie turned towards her mate. Tears slid down her cheeks.

“I killed Erik. It was time for him to go,” Matt admitted. He walked over and stood next to me. Natalie closed her eyes, releasing fresh tears.

She let out a big sigh and opened her eyes, looking back towards her brother's body.

“You are right. It was time for him to go. After everything he and his posey did to me, they deserve to die” Natalie wiped her tears.

Matt let go of the breath he was holding and pulled Natalie into his arms. Matt was very worried that Natalie would resent him for killing her brother. Natalie immediately buried her face into his chest and hugged him tightly. Matt visibly relaxed.

From the corner of my eye, I noticed a group of girls giggling and staring at something. It was Samantha’s little group of barbies. They kept whispering and snickering in the same direction. I followed their gawking and recognized the source of their attention.

Nicholas and Noah were standing a little further away, talking to some of the pack members. Claire was still at Noah’s side with a pale, sad face. Noah’s stance screamed, touch her, and you die. Something was definitely up.

“He is so sexy! I would love to lick his abs,” one of the girls whispered, making them all giggle.

I rolled my eyes and bit my tongue, suppressing a growl. Of course, they were gawking at Nicholas. Samantha had made a move on him before we left for the West.

I watched as Samantha flipped her hair and pulled her tube top down a little more, exposing her cleavage even more. Did she forget that we had just been under attack and had a pile of dead people ready to burn?

She straightened her shoulders and walked towards Nicholas, swaying her hips a little more than usual.

I excused myself and slowly followed her. Alpha Trent’s pack members had turned up for the bonfire as well, making the crowd an excellent place to hide as I watched Samantha.

Samantha walked up to Nicholas’s side and linked her arms into his. Nicholas looked down at Samantha and immediately pulled his arm away.

“Oh, hey,” Nicholas stuttered. His eyes scanned the crowd. He was looking for me. I quickly put up the wall in our mindlink so he couldn’t talk to me.

“Hey there, big boy.” Samantha purred, pushing herself up against Nicholas.

“I didn’t know I’d get to see you again so soon” she twirled a strand of her hair between her fingers. Samantha’s eyes were raking through Nicholas’s body.

“Yeah, I didn’t think that either.” Nicholas looked around nervously.

“I’m so glad you came back, though. Maybe you’ll get to try the local cuisine this time.” Samantha put her hand on Nicholas’s belly and rubbed it. Her hands started to move further south as she giggled and licked her lips.

Nicholas quickly grabbed her hand and moved it away, taking a step back from her.

“If I remember correctly, I did tell you this last time, but I’ll say it once again. I don’t want to get food poisoning, so I’ll pass on the local cuisine” Nicholas’s tone was a lot harsher this time.

Samantha flinched a little but regained her composure quickly. 

“Why do you assume you’ll get food poisoning? You might fall in love instead.” Samantha ran her finger down Nicholas’s arm and twirled her hair.

Nicholas snickered and shook his head.

“Love? Do you even know what love is?” Nicholas raised his eyebrow and crossed his arms.

Samantha looked around as people were starting to stare at them.

Nicholas continued, “When you love someone, they become the reason you live, the reason you breathe, the reason your heartbeats. They are in the air that fills your lungs. They are in the sun rays that warm your skin. Your life starts with them and ends with them. Life without them is meaningless, and to be honest, I don’t want to live in the world where her love isn’t glazed upon everything.”

A series of “awwws” erupted through the crowd. People were now more interested in their conversation. I slowly inched towards the edge of the crowd of people. I stopped once I was a few people behind Samantha.

Nicholas’s words echoed through my ears and filled me with happiness. It made me even happier knowing that Nicholas had always felt this way about me. His love was much greater than our bond.

Samantha snorted and rolled her eyes.

“That kind of love only exists when you find your mate, and from what I know, neither you nor I have a mate.”

Nicholas and my mating hadn’t become public knowledge yet. Only people we had told knew, and that too wasn’t even the whole story.

“Who told you he doesn’t have a mate?” I finally spoke, spooking the people in front of me.

Everyone in front of me moved aside, revealing where I was standing. Samantha’s head whipped around so fast she could have broken her neck.

A smile spread across Nicholas’s face as his eyes finally met mine. He had been looking for me.

“No offence to Queen Danton but everyone knows King Parker hasn’t found his mate yet.” Samantha rolled her eyes.

Kona growled. She was disrespecting me.

“Did you just roll your eyes at me?” I tilted my head to the side and narrowed my eyes.

Everyone gasped and looked at Samantha. They all knew how disrespectful that was.

“N-...no-... no Queen Danton.” Samantha stuttered, nervously looking around at all the staring faces.

Nicholas chuckled. His smile turned into his signature sexy smirk.

“Uh-huh, next time you roll your eyes at me, I’ll make sure you don’t have eyes to roll. Do I make myself clear?” I slowly walked up to them and stood next to Nicholas.

Samantha nodded her head vigorously.

“As for King Parker, I hear he has found his mate. Am I right?” I looked up at Nicholas.

“Yes, ma’am” Nicholas wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me flush against his chest.

“This King has found his Queen” he lowered his lips and captured mine, kissing me deeply.

I melted into Nicholas’s embrace and kissed him back. His soft lips moved against mine as his arms around me tightened, holding me as close as possible. I wrapped my arms around his neck and deepened our kiss. We had forgotten that we were standing in front of over three dozen eyes staring at us. All I wanted was to be wrapped up in Nicholas’s arms and never leave.

Someone cleared their throat, interrupting our moment. We both pulled away, but Nicholas didn’t let go of me. He kissed my forehead and turned us around to face whoever had cleared their throat.

I turned to find my father standing a little distance from us with a big smile on his face.

“Something you two want to share with everyone?” You could see the pride on his face.

From behind him, Asher and Matt appeared with their mates clinging on to them. Asher looked as confused as the dozens of eagerly waiting faces staring at us. The pack may belong to my father, but as their Queen, my happiness was their happiness.

“I guess it’s time you all know what’s going on” I looked up at Nicholas. He squeezed me, encouraging me.

I grabbed Nicholas’s hand and pulled him towards the bonfire. We stood next to the pile of corpses and turned to face the crowd forming before us. Everyone close to us stood right in the front, waiting to hear what I had to say.

“I’m sorry we weren’t more transparent with you all with what was happening but trust me, everything was moving so fast, and we lacked a lot of information. We also didn’t want the villains to know about what we did know since we had to protect our informants.”

“Duke Johnson, aka Clark Miller, is the son of banished Alpha Tim Johnson.” People gasped and chatter erupted from the crowd. I raised my hand, and immediately everyone went quiet.

“He was using me to open a very powerful vortex so that he could become a hybrid that channels all supernatural worlds. He created a rogue army to help him achieve his plans. Duke’s hatred for our Goddess was so intense; he was willing to go to any lengths to make sure he was successful. He pretended to be my mate and used me as well as King Joel’s daughter Claire” I looked to my right where Claire was standing, hanging on to Noah like a bat hanging off a tree. Her eyes were still red from all the crying.

I continued, “Duke had magically blinded me to prevent me from ever finding my real mate because as part of the ritual, he needed to sacrifice an unmated White Wolf. With the help of Sensei Gideon and Alpha Trent, we were able to stop Duke and prevent any harm from coming to our people and our world.”

I couldn’t help but smile as I looked up at Nicholas. His smile and gaze held so much love and admiration, it made my insides wobbly.

“Once Duke’s spells wore off me, I finally found my real mate. He had been right in front of me the entire time, and I didn’t even know. As much as I wish I had known earlier who he was, I think the time we had as friends has made our relationship much stronger. I can not thank the Moon Goddess enough for giving me such a wonderful man.”

“So, to end the suspense, let me introduce you to my mate, King Nicholas Parker.”

Cheers and howls erupted once again. It was much louder and joyous this time. People applauded and jumped up and down. Nicholas cupped my face and captured my lips, giving me a long passionate kiss.

Once we pulled away, I looked over to my dad. The sparkle of pride and happiness shone on my father's face. He walked over and hugged me tightly before turning and pulling Nicholas into a hug as well.

“Welcome to the family, son. I am so pleased! You both have made me so proud!” Dad cooed and patted on Nicholas’s back.

“Does your father know?” Dad pulled away as he quizzed Nicholas.

“Yes, Alpha Danton, he does. We told him before we came here.” Nicholas pulled me into his arms again. They are two strong molds that were made especially for me.

“Well, call him now and tell him to come down immediately. We need to celebrate!” Dad laughed.

“Hang on, dad. We have more important things to take care of first.” I looked over at the two corpses on the ground.

From my right, Matt, Ash, and Ethan strolled over to us. Matt had Natalie in tow. She looked down at her brother's body without remorse. From my left, Noah and Claire came closer. Claire showed no sign of wanting to be separated from Noah. Whatever was going on there, the arrival of King Joel would reveal it.

“It’s time,” I whispered, and all the boys nodded.

The boys grabbed some wood from next to the bonfire and made two pyres. Matt and Ash grabbed Erik’s body while Nicholas and Noah grabbed Duke’s. They put the corpses on the pyres and moved away.

“Today will mark the day we put an end to the Johnson lineage. The end to the rogue curse that created the divergence between our people. From here on, I will make it my mission to bring peace to any estranged werewolf and give them a place in our community.”

The crowd around me cheered and clapped. Giving rogues a place in our society was always a touchy subject; however, change was necessary, and I was glad to see my pack members agreed with me. I knew even though I was happy to make changes; not everyone would be. Luckily for me, I already had two out of the four votes.

Nicholas grabbed a torch and held it out for me.

“Get me another one, please,” I said as I took the one he was holding.

I took both the torches and walked over to Natalie.

“Would you like to do the honors?” I asked and held the torch out for her. She stared at me for a second before her shaky hands reached out for the torch. Matt was right next to her in a flash, helping her hold the torch.

I strode over to Claire, “how about you? Would you like to do the honors?” I held the torch out for her.

Claire wiped her face took a deep breath in. She straightened up and stood tall while placing her hand over mine on the torch.

“Only if you burn the son of a bïtch with me,” she spoke.  

I smiled at her and nodded. We both walked around to the pyre Duke’s body was on. Matt and Natalie stood next to Erik’s pyre.

“Light them up,” I growled.

Claire and I tilted our torch and watched the blanket covering Duke’s naked body catch on fire before the fire engulfed his entire body.

Across from us, Matt and Natalie did the same. Natalie’s sobs filled the atmosphere as the fire engulfed her brother's body.

I tossed the torch into the bonfire and stepped away. Nicholas wrapped his arms around my waist from behind and kissed the side of my head.

“Burn asshöles,” Nicholas whispered, making me chuckle.

The fire snarled as the orange and red flames danced together, burning the corpses.

I let go of the breath I had been holding on to since this all began. It felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

My future was finally looking brighter.