Royal Wolf Box Set by Haley Weir

Epilogue

As the kingdom mourned the passing of King Aeron, Cassandra found comfort in two things – the busywork of trying to pull the kingdom together after her husband’s death and the promise of being reunited with Aeron in their next life. After her husband’s royal funeral and burial, in which both humans and shifters alike came to pay their tribute to the respected leader, Cassandra turned her focus on her son. She would rule over Grenvich as queen for now, but Theo would need to ascend to the throne as soon as he was ready.

“Don’t you think that you should take more time to make peace with Aeron’s passing?” Rubius asked her when he saw her overworking herself on several tasks at once.

“I have made peace with it,” she said.

“How is that possible?” he asked. He was worried that she hadn’t truly dealt with her grief and that if she didn’t, it would rear up in the future to plague her when she didn’t expect it. “Most of the kingdom and the packs haven’t even finished mourning the loss of their leader. How are you able to so quickly move on?”

“It is because I am not moving on,” she said calmly. “It is a continuation. For a time now, Aeron will not be with me, and I will do what I need to do for you and me, and our children, and our people. But someday, I will see him again, and we will sit together and tell each other all of the things that we have missed.”

Rubius reached to hug Cassandra and wrapped his arms around her in a warm embrace. Then he pulled his head back to look at her face and kiss her.

“You are one of the most resilient and strongest people that I have ever met,” he said.

Cassandra smiled.

“Well, let’s hope that I am resilient enough to guide Theo into his new role as king.”

She rolled her eyes slightly when she thought of what a daunting task it would be. Ever since she could remember, ever since Theo was a small boy, he had never wanted to be king.

“I can tell that he is not ready, Rubius,” she said. “And to be honest, I don’t think that he probably ever will be. He just doesn’t want to be king, and that is not something that I can teach him or guide him to do. That has to come from inside of him, and I don’t think it will.”

Rubius looked thoughtful for a moment, and then he looked as though he had thought of something.

“What if he wasn’t king?” he asked.

Cassandra shook her head.

“I can’t be queen forever, nor do I want to be.”

“Not you,” he said. “But Holly.”

Cassandra looked surprised.

“There is another heir to the throne,” he reminded her. “As far as anyone else besides the four of us knows, Holly was Aeron’s daughter. She has a claim to his throne every bit as much as Theo does in the eyes of the kingdom.”

Cassandra thought about what Rubius had said. Holly did have what it would take to rule, and she was naturally inclined to it instead of opposed.

“But the kingdom would have no king,” Cassandra said. “And the pack would have a female alpha.”

“So what?” Rubius said with a shrug. “There is only one ruler here right now—you. You have the power to put anyone with a legitimate claim to the kingdom and the pack in those positions of leadership if you so choose. As far as Grenvich, I think the kingdom will do just fine with having a queen instead of a king. And if Holly ever chooses to find a mate, then Grenvich will still have its king after all. And as far as the pack is concerned, Holly is every bit fierce enough to be an alpha. But if you’re worried about it, you can place Theo in that role. He doesn’t seem to mind leading the wolf packs; it’s the humans that he isn’t interested in.”

Rubius made several solid points, and Cassandra became more and more fond of the idea of her daughter rising to the rule and letting Theo come into his own as an alpha.

“Thank you,” she said as she gave Rubius another kiss. “What would I do without you?”

“Probably stress a whole lot more,” he teased.

Cassandra laughed and nodded.

“But there is one other thing that I want to talk to you about,” Rubius said. “I heard what you said to Aeron just before he died. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. It’s just that I was worried about you and I wanted to make sure that you were okay, so I listened a bit at the door.”

Cassandra knew which part of her final conversation with Aeron he was referring too.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t want to hurt you or upset you. You know that I love you and that I intend to love you until my dying breath.”

“I know,” he smiled lovingly at her. “But I also know that after this life, I will lose you to Aeron once again.”

She didn’t know what to say in response to that because she didn’t want to lie to him, but also didn’t want to hurt him. So he spoke for both of them instead.

“I believe that in this life, you and I were always meant to be together,” he said.

“I believe that too,” Cassandra said.

“And I want you to know that I am okay with that,” Rubius continued. “Cassandra, I am grateful for every moment that I have with you, and I will always be eternally grateful to Aeron for every moment in this life that I get to love you. Whatever happens in the next life or the one after that, is too much for me to worry or think about. So right now, here in this life together, I want to enjoy every minute of our love.”

“I would like that too,” she smiled.

* * *

When Cassandra talked to her children about the throne, Theo seemed immediately relieved. He hadn’t ever wanted that responsibility, but he would have taken it in order to fulfill his father’s legacy and make Aeron proud, just like he had promised. But now that there was another option, Theo happily took it and agreed to assume the role of alpha of the packs while his sister took rule over the kingdom.

Holly was stunned. She had never considered it a possibility that she could rule Grenvich. It wasn’t so much that she was a girl, but that she wasn’t Aeron’s biological daughter. But Cassandra assured her that since no one outside of their little family knew about it, that no one ever would. She would continue to act as if Aeron was her father just as they always had, and she would stake her claim to the throne. Although Holly was nervous and slightly intimidated at the prospect of being Queen of Grenvich, she was also excited.

Later that night, after Cassandra had a full day of caring for matters of duty and family, she climbed into her bed and let out the breath that she felt as if she’d been holding in all day. Rubius had gone to the forest to check on the packs but would be back during the night and would join her in bed once he returned. Until then, she would rest.

In her sleep, Samar gave both her and Aeron one last, magical gift…

No sooner had she closed her eyes for sleep than Cassandra opened them inside of her dream and was elated to find herself sitting right beside Aeron.

“You’re here!” she said in awe.

Aeron smiled and reached out to hold her hand.

“Samar is helping us to speak together one last time in this life,” he said. “And I couldn’t be more grateful to her for doing it. How are you doing?”

“I’m fine,” Cassandra said.

Aeron cocked his head and lowered his eyes to her.

“How are you really doing?” he asked again.

“I miss you,” she said as she felt the tears sting her eyes again.

“I miss you too.”

“But I have been carrying on,” she continued. “There are some things that I want to tell you.”

Aeron listened intently as Cassandra started with the children.

“Theo may not be king,” she said, unsure of how Aeron would feel about that. “You and I both know that he never wanted to be. But Holly can. What do you think?”

“I think that Holly will make a wonderful queen,” he said with a satisfied smile. “I think that the people of Grenvich will be in good hands, and that she will be well-loved for all of her days.”

It made Cassandra happy to hear that Aeron agreed.

“What of Theo, what will he do?” he asked.

“He has agreed to become alpha over all the packs and to carry on your legacy in the shifter world.”

“Perfect,” Aeron nodded. “That is what he has always been suited to do. He will make an excellent alpha in time.”

Cassandra went on to tell her husband all about the funeral and his burial and how everyone from both shifter and human worlds alike came to mourn his passing and celebrate his life. She told him how Marquette and his grandson were doing, and even told him about what Rubius had said and how he was grateful to Aeron for the life that he had allowed Cassandra and him to have.

“It almost makes me like the guy,” Aeron teased.

Cassandra laughed.

“Oh, joke all you want, but I know that even though the two of you had your moments of jealous rivalry, you were still both friends,” she said.

“That’s true,” Aeron said. “And I am happy that you have him there with you now that I am gone. Rubius will take good care of you, and he has always had a good watch over our children.”

Cassandra felt as if the ground shifted beneath her for a moment, and it seemed as if her dream was starting to fade.

“Our time together is almost over,” Aeron said. “Rubius is back in your bed now, and it is almost morning there.”

“When will I see you again?” Cassandra asked as she felt a sadness start to cover her again. She didn’t want to let him go, not again.

Aeron reached to wipe a falling tear from her cheek.

“There is no reason to be sad, my love,” he said. “For I will be right here waiting for you when you are ready to join me. I will be here thinking about you every moment and looking forward to the day that our eternally fated love will once again come full circle. If I had to do everything all over again, exactly as it had happened, just to be able to know as I do now that you and I will be together as lovers again, I would do it all over. To me, this is not a sad goodbye. It is a joyous revelation that we have finally unearthed the truth that nothing will ever separate us—not even death.

His words soothed Cassandra, and she knew that he was right. This time, when they both said goodbye, they were happy in the knowledge that they would be together fully again in the next life, and in every life after that.

When Cassandra’s eyes opened, she looked to see Rubius lying next to her and sleeping soundly. The morning light was just beginning to pour through the window, and she was ready to greet the day. Her heart was full with Rubius beside her and Aeron carried inside her soul. Perhaps out of all of the love stories that would ever be told, the love between her and Aeron would be the greatest of them all.

Dex’s Kingdom