Authors Note: LAST CHAPTER!
I'm shaking as I write this. I really want to thank everyone who took the time to read this story. It's been amazing. To all of you who commented and voted, a thousand times thank you!
I hope you all find the ending satisfying. Its always nerve wracking to end a story. I hope all the lose ends are tied up, and you have some idea the direction in which our characters are travelling in.
I have a bonus chapter to give you soon too. Its a special Alex POV so I hope you all enjoy that too.
Henry.
Fawn slept on and off for forty-eight hours. Occasionally she would wake for a short time, usually hungry and I would climb in bed next to her, and feed her until she went back to sleep. I refused to leave her side, insisting on keeping a constant vigil in case she woke and needed me. Jane also stayed in my apartments, checking on me, bringing me food, a bowl of warm water to wash and a change of clothes. I allowed Jane to wash Fawn and dress her in a clean nightgown, but other than that, I wouldn't allow anyone near her.
For once I was grateful for Lawrence's inability to respect boundaries. Lawrence took charge of the Kingdom, ensuring a smooth transition of power. I was surprised when he came to me with questions and to ask permission to take some actions. Between Lawrence, David, Felix and Qiang, they were able to keep control of the kingdom, keep it running smoothly and started investigating Alfred's guards.
The first time Rowena woke up she immediately asked if Charlie and Alex were ok. I told her that Alex's challenge had been successful and Charlie was going to come back in a couple of days, which would give Alex time to solidify his position and ensure the children's safety. She nodded, closed her eyes and went back to sleep.
Rowena had a lot of visitors, David of course was beside himself. He visited several times to check on her. I growled at him when he tried to hold her hand. When I saw the pain in his eyes, I felt ashamed by my reaction. He didn't argue with me, just pulled up a chair and sat next to me and we sat in silence as we watched her sleep.
Of course, Angelica and Felix visited, they had both spent a lot of time with Fawn and loved her as family. I had held myself together until I saw Felix come in and as he embraced me I fell apart in my uncles' arms. Felix didn't shame me, he understood why I cried, as all mated Vampires would. When I was able to gain control of my tears and released him, I was surprised to see a few tears from him too. I made him promise he would stay on at the Castle as an advisor, I told him I needed him, both as Monarch, but as a young male, who wanted to be better than he was brought up to be. Felix and Angelica both agreed to stay.
Min and her guards visited Fawn too. I was surprised by how quickly Fawn had seemed to gain their devotion. In the chaotic hours after Alfred's death there had been a lot of yelling outside my chamber and poking my head out ready to tell them all to fuck off, I found Min, prostrate on the ground begging to be punished for failing to protect Fawn.
I wanted to tell her that we had all failed Fawn, me most of all, but I saw the hard look of her face and knew she wouldn't accept it. Min did not want forgiveness, she needed her honour back as a guard. I thought back to some of the older texts I had read and remembered an appropriate punishment. I set her to stand at my door and not to leave for 24 hours. No sitting, eating or drinking. If she was caught doing anything except standing guard, she would add another six hours to her duty. Min was grateful, and started immediately. More surprising than Min's reaction was that the rest of Rowena's guards chose to suffer the same punishment. The next time I saw them, their uniform had changed, each now wore a silver patch on their sleeve with a red R embroidered into it. Min gave me a challenging look when I noticed, but I nodded in approval and told Min once her punishment was over, she would be promoted to Captain of the Queen's Guard.
The hardest visitor to see was my mother. Hannah was brought in by Angelica and she helped her sit in a chair, before discreetly leaving. My mother and I stared at each other. Neither of us seemed to know what to say.
I was conflicted. I had never thought I would get a chance to meet my mother and until I saw her I thought all I would want to do was run to her and hold her. But when I saw her all I could think about was the story I was told of her death, she had wanted to kill me and herself. I'm not stupid, I know my father could have made the lie up as a cover for his enslavement of her. After all, if everyone thought she was dead, no one would look for her.
I felt guilty. I had assumed once I saw her, I would instantly feel a son's love for his mother, but other than empathy for what she had gone through, I felt nothing. I hated myself for it, but I couldn't change it.
Hannah cleared her throat and she said, "I'm proud of who you have become Henry."
"You don't know who I am," I said, testily, as if she had anything to do with the way I turned out. I knew it was wrong of me, she had no choice, but it didn't stop me.
"I know who your Inamorata thinks you are," Hannah said. "She showed me." I saw my mother's chin tremble and she swallowed several times before she said, "I know what you did for her. I know you walked away." Tears started to fall from her eyes and suddenly my sight blurred and I cried again. "I know how hard that must have been. But, nothing she could have shown me would make me prouder."
I felt it then, the first hint of the love I craved. I went to her crouched before her and took her frail hands in mine. "Thank you," I said. "I didn't know how much I needed to hear you say that."
We talked then, well I talked and Mother asked me questions. It wasn't always easy, there were some moments of uncomfortable silence. But it was a beginning.
Before she left, Mother said, "I did try to kill myself," I stared at her horrified. I opened my mouth to speak but she raised a hand indicating I should let her finish. I clamped my jaw shut tight, my jaw clenching so hard I wondered if I would crack a tooth. "I tried many times to end my life until I fell pregnant with you in my very first heat." She shook her head and looked me in the eyes. "After that, I wanted to live. I loved you from the moment I felt you move in my belly and I never stopped."
"That, I know, I needed to hear," I said.
Fawn started stirring then, and panicked I went to her side. Hannah somehow made her way over to me and said, "I'll leave you two alone. Good bye, Henry." She lifted her hand to my cheek and I gave her a kiss on both of hers before I walked her to the door.
It had been six weeks since Alfred died. Fawn recovered quickly after those first few nights and our new life together started. There was a lot to work out, starting with our official coronation celebration.
On the morning of the ceremony I woke before Fawn, which was unusual these days, so I laid still so as not to disturb her. Sometimes when I wake up and I catch her scent, I feel like I'm still dreaming. The delicious fragrance of Fawn's blood haunted my dreams for so long, I often find it hard to believe that she is with me and not a spectre of my imagination.
She had her back to me this morning, and I admired the curve of her waist and hips and the long lines of her back. I listened to her slow, steady, Vampiric heartbeat and watched her chest expand with her breaths. She doesn't snore anymore and sometimes I miss hearing her soft rumbles.
I wanted to touch her, kiss her, make love to her, but more than all of that, I wanted her to sleep. She rarely slept these days, much less that a Vampire should. It was as if she thought her two days of nearly non-stop sleep inoculated her from the need to ever sleep again. She went five days without sleeping a week ago. I had chastised her, telling her she was doing too much. We argued, and she got stubborn. I chuckled softly as I remembered telling her, "If you don't go to sleep tonight, I will tie you to the bed and fuck you until you can't keep your bloody eyes open anymore." It was one few arguments I won and was disappointed when I did.
Fawn hadn't stopped one she recovered. If she wasn't helping me and learning about the Kingdom, its finances and its holdings, she continued her instruction from Lawrence and Felix about Vampire culture, history and politics. On top of all of that, she was spending time with my mother. I told her she didn't have to do that since Angelica and I spent time with mother too, but she insisted saying Hannah would recover faster if she was surrounded by family.
Mother was doing well, recovering slowly. The hardest part of her recovery was feeding. She hated doing it at first, but as she saw her strength returning she didn't find it quite so offensive. I think the real reason she overcame her aversion to feeding was because of her developing relationship with Qiang, who had immediately offered to feed her. On a number of occasions, I had interrupted visits from him. Qiang's mate had died not long ago and they had only been mated for a few years. Qiang strongly suspected that she had been taken by Alfred, which is why he was so ready to support me. The two of them seemed to have bonded over their trauma and appeared to help each other through it. I strongly suspected that Mother was now allowing Qiang to feed from her also. I didn't make a fuss about it, after all she went through, she deserved some happiness.
I brought my thoughts back to Fawn. I wanted to let her sleep, but I knew she would tear shreds off me if I did. Charlie would be arriving soon, and we had planned a large family picnic for him to meet his extended Vampire family. It would be the first time Fawn had seen him in 6 weeks. She would want to make sure everything was perfect for him before he arrived, even though everything had been finished for a couple of weeks now.
I had suggested to Fawn that she could permanently move into my room and we could turn hers into Charlies bedroom for when he visits. We had both thought having separate rooms was silly since we slept in the same bed anyway. She had, of course, agreed. Fawn and I then spoke to Alex about Charlie's living arrangements. Fawn reluctantly said that Charlie could stay with Alex most of the time and spend one week a month with her. Alex surprised us by saying we had it the wrong way around. He wanted Charlie to stay with us until he was 15 and then come back for his transition. Fawn worried that he may not actually be a wolf but Alex was adamant he was. Alex had said, once he transitioned, he would want to start his hunt for his mate and once he mated he wouldn't want to leave the pack. Despite the challenges of having a human child living in the Castle, I had agreed. I had sworn to Fawn, I wouldn't force her to give up Charlie, and I had meant it. Besides, I had actually begun to like the child.
Alex, Delphine, Sierra and Alex would also be arriving with Charlie. They had been invited to the ceremony as a sign of good will to the wolves and my seriousness about wanting to repair the damage Alfred's reign had on our relationship. Alex thought it would be a good idea to invite pack leaders from all around the area, and after speaking with Lawrence and Felix I had agreed it was a good idea. It would be a symbolic gesture of our commitment to reconciliation. However, most pack leaders had declined the invitation, but Lucas said he would attend. Alex and I were disappointed, but hopefully we would gain the trust of the other packs in time.
When I could put it off no longer, I gently woke Fawn. I kissed her back and shoulders, breathing in her sweet scent until she started to wiggle against me. She rolled over, wrapped her arms around me and nuzzled into my chest. She mumbled something incoherent and I had to chuckle.
"Come on, Little Fawn." I said, and started to caress her back with long, languid strokes. "It's time to get up."
Fawn let out a low growl and I felt her roll her hips into mine. I groaned, feeling her smooth skin rub against my already half erect cock. Hearing my groan, her head shot up and I could see in her eyes that she wasn't my Little Fawn this morning. She was my Lioness and she was hungry.
She was fast, capturing my lips, her tongue already pushing into my mouth. Fawn tried to roll me over and assume control, but I resisted. I had spent too long thinking about her that morning, and my Lust was as strong as hers. She may be a lioness, but I was still a lion.
I pushed Fawn to her back, and hooking her leg over my arm, I ground against her. I could feel how ready she was for me and I couldn't wait another instant. I kissed her as we joined together, and I cursed into her mouth as she opened herself to me, her walls seemed to pull me in, tightening around me as I filled her.
Fawn cried out when I was completely sheathed, and when her fangs pierced my lip, the slim control I had on my Lust shattered. With desperate need I took her, fucked her with unrestrained force. Fawn, strong now, moved with me, taking everything I gave her as she hung onto my lip, tasting me and feeding from me.
When she was close to her release, she let go of my lip and threw her head back, offering me the vein at her neck. With a rumbling growl I bit into her, tasted her, and her blood renewed me.
Fawn cried out my name as she hit her peak, her body undulated below me with uncontrolled pulses, pushing me towards my own blissful release.
Our consummation that morning was one I would never forget. It seared into my memory, becoming one of those times that you could clearly point to as a moment of change because your relationship wasn't the same after it.
Everything was changed after that morning. It was the last time my Fawn was just Rowena. After that day, she was Queen, she was a ruler, a law maker and judge. She wasn't just mine anymore, she belonged to the Kingdom and its citizens, and they had loved her.
However, there was one thing that never changed. When the day came and we closed the door, all of the other things Fawn was, all of the other claims on her, went away and we were us again. The one part of us that never changed was the constant need we had for each other. It didn't matter what happened outside our room, when we were together we were just us, Pulled together through fate, but joined together through love.
END