*Final Chapter*
Chapter Thirty-Seven-Animals
~*Several Years Later*~
I felt Ashton wrap his arms around me, I sighed in delight and looked at the scenery in front of me. Seven children and their mates, all because of a dream.
"Not just any dream." Quinn said standing next to me. "You lived that dream, it was a foreshadow."
"Either way, I'm just glad we've all come to terms." Draekon said with a chuckle.
"Indeed." Ashton said.
"What now?" Zyre asked with a beer in his hand.
"Now, we leave the kids be to talk about other matters." Ashton said and took me by my waist. We walked out of the living room and went to a more quiet space.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"I've found out that we aren't the only ones of our kind, and neither are our children." Ashton said.
"What? What are you getting at?" Kai asked.
"Yeah, just spit it out." Zyre said impatiently.
"I'm not the only shifter and apparently... we have blood relatives who used to be known as the Rhyne's, but is now known as the Royale-Rhyne's. They're the most powerful on their turf. They don't hold our traditions, but their similar. For instance, they have Female Alpha's which are the equivalent to female Guardians. And ever since my cousin Silver Onyx Royale-Rhyne fended for her land, they've had Spirit children, just like our own." Ashton explained.
"Why are you telling us this now?" I asked.
"Because I've been doing some digging, to see if this really was meant to be when I came across a picture of Fenris, my great great grandfather and some werewolf by the name of Florence. Turns out that she belonged to the Rhyne territory, but was kidnapped during the invasion of the Ice Pack centuries ago. Unfortunately, Fenris never got to see Florence ever again."
"So do they count as family?" I asked.
"Of course they do. Fenris and Florence were soulmates, he had claimed her. She belongs to our territory." Raziel said stepping in the room.
"So who's your grandmother?" I asked.
"Her name was Roslyn, she was a pitiful woman that Fenris took after once he was convinced Florence had died. He was a broken man. The kidnapping of Florence is what really killed that man." Raziel sighed sadly.
"So you mean to tell me we could have had allies in the war?" I asked with a blank expression.
"It wouldn't have done us any good. We couldn't have trusted anyone at that time but ourselves." Zyre said, Ashton nodded.
"I was recently told that they wanted to see Paine and disclose information, a task." Ashton said. I raised my brow.
"What kind of information?" I asked skeptic.
"Caspian never died." Ashton said, my eyes widened. "He's hiding out somewhere in the Underworld, plotting with a guy by the name of Vague. Vague is a werewolf, who wants to control all werewolves. Vague is also an enemy of Royale-Rhyne territory. Their granddaughter Hazel Jade Royale is a spirit child, and the spirits have called to both territories to send them out on this task." Ashton explained. I thought before I spoke.
"I guess it's up to Paine, I mean after all it's her path." I said. "Not to mention she's an adult now, we can't bug her about school because she's out."
"What about her boyfriend?" Kai asked. Just then Draekon walked in the room with a sad look on his face.
"Xanthius is not who you think he is." Draekon said. I raised my brow.
"What are you saying?" I asked.
"He's not her soul mate." Draekon said. "I've met her soul mate. He's the king of the civilized demons, meanwhile Xanthius is on the opposing side. Xanthius is working with Caspian." I found myself speechless.
"We have to tell Paine." I whispered unable to really speak.
"Paine has to find out on her own." Quinn said sadly. "That's the only way Paine will truly be able to break away. She has to see Xanthius for who he really is." I put a hand on my forehead and paced.
"He's claimed my daughter you know." I said feeling myself become more upset than I needed to be.
"She's not marked, she can't be because he's not her mate. Angels mate differently than werewolves, they only have ONE true soul mate." Quinn explained. "Don't worry, Xanthius doesn't know we know, and he doesn't know that Paine can't be impregnated by someone who isn't her mate."
"What the fuck is going on?!" I asked on the verge of insane tears. Ashton pulled me to him to calm me down but I was being fed too much information, I couldn't handle this. She was my oldest daughter.
"I know, I know." Ashton said softly. "That's enough for Myra, disclose the rest of the information to everyone else but the children. No one is supposed to suspect a single thing. This is a secret, meaning if I head a peep from anyone I will rip your tongue out and feed it to rogue wolves." Ashton threatened. "Do I make myself clear?"
"Crystal." The guys said. Ashton walked out with me and then looked down.
"You okay?" Ashton asked. I just shrugged. "She's my oldest daughter too, the one I'm most protective over. So imagine how I felt when I found that out. I gave him consent to claim my daughter when she became legal, Myra." I wiped the tears away before they could well up.
"You didn't know, I didn't know. I just hope Paine will be able to take the pain when she finds out." I frowned. Ashton sighed then made his way to the living room where they were huddled up with each other.
"It's up to Paine whether she wants to see the truth or not." Ashton said tapping into my mind.
"She'll fall in love, she'll meet her soul mate and fall in love." I responded. "Knowing Draekon, he's let her soul mate know that Paine would be on her way."
"Hey mom, and dad! Why don't you guys kick back and relax?" Zane said with a smile. I smiled in return.
"I'm actually taking your mom out shortly, so we can't kickback and relax." Ashton chuckled, previous emotions of despair and sadness completely masked. The kids raised their brows.
"Out again? Didn't you two go out for dads birthday only a few days ago?" Paine asked wiggling her brows. I rolled my eyes.
"We always go out, ever since we were teenagers." I smiled.
"Ever since you were a teenager, but I don't classify 17 as a teenager." Ashton said grinning down at me. I rolled my eyes.
"There's only one reason why you say that." I said poking him. Ashton grabbed my waist from behind me and laughed.
"There's many reasons why I say that." Ashton said into my ear.
"The reason why Ashton says that is cause he slept with your momma on the first day he met her." Zyre said with a grin. Kai stepped in with a look of disgust.
"Yeah, we all know." He mumbled. "That was the greatest day of his life."
"Oh boy, let's get outta here." I said grabbing Ashton's hand.
"Mom! I'm so disappointed in you!" Paine said sarcastically.
"Score for pops!" Alek and Kris said high fiving each other. I rolled my eyes.
"Technically it was a score for me because I did all the work." I said walking Ashton in the opposite direction. Ashton chuckled loudly.
"I don't think your score outweighs mine because you were human. Humans who sleep with alphas don't score, they just had the night of their life." Ashton said amused. "We'll be back later."
We didn't say much in the car, I just studied him while he drove. It was sort of a long drive, it would have been easier to just shift and run, but we didn't.
"Where are we?" I asked when we arrived.
"Royale-Rhyne territory." Ashton said stepping out. He opened my door for me and wrapped an arm around my waist. Shortly a couple who looked just like Ashton and myself stood in front of us. I turned and looked at Ashton, then looked at the man.
"What the hell..." I said spooked. The woman just laughed.
"She reminds me of someone." The man said nudging his mate I'm assuming.
"Zevariah and Silver Royale-Rhyne." Silver introduced.
"Ashton, as you know, and my soul mate Myra Devereux." Ashton said smiling.
"It's been a long time, brother." Zevariah said patting Ashton on his shoulders.
"Wait, are you cousins or brothers?" I asked confused. Silver giggled.
"I keep asking Zev the same question, he says their biologically cousins but they might as well be brothers." Silver said.
"Well, look at them." I said stunned that they looked so much alike.
"Imagine how we feel about you two." Zev and Ashton said chuckling. "If we didn't know any better we would have thought you were sisters."
"I wouldn't have a problem with dating twins." Ashton said a small smirk on his face.
"You get one I get the other, everyone's happy." Zev joked laughing with Ashton, meanwhile Silver and I narrowed our eyes.
"Had I said that you would have gotten protective." Silver said.
"Or even offended." I said. "And probably mad." I put my hands on my hips.
"Men." Silver and I sighed in unison. Zev and Ashton just stared amazed.
"Are you two related by a chance?" Zev asked. I shrugged.
"I'm a Gray, not a Royale." I said.
"But look at yourselves." Ashton said. "Exactly the same features." I turned and looked at Silver who did have the same features as me, with an exception of her hair which was straight. I took a step back caught off guard.
"That's scary." I said with wide eyes.
"You don't say..." Silver mumbled. "I didn't even see this coming." Just then a group of guys came up from out of nowhere just talking and laughing then stopped when they saw me and Ashton.
"Whoa, which one's Silver?" One of the guys asked, Silver punch the guy in the shoulder. "That's Silver." he said rubbing his shoulder. I just looked over at Ashton who stared, he was just as shocked as I was now.
"I never knew you had twins." Another guy said crossing his arms. "Hopefully, you're single because you are hot."
"Aren't you married Cade?" Silver asked. He just rolled his eyes.
"I'm sure your twin wouldn't mind." Cade said.
"I would." Ashton said. Cade sighed.
"He's an alpha isn't he." He frowned.
"He's my cousin, but our brother." Zev said. "Everyone, this is Ashton and Myra Devereux, blood relatives of the Rhyne pack before it got destroyed. Well, Ashton. Myra on the other hand, what pack do you come from?"
"She doesn't." Silver said speaking up. "Her father's a Guardian." Silver studied me. "You take after your father don't you?"
"Yeah." I said with a smile.
"That explains why we look alike." Silver said. I just looked confused.
"You know Quinn?" I asked.
"All Spirits know each other." Silver said with a genuine smile.
"Hi, Ashton and Myra, I'm Vex, this is Cade as you already know, Elliot, Sinn, Slade, Trix, and Rowan." He said politely observing me. I felt Ashton's wave of dominance wash over everyone and Zev immediately glared at the group of guys.
"Do not do this again." He warned them.
"She looks just like her." Vex said defensively. "Sorry for making you feel uncomfortable, Myra."
"Uh, don't even worry about it." I said with a nervous chuckle. I leaned into Ashton to reassure him, even though I knew he was surfing through their minds right now. Silver laughed.
"Yeah, don't worry." Silver said to me. "He's got everything under control."
"Who Ashton?" They asked.
"He's like me." Silver said. "We go by different cultures, we have Female Alpha's they have Guardians and spirit children. Myra has seven of them."
"You have kids?" Cade said amazed. "You don't even look like-"
"Cade." Zev said sharply. "Why don't you go back to where you were before, and leave this to us?" Cade put his hands up in surrender but obeyed alpha orders, as did everyone else but Vex and Rowan.
"Cade makes every female feel uncomfortable, you don't have to worry about him." Rowan shrugged. I looked up at Ashton.
"Well, what are we here for?" I asked.
"To discuss Paine and Hazel Jade." Silver said.
"What about them?" I asked.
"She has a path she must go on with my granddaughter Hazel." Silver explained.
"Is it safe?" I asked.
"They'll be protected, but like any journey one takes there will be loss, pain, heartbreak, and love." Silver said.
"We're aware of your disgust with your daughters mate." Zev said.
"How'd you know about that?" I asked.
"I might've spilled the beans a little." Quinn said stepping out of their Packhouse. I raised my brow.
"What were you doing in there?" I asked.
"Talking to Hazel." Quinn said. "She's like a granddaughter to me herself, I feel her abilities within myself." He smiled. "Like I feel Ashton's abilities, and your children's." Quinn came over to me and put an arm on my shoulder, Silver bowed at him. "So you've finally met my daughter, huh."
"She looks just like you." Silver said with a smile.
"It's insane." Quinn said. "Long story short, Paine and Hazel will go on this journey. They won't die, they'll be safe and return home safe, I've spoken to allies of many sorts and let them know that these two girls will be on their way. Hazel and Paine are strong girls, they'll do just fine." Quinn said reassuring me and Ashton.
"It's not Paine I'm worried about, it's Xanthius." I frowned.
"I'm sure Hazel won't let Xanthius hurt her." Ashton said.
"Hazel and Jade are like you and Silver, they'll hit it off just fine." Zev smiled.
We needed up staying on their territory for a long time, we enjoyed their company and got to know their friends. They made me think of Ashton and the boys, how we have fun and talk. I leaned into Ashton's shoulder while he laughed and joked with the guys. I looked at Silver who motioned me out on the balcony. I joined her. She looked out into the night sky and smiled at it.
"You're the key to his happiness." She said. "The mother of his cubs, his day and night, the one who can throw him out of whack and bring him back. You're his everything." Silver said into the darkness. I was confused.
"What?" I asked.
"His thoughts. He can read your mind, but you can't read his." She said. "Would you like to?"
"He's thinking about work, like he always does." I said to her. She chuckled and grabbed my hand. I immediately was able to hear Ashton's thoughts, which weren't about work, or about what was going on now. But we're focused on me, and the kids. All I've ever done to make him happy. Our ups and downs, our arguments, our make ups, our mistakes, our promises, the nights we've cried, made love, the days where he wanted to scream he hated me and leave. Everything.
"He puts you before everything." Silver said. "Just like Zev puts me before everything."
"I've noticed." I said.
"I can't shift, which makes me a useless Female Alpha, but he's loved me even still. I never understood why, why he would love me over some one else. Then it clicked, I've been with him through shit. When the lights go out and it's pitch black, I'm there by his side. I couldn't love anyone else, and neither could he. It scared me to death sometimes, because I worry he would do something drastic if something happened to me. Zev is capable of many things, and taking down the wereworld is one of them. Ashton is a spitting image of Zev, just like I'm a spitting image of you. We live separate lives, but have gone down similar paths. The spirits wanted this to happen, we're the same."
"Animals." I said with a soft chuckle. Silver nodded in agreement.
"Animals."
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That's the end of that! Look forward to the sequel which is Paine and Hazel's story. It's called Titanium.
I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it!
-Shay