Epilogue
Political upheaval in Geneva, the capital of the First Pack’s territory, did not directly affect daily business in the other packs, although they were aware of what was going on and kept an ear and an eye on what was happening. The Crown Princess Alianora had suddenly reappeared after vanishing for fifteen months and being proclaimed dead by drowning. The queen regent and the Lycan Council had had to issue a hasty retraction and apologize for their erroneous announcement that had declared the First Descendent lineage over. Behind the scenes, the queen regent had had to answer some difficult questions put to her by the Council regarding how she had come by the information in the first place. It was most unfortunate for her, particularly in her state of ill health.
Ally had been correct in assuming that Lydia only took such monumental actions because she felt her time was running out. Which it soon did, but not before Leonard and his allies tried numerous attempts on Ally’s life. Calling upon her old friends and contacts within the Council and the spy network, she had consolidated support and worked night and day to weaken the opposition and drive them from any position of power. Attempts to destroy both her body and her standing, kept quiet for the stability of the realm, were swiftly punished when Queen Alianora ascended the throne. The nine months since she had began her rule had started out rocky, while she purged the court of traitors and Leonard’s sympathizers by sending them into exile to different parts of the First Pack’s territory and jailed her elder stepbrother and his two closest cronies. With the Council’s support, however, having a First Descendent on the throne had given both the pack and the greater werewolf world the stability and security needed to flourish.
After the court had settled down, one of the new queen’s first enacted laws was to formally outlaw the practice of nat amatras. The Council had been confused, seeing as the tradition had been phased out a century ago, but had passed it nonetheless. Sir Walter and Ralph had supported the measure understandingly, while Cornelius, who had returned from his self-imposed exile in New York to support Ally, hid a knowing smile.
The Sullivan pack had several disagreements with their eastern neighbor in Canada, the Schumer pack. George Sullivan decided to send an emissary directly to the First Pack, before the territory dispute was blown out of proportion and required full on negotiations again, like with the Tsolmon pack. First Pack politics had settled down and stabilized by now, and so the Sullivan alpha chose to reward Tim’s natural knack for politics and promote him by sending him to Geneva to speak on his behalf.
The great château that, situated in the Swiss Alps close to Geneva, housed the First Pack’s court far surpassed any pack headquarters that Tim had ever seen. He was ushered into a large room where Council members and advisors gathered in the presence of the monarch to do business, trade news, and discuss any matters relating to the Lycan world. The group was broken into smaller clusters and had a surprisingly relaxed atmosphere for the epicenter of werewolf politics.
Tim allowed himself to be led to the back of the room where in a high-backed chair the monarch of the First Pack sat. It would have been unassuming, had an aura of power and dignity not radiated from the spot. As the crowd of people parted to let him through, Tim caught his first glimpse of Ally, sitting serenely in the chair as she talked to Sir Walter. Her hair was now light blonde, but she was unmistakable. He would recognize her anywhere.
His guide cleared his throat to attract Ally’s attention and then announced, “Your Majesty, this is Timothy Hart, an emissary from the Sullivan Pack. Her Royal Majesty, Queen Alianora of the First Pack,” he directed the latter at Tim, who could do nothing but stand there slack-jawed.
Ally grinned as she thanked and dismissed the guide. “Well, well. It’s good to see you, Tim.”
Tim, still stupefied, could not answer. In such a state of shock, he barely registered the different accent emanating from the woman he had spent over a year living in the same house with.
Ally’s grin grew wider as she observed his facial expression. His mind whirred through everything he knew about Ally and tried to assimilate this new information. His face betrayed each instance of shocked understanding as a new insight clicked in his brain. Comprehension dawned on his features as he finally broke the silence by breathing out, “Oh.”
Even Sir Walter chuckled at that. “Oh, indeed.” He bowed his head respectfully to Ally before walking off to leave Ally and Tim to talk.
“Did Christian know?” Tim asked, almost in a whisper.
Ally smiled sadly. “Yes, towards the end.”
“That’s why – that’s why you acted as you did. It explains – everything.”
“I suppose it does.”
“What do I call you? Your Majesty?”
Ally’s face broke out in a smile, one of those full-blown elated smiles that had first so transfixed Christian two years before. “You can call me Ally.”
“It feels disrespectful, but I can’t imagine calling you anything else.”
Ally waved a hand to distract him from the topic. It was really the least of anyone’s concerns. “What are you here to see me about?”
“My alpha sent me,” Tim answered distractedly. “About territory concerns with the Schumer pack. They’re encroaching on our eastern border in southern Canada.”
“How is the Sullivan pack?” Ally asked, changing the subject slightly. She was already well informed about the Sullivan-Schumer disagreement.
Tim nodded. “Good. Christian is still in Alaska, but I’m dividing my time between Alaska and the Californian headquarters. The Alpha has been giving me more and more responsibility.”
Tim observed her carefully as he said, “My alpha secured a divorce between Christian and Kate. Without a nat amatra, there could never be Sullivan heirs, and the Hawkins family isn’t nearly as powerful anymore, so they got a divorce.”
Ally nodded. It was difficult to negotiate a divorce between mates, but the circumstances were some of the most persuasive there were for one. It stood to reason that George Sullivan would pull out all the stops to ensure his son would have an heir.
“After you disappeared the alpha was furious,” Tim added after a slight pause. “He was determined to track you down and bring you back, but Christian was adamant that it would be of no use. I think the alpha only caved because he was so amazed that Christian so resolutely stood up to him for the first time. I thought it odd at the time, but I guess I can see why tracking you down would have been fruitless, if not impossible.” He cracked a grin.
Ally laughed. “Let’s go for a walk. I missed the mountain air so much, I still can’t get enough of it, even nine months later.”
They exited the château, and followed a mountain path that gently sloped upward.
“How are things with you and Sara?” Ally asked.
“Oh, we broke things off a while ago.” He didn’t sound sad about it. He shook his head. “I’m still processing who you are. It has so many implications.”
Ally just smiled. He had probably already realized more of the implications of her identity than Christian ever had, and without the long explanation that Christian had required. It was good to see someone from her time in Alaska again.
“I suppose I don’t have to worry about you being attacked and not being able to shift now,” Tim remarked.
Ally chuckled. “You thought I was insane. But of course I couldn’t shift or you’d have known who I was. Being a nat amatra was surprisingly convenient for keeping things secret.”
“Do they know you were a nat amatra?”
“No,” Ally shook her head. “Only Ralph, Sir Walter, and my old friend Cornelius. I can only imagine the outrage if the court were to get wind of anything. I don’t have to keep quite as many secrets, now that I’m back home, but I can keep that one.”
“Do you regret being Christian’s nat amatra?” Tim asked curiously.
“No. I did what I had to do. I had to stay anonymous and have protection. And I got lucky, getting to spend a year with all of you.” There was no hesitation or doubt in her voice.
Tim considered whether he should ask the question, but ultimately gave in. “Do you regret leaving?”
Ally took a deep breath. “No. I regret the pain I caused Christian. But there was no other possible outcome for the situation.”
Tim was quiet, mulling over things. “I don’t think Christian regrets loving you, even if it got him hurt. You were his first love, even if he’s gotten over you. No one should regret the experience of being in love.”
Ally smiled slightly. “I wasn’t the love of his life; not the person he should spend the rest of his life with. He had to grow up and accept his position so that one day he’ll be able to take over as alpha. I like to think that I helped him with that. He was still very much a boy when I met him.”
Tim couldn’t argue with that. Christian had grown under Ally’s influence, but he had grown even more in the time since she had gone. There were all the signs that suggested Christian would make a fine alpha.
He paused before asking his next question. There was no point in holding back now. “Did you love him?”
“Yes,” she answered simply. “I did.”
They left the matter at that. There was nothing more to be said. Ally had loved Christian, although she had recovered from her heartache and fallen out of love by now, as had Christian, if Ally understood Tim properly.
Ally sucked in a deep breath of air and smiled. “I’m glad to be back home. I’m free to be who I am. I can even shift anytime I like.” With a grin she smoothly shifted into her wolf form, a light grey topcoat with a snow-white underbelly and the famous black circular outline on her forehead that declared her to be a direct descendent of the first werewolf.
Tim tilted his head to look at her for a moment. It was not every day that a werewolf got the chance to see the First Descendent up close in wolf form. When Ally trotted off down the path, Tim shifted as well, trying to catch up, but when she looked back at Tim, he stopped dead in his tracks as they stared at one another.
The ever-present ache in Ally evaporated. Tim wasn’t afflicted with such a life-long ache, but he felt a sudden hollowing in his chest. A pulling sense of recognition replaced it, pointing Ally and Tim in the direction of one another. Although neither of them had first-hand experience of it, they instantly knew it was the sign of a true mate.
After a minute they both shifted back to stare at each other in human form in awe for a moment.
“Well, what do you know?” Ally breathed.
“Guess I won’t be reporting back to George Sullivan after all,” Tim chuckled, smiling down at Ally.
He held out his trembling arms for her to step up to hug him. They didn’t kiss yet, amorous feelings would only develop later, but they had both felt the completion of a part of themselves they never knew to be empty.
They clutched at one another, still in awe of the fact that they had found one another. And that they had happened to shift in front of one another, after months of living together but never knowing. Most werewolves were not so lucky as to ever meet their true mate.
Tim broke the silence first. “Now imagine if you had shifted that day when the bear attacked us.”
“That would have been messy.” Ally burst out laughing. “I think I actually mentioned you being my true mate once to Christian, when I was trying to dissuade him from the idea that I should shift in front of him. What do you know?”
“Life doesn’t always work out the way you had planned,” Tim mused with a smile still on his face. After years of working for the Sullivan pack, he would now relinquish his old life to start again here in Geneva with his true mate. Thank god he was in a position to do so, and she was in a position to accept him. He remembered what Ralph had said to him months ago: Ally was difficult to love. Tim was just shrewd enough, just easygoing enough, and just unflappable enough to make it work, if anybody could, though.
“Most things work out eventually, though,” Ally said with a similar smile. “Even if it takes what seems like forever.”
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Please read the author’s note! Includes some explanation, a teaser for the next story, and a competition… and after that there's an extra scene to the story that I added ------->>>>>