Unknown
Dallas‘ p.o.v.
I look around the room at my family and I realize that if I were to die tonight, I would die a happy woman.
Trion, Everett’s Lycan, lies curled up in front of the fireplace, and the Grandchildren are climbing over him as if he were a jungle gym. Charna joins him sometimes, but only when we are in the garden and the
sun is out.
“You okay, Little One?” Darius asks as he sits on the floor in front of me.
“I am fine, Old Man. I enjoy these moments with our family and sometimes I wish that we didn’t have a Kingdom to think about.” I answer.
As I listen to the noises around me and watch the Grandkids running around the living room, my mind starts to wander.
In the thirty–something years that Quinlan was King, we visited Shadow Valley Pack at least once a year. The first year was the most memorable one, because Nico was furious with Lucy for not giving him the Beta position.
He tried to get Quinlan on his side, but that backfired as Quinlan asked him if he would do it if the roles were reversed. Nico tried to argue that a man should fill the position and that Lucy hadn’t gotten the proper training.
Walker might have been an asshole, but he did train Lucy to be a damn good Beta. He even said so to Quinlan, and he confirmed that Lucy had received the same training I had.
A few months later, Nico had rejected Lucy and has been screwing around ever since. No woman is interested in staying with him and as far as we know, he is currently staying in a small Pack up north.
“Care to tell me where your mind took you, Little One?” Darius asks as he places his head in my lap, while
Daxton leans on the back of my chair.
“The past. So much has happened since I walked out of Shadow Valley territory and I wouldn’t change a damn thing.” I answer him and he knows that I sometimes wonder what the hell Nico was thinking when
he slept with Lucy.
I never got to ask him that question, and I doubt he would have answered me if I had been able to ask him.
Lucy is a different story, because I got the chance to ask her why she needed to take everything that was
mine.
Turns out that her Mother gave her a journal with her story written down. Lucy learned that her parents didn’t have a true Mate–bond and that Walker had tossed her aside for being a girl, something we had
already suspected.
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The journal contained many half–truths and blatant lies about me. Things Lucy’s Mother couldn’t have known, because she died without ever meeting me.
Additionally, some of the things she wrote down never happened, as I was too young for those events to have occurred, such as my interest in Lucy’s true Mate–bond or my attempt to take her position from her.
We worked through our differences and our family bond is as strong as that of any family.
“Mom, is there anything you want to change about your past?” Marshall asks and for a moment, I am at a loss for words.
“No. I have had a fantastic life, despite a rocky start. I have a family that I love and who loves me in return. I was able to right many wrongs for the Shifters in our Kingdom. I have seen Shifters rise above their potential and I have witnessed Shifters crash and burn.
What would my life have been like if my parents had stayed together?” I finish my answer.
It is a question no one can answer. You live your life to the best of your abilities and make decisions as life presents them to you. There is no right or wrong in the choices you make, because you made the best choice possible under the circumstances.
“I don’t know if we would have met or not and I am glad I don’t have to find out.” Daxton responds.
“Damn, you could have ended up with Nico. No, I am glad that he was an ass and that the Goddess put you on our path.” Darius chimes in and the disgusted look on his face has me giggling.
Uncle Vaughn looks at me with a sad smile on his face because even though his Sister dug her own grave, he still misses her and still wonders if there was something he could have done. But as we already concluded, I might not have ended up where I am today.
We all ended up where we needed to be to make the changes that our Kingdom needed.
During the nearly seventy years that King Quinlan ruled, followed by Queen Rani, many laws, protocols, and rules were changed. They reversed everything that had been buried or removed during King
Vaughn’s reign, as well as that of his Father and Grandfather.
Those changes made life easier for every Shifter in the Phaenian Kingdom and paved the way for their children and Grandchildren, followed by many more generations.
Dallas outlived both her Mates and spent her last few years at the Palace with her children, grandchildren and even great–grandchildren.
Quinlan passed away before Rani stepped down as Queen, leaving Larissa with their four children and three grandchildren at the time. Like Larissa, their youngest child was deaf, but it didn’t prevent him from becoming the best representative the Kingdom has ever known.
Everett lived long enough to see his Grandson be crowned as King, but never saw his Grandson find his
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true Mate-bond. Quinlan and Everett both died of an aggressive and ancient disease that has taken more Wolves and Lycans than anyone wants to remember.
Dave and Benton outlived their Sister. Both of them visited her grave until the day they died, leaving behind a wealthy Kingdom with solid and fair laws.
Lucy found her connection after Aubree became Shadow Valley Pack’s Beta and lived at the Palace until the day she died, shortly followed by her Mate.
Preston and Pearl never had children and lived within Silver Eclipse territory until their deaths many years later, peacefully in their sleep.
As for Alpha Leon and Nico, I suggest that you use your imagination. After the debacle with Alpha Leon Jr, Alpha Leon Sr left the territory to find Nico. Whether he succeeded or not is unknown.
The End
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