Stolen Past

Chapter 7

Cole's POV

Evelyn walks in after her long day and she squeals when she notices my presence. I smile but gesture her to slow down.

"Shhh!! They might be talking about something important" I whisper as I gesture to King Michael's room.

Evelyn turns around, looks at the closed door and nods. I then pull her into my arms and kiss her forehead.

"I missed you. For a hundred times I wished I it to be you and not Liam" I shrug.

"Terrible liar you are!" She laughs, "Liam told me that you both laughed the most today"

I nod sheepishly.

"What must they be talking about?" Evelyn whispers hugging me again.

"I don't know. Her kid that she never saw?" I ask her back.

"It must be so traumatic on her part. I don't even want to imagine what would I do if I lost my baby" Evelyn whispers.

And with that, we fall into silence for a while. We don't want to think about it but we find ourselves think about it more. It must really feel terrible. Even though we don't know if that is true or not.

Our silence is interrupted by King Michael and Samantha walking out. They look nervous and that in return is starting to make us nervous.

"Can we.. can we sit down for dinner and talk?" Samantha asks.

Evelyn and I exchange looks again. We have been doing this a lot lately.

"Oh get your asses over the dining table" King Michael says and we are already on our feet.

The dinner is served and I scoop up some hot rice from my bowl. I see Evelyn is already done with half and smile to myself. She has to eat for two.

"We wanted to tell you both something" King Michael says.

I nod and I notice Evelyn nodding with her eyes on her bowl of soup. I half hope it is not about her child, because Evelyn and I have been thinking of it since yesterday.

Samantha and King Michael holds each other's hands and I smile knowing what is coming our way.

"We want to get married" Samantha says.

"Isn't that a great news!!!!!" Evelyn squeals.

I smile and nod at them. I stand up in middle of dinner to hug King Michael and congratulate him for taking this step. He really needs this. He needs someone.

"Oh My God! Thank you both of you! I did not imagine you two would take it well" Samantha sighs and sits back in her chair.

"Why wouldn't we be happy for something you both decided to he happy?" Evelyn asks as she finishes having her soup and serving herself a little more.

"I don't know. I am 40 and he is 42. I don't think it is the ideal age to get married" Samantha smiles foolishly getting all awkward.

Evelyn stays silent raking her mind to come up with comforting words.

"To be honest, there is no certain thing called ideal age for love or marriage or dreams. They approach you when you are ready. Moreover you both had your own rough past. So this is life giving you both a second shot at happiness. Now, what is wrong with grabbing that and moving forward?" I ask with a shrug.

"Argh! I thought these people were kidding when they said you always have right things to say" Samantha says with her hand on her chest and a wide smile on her face.

I smile awkwardly and resume eating.

"I would be more than glad to organise my father's wedding. Not many are blessed with such opportunity" Evelyn shrugs this time.

King Michael and Evelyn exchange looks and they wink at each other. This father and daughter can actually communicate just with stares and it always fascinates me!

We finished our dinner amidst laughter and excitement of the wedding. They did not plan anything yet, because they did not imagine that we would be okay. So Evelyn took it on to her to make the wedding get magical.

"You go to sleep. I will patrol one last time and join you in couple hours" I tell Evelyn as I change my clothes to shorts and tee shirt.

"Leave when I fall asleep" Evelyn pouts.

She knows I cannot resist that. So I join her on the bed and cuddle with her till she falls asleep. I think of all the turn of events meanwhile. And then I read the books on the whole pregnancy concept till I hear snores from Evelyn. Once I made sure she is sound asleep, I slip away slowly and close the door behind her.

I randomly walk towards the west borders and take a stroll observing my surroundings. The moonlight is bright and to us werewolves, we find strength in Moon. To us, that is our energy that helps us keep moving.

I hear rustles from the nearby bush and get all alerted. I slowly walk to the bush till the rustles stop, and when I move the bush away I see a rabbit run out in fear. Oops! I must have startled it.

"What are you doing here being all weird?" Liam asks me.

I roll my eyes as I turn around. He is in his shorts and tee shirt as well. Probably one last round of patrol till he gets to sleep as well.

"Trying to do what you are already doing" I shrug and we both start walking together.

"You don't usually patrol. So why today?" Liam asks.

"I finally decided to make this a routine. After a long tiring day, taking a stroll around the borders and making sure that my pregnant mate will sleep well is comforting" I smile.

"Do you really need to mention your mate is pregnant in every conversation? I know you are a man! Jeez!!!" Liam rolls his eyes earning a shove from me.

We both chuckle and resume walking again as we keep an eye on the surroundings. The border security team bows to us at every stop.

"Don't you think that sometimes, life is weird?" Liam asks out of blue.

"Sometimes? I think it's an all time thing" I smirk making him smirk as well.

I am actually mated to Liam's sister, Celia. And Evelyn is mated to Alpha William Brown. But we rejected them and marked each other. And now, Celia and William are together. So whenever the thought cross my mind, I automatically think life has its own weird way.

"And then, the day I find my mate is also the day I find out she is already a mother. Luna of another pack. Imprinted by an Alpha and deeply in love with that man. I found my mate and got rejected by her the same day" Liam shrugs.

"So now why are you talking about mates all of a sudden?" I ask him.

He doesn't say anything as we take a turn and walk towards the north borders.

"I don't know. It's been on my mind lately. And then, I see you and I feel content. I am not the only one who got rejected by my real mate" he chuckles earning an eye roll.

I know he is trying his best to cover his grief up. Because deep down, I know how getting rejected by mate effects. It eats you alive and I am actually proud of Liam for taking it well and standing strong.

I momentarily debated on letting him know about King Michael and Samantha's wedding, but stopped when I realised it is not my place to say. It is their big news so I will let them tell the whole world.

"So how is your learning about pregnancy thing going?" Liam asks again.

"Oh! So now you want to talk about what a man I am?" I smirk this time hitting him back with his own sarcasm.

"I don't understand what does Evelyn find adorable in you. It's like you have the word 'annoying' written all across your face" Liam rolls his eyes.

I smirk and pause walking to look at him and tell him about what I learnt so far but a sudden rogue movement halts me.

I jump up high in my human form and tackle the rogue wolf before it jumps on Liam and entering the borders.

The Rogue wolf growls and Odin comes on surface. I am still in my human form but Odin takes partial control. Both the Rogue wolf and I fall on ground with a thud and I have the wolf pinned. I place my right foot on its neck and press my weight till the wolf backs a little.

Odin lets out a threatening growl at the Rogue. The Rogue instantly submits itself recognising me as the Rogue Alpha.

But by its appearance I know this is just an ordinary rogue. That rogue who loves to trouble Alphas and ends up getting killed so I don't have any thoughts on taming this and make Rogue Pack's member.

The Rogue wolf whines and falls on ground, and only then I remove my foot that was on its neck. The next second, the Rogue runs away without turning back.

"People call you fierce and I see why" Liam nods just as Odin gives the control back to me.

"You always need to stay alert. That was what I did" I shrug.

I personally don't consider myself fierce. Because there are very few moments where I was really fierce. Like, when I throw an Alpha an open challenge and they show me attitude.. that is when I decide to be fierce and show them what I am capable of.

"I did not even sense that rogue but you even made it run for the hills! I don't understand why you don't see yourself being the King" Liam whispers as we finally reach the east borders.

I shake my head at him trying to come up with an answer that he can understand.

"To me, my identity always stood first. I was fine being a Rogue at first. I don't see why I cannot consider myself a rogue. Because a rogue is still a wolf. We all belong to the same race. So I made it my mark. I gathered rogues like me and called it a rogue pack accidentally becoming the Rogue Alpha. I still believe that is my true identity. If I accept being the King, then I won't really be the pillar to rogues. I would be a pillar to every wolf. The cycle repeats where Rogues are mistreated and gets beaten to death" I end my speech.

I did not realise we stopped walking until Liam starts walking again. We both don't talk anything for a while till we reach the end. I can already see the palace thanks to my werewolf sight.

"I am actually glad that Evelyn chose you and now forget that I even said that" Liam says and walks away.

I smile to myself as I walk to the palace. I find myself getting closer to Liam. I actually find his sarcasm entertaining.

I gulp a whole glass of water and take a shower because the patrolling and scaring the rogue made me sweaty. The feel of hot water rolling down my sweaty sticky skin feels amazing and I don't move an inch till the water starts running warmer.

I throw a set of pyjamas and join Evelyn on her bed again. She is in the same position when I left her. One good thing about Evelyn is she is a heavy sleeper. Sometimes, it is a curse too. She is a Queen and she doesn't know what threats are awaiting to attack while she is asleep.

I hug her close and spoon her. I hold her hand and feel the diamond ring on her ring finger. The one I slipped on our wedding day. The day I realised I accomplished a happy life. Smiling at that day, I fell asleep soon.

.

.

I hold Samantha as we are walking down the aisle in her wedding dress. There are white lillies and bright daisies scattered across the wedding venue. I also see Evelyn squealing for her dad who looks emotional as he watches his bride walk down the aisle with wide smile.

"I am nervous" I hear Samantha say.

"It's okay. This will go well just as we planned" I whisper and kiss her cheek before giving her hand to King Michael.

The wedding starts and when they come to the part of vows, I see witch Danica stomp towards the couple in her red suit and her signature bright lipstick.

"Dolor!" She says as she raises her hands pointing towards the couple.

And just like that, I see King Michael and Samantha scream as if someone stabbed them. She must have casted a spell to give them pain.

"Die" Danica whispers with no emotion on her face.

.

.

And I wake up with a jerk again.