Chapter 206

Helen’s POV

I left the backroom with Justin, feeling much more settled than I ever thought I would have after everything I’d gone through. If he could really control Beowulf that much, it showed me how hard he’d fought himself and how much he’d come to terms with who we were as a couple.

When we got back to the room that had the pool tables, a bunch of the warriors from the True Mates pack were there helping with the injured captives that we’d set free. As if she knew how much they meant to me, Julianne was guarding the little group of pixies who sat on top of a table. She shooed away any of the warriors who came over and tried to help with them.

“You’re back!” She gave me a wave. “Did you work everything out between you?” she asked when I got close.

“Yes. Hopefully, things will go as well with you and Peter.”

She bit her lip and looked down at the table. “I hope so, too. In the meantime, the pixies wanted to go with you, and I figured you’d want the same. So, I wouldn’t let anyone else take care of them.”

“Thank you,” I said.

I hunted around behind the counter of what looked like a mini bar until I found a small plate. This I lined with the softest napkins I could find. I went back to the table, and very gently, I picked up each one of the pixies, placing them carefully on the folded napkin.

“I’ll take you back to my house with me. Freya, are you coming?”

“I’m going to sit on the plate with my fellow pixies,” she said. “Thank you for giving us a ride and for taking care of us.”

“I’ll do what I can. You guys can have the spare bedroom in my house. And you guys are welcome to turn it into your own pixie neighborhood, and fix it up however you like it. And all you have to do is ask, and I’ll get you anything you need to make it the most comfortable home you’ve had in a very long time.”

Little tiny pixie cheers tinkled off the plate. They didn’t seem to have much energy because normally, they’d be like Freya, buzzing around excitedly. But at least they were free.

Justin led me outside the community clubhouse, and we walked together, him keeping one hand on the small of my back and me keeping two hands on the plate.

“We had to park well outside the neighborhood’s exterior walls,” he explained. “Because we didn’t want to get close enough for any of the guards to find us. Do you want me to go get the car and come back and pick you up? I can leave you to wait at the guardhouse with one or two of the warriors to make sure you stay safe.”

“Is there any reason to think I wouldn’t be safe?”

He shrugged. “Can I be positive that we caught every single one of them? No. Did we catch the two who mattered most? Yes. Do I trust you on your own after your mate was responsible for decimating their ranks? Not a chance.”

He caught me in a serious stare. “If anyone slipped through us, you’d be an easy target for retribution.”

“I’ll just walk with you then,” I said. I took a deep breath of night air. “Freedom feels good, and being in your company is making me happy. I think I’ll take as much of both as I can get tonight.”

He chuckled. “I won’t argue with that. But I will say that thank God tonight is almost over.” He pointed toward the east, where the deep velvet blue of the night was starting to turn into a lighter dusty blue. “It won’t be too long before sunrise.”

I snuggled against him so that our shoulders rubbed together. “Won’t it be amazing? Our first day without having to look over our shoulders or worry!”

His hand tightened against my back. “My father is still unaccounted for.”

“Yes, but without all of the worry that having the Huntsman and that vile wizard Martin on the loose cause, I think your father suddenly seems like a much easier foe. He doesn’t have his pack behind him. He can’t use Martin’s magic to manipulate anyone. And we only have one person to focus on taking care of. Your father should come fairly easily.”

I rested one hand on my stomach. “Besides, we’re going to have other things to worry about soon enough.”

“What do you mean by that?” Freya chimed in from the plate.

I blushed. “It means that we took some time tonight while we were reconnecting and mated so that I’ll have his lycan pup.”

The plate suddenly erupted in tiny murmurs as the pixies talked amongst themselves.

“It’s funny for us that because we talked about something similar while you guys were gone,” Freya explained. “It’s funny that you were off working on creating more lycans while we were talking about how we would need to pair off to make more pixies.”

“Did you come to any conclusions?” I asked curiously.

She nodded. “For the best genetic diversity, we’ve decided that all of the remaining female pixies will have one child each with all of the remaining males. That way, we’ll have as many children with as many very bloodlines as possible. That will give us the strongest base for restarting our species.”

“Sounds smart,” I said.

“It’s too bad I can’t do anything like that to build up a base for repopulating lycans,” Justin grumbled.

“It’s not such a big deal with you,” Freya chimed in. “I wouldn’t worry about it too much, King Justin. After all, since lycan is the dominant gene, any pups you have will be lycans. And any pups they have will be lycans.”

“So, they can take as many werewolf partners as they want, and you’ll still have a fairly broad genetic base that way,” she continued. “While all of the resulting offspring will still be lycans, it’ll still take a few generations before lycans could consider marrying one another again, but at least you shouldn’t be in danger of losing your species entirely now.”

“Poor Russo.” Her tiny voice sounded hugely sad. “I don’t know what can be done for him. He doesn’t have werewolf partners.”

I bit my lip in excitement. “Speaking of which,” I said. “How are things going between Russo and Lisa, Justin?”

He gave me a wide smile, the happiest one I’d seen in quite a long time. “I think things are going pretty well. Russo hasn’t said it, and neither has Lisa, but I think they’ve agreed to marry once everything calms down a little. They’ve pretty much been inseparable.”

“How do you know that they intend to marry?” I asked.

“Well, it’s not strictly a diamond wedding band, but she is wearing a little emerald ring on her wedding finger.”

I wanted to jump up and down, but then I remembered the plate of pixies in my hands. I didn’t want to dump them off accidentally. They’ve been through enough.

“That is so exciting,” I said.

“Well, yes, it’s nice that he’ll have a companion,” Freya said. “But it’s got to be sad for him, knowing that his species is going to end.”

This time, I couldn’t help the giggle that escaped.

“What are you hiding,” she demanded.

“It’s a secret. You can’t tell Russo or Lisa,” I said. “Can you guys promise?”

“If it’s an order from our queen,” they all chimed in together, “then we promise.”

“I specifically chose Lisa for Russo because if he has children with a witch, they will be fae, just like any children that Justin and I have together will be lycans.”

Freya gasped. “Are you serious?”

Then she flew off the plate, smacking into my cheek in a pixie hug. “You are such a wonderful queen. You’re just helping everyone all the time.”

I blushed again. “I try. And I’m going to continue helping everyone settle into what should be a much better life now that we’re finally free of the Huntsman.”