Chapter 75
Kelly
“Thanks again for leading the women’s self-defense class with me, Thorin,” I said as we began packing up our things.
“Of course, it was nice event,” he said. “I will finish cleaning up, you should get going before you are late.” He said, shooing me.
“Thanks lovey.” I said, kissing his temple before running off to my next destination.
It was a big day for our kingdom, filled with lots of expansion and programs that were being offered for the first time ever. I had spent the past few months planning this day, our first annual community day in the pack. I convinced Thorin to lead a woman’s self-defense class, Jonas to have a kids program running all day, plus adult ones too. We provided lunch for everyone, and I was on my way now to go cut the ribbon for the free clinic that Emmett was finally ready to open.
“Perfect timing.” Emmett said as I approached the front of the new clinic.
A large group had already gathered and were excited about the grand opening. There were doctors and nurses standing at the entrance, waiting for the ribbon to be cut so they could see their first patients.
“Shall we?” I smiled, grabbing the large pair of scissors.
“After you.” He smiled.
“Good morning everyone! Thank you all for coming to the grand opening of our free clinic! We are excited to see you and work with you to better your health! None of this would have been possible without Dr. Emmett Barbato, who is also our hospital chief and Delta! So, without further ado, Dr. Barbato, will you please do the honors?” I said, handing him the scissors.
He seemed shocked, but gladly accepted and cut the ribbon, posing for a few photos along the way. Patients began flooding into the clinic, either for treatment or to just see what this place was all about. The staff did a great job at answering all the questions presented. Overall, the day was a complete success, and instead of a yearly tradition, it became a monthly one. I eventually found just the right people to take over. That way, myself and the guys could focus on our bigger plans.
Time seemed to speed up after that, days turning to weeks, weeks turning to months, months turning to years. Kylie delivered and had a healthy little girl, Cece. She was so sweet and I could see some of my mother’s features in her. Emmett and Julie decided to become chosen mates. They were expecting a boy in another month or so. Jonas and Kelsey eventually worked things out, and just as I had expected, they were a perfect match for each other. Jonas worshiped the ground she walked on, and Kelsey ate it up. Jonas was so good to her and her girls, and their other pups too. Oh yeah, Kelsey became a pup-making factory soon after she and Jonas marked each other, having three under three in addition to her older two.
On the flip side of things, we did experience some kickbacks. Thorin attended a number of events with me in other kingdoms, and someone must have recognized him and spread the word because we soon started getting threats sent to us. Some were even bold enough to come to my kingdom ready for a fight. Little did they know I had planned for occasions such as this. Our warriors, after several years of training under Thorin himself, were quite a threat these days. Anyone who dared to threaten the kingdom was wiped out almost immediately. And anyone who posed more of a threat was handled by Keres. Emmett had specially formulated a pill for me to take in emergency situations. Essentially, it would cancel the affects of my daily pill that kept her quiet. I still had to let her out every few weeks. Emmett said that if I didn’t, she might go even more insane and it might start to affect me as well. The pill he gave me was perfect for that too. We had a lot of control over her at the moment. Finally.
Even though we had some problems, the council seemed pleased with my work overall, and never asked me to change anything that I was doing. All my numbers and reports looked good according to them. That is where I was now, in King Edwards kingdom, at one of our quarterly meetings, trying not to doze off. But that was a good sign, it meant that things were generally good all around.
“Queen Kelly, need we remind you that you only have a year and a half to choose your mate?” Councilman Howard griped.
“No need. The date is set. Our ceremony will be late next month.” I smiled. “You should be getting your invitation any day now.”
Oh yeah, did I mention? I asked Thorin to be my mate, and he said yes. I remember it like it was just yesterday….
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“This was such a perfect day.” I hummed as Thorin ran his fingers through my hair while we watched the sunset near the pond where he used to live. We had a small fire going that gave off just enough heat, and the perfect campfire smell. These were some of my favorite moments with him, just sitting in a comfortable silence together.
“Da.” He agreed. “We should do more often.” He said, smiling down at me.
I had been working up the nerve all week to ask him, but there was never a time that felt as perfect as it did right now. We talked about it, becoming each others chosen mates, but I was always worried he would find his perfect counterpart and leave me behind.
I also secretly felt guilty for taking away his chance of finding his fated mate, even though he said he didn’t mind. Jonas said the same thing, many times, until he found Kelsey. But we have been together now for several years. I made every excuse not to move forward, and Thorin never pushed, just like he had promised. But now, I was done waiting. I was ready to be selfish and take what I so desperately wanted.
“Be my mate.” I said. “Be my king.” I blurted out.
He froze in place, his expression unreadable, but only for a split second. “You are ready for me to make you mine?” He smirked.
“I’m ready.” I smiled.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I only had one request, that we wait until our ceremony day to mark each other. It was my secret way of feeling better about myself for taking him away from his fated. He still had time to back out, up until our ceremony day, if he changed his mind and decided to go look for his mate. Plus, we had some negotiations to conduct with a few groups who were still after Thorin and I don’t think they would go very well if I was wearing his mark, and me his. We planned our ceremony for the end of summer, after our negotiations. I left his name off the invitation in the hopes that no other enemies of Throin would find out he was living here and was about to be made king.
I left just about everything else up to Kelsey and Kylie. They loved to plan these things and had far more time to do it than I did. I had no doubt that they would make it a perfect day for us. Just being able to finally have him would make my day. We waited for so long, and now we were about to have our happily ever after.
– – – – – – – – –
Emmett
“Ready to go?” I asked my mate as I put on my suit jacket.
“Ready, do you have the gift?” Julie asked as she threw her heels on and said goodbye to our son and pupsitter.
“I do.” I nodded.
“Are you ever going to tell me what it is?” She asked pointedly.
“Sorry darling.” I said, shaking my head.
“Fine.” She pouted. “I hope they have those crab cakes I love so much.”
“I’m sure they will.” I chuckled.
We were on our way to a surprise party for Kelly and Thorin. They recently decided to take each other as chosen mates, and Kelsey wanted to surprise them with an engagement party if you will. They have been together for some time now, many of us took bets on how long it would be before they decided to pull the trigger. No one thought they would wait this long, but they did have a lot going on.
They were very surprised, and both a bit jumpy, looking ready for a fight when everyone jumped out and yelled congratulations. I think Jonas almost got a knife in the forehead from Throin, having been the closest to him to jump out. But after the brief tense moment, the night was filled with joy and laughter, drinks and dancing. Even Thorin danced, much to my and everyone else’s amusement.
“We should get back to Aiden soon.” Julie said, towards the end of the night.
“Go ahead of me, I’ll only be a few more minutes.” I said, kissing her hand.
She nodded and made a quick exit, anxious to get back to our pup. I, on the other hand, made my way over to Jonas.
“What’s up?” He yelled over the blaring music.
I flicked my head towards Kelly and Thorin and he followed. After being a bit pushy, I managed to pull Kelly and Thorin away from the party, and into her office.
“Emmett, what’s going on?” Kelly asked. “Is everything okay?” She asked.
I smiled and handed her the small box I had been carrying around all night, all week actually.
“What is this?” She frowned. “You didn’t need to get us anything.”
“It’s only for you, actually.” I said, the smile on my face getting wider by the second.
She c****d her head, and carefully opened the box, revealing the small vile of iridescent liquid, also known as-
“The Elixir of Vitality?” She asked in disbelief.
“The one and only,” I laughed.
“But the moonflower, it was burned in the fire?” Jonas questioned.
“Most of it was burned. I was able to get it to regrow. The damn thing took its sweet time to bloom, nearly five years.”
“This can’t be real…” She trailed off, her hands shaking.
“I can only pray that it works. I followed all the steps the best I could, giving the old a*s instructions.”
“You think this will fix Keres?” Jonas asked.
“I think that if there is in fact a problem, it will.” I nodded. “I truly don’t believe the moon goddess cursed you with her like that. And if anything were to fix her, that would be it.”
“What do you think?” Kelly asked Thorin.Content bel0ngs to Nôvel(D)r/a/ma.Org.
“It is your decision, Solnyshko. I will support you.” He said, pulling her in for a hug.
“Let’s do it.” She nodded, yanking out the cork from the tiny vile.
“Right now?” Jonas questioned.
“Yes right now, because if it doesn’t work I am going to go back to the party and drink until I forget this whole thing happened.” She said, downing the small vile in one go.
We all looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to tell us she felt different or better or something….
– – – – – – – –
Kelly
“Well? Do you feel any different?” Jonas asked.
“I-I don’t know, maybe a bit warm, but I did already have a few drinks..” I began to say, just before my knees gave out and I nearly fell to the floor, if it weren’t for Thorin, who gently lowered me down onto my back. “Woah…my head.” I said grabbing my head.
I closed my eyes, the pressure building beyond belief. I think the guys were asking me questions, but I couldn’t comprehend what they were saying. A bright white light filled my vision, taking my breath away.
“Kelly?” A familiar voice called out to me.
“K-keres?” I asked, looking all around. “What’s going on?”
“It’s okay, we are okay.” She said, her voice that of an angel. “The Elixir worked, it saved us.”
“What? What does that mean?” I asked in disbelief.
“The Elixir healed us. Kelly, when the moon goddess sent me to you, you were sick with a rare autoimmune disease, like your mother. I did all that I could to fight the illness, but it changed me, made me feral. It nearly killed me, and in return, it almost killed you.”
“I don’t understand…” I said again. “I never felt sick.”
“Because I did my job, and I did it well, but it came at a price. Your mother’s wolf was not as strong, the illness killed her and then slowly ate away at Carleigh.”
“So the reason you always acted so insane and irrational was because you were fighting an illness I never knew I had?” I asked.
“Percisley. The elixir couldn’t have come at a better time either. I was starting to get weak, especially with all those pills you kept on taking.”
“You saved my life..” I said, realization dawning upon me.
“I also nearly killed you a few times, but that is no more. You are healthy, I am healthy, and we are going to have a wonderful future together…goodbye for now.”
“Solnyshko, wake up!” Thorin yelled, tapping my cheek.
I sat up straight, gasping for air, the throbbing in my head gone, and my vision returning.
“What happened?” Emmett asked, grabbing my wrist and checking my pulse.
“It worked.”
“It sure did.”