Chapter 0104
“How are things with the pack?” I ask.
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“Coit is doing his best, and I’m helping him as much as I can,” Darius answers. “Rebuilding our relationships with the packs around us is going to be a difficult road ahead but not impossible.”
“We can’t blame them for being cautious after what my father did, starting pointless wars with them for territory. Forgiveness might come in time, but we should focus on rebuilding our pack from within.”
“Now that we’re no longer having to fund a senseless war, we should be on our way to rebuilding.”
“If you don’t mind me saying, Alpha Emory, your father ruled the pack as a tyrant. He didn’t care for any of us unless it served his own agenda,” Margaret remarks. “The fact that you want to focus on rebuilding rather than conquering means you are already doing better than him. Not that the bar was raised that
high.”
“Thank you, Margaret,” I tell her, sincerely. “But I can’t do any of it without you. We are and have always
been stronger together.”
“The lone wolf dies,” Margaret starts.
“But the pack survives,” Darius concludes.
It’s a mantra wolf shifters live by. We are stronger as a community, working together to create and restore our kingdom. A lone wolf hunting on its own is formidable, but a whole pack of us? We can take down large prey more than twice our size if we work together. My father tried to destroy all of that.
Kane has left what punishment I want to bestow upon my father in my hands. Despite everything my father has done, I can’t bring myself to make a decision. I can’t give the order to have him executed, but I can’t let him go free to wreak havoc again. He has been the cause of so much death and strife amongst wolf shifters and vampires. His inflated ego is too dangerous to let loose again.
I won’t kill him. No one will feed on him. He might have to rot in the dungeons for the rest of his life. I don’t know which fate he would rather have.
Darius and Margaret leave as I bring Lola into the castle. The last time she was in Castle Graystone hadn’t been a pleasant experience. I try to make it up to her by telling her about the secret passageways and the ghost stories I’ve heard from the servants. Lola has always shared Coit’s love of horror stories and delights in the spooky tales of grieving dead queens and headless knights. Lola is no longer afraid by the time we reach what will be her bedroom.
I open the door and let her in. Her green eyes widen in surprise as she takes in the large room. It is smaller than mine but still as opulent, with plush rose carpeting and a four–poster bed with a pink canopy. There is also a desk and bookshelves. All the furniture is heavy cherry wood with flowers carved in it. The walls are painted with a variety of white flowers.
“Is this your room?” Lola asks. “It’s so pretty.”
I smile at her. “My room is next door. This is your room
Lola smiles widely. “Really?”
“Really.” I put a hand on her shoulder. “This is going to be your home now, Lola. I want you to be happy
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Chapter 0104
here.”
“I’m just happy I’m with you,” she tells me. “Margaret was nice, but she’s not you.”
I swallow back my tears. The pregnancy hormones make me want to weep at every little thing. I give Lola a conspiring smile. “You want to see how soft that bed is?”
“Can I jump on it?”
“I don’t see anyone here stopping you.”
Lola doesn’t need to be told twice. She takes off her shoes and tosses them aside before running and jumping on the bed, testing out the softness of it gingerly at first before bouncing on it until the canopy is shaking. I laugh before climbing up to jump with her- being cautious of my condition. Soon, we are hugging and laughing.
I have my sister back.
Chapter 0105
