Autumn's War

Chapter 12

Thank you to CreatorOfInsanity for the inspiration (as weird as it was ;))!!

Lucas returns and finds me like that- head in hands and eyes closed tightly. "Princess?" I feel him kneel down in front of me so he's eye-level. "What's the matter?"

"How can I do this?" I say absently. "I would be no better than him." I open my eyes and meet Lucas's gaze. His eyes are blazing, alight with his wolf's bright color.

"You are better than him, in every way," he tells me. "Don't you ever doubt that."

"But I would be killing so many people by going about this by war," I whisper. "How could I kill people for standing up for what they believe in? It's exactly what I'm doing, and I'm acting like some kind of a savior, when I'm a murderer."

He sighs. "That's something you could simply never be. I bet you that almost every person in the Royal Palace is only there because they're too afraid to stand up to the King. I really doubt that they would put up a full resistance."

"But they don't have a choice if the King orders them to."

"Then you'll just have to order them to ignore him." His firm voice leaves no room for argument; rather, it ignites my determination to free my kingdom from the current Alpha King.

Lucas gently pulls my hands away from my face and into his own hands. "And I," he declares, "will be by your side at every step."

I give him a questioning look, but thank him anyway. "Lucas?"

"Yes, Princess?"

I roll my eyes at him and set my original words off to the side for the moment. "I've used my Alpha Command on you, and I'll do it again. Stop calling me Princess."

He lowers his eyes out of respect. "Of course."

"Now that that's out of the way, I have another thing to ask you."

"Yes, Autumn?"

I sigh. "This feels too formal. I'll ask you another time." I smile mischievously and he grins back playfully.

"No, no, tell me. Please, I actually am very curious." He blinks expectantly. "Well?"

"Lucas, would you do me the honor of being my Royal Guardian?"

[][][][][]

Aaron emerges from his room some time later. The bags under his eyes are still there but they aren't as dark, but he still looks tired. I glance at him again from my position of cooking over the stove. "Would you like something to eat?"

He looks over at me with bleary eyes. "Uh, sure, thanks," he says.

"I'm making pancakes for dinner tonight. Is that okay with you?" I flip the pancakes and turn down the heat slightly.

"Yes, that's just fine." He sits down at the kitchen island and rubs his hands over his face.

"Are you okay, Aaron? You're not acting like yourself." I set down the pancake flipper and step around the island to face him.

He takes a deep breath. "No, but I will be." He smiles wanly. "I just need to put it behind me."

"I'm sorry for dragging you back into this, since it's not what you want to do. I promise that I'll be here for you whenever you need me, though." I smile.

"Autumn, I'm with you whether you want me to be or not. I'll be here until I die, and even then, my ghost will come back and haunt you." He smirks playfully and I laugh. This is the Aaron I know.