Chapter 149

Alaric’s POV

Cara’s phone call has me running before I even hang up. I don’t have patience to wait for a car, instead I shift and ran at full speed to the hospital. I’m there in no time at all.

Bursting through the door, it’s as if the staff already know where I’m headed. They direct me towards Cara and Mia at once. The minute I see them through the window, I hurry through the door, into Mia’s room.

“Dad!” she calls, which fills me to the brim with warmth and love. My little girl, calling for me. Gods, a few brief weeks ago, I was so alone. Yet now, I have so, so much.

My children, Mia and Ethan, have filled my life with such joy. Someday, I hope we can all be a full family, with me and Cara together as mates.

For now, however, I’m perfectly happy to rush to my daughter and hold her in my arms.

She starts crying at once, and I feel my own emotions stir.

Resting my cheek on the top of her head, I tell her, “I’m so glad you are safe, Mia. I was so scared.”

“I tried to be brave, Daddy,” she says, her tiny voice trembling. “I wanted to make you and Mommy proud.”

“You did, sweetheart,” I tell her. “We are both so, so proud.”

Closing my eyes, I try to fight back the wave of guilt that I can feel ready and waiting to crash over me. Mia doesn’t deserve to have to deal with any of my drama. She has too much of her own trauma to sort through.

Still, I feel the need to say something. She deserves to know how sorry I am.

“I’m so sorry,” I tell her. “I should have been looking out for you and I failed you so much.”

“I’m the one who climbed out the window, Dad,” Mia says through her sniffles. “You told us to stay put. Ethan told me. But I… I don’t know… This is my fault…”

The waterworks start once more and I hate myself for having brought it up.

“No,” I tell her at once. “None of this is your fault.”

“Then it’s not your fault either,” she says.

For five years old, she’s maybe the wisest kid I know. “Okay,” I tell her. “Okay, I won’t say it again.”

Inside, I still feel the guilt though. In this moment, in agreement with my wolf, I make an eternal vow.

My daughter will never be hurt like this again.

Cara’s POV

Watching the father and daughter reunited warms my heart and fills me with joy. Now that the fear has gone from me, there’s more room for the happiness of a reunion, especially one as sweet as this.

For too long, I denied my children knowledge and access to their father.

At the time, I hadn’t been certain that Alaric would have been good in that role. When I’d known him in the past, he’d always been too selfish. He couldn’t see me for the person I was, or our relationship as what it should have been, what it deserved to be.

It was almost like he had some hidden resentment for me then, about something I didn’t understand. I still don’t. But that resentment seems gone now. Now, he is more open to a relationship with me, and has taken to being a father in the best possible way.

Though, what this experience has reaffirmed for me is that our children must never be heirs. The world is too hostile, wanting to hurt those kids at every turn. They deserve to live their lives happy, without the pressures of the crown, or the fear of dangers that come with it.

I want those kids to have good childhood experiences, a life filled with joy and play and laughter.

We’d been in DuskWood for a short time, and already they’ve experienced such trauma. Granted, that trauma followed us from BloodyMoon, but it was only a remnant of an unpleasant past.

Lilia desired power, and because I stood in her way of it, both past and present, she resented me. She hated me. She was going to see me killed one way or another.

Did she not understand that in doing so, Alaric would only hate her more?

Perhaps she no longer cared. Perhaps it was only the revenge that drove her now. Likely that was the same for George as well.

They’d have plenty of time to mull over their revenge now, from a prison cell, though I hoped they would eventually realize the futility of such an endeavor.

What a shame it would be for anyone to waste their life hating another person.

Yet, I push those thoughts to the side. Lilia and George have hurt us all for the last time, and I would be doing a disservice for the future my kids and I deserve by wasting one more thought on them.

Instead, I think about the future, and what it could look like.

It’s troubling, knowing such dangers are tied with Alaric. While I would never deny the kids access to their father ever again, is a reunion between him and I truly such a smart decision?

My heart’s desires aside, being with Alaric again could mean more troubles, more dangers, for both me and my children. How many others waiting in the wings, secretly hating me and plotting against me?

Alaric is a popular king, both for his policies and his good looks. He has no deficit of women who want to romantically entangle themselves to him. If he were to date me again, would they start to plot against me too?

Noel, in terms of safety, is the smarter choice for me romantically. With Noel, my kids and I would never be in the limelight as much as we would be with Alaric. Even if I return to BloodyMoon, even if I rise in the political ranks of the pack, I can’t imagine ever being hated as much in being with Noel as I would in being with Alaric.

My heart though… I’m not sure if it will let me settle for anything less than true love, regardless of the danger.

After a time, the mood begins to settle. Mia leans back on her chair. When the therapist arrives, she asks to speak with Mia alone.

Mia is okay with it, so long as Alaric and I stand by the window so she can see us.

Only as Alaric and I move to the spot Noel and I former inhabited do I notice Noel’s absence.

He left without saying goodbye, but I can’t be sure when that actually happened. I hadn’t seen him go. I didn’t even think to check.

Alaric and I stand side by side in silence, watching Mia talk with the therapist.

We don’t speak. We aren’t touching. And yet, I feel more at peace with him than I had with Noel. There’s a companionship between us that is hard to give words too. I feel comforted just by being near him. Seeing how much he cares for our daughter… It makes me so grateful.

“I think we’ll be able to take her home after this,” I say, to distract myself from my thoughts.

“Ethan is waiting,” Alaric says. “I’m sure he can’t wait to be reunited with his sister.”

I can’t either. Having my family all together and safe once more…