Epilogue- Sugar: Happily Ever Afters are overrated.
Song- Mirrors by Justin Timberlake
(This song.... it touches my heart every time I hear it...)
Since this is the last part of this story, a parting gift-
ALPHA ULYSSES ASHER BLACK'S POV
9 MONTHS LATER.
"I hate you" She shies away from me as I go to touch her and I have to stop myself from confessing the truth to her, if only to console her.
"Sugar" I try to get her to look at me, my voice coming out as a plea, but she doesn't listen.
"You broke your promise. You fucking broke your word!" She hides in Teague's chest, hiding her tear stained face from me.
Teague, who is holding her as she grieves for her lost child gives me an empathetic smile, but he doesn't say anything in my defense to my Mate.
Liv however is not having any of it. My 8 months old female warrior who looks like she might pop a cub in the blink of an eye is glaring at my Mate.
"A fine Luna, you are" She sneers at my mate and my hackles rise.
"Liv" I warn but she is on a roll, so nobody can stop her. Except for Teague who by the looks of it is giving Liv an encouraging look.
Mel shakes her head in the background and she and I share a look. Our now famous, 'this-cat-is-whipped' look.
"Fuck off Olivia. I have borrowed your Mate for a week, remember?" Delilah doesn't even look up from where her head is rested in Teague's neck.
I know that they are just friends that the bond that the two of them share is more platonic than anything, but still, it is hard to keep Asher at bay, because all he wants to do is tear Teague into pieces for being near our mate at such a vulnerable time.
"Real mature" Liv sneers, "Grieving after your lost son, when you still have one who is healthy as a horse"
And just like that, a few bitter words from her best friend's mate, and my Sugar is 10 feet away from Teague, to the crib, where our boy is sleeping peacefully.
Someone clears their throat and I turn to see it is Tulia, with her hands on her hips. She is pregnant too. My Mate's pregnancy triggered others pregnancy in the pack, just Like Tulia had predicted.
"Don't want to sound like a warden in a hostel, but y'all need to leave" She tells all the occupants of the hospital room, before looking at me, "Not you Alpha, of course"
"But-" Hades starts to protest, but Damon walks up beside his mate and gives him a look.
"They need space and time, bro" He tells him, and Hades looks at me for confirmation I recon? I give him a nod, backing Dame's words.
"We'll be back later" Becs says firmly, grasping her mate's hand and dragging him out of the door. Vanessa, who has baby Victoria in her arms, follows the two of them out of the door.
Victoria is Rebecca's and Hayden's daughter. She is nearly 6 months old now.
Mel looks at Liv and nodding at each other, the two of them stalk to the bed where the tiger is sitting, staring intently at my mate, each grab either of his hand and drag him out of the room, much to his protests.
Tulia and Damon leave when they've made sure I am alone with my Mate and our son, and when I hear the sound of the door shut, I finally make my way to the bed where my Mate was first laying.
I sit on the edge of the bed, my legs dangling and even though I try to block the memory, my mind drags me back to the day when it all went to shit.
9 months ago.
Sugar has her hand wrapped smugly around mine as we watch Ariana escape into the woods.
A tear rolls down my mate's cheeks and I pull her even closer to me. I know she thinks that Ariana is doing the wrong thing by leaving her son behind, but I know better.
An absentee parent is much better than one who will grieve forever.
The Oracle walks up to us, and I am glad that Dad made everyone leave the cemetery but us. She makes me feel antsy and I definitely don't want my pack members to feel the same.
"She'll finally get some relief, that one" The Oracle, who Dad revealed is actually one of my ancestral grandmother's (i.e. one of the previous Luna of the Ash Moon Pack) sister.
"You don't get to say that when you are the one who ruined her life!" My mate growls at her and the Oracle merely smiles displaying her rotting teeth. Why the fuck am I related to her?! First Ed and now she! MOON!
"I don't ruin people's lives Delilah" The old woman tells my mate snootily and I know my mate is seconds away from drinking the life out of the old hag's throat. Under other circumstances, I wouldn't have stopped her, but Dad told me that I need to hear what the old hag has to say to me. It will be 'life altering' for us, according to my Dad.
"Being angry that you cannot choose family will not help you any, dear boy" The old woman directs her obsidian eyes to me and gives me a mocking look.
"Now that we've watched the dragon abandon her child, can we all go back and sit somewhere so that I can recite the prophecy I am here for and get out of here?" The old woman rubs her palms and gives us a look.
I take cue from my mate and start walking after her as we go to sit on one of the seats of the cemetery.
"Not my favourite place to recite a prophecy, but I'll make do" The old woman wrinkles her nose and then giving me an almost loving smile, says, "We are family after all"
I growl and only my mate whose hand is on me keeps me from ending her life for being so damn rude to us in my mate's condition.
"Can we start already? I am dog-tired" My mate sighs and I know she is more anxious to go see Sebastian's son than anything, but I don't call her out on it.
My mate has a soft spot for him, and I know she doesn't want him to go back to Spain but that cannot happen.
"You may sit on the ground Ulysses, and you may sit on the bench beside me, Delilah" The old woman orders and I bristle.
"We'd both rather stand" My Mate snarls and I put a hand at the small of her back to keep her calm. She may not look like it, but even I know that even the two of us cannot take on the old woman.
"I didn't ask what you'd both rather do, Delilah. I told you what I want you to do" She gives us a smile. "Now, you might want to sit without further back answering me. The sun is going to set soon, and even I am not bold enough to recite prophecies under the Moon anymore"
Before my mate can say anything, I motion for her to sit on the bench and then sit down, laying my head against my mate's legs and sitting crossway so that I look casual and not as tense as I feel.
"I'll start with a brief history lesson, of you two don't mind" The old lady says and without waiting for us to say anything, starts speaking, "When my sister was mated to Ash Moon pack's Alpha, the old Oracle died and, somehow she left me as the follow up"
"In my early days, visions of the future came to me in the night, in my dreams and one day, when I came to see my sister and her mate, I had my first mid-day vision" A bitter look mars her old weathered face.
"Obviously the vision was about this pack" There is a sneer to her voice that Asher is not taking kindly to. "The Moon is partial to this pack, it seems, considering how she won't even allow me to collect some tribute in exchange of my knowledge"
"You-" I start to tell her that she needs to just jump to the prophecy and leave, but she ignores me as if I am not even present here. She is just staring blankly into oblivion.
"My sister wanted to know what the prophecy was, her Mate was desperate too, but I didn't tell them" She finally turns to us and adds, "Partially because it was against morals to recite a prophecy to someone it doesn't concern, and mostly because I just didn't feel like following all my sister and her mate's orders blindly like everyone else did" The smile on her face is downright sinister.
I tense and just at that moment Sugar starts running her hand through my hair, immediately calming me down. Is it normal for her to have such a strong hold on me?
"Anyway, since then, all generation of Alphas have begged me for the prophecy, and naturally, I have denied them all, considering how it doesn't concern them" She lowers her eyes to me, "But now that I have you two here, the Moon demands that I deliver the vision to you, or it may siege my powers" Back is the bitter smile.
"The vision the moon showed me my dear kids" She gives us a mocking look, "that you two will have a pair of twins"
TWINS? WHAT THE- I block my mate's thoughts so that I can concentrate on what the old hag is saying, because she is clearly not done,
"The Moon showed me that either the two of them will kill each other" My Mate's hand stills in my hair, and when I try to read her mind, I am met with a block. Where the fuck did she learn to block me?!
"Don't look like you've seen death Delilah" The Oracle croons, "The other vision was, that the two of them together, will bring a revolution in the supernatural world"
A revolution? I cringe. We supes are not known for our heartfelt acceptance of change. Sweet. Only my life could be so fucked up. That reminds me, why the hell did Dad not warn me about this?!
"No future is ever set in stone, and all visions usually have multiple alternate outcomes, but this one only has two, so yeah, all the best with that"
The Oracle stands and gives us a smirk, "I may now leave and let you two dwell in your pity and think over my words"
I ignore her and turn to my Mate, and just stare at the emotions playing on her pale face. My Sugar is scared out of her wits.
Perfect.
I wait for the Oracle to leave before I get to the task of reassuring my Mate that the Moon will not let anything bad happen, but when the old woman is not gone after five minutes, I turn back to see what is holding her up.
I am met with an annoyed looking Oracle who is muttering gibberish under her breath.
When she meets my eyes, she grits her teeth and snarls, "I almost forgot to add" She starts, but her tone implies she didn't forget anything, that perhaps she was wanting to withhold information from us.
"There will be two females, one a promise, the other your own, who will make or break your sons' future" She says it as if it is trivial information and I want very badly to tear her into pieces, but the next second, she is gone. Just like that. Poof.
Great. The tearing into pieces part can wait, because let's face it, this is definitely not the last the old hag will see of me after dropping a bomb that big on us.
($-$)
A Couple of Hours Ago.
The pack doctor is glaring daggers at me, and when she starts making her way towards me, probably to throw me out, I let out a low growl.
She stops, stares at all her assistants who are scared of me already, sighs and lets me be beside my Mate.
Just another perk of being the Alpha.
My Sugar shakes her head at me, even when her hold tightens on my hand and a look of pure agony mare her face.
"Shh..." I rub my other hand on her hair, trying to soothe her, wanting very much to take her pain away like I've done on previous occasions.
The Moon Goddess sure is cruel considering how she allows me to take all her other aches away, but this one. The one which is considered to be the worse.
"I'm fine" She lies through gritted teeth and I want to... I don't know what I want to do beside take her pain away.
"Shh..."
"Aaahhhh!!!!!" She jerks upwards and my heart nearly jumps out of my mouth.
"Mate" My voice comes out calm, surprising me, considering how it feels like a hurricane is in me.
"I'm fine" She tells the doctor who runs to our side seeing my mate.
"We should opt for surgery, Luna" The doctor suggests tenderly and I am about to back her, considering how my mate has been in labor for the past 10 hours, but the growl my mate lets loose makes the doctor scatter and advises me to keep my opinions to myself.
"Mate-" I dare to speak but her warn is enough to ward me off for good.
"Don't even think about it" She warns, clutching my hand as I wipe off the sweat she has worked up.
We hear a loud roar from outside and she grimaces.
"T?" She inquires and I nod.
"Liv is trying to keep him in line, but Ruin is much in tune with you, so he can't stay calm" I tell her the truth and she smiles a sad smile.
"That is how it has been forever. Ruin cares for me almost as much as you do" She confesses what I already know.
A small sting of jealousy strikes me, but I ignore it.
"Everyone is waiting outside too... waiting for you to pop our pups out" I tell her only half joking and she looks up at me with wide eyes at that, making me regret even opening my mouth.
"I'll be able to do it, right? Tell me I'll be able to safely birth our pups" She demands and I brush away a stray strand of her hair from her face before I assure her, "You are always able to do whatever you put your mind to. I don't see how this will be any different"
"Nice choice of words, Al-lpha" The pain that she tries to hide keeps on making an appearance by cracking her tough-woman act. It pains me where it hurts.
She is silent for a few minutes before I see her eyes turn dark, "I need you to promise me something" She says all of a sudden and I give her a confused look.
"What?"
"Promise me that you'll not let anything happen to my kids...." I blanch at that because the prophecy comes back to me, and I am about to warn her of the same, but she is not listening.
"We'll prove the Oracle wrong, Spice. I know we can" She pleads with me. "I... there has to be another way around it" She insists. "There has to be"
"Sugar...."
"Just promise me that you'll not let anything happen to either of them. We'll deal with the future when it comes..." She is looking at me with determined eyes and I cave in.
I promise her that I'll not let anything happen to either of our pups. And I plan on carrying through my promise.
She smiles at me, rubs her belly that is wrapped with the hospital gown, and says in a soft voice, "Cool... now go grab Tara and her team. I think I am ready to let these two out amongst the lot of us"
*
"As hard as it is for me to admit, you are doing the right thing" Eduardo looks at me with grudging respect.
"Just go already" I growl at him, trying very hard not to look at the bundle cradled in his arms.
"And what will you say when she asks about me?" He asks cockily, killing time.
"The truth" I hiss, "That you are gone to drop Sebastian back to his home so that he doesn't have to miss his schooling, and to see how my pack there is doing" A week after Bas died, I had killed his father and taken over as the Alpha of the Dirt Moon Pack in Spain, although their Beta leads in my absence.
He smirks, stares at the bundle in his arm, and murmurs, "The half-truth you mean"
"Fuck off" I growl, "She cannot know about it"
He looks like he is about to say something, but then thinks better of it and takes a step back, "You are right" Then with one last look towards my mate's room, he takes another step back, "I should leave now"
We share a nod, and then he is gone.
(-_-)
Present time
"I hate you" She says it so softly, but I hear it nonetheless, and it hurts.
I get off the bed and quietly go and sit on the floor beside her, mimicking her and staring at the sleeping new born boy of ours sleeping in the crib.
"What for?" I dare to ask her.
She seems startled and finally turns to face me, showing me her pretty face that reflects her tiredness and the dried tear trails.
"For not saving my son, like you promised me to-"
"So you hate me for not being able to defy fate?" I ask calmly and she looks like I have striked her. As much as I want to be the one who protects her from every fucking thing, I cannot allow her to believe that I can control our fates. That would be just cruel.
"You broke your promise... I... I uh hate you" She says without any heat
"Not more than I hate myself" I admit calmly and I see her face crumble before fresh set of tears start pouring out of her eyes.
I pull her to my side despite her protest and hold her tightly so she does not succeed in getting out of my arms, and after a few minutes, she caves and starts sobbing softly in my arms.
I allow my own tears to fall silently as we both sit in front of our child's crib.
"Gah..." The sound the boy makes, makes us pull ourselves together as we hover over his crib.
My Sugar starts playing with him, talking nonsensical stuff with him, and I smile when I see how much our son looks like his mother. They share the same dark coloured hair and the same eyes.
Even their smiles are the same.
It is kind of eerie how less he cried when he was born, and I chuckle when I remember that Delilah was the same as a toddler. Very calm and always ready to play.
"He's a lot like you" I tell my mate and she turns to look at me, and for the first time in the past nine months, since we heard that dratted prophecy, she gives me a sly smile.
"Of course he is" She boasts, "I am awesome"
I laugh at that, and lean in to kiss her forehead, our son watching us with wide animated eyes.
"What are you going to call him?" I ask. She had warned me beforehand that she'll be the one who will pick our kids name.
She looks thoughtful for a while, then she says, "I had imagined that one of them will have your blonde curls and the other my brown hair" She admits and my mind flashes back to the bundle I handed to Eduardo, "And I'd call the blonde one Ashallyn and the brunette Cameron"
I swallow, and say, "So he is called Cameron"
My Mate looks at me, sighs and says, "Yes. Yes, he is"
We play with Cameron for some more time before my mate feeds him and he goes back to sleep.
She lays Cameron back in his crib, and says, "I am kind of bummed that I don't get my happily ever after, with you and my two kids and-"
I cut off her rant by kissing her lips and swallowing her words.
"Why would you expect a happily ever after when life is keen on throwing so many different curveballs at us?" I ask her saucily and she lets loose a smile.
"You are right, Spice. Happily Ever Afters are overrated anyway"
(^-^)
Okay, so this is the end!!!!!
How was it? Did it live up to your expectations? And... I don't really have a lot of time to write an Author's note worth the ending, because I am feeling too damn emotional so yeah...
Anyway, I had said that I would upload the synopsis of the other book today, but I don't have a cover and I don't have a title and I don't have a blurb.
Things are all over the place and I am trying to get it all right, so yeah, it will take some time.
Sometime next week hopefully?
I'll post the synopsis here so you guys can know when the other book is up and whether it is of your taste or not, so yeah... then you guys can choose to read the other book or not.
Also, I don't know if you guys noticed the change in the title, but I named the series, it is called Cursed Mates series, and Hey Mate is book 1 of the same.
Anyway, I have to jet now.
All my love to all you beautiful readers.
XOXO
#Peace
-N.
L