EPILOGUE | NEW BEGINNINGS

***MIKYLE***

She's watching the trees again. Bare and dead looking wood that couldn't hide me if I weren't so careful to stay out of view. Her bright red hair, the same color of fresh blood, is tucked into a tight bun, loose curs making a peacock plume over her head - like a crown. Wrapped in various layers of clothing, just enough to cover her arms and legs, less than what a human would wear, but more than anything a vampire would.

I don't know if I should be annoyed she's reverted back to her Wolven ways. Even after the Blooming, the bitter-sweet memory of her non-changing change flashing to the forefront of my mind. *There* and darkening my mood. *Then again.*.. I begrudgingly relax my slightly tensed muscles. *She is herself. And that's what matters*.

"Who's the voyeur now?" A grumbly voice harrumphs - practically in my ear. I don't bother removing my eyes from the princess as I become aware of the puppies presence. She's been staring at the forest for what seems like forever. Like she's waiting for someone. And I have a more than annoying feeling that said *someone* just arrived - not the she seems to have sensed him.

"Still you." I reply coolly. Partly wondering why he's hiding himself from her right now.

"You're no longer part of her guarding detail." Zane growls at me, crossing his arms as he nods towards my princess. "Why are you here?"

"Someone has to keep an eye on her." I answer, only half lying. "I *am* her sponsor." I add, almost guiltily. I find it annoying that I feel like I have to explain myself to him - but she's not really mine, is she?

"About that," Zane's mood and tone are as dark as his hair right now, the thick cloud of anxiety and roiling anger he's normally so good at hiding around me is thick in the scent of his blood. "She won't need it." He's glaring at me now, like he think's by staring me down I'll run away with my tail between my legs. Like I'm one of his underlings. *Pathetic*.

"Probably not." I shrug, rolling my eyes until they fall on him. Meeting the icy smolder of his penetrating gaze. There was a time the coldness radiating from him would almost make me flinch. Puppies always make me uneasy, their primitive and boiling emotions, the way they were so quick to make stupid decisions, how they couldn't manage to formulate a decent plan and always resorted to brute strength. But not this one.

This Alpha pup is more like us than I've given him credit for. The last few months have showcased that. Cold and calculating, willing to set aside his personal agenda to get real work done. He's earned a spec of my respect, I'll give him that. More than I have for any Wolven. His father included.

"But the fact remains that she has given me the task. And I have accepted." I add after a moment, leveling my eyes with his. A flare of my annoyance at their relationship sparks at my thirst, just a tiny bit. Enough to make my eyes brighten with warning...and maybe a little challenge. "We will outlive you. You should be grateful, she will never be alone."

He surprises me when he doesn't react - beyond the scent of his turmoil dying. I get the distinct feeling there's something he's not tell me... I frown, studying the Wolven for a moment. But his steely eyes give away nothing. Hiding behind the defenses of his powers. *Coward*.

"Just..." Zane's face blanks, completely unreadable as I continue to wait for a reaction. "Stop spying on her." He finally says. "If you're going to check in on her, let her know you're there."

"The way you've been so boldly telling her you've been 'checking in' on her every night since the treaty?" I shoot back with a knowing smirk. Still no reaction.

"She hasn't been answering my calls, I just wanted to make sure she wasn't spiraling - again." The Alpha pup mutters, his eyes flicking over to where she sits, oblivious to our conversation. Probably due to the Alpha pup's powers. I see something bright out of the corner of my eye and turn my head a little as the scent of human tickles my nose.

"What is she doing here-" Zane blinks bewilderingly as a human teen calls out to the princess, drawing her attention. A twinge of the human girl's scent make my nose twitch. This isn't good.

"Wait." I mutter as the puppy moves to intersect the two. "This will be the first test." I tell him. The human girl catches my princess by surprise and engages her briefly.

"You can't be serious." The Alpha pup growls at me, glaring at my arm, now blocking him from making his presence known. "Shit." He breathes - and I catch the smell of the human's blush - scorching through the crisp air and zinging along my senses.

"Have faith." I mutter back, watching, but also tensed and ready to intervene if need be.

The flare of the human's blush is setting my princess's senses off. Her vampire side flares, paling her skin to an almost ashen state. The human female tries to get closer, but my princess says something that makes her stop. My princess stands, a little too slowly, as though it takes a great effort to do so. *She's fighting the bloodlust, good*.

They converse, though my princess seems to antagonize the human and the scent of the human's blood becomes stronger, flaring even more brightly with her emotions. And still, my princess goes on speaking as if she's unaffected. Almost.

Unperceivable signs are flaring in the way my princess is looking at the human, the slight twitching of her throat that means she's having trouble swallowing, the too rapid rise and fall of her chest. The way she's holding onto herself - as if that will hold back the change. And it seems to be working...

"Huh." I murmur as I notice the subtle shifting of color in my princess's normally deep blue eyes, the flaring of another color - and not the bright red I half-expected. In fact, it's a color so surprising I never expected to see it - well, not this soon. *I would have bet my left leg she never would have-* My eyes flick to the Wolven beside me, suspicion rising in my stomach as I consider the timeline of events and possibilities. That stupid black scarf around his neck would be too conspicuous if it weren't so cold out here. *Yes...it's definitely possible.*..

"What?" Zane growls at me, the slight hesitation in his voice making me think he knows exactly what I'm about to say.

"You let her drink from you. Directly." It's not a question. And he knows it.

"She's my mate." He growls the response, just as he has been this whole time. I narrow my eyes at him, hating the sound of that title and the twist of ice it invokes in my chest.

"She's much more than that now." I smirk back, and the pup frowns, a confused lines appearing on his forehead as his brows furrow. "She's no longer a fledgling, but a full vampire now." I look back at my princess, watching as even the human takes notice of the color change in my princess's eyes.

"What the hell are you going on about?" Zane asks, his voice becoming raspy as he seems to grasp the gravity of his latest mistake.

"She would have had more time to come to terms with the power, if you hadn't fed her." I tut softly to him. He's utterly silent as he absorbs my words, the wheels in his head almost audibly turning. "This is going to be an interesting year." I murmur to myself, almost giddy as the surging color permeates the sapphire and turns her irises an intense and deep evergreen. The green of royalty. The green we associate with vast amounts of power. A smile creeps to my mouth as I inhale the wonderful scent of fresh-baked apple pie radiating from the newly awakened Queen.