Royal Wolf Box Set by Haley Weir
Chapter Sixteen
The royal family took a few days to recover in peace and quiet. Marquette recovered quickly at the castle with Theo remaining devoutly by her side. Holly spent some time in the now-peaceful forest with Rubius, and after she had recovered fully, she helped him with managing the scattered remnants of the pure-blooded pack. Holly had incredible leadership qualities that would prove to aid her well someday. Now, not only did Theo have the pressure of being heir to the throne in the human kingdom of Grenvich, but he also now had the pressure of being a new pack leader for a rival pack whose alpha he had killed. Instead of being as stern as he usually was, Aeron tried to reassure Theo that this was a good opportunity to gain stronger pack alliances, and that Theo was capable of being able to do both things. Although Aeron didn’t push Theo to think of what would come next until Marquette was fully recovered, he did put it into Theo’s mind that he would have the possibility for great and necessary power when he was ready for it.
In the aftermath of the conflict, everything seemed at ease and quiet in the kingdom and in the forest. Everyone at the castle spent the evening recovering, resting, and talking about how to move on ahead.
“You don’t need to stay with me at every moment,” Marquette smiled at Theo as he sat beside her in the bed while she read a book that Cassandra had given to her about shifter lore. “I’m fine now.”
“I know,” Theo said while he gently rubbed a strand of her soft hair between his fingers and twirled it around his hand. “But I don’t want to leave your side.”
Marquette seemed thoughtful and it caused Theo to wonder what she was thinking about.
“What is it?” he asked her.
“I want you to know,” she said, “that I will stay by your side no matter what you choose to do. Whether or not you are King of Grenvich, or alpha of the pure-blooded pack, or whether or not you are both or neither. I want to be with you, wherever you are and in whatever you decide to do.”
Theo smiled widely and leaned forward to kiss Marquette. After he had slowly pulled his mouth from hers, he stayed with his face close enough for her to feel his breath on her lips as he spoke.
“And I vow that I will always bring you with me, to every place where decisions are being made. You and I will never be separate.”
In the days that followed, Theo thought more and more about the vows and words that were exchanged between the two of them. And he realized that what he had been afraid to do all of this time, was exactly what he needed to do now. He decided to openly proclaim his love for Marquette to both the kingdom and all of the wolf packs. He discussed it with her first, and Marquette stood by his decision. Then he discussed it with his family, and although there were still some concerns and hesitations, they all supported him, and everyone agreed that now that Theo was in a position of more power, and that their royal family had no challenge to its rule, there really wasn’t any valid reason to continue hiding Theo’s love for Marquette. Trying to keep the relationship between human and shifter a secret had backfired, so perhaps the open and honest path was the better route to go. There would be those opposed to it still, but none of the packs dared to go against Aeron, Theo, and Rubius. Especially not after how magnificently the last rival pack had been defeated. There would also be humans in the kingdom who would scorn the union between a member of the royal family and a servant girl, but that was inconsequential as far as Theo was concerned. He would simply ignore the naysayers and tell Marquette to do the same.
They decided first to address the kingdom, and after the whispers had died down and the initial shock had been overcome, most of the humans went about their business realizing that they really didn’t care that much about the prince’s personal affairs as long as the royal family kept the kingdom safe and thriving. Marquette and Theo no longer hid their affections from each other within the castle, and when they went out into the city to the market square, they held hands and exchanged glances openly.
When they went to the forest to deliver the same proclamation to the wolf packs, Aeron and Rubius stood by Theo’s side, and most of the shifters seemed not only to be accepting of the arrangement, but to embrace it as a shining example of the fated love that they believed in so strongly. Love didn’t care whether it was between shifters or humans; it only cared that it was love.
The last thing that Theo needed to attend to was the organization of the newly assumed pack. He had returned to find the pure-blooded pack relatively at ease and much more amicable to his takeover than he had been expecting. Rubius had time to bring most of them into line and squelch any rumblings of discontent. And Holly had aided in opening the minds of the pure-blooded pack members who had been essentially brainwashed by the intolerance of their previous alpha. By the time Theo was ready to address the pack, they were nearly in full acceptance of not only Theo’s new role as their alpha, but also his relationship with the human girl. When Theo went to meet with them, he brought Marquette with him. As promised, he wanted to include her in all of his actions and decision-making. She was surprised to find that most of the shifters in the forest liked her almost immediately and welcomed her in a way that they had never welcomed a human into their midst before. Seeing all of this gave Aeron great hope that his vision of uniting both shifters and humans had a real possibility of coming true. If a human could be open to accepting the world and ways of the shifters, and the shifters could welcome a human into their midst, then this was the first step of a new beginning to be ushered in.
Theo and Marquette spent the remainder of the day in the forest. Marquette really liked the forest, almost more than she liked the city. She enjoyed the untamed wildness of it, and the peaceful power that seemed to hang in the air. Theo was glad to see how much Marquette liked the forest because it meant that they would spend time in both places, which was important to him.
After a nice and productive day in the forest, they were readying to leave and head back to the castle for the night. Marquette asked to stay overnight in the forest, but since there were still some things to be attended to in the kingdom before daybreak, they would have to postpone that for another time. They said goodbye to some of the shifters they had talked with throughout the day, and Marquette took a final deep breath of the minty and mossy forest air for the evening. But as soon as she began to let her breath out, something started to feel wrong.
“What is it?” Theo asked with a furrowed brow as he looked at her.
He had heard her breath catch in her throat as she exhaled and felt her hand tighten around his suddenly.
“I don’t know,” Marquette said as she suddenly began to feel very ill.
Dizziness swept over her, and without warning, her legs seemed to go weak and crumble beneath her. Theo caught her around the waist and held her to him.
“Marquette,” he said with grave concern. “Are you unwell?”
Before she could answer, she turned her head and pushed away from him to collapse onto the ground on all fours and throw up into the dirt. When she had finished getting sick, she looked so pale and felt so weak that Theo picked her up and carried her back to the castle. Marquette curled up against his chest as he walked with her cradled in his arms, and an exhaustion so great fell upon her that she fell asleep.
When they arrived back at the castle, he laid her down in her bed and then left her side only momentarily to get his mother and inform her of Marquette’s sickness. He brought Cassandra back into Marquette’s bedroom with him, and they both sat by her bedside while she slept and waited for her to wake and tell them how she was feeling. It was concerning that she had been fine one moment, and then had become so suddenly ill. Neither of them knew what could possibly be wrong with her.