#9 The Lonely Rogue

Caspian

I knew that Junie was apprehensive and nervous about finding out the truth, but I was vibrating with excitement. I wanted to be a father to Junie’s pups, I wanted us to be a family. I was eager to get back to the castle and take care of all the particulars, so I could get Junie to the infirmary. Above anything else, I wanted to make sure that she was okay.

It was a short trip back to the realm. Jett had already managed to secure the prisoners by the time we got back and took care of securing the cells. Vivian and her parents were also there waiting for us, sitting in the living room awkwardly with Simon and Jake. My mother was nowhere to be found.

“Viv.” Junie said, her voice full of relief as she hurried across the room to hug her friend.

“You’re okay.” Vivian sighed, holding onto her tightly. There was an older couple sitting on the couch that I assumed were her parents.

“Where’s Jett?” She asked, looking around.

“He’s finishing up with the prisoners. He’ll be back here soon.” I assured her, moving to stand beside Junie.

“Oh, Caspian, these are my parents.” Vivian motioned towards the couch. Her parents stood up and shuffled to her side.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, I’m Caspian Storm.” I offered them my hand and they both stared at it apprehensively. Slowly, Vivian’s father shook it in greeting.

“I’m Walter Ryan and this is my wife, Camile. Thank you for your hospitality Mr. Storm. Or, eh, is it your highness?” Mr. Ryan stammard.

“Caspian is fine. You and your family are welcome here anytime.” I smiled.

Jett arrived then and Vivian practically threw herself in his arms, to her father’s utmost surprise. Jett soothed her, insisting that he was alright before kissing her on the lips.

“Are you okay, Vivvy?” He asked her, holding Viv’s face in his hands. She nodded feverishly,

“I’m okay, really. I’m just glad to be with you again.” Viv gushed, kissing Jett again. Mr. Ryan cleared his throat loudly.

“Jett, these are my parents.” Vivian said, pulling Jett towards them. I bit my tongue at Jett’s expression, trying not to laugh.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you both.” Jett smiled, shaking both their hands.

“If you’ll excuse us, Junie and I have to take care of some business. Shall we all reconvene for dinner?” I said, looking towards Jett who nodded. I took Junie’s hand and pulled her from the room.

“Do you mind? I wanted to find my mother.” I said to her,

“Of course.” She frowned, her eyes sad again. I mindlinked Malcolm, figuring he was with her.

“She’s in Ally’s room.” I said.

“Maybe I should wait down here.” Junie mumbled, coming to a stop in the middle of the hallway.

“No, she’ll want to see you, too.” I shook my head.

“I’m the reason her daughter is dead.” Junie’s voice was barely audible. I cupped her cheeks in my hands and forced her to look at me,

“That’s not true. Ally is gone because of Cohen and no one else. You wouldn’t let me blame myself for Sabrina’s death so you cannot blame yourself for Alice’s.” I gently squeezed her face, pressing my forehead against hers.

“I hate this.” She said, her eyes fluttering close.

“I know, my love, but it’ll get better.” I kissed her forehead and she nodded, taking my hand again and agreeing to follow me.

I quietly knocked on the bedroom door before pushing it open. Mother was sitting on the edge of Alice’s bed, hugging her pillow close to her chest. Malcolm was sitting in a chair on the other side of the room, his head in his hands. They both looked up when we entered.

“Oh, Junie, you’re okay?” Mother said, a spark of life in her eyes. She held out her hand and Junie took it,

“I’m okay.” She nodded.

“I’m so glad. I couldn’t take anyone else getting hurt.” She said, her voice catching.

“I’m so sorry, Lydia.” Junie said in a small voice.

“Nonsense, dear. This wasn’t your fault. In fact, I’m sorry that I brought that woman back into your life only to have her hurt you.” Mother said, her face hardening as she spoke of Constance.

“Don’t be. She made her own choices and I never trusted her.” Junie replied.

“Will you sit with me?” Mother asked and Junie nodded, eager to help. She sat beside her on the bed, their hands clinging to each other. I joined Malcolm on the other side of the room.

“Alice loved you like a sister, you know?” Mother sniffed.

“I loved her, too, and thought of her as my sister.” Junie said,

“She was so determined to get you and Caspian together,” Mother laughed lightly at the memory, “I knew she ran off to meet you when Caspian was gone. I didn’t stop her, I thought that if anyone could get you two together it was her.”

“You were right. The way Ally spoke about Caspian had an impact on what I felt for him. She convinced me to give him a chance.” Junie said, glancing up at me as she spoke.

“I’m so glad.” Mother pats Junie’s hand, “We’re lucky to have you as a part of our family.”

“I’m the lucky one, Lydia, I never had a family before.” Junie said.

“You’re sweet to say that,” Mother looked towards me then, “Caspian?” I stood up and traded spots with Junie.

“Take care of that sweet girl.” She said, holding my hand.

“You know I will, Mom.” I said.

“Malcolm has offered to….make all of the arrangements. Will you let him?” Mother said, speaking of funeral arrangements for Alice.

“Yes, if that’s what you want.” I agreed, looking over at Malcolm. He nodded and so did our mother,

“Yes, thank you.” Mother said, “Now, go, take care of Junie. She’s been through a lot these last few days.” I silently agreed, and Junie and I left the room.

“Let’s get you checked out.” I said once we were out of earshot.

“Okay.” Junie immediately looked nervous.

“It’ll be okay, love.” I said, squeezing her hand.

On the clear other side of the castle was the infirmary. It was an extension put onto the castle by my grandparents with two entrances, one inside and one outside of the castle. It was fully equipped to handle any injuries, from a broken arm to a poisoned warrior. It was the only medical building available in the entire realm, led by four healers and two doctor’s who were medically trained werewolves.

The healer, a witch named Shania, was waiting for us in the main lobby of the infirmary. She greeted us and quickly set us up in one of the exam rooms. She had Junie change into a medical gown for an internal ultrasound, since, if she was pregnant, she would only be a few weeks along, at most. Junie laid on the exam table with her legs in the stirrups, her face white and her eyes wide. I grabbed her hand and rubbed my thumb along her palm soothingly.

“It’ll be okay, my love, I promise.” I spoke in a soft, assuring voice. Junie only nodded.

Shania wheeled in a machine and sat down on a stool next to Junie. She switched Junie’s gown and placed the wand inside her. After a moment or two, she moved the screen around so we could see it. She pointed towards the black and white blob,

“See that there?” She said and I narrowed my eyes, trying to see the small wiggly dot she was pointing to.

“That’s your baby.”

Time stood still at those words. I stopped breathing and Junie looked like she was going to pass out.

“And there, that’s the twin.”

“Twins?” Junie gasped.

“Yes, Luna. Identical by the looks of it, though it’s hard to tell right now.” Shania nodded, pressing some buttons on the screen and pulling out the wand.

I looked at Junie but her eyes were locked on the screen. Shania printed out a long strip of the ultrasound pictures and handed it to me. Junie couldn’t pull herself away from the picture still on the machine’s screen.

“I would say you’re two weeks along. You should come back in six weeks. We’ll be able to get a heartbeat then and we can draw blood to determine the genders, if you’d like. As you know, a wolf’s pregnancy is only about five months.” Shania said, but I had a feeling it all fell on deaf ears.

“Thank you, Shania. Can we have a minute?” I asked.

“Absolutely, Alpha. Congratulations to you both.” She smiled before leaving the room.

I stood up and helped Junie get her legs out of the stirrups. She sat up slowly and ran my hand through her hair, patting down the stray curls.

“Are you okay?” I asked her quietly.

“Twins, Caspian.” She mumbled in shock.

“I know, dearest, it’s a shock.” I said.

“Are you happy?” She asked me with a puzzled expression.

“Junie?”

“It’s just so soon and there’s so much we still have to figure out. I haven’t even adjusted to living here, we don’t even share a bedroom, and I haven’t been officially made the queen or the Luna.” She was talking so fast it was making me dizzy.

“Shh, Junie, none of that matters. You make me the happiest man in any realm, all the realms. I love you more than I thought it was possible to love someone, and I love our life. Yes, it’s soon and yes we still have things to figure out, but I don’t care. I just want you, safe and happy and healthy, whatever that entails.” I tried to pack as much of my love as I could into my words, caressing her face with the tips of my fingers.

“Are you ready to be a father?” She asked, blinking her doe eyes at me.

“I’m ready to be a father with you. I knew from the moment I finally accepted you that I wanted to have pups, I wanted a family with you.” I said. She nodded but stayed silent.

“Junie, are you happy? Is this what you want?” I asked her and she stared at me for a moment before answering.

“Yes.” She finally smiled, “Yes to all of it. Yes to you, yes to the babies, yes to living with you and being in the realm, yes to being your queen and your Luna. Just, yes.” Her face broke into an ear splitting grin as she crushed her mouth to mine.

Epilogue

Junie

I threw my head back and laughed as I danced down the boardwalk in a white, lacey romper; it had long sleeves and sheer shorts that fell over a white slip in delicate lace detailings. My hair swirled around me as the breeze kicked off the ocean and sprayed us on the beach. Caspian was chasing me down the short, sandy boardwalk in a pair of cream colored cotton slacks and a button down shirt that had the first few buttons undone. We were both barefoot, our feet covered in sand with the sound of seagulls and crashing waves surrounding us.

“Junie!” Caspian laughed, complaining as I ran away from him. I giggled and whipped my head around to look at him, “Be careful!”

He finally caught up to me and wrapped his arms around my swollen belly from behind, nuzzling his face into my neck. He nipped at my mark and I shivered, pushing him away before I stripped him right here in the middle of the beach. He grabbed my left hand and laced our fingers together, watching as our rings glistened and sparkled from the sunlight.

The gorgeous diamond ring was set in the shape of a teardrop on top of a silver band, the diamond encrusted wedding band curved around the top of the diamond to fit together perfectly. Caspian’s wedding ring was silver and wide, but otherwise plain. We had just come from our private wedding ceremony on a beach near Charleston. It was just us and our twins still growing inside my belly, married by a human officiant. Last week I completed the Luna ceremony and had my coronation, officially being sworn in as the Queen Luna and accepted by the Royal Legacy pack.

A wedding wasn’t needed, but it was something both Caspian and I wanted before the babies were born. Twin boys were waiting patiently to grace our world, in fact, they were due in only a few weeks time. Sebastian and Alexander Storm would be the future princes of the werewolf realm, named after two women who lost their lives so Caspian and I could have ours: Sabrina and Alice.

Sebastian and Alexander would be born into a world without Cohen, Lord of the rogues, and without Corbin Cooper, their vial but confused grandfather. It is also Caspian and I’s hope that they grow up in a world without rogues, without bitter werewolves; a world where all the realms and species could join together and find peace.

Only a week after Cohen and Corbin were captured, they were executed after a royal trial. The Archer’s found all the rogues we sent to them guilty of conspiring against the realm and, with no interest in switching sides or pledging their loyalty, the rogues were executed as well. Reid was nowhere to be found.

My first act as the Luna Queen has already been set in motion. A refugee pack would be created inside the realm, welcoming every single rogue or packless wolf into its ranks with no questions asked. Anyone could join the Redemption pack and start over, creating a new identity for themselves if they saw fit.

We would offer them a home and a new beginning; one last chance. Should they waste their chance, should they choose violence or move against the royal family, they would be handed over to the Archer’s for questioning, imprisonment, or execution. With this, we hoped to bridge the gap within our own species.

Then there was Vivian, whose parents completely freaked out once inside the realm and bailed almost immediately. They had nothing against the werewolves and offered all the support in the world for Viv and myself, but they couldn’t handle living inside a completely new realm. They did, however, agree to franchise their bar. Thus the Wolf’s Den, under the management of Vivian Ryan and myself, was born.

Toonly, Clyde, and Sophia denounced their loyalty to Alpha Avery in order to join the Redemption pack. They wanted to continue working at the bar and stay close to us. With that, came a new wave of business to the realm. Slowly, Caspian was getting his wish to create an independent werewolf realm. We now had several restaurants, two grocery stores, an ice cream parlor, even an arcade. A mall was in the works as we speak.

“I love you so much, dearest.” Caspian purred as he wrapped his arms around me, keeping me close to his body.

“I love you, too, Alpha.” I said, running my hand through his loose hair.

“And I love you, two.” He mumbled to my belly, giving it a kiss before rising up to claim my lips with his.

“To think I ever thought I could live without you.” He whispered against my lips.

“What were you thinking?” I teased and he laughed, shaking his head.

“I wasn’t, clearly.”

“It’s okay, Alpha, I’m here to think for you now.” I said and Caspian threw back his head, laughing to the clear blue sky.

“Forever and always, my dear Luna.”

“Forever and always.” I echoed, pulling his face back to mine and consuming him.

Long live Alpha King Caspian and his starry eyed, curly haired Luna Queen, Junie; forever and always.