Chapter 159

Annette POV:
By the time Grayson got to his mother she had dealt with Deacon, slicing his throat with her claws and he choked on his blood. We burned him in the woods Grayson and Amaria were the only ones in attendance.

Not a hair on my son's head had been touched and I had Amaria to thank. I still had moments where I found myself waiting for the horrible news that Marcus or Deacon had somehow risen from the dead, or Marcus had an even more deranged twin brother lurking in wait to kill me. Whatever far-fetched nightmare my brain managed to concoct I pushed them away. It wasn’t easy but I was slowly training myself to move past my fear and anger.

We were still in the early stages of rebuilding, We had been given Marcus’s land as a vacation retreat or a trophy depending on how you look at it. The people of the Crescent Bane pack were left with two choices stay with us and join our pack or leave and become rogues. Some chose to leave, some went to join packs of their families, but a good chunk of them stayed.

In a matter of a year, our pack had gone from attacked and ragged to nearly doubled in size from the rogues we’d taken in, to the Crescent Bane pack members we had accepted. Most of those who stayed had good intentions luckily we had Simon to tell us who might be up to trouble and the small faction who tried were dealt with and were now in prison under the council's authority.

I spent my days helping people settle in, and deciding where new homes can be constructed. Grayson is overseeing the expansion of our fields to accommodate the many new mouths to feed and the rebuilding of our defenses. We have found a steady rythym over the last few weeks a contentness we haven't felt since just after we were married.

We’re planning a large feast with all four packs in the region to celebrate, and to send off my family…well most of my family. Theo is still asleep his brain swelled after being beaten so savegly, he’s been asleep these past three weeks not giving us much hope. Cea spends her days at his bedside I do my best to get her to eat, trying to get a smile out of her with a few jokes here and there. I keep my mother from shouting away anybody who comes near him and rely on James to keep my father together as well.

“I knew you were so special i kept you under lock and key and now look what’s happened,” He told me one night as we’d sat beside Theo. “Your mother has lost her mind, you’ve been through hell, and Theo..” He’d choked up on his words.

“Theo will live I’m sure of it, and you did your best,” I’d felt some anger towards them for shielding us and giving us false confidence in our preparations for the real world. The monsters from my husband's past had been the horrifying wake-up call that had shattered our glass cage.

“We should have done more, put you out into the world preparedness you for the risks of leaving us better,” He’d insisted.
“Perhaps there’s still time,” I hadn’t been able to help myself, I knew how much my brother had flourished since joining us here, James wanted to stay I could see it in his actions, if I could get my father to see that and to consider letting him live with us it would be the best thing for him.

My father ever the insightful saw what I meant in an instant “She’d never agree to it, not after everything. I don’t disagree with you that he’s flourished here, and he would do so well in a place of his own, but your mother….” He had sighed shaking his head.

We hadn’t been the only ones to lose sight of the real world and become undone by the damages we’d suffered. I know my mother had one role in life she held above anything else, she loved us with everything she had to a deep fault. She didn’t want to see us unhappy in any way but unfortunately, that's not a full life, and James was determined to live one.

“She can’t have her way this time, he needs to stay, just tell her he’s here to watch over Theo and help Cea,” I’d offered. “At least at first,”

He’d considered it a moment and nodded. “Perhaps it’ll work,”

After that and much arguing my mother agreed that James could stay if only for Theos' sake but she insisted the moment my brother woke up all of my siblings would return home the very same day. I would have to figure out some other scheme but I wouldn’t give up so easily. I wanted him to keep going after how furious at the world he’d been and the actions he’d taken, to where he was now so confident and calm.

I now knew what that was like and slowly crawling back myself I would defend my brother’s peace to the hilt, even against our own mother.

I still spent my days with Christian by my side, on my hip or crawling around wherever I was at the time. I had become accustomed to wrenching something he’d found out of his grasp before he could put it in his mouth. Wolves though known for their honor, were not known for their hygiene.

Many nights Grayson and I attempted to get him to walk he stumbled a few steps here and there and was pulling himself up like a pro but I was determined to be there for his first steps. I had missed so much already I was *not* going to miss this. Amaria insisted the more I stressed about it the more likely I was to be absent for it, which sent me into a teary fit and Grayson glowered her away from us.

“He’ll walk soon enough he’s just enjoying the attention he’s getting he’s waiting for the perfect moment,” Ella proclaimed as we sat in Graysons office and I led him around by his hands.

I looked down at my son who sat back on his but in a huff giggling up at me with such bright eyes. I felt the pull in my stomach to have another child grow inside me but I shoved it back down. I loved Christian and I had no doubt many babies would be on the horizon but my fear still lingered.

I don’t think by the time my next heat came I’d be ready to be pregnant again, no matter how much I loved being a mother.

“Mama, mama,” I encouraged him.

My second objective was to get him to say mama before he said dada I spent my days repeating the sound over and over like it was my breath. I was quite sure anytime my husband had him he was doing the same thing but I would win I was sure of it. I had enlisted Ella and Charlotte to do the same as well if they were ever alone with my baby, and though she was a loyal as they come I’d caught Elizebeth doing the same as well.

The night before the big celebration I sat with my husband on our back porch thinking of the day Marcus had come onto our lands, back then I hadn’t even considered this place my own and now my son played in the backyard. It was well over a year since that day and I was shocked to realize how much had changed in what felt like the span of a breath.

“We will have many more days like this Netta,” He whispered in my ear and kissed my neck as we sat beside our son playing with his blocks.

I leaned my face up to the sky relishing the setting sun on my face and the warmth it brushed over my skin. I took the still serene moment and thanked the goddess for seeing us through. For the first time since the final battle, I felt like it was truly over. I had him by my side and our son was safe I couldn't have asked for anything more.
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Of course I'll put out an epilougue of their life after this, but that's the end of thier story. Rest assured they live happily ever after. The next chapters put out will detail their life and then I will put out the epilogue of Chalrlie and Ella and what they must do to protect their love from the pressures of being a powerful famlily. I cannot believe the response the story got when I first started writing I was sick and needed something to do to pass my days I decided I always had fun writing and it wouldn't do me any harm, never in a million years did I expect this many people to read what I had wrote and enjoy it, even with my poor grammar and spelling. I want to thank everybody who has followed along and hope you all have a wonderful day! :)