Trashed & Treasured

Epilogue

As I walked through the courtyard surveying the faces of each person I passed, I could do nothing but smile. The last few years have been good to me and the only word I can use to describe it is 'complete'. Time has done me a lot of good and I finally have a handle on this Queen thing. Alice was right. I had to learn that when things get hard all I need to do is take a deep breath and turn to my mate. Somehow he manages to keep a level head and through him, I remain grounded. He has also learned to take a breath and relax when it comes to me. He still doesn't like the idea of me taking some things on myself, but after what happened with Cameron, he knows full well what I'm capable of.

Despite the injuries and amount of blood I lost, I still gave birth to a healthy baby boy. Dominic was exploding with pride from the moment he laid eyes on him and still till this day, when he speaks of Evan it is as if he is bragging. I can't say that I blame him though. He is a spitting image of his father and just as sweet. I'd walk in the room after his naps and always he would greet me with a heartwarming smile. Every day I get countless hugs and kisses and best of all, his first word was "Ma ma". Of course, I wasted no time rubbing that in my mate's face since the two of them obviously do share a special bond that 'no girls' are allowed in on.

Aside from that, there have been many expected yet unexpected challenges. Being the firstborn royal wolf, we had no clue what to look out for. Even if we did, we never would've been able to prepare for it anyway. Evan learned to walk and talk much earlier than normal but that became the least of our concerns by the time he turned three. One night he developed a strange fever and wouldn't stop crying. Hemming came to check him out and couldn't pinpoint a reason. Scared out of our minds, Dominic and I let him sleep in the bed with us. We were awakened halfway through the night by his screams. Dominic rocked him back and forth while I ran to get cold juice to help break his fever but when I re-entered my bedroom my mate was standing stock still with wide eyes and a tiny wolf cub in his arms.

It took us a whole twenty-four hours to get him to shift back but after that, it was pretty much smooth sailing. We have to explain the importance of controlling his wolf pretty often but that's about it. When you look beyond the powers that my five-year-old posses, you'll see a normal, funny, loving miniature, Dominic.

"Momma! Momma look!" So busy submerged in my thoughts I was caught off guard by the kid wrapping himself tightly around my legs. I knelt down until we were eye level taking hold of his chin. On both cheeks, there are bright red kiss prints and on his lips is a huge smile.

"Where did you get those, Evan?"

"The lady by the cookie table." His smile grew wider.

I looked at him with a quirked brow, "Oh yeah? What were you doing by the cookie table before lunch?"

"Playing!" He quickly retorted, his eyes nearly falling out of his head.

"Are you sure?" I smirked licking my thumb, "Because it looks like you forgot a bit of chocolate right," gently I rubbed the corner of his lips "here."

I could hear his heart beating wildly against his ribs as he continued to look at me like a deer caught in headlights. I have a close relationship with my son to the point that we play around a lot, but he knows what looks means he's in trouble. I turned to my niece, Dominique Jade — or Nikki as we call her — who was standing a few short feet behind him and motioned her over. If there is one thing that everyone knows it's that when there is Evan there is Nikki. A lot of that has to do with the fact that they are so close in age, but also the beta mark she was born with. The two of them already show each other so much loyalty, but getting the truth out of her was a cakewalk.

"Is Evan telling the truth, Nikki?" She looked as if she were holding her breath, her beautiful blue eyes darting between us. To make things go in my favor, I smiled warmly.