Chapter 39 Change the World

Eric's POV

“I will not have a mismatch of mates on my wedding day, Cole.” Serenity snapped.

I had a smirk on my face, not for Liam, but for Cole. He had it coming, being an ass to Liam and to my second lil sister, yeah… he deserved this.

“What does that suppose to mean?” Liam asked.

Serenity turned to him and gave him the most sarcastic and scary smile I’ve seen in her and, personally, I was thankful I wasn’t at the receiving end of that smile.

“That you will be Tasha’s escort on my wedding day.” She says sweetly

I knew that this took him by surprise, Serenity was never this seriously mean to him before, but knowing Liam he would retaliate. But looking at him right now, a speechless Liam, well I’m guessing he’s debating internally if he should or would.

If I were him, I wouldn’t. Cause Serenity would never change her mind.

“That was pretty mean.” I said as we make our way outside to the garden.

“No it wasn’t.” she said carrying a pitcher of juice, while I was carrying a tray of bacon and pancakes, “I’m the bride, I get what I want.”

“You always get what you want, cherry blossom.” I pointed out.

“Right you are, fiancé.” She faced me and stopped both of us from walking. I smiled down at her hearing her call me that. “I even got the best alpha among all alphas.”

“Hey, that would be me.”

We both laughed as Siam and Anna make their way to the garden table outside the garden. He stopped and gave Serenity a kiss on the forehead.

“Like I said, best of all alphas.” Serenity smiled up at him before he went on his way to the table.

“Make sure that that reaches the table.” Anna says to me, “I’m hungry.”

“Well, if you’d take this from me and let me carry my nephew I’m sure it will.” Serenity says as she bent over Ximm and rubbed the tip of her nose with his making him laugh and grab her face. He giggled and Siam took the pitcher and Anna handed her Ximm.

“Who’s the cute little boy…?” she cooed as she rubbed his nose over his stomach making Ximm laugh.

“I’d say I am but everyone knows that.” Aaron says behind us carrying more food.

Soon the others joined us bringing plates and plates of food.

We sat down talking and laughing enjoying the first day of peace that we have had since Serenity’s return.

“Wow, are we expecting a battalion?”

We turned around and saw Jean walking toward us with Kendra and Ken.

“Hey, c’mon join us.” Serenity says waving toward the available seats.

“You’re back early.” Jake says as Jean took the sit next to Aaron.

She shrugged, “Mama Ellena kicked me out.”

“What? Why?” I asked.

“Nothing, she just…” she glanced at Cole then started to pile food on her plate, “she just said I should get some rest and hang out with you guys.”

“About time!” Aaron says, then he turned to Serenity, “Can we go to the beach?”

“No.” “Yes.”

Anna and Serenity exchanged look.

“You are not going to the beach.” Anna says.

“Why not?” Serenity groaned, Ximm still in her arms.

“Cause we’re going to the tailors today.”

“No fair!” Aaron argued, “When do we get Serenity to ourselves?”

“Uhm, never?” Cam chuckled.

“What does that suppose to mean?” Jake asked.

“She’s getting married, boys.” Jean says as she slice up her pancake, “Do you really think we’d let you mess her up before the big day?”

“You’re already planning the wedding?” Siam asked.

“Yes.” Anna smiled up at him. Siam gave her a look telling her to continue making her shrug. “There’s really no reason to put it on hold, is there? I mean, she’s home and this is like seven months delayed already.”

“Plus we girls can only do so much while you boys were out playing war games.” Cam pointed out.

I turned to Serenity.

“You were planning the wedding while we were at war?” I asked.

“Well, we got bored.” She said, “Plus, you did promise to come home, and we thought this would be a surprise.”

“And a surprise it is.” Aaron says before taking a drink of juice.

Serenity frowned and faced me, “You aren’t having doubts are you? I mean you were serious when you asked me to marry you?”

“Of course I was, I still am…” I glanced at the others who were closely watching, I sighed and took her hand, “I just thought that we’d be doing this together, that’s all. Like Siam and Anna did.”

Serenity smiled and gave me a quick kiss, “We are doing this together, Eric.”

“Aw, you are just-“

“Gross?” Cole and Aaron said in unison.

“Sweet.” Jean and Tasha says hitting both boys on the nape.

“Ow, I was just kidding.” Aaron says.

I grinned and glanced at Cole who was glaring at Aaron who was now in a childish argument with Jean. Across me Liam stared at Tasha and Cole before resuming back to his breakfast.

“Well, maybe one day of fun wouldn’t hurt.” I said.

“What?” Anna asked, “No Eric, you don’t know what kind of mischief that fiancée of yours is capable of.”

Aaron laughed, “So true, one time she went home sporting a bump on her forehead and scars on her knees and arms that Aunt Claire locked her up until all those wounds healed.”

“Thank god for Mama Ellena’s medicines that just lasted for like two days.” She chuckled and took a drink before going back to playing with Ximm.

“Eric is right.” Siam says, “It doesn’t sound so bad.”

“Siam, not you too.”

“C’mon Anna,” Serenity says, “Just like the old days.”

We all turned to Anna, who was in an internal debate as well.

Until she shrugged and dropped her head, “Fine…” she says, Aaron and Jake exchanged high fives and we all cheered. “But just for a day.”

“Or two.” Aaron says. We all turned to him, giving him the shut up already look. “What? The score is four- one, we have a lot of catching up to do.”

“You are so gon’na regret that.” Jean says, amused.

And he did. By the end of the day, we were all waiting for Aaron, Liam, Jake and Serenity back at the picnic area we set up.

We played the whole day- flag football, soccer, Frisbee, catch, tag and decided to end the game with hide and seek for the four.

At first I was hesitant to let Serenity go alone. She talked me out of it, saying that she can mind link with me now, and promised that if she feels the link weaken she’d go back. Of course, I gave in. I know she was capable of protecting himself in more ways than one now.

“Where are they?” Tasha asked.

“Don’t worry, Eric and I have guards all over the place.” Siam says as he and Anna played with Ximm.

“That would piss your sister off, you know that don’t you?” Cole says

“Yeah, but I think I’d prefer facing her wrath than losing her again.” I said, tossing a baseball up in the air and catching it.

“How did you do it?” I heard Tasha asked.

I turned around and saw her looking at me.

“Do what?” I asked.

“Last for almost a year without her.” she said.

I grinned, “To tell you the truth, I’m not really sure.” I said, “I guess the company of her family helped, and of course there’s Josephine…” I sighed and stared at the ball I was holding. “I would do anything for her, even wait forever.”

“And that’s true too.” Jean says as she flipped to the next page of the medical book she was reading. Yes, for some reason she easily understood those books better than novels and fiction. “He did wait, he was a bit bi polar, maybe even boarding to crazy, but he waited.”

“They always say that the bond of a alpha to his mate is greater than normal,” Anna says gently, “I would agree, but Eric brought it to a whole different level.”

“Their bond went beyond the normal, maybe even beyond magic.” Cam says.

“His perseverance to find her, the belief that she was still alive, the love… it was just too much even for fate to mess with really.” Siam added.

I then turned to Tasha again, “I think I was scared too.” I said, “And I never failed to say or show that. When I accepted my fears I started to understand what I needed to fight for, what I need and could do fight those fears.” I paused and smiled, “I was scared that I would lose her, but that never was an option for me, even when the old king separated us, I was scared that she’ll see eye to eye with him, but I left a tiny hope in me that she wouldn’t that she would fight for us… and she did. So who was I to give up?”

Tasha was still staring at me and smiled, then she looked over my shoulder and I turned to see what she was staring at.

I laughed along with the others seeing the three boys and Serenity walking up to us.

“I’m guessing you had fun?” Siam asked looking at the mud, twigs and leaves covered Serenity.

‘”Yes I did.” She beamed, “ten out of three.”

We laughed as the boys groaned.

“You guys suck at this game.” Jean says.

“Why not just quit it?” Coe added.

“Cause she needs to be shut up.” Aaron says.

“Dude, she had the bragging rights when score reached five- three.” Cole says.

“Well, it’s our thing and it’s none of your business.” Aaron snapped.

“Hey, hey, quit it.” Anna says, “Don’t make me regret allowing this day.”

“Sorry.” Aaron mumbled.

Tasha nudged Cole who rolled his eyes, “Sorry.” He mumbled as well.

I chuckled along with the others and Serenity dropped down my lap.

“Hi.” I grinned, pulling out a twig from her hair.

“Hi back.” She says.

“You had fun?”

“Let’s see…” she puts on a thinking face, “I beat the crap out of you boys and got to run around the forest like the old days.” I smiled. “Even with the guards running around.”

I dropped my smile and glanced at Siam who made a face like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Sorry buddy, your alone on this one. I hear him say.

I sighed and turned to her, “Serenity, I know you don’t like it, but its necessary. You aren’t completely out of danger yet, even from our kind.”

She shrugged, “I know, I just wish you guys would stop pulling stunts like this. You can tell me, maybe I’ll be hard headed about it but if it’s that important to you then,” she sighed, “maybe its worth considering.”

We all stared at her, not completely buying her crap.

“Who are you and what did you do to my sister?” Siam says.

Serenity laughed, “Shut up.”

We all laughed and teased Serenity some more, I was starting to sketch that perfect moment, when I caught a scent.

I turned to the forest.

“What is it, Eric?” I hear Serenity ask.

“Stay here.” I said, setting her down and was about to stand.

“Eric, no.” Serenity pulled me back.

“Anna, take Ximm and go back to the house.” Siam adds.

“Serenity, let’s go.” Anna says.

“Wait, Eric-“

“Go Serenity.” I said.

“Serenity?”

We all turned to the edge of the forest and saw a girl step out.

“Gelya…”

Serenity ran pass me and straight to the girl’s arms.

“Serenity…” I hear her say again, this time with more relief.

“Serenity, come back here.” Siam snapped.

She’s harmless. Josephine says.

Are you sure?

Yes, she’s an old friend.

“She’s harmless.” I said.

“What?” Jake asked. “She’s a vampire.”

“Do you know her Eric?”

“No.” I said, talking slow steps toward Serenity and the girl who was standing side by side, staring at us. “Josephine says she’s an old friend.”

The vampire smiled and took Serenity’s hands in hers, “A very very old friend.”

We left the girls with Gelya in the library where they were again talking about the wedding while we were at the war room, drinking and talking.

“What do you think?” Jake asked.

“That I would like to tap her.” Aaron says breaking the serious air in the room.

“We can trust her.” Cole says. “She helped us escape the circus when the vampires attacked.”

“And Anna said she protected Serenity from Yuri.” Siam says pouring more drink in his cup.

“She said mom took care of her, like a mother would care for her real child.” Liam says to no one in particular.

“She’s trust worthy.” Uncle Leo says. “Serenity obviously trusts her, and so does Josephine.”

I sighed, “Josephine says that she was the shifter that the moon stone first healed.”

They all sat up, “Are you sure?” Aaron asked.

“That’s what Josephine says.” I said. “I don’t think I’d like to argue with a wolf spirit.”

And you shouldn’t. Josephine says making me grin.

“Well, I guess that’s what she meant by a very very old friend.” Jake says before taking a sip.

“But she’s a vampire.” Ken says. “I don’t think I understand.”

“It’s easy really.” We all sat up and saw her standing by the door watching us, arms crossed over her chest, with a smile of amusement.

“How did you find us?” Siam asked.

“I still have connections with my inner wolf.” She says walking up to the table sitting across Aaron. “My wolf never left me.”

We all exchanged looks, until Jake leaned forward, looking at her straight in the eyes.

“Tell us what happened.”

She smiled at him and sat back, “Well, unlike popular belief, my mate didn’t reject me after I slept with that human boy.” She said. “I actually never found him.”

I watched her every move, waiting for any body language that might be a sign of her lying. But I knew I would never find one.

“My family never forgave me for what I did, they never really understood the reason why I did it.” she continues, “The princess did though. Not one moment did she ever doubted my real intentions. I asked her to keep it a secret, not while her own parents didn’t understand the connection she had with that boy. I was the center of every mockery and rumor for years. Even when the princess tell the others to stop they would do it behind her back.” She chuckled, “Once she practically ordered the seamstress of the town to sew every gossips’ lips to shut them up.”

“Hm,” Aaron made a face and nodded, “I can picture Serenity doing that.”

We all quietly agreed and let Gelya continue with her story.

“When Serenity finally was able to tell her brother and was married to his mate, only then did the truth come out.” she frowned, “At the same time I ran away.”

“You ran away after your name was finally cleared?” Cole asked.

“That was never the issue.” She said, “I stayed because I had to. It was my fault that the princess can never be with her mate, the least I can do is be with her and console her when the cold came.”

I frowned remembering what those days felt like.

“I never asked for my name to be cleared, nor did I ever ask for the people to stop. But when I saw her and that man…” she paused, her eyes were deep in thoughts, lost in memories. “It was far from jealousy. What I felt seeing them together was beyond hate and envy. I wasn’t even jealous because she was with the one who I thought I love, no… I was jealous because I will never have that.” her voice dropped into a whisper, “whether I find my mate or not, he will never accept me. I broke the most sacred and important law for the femme wolf and I had to pay for it by losing the only person who would have understood.”

We all grew silent, our eyes stuck on her, scared that she might break down and cry.

“So I ran away that’s when I met Yuri. He wasn’t so lost back then like he is now. It may be hard to believe but he was really sweet and kind. That’s probably the reason I am here now.” she sighed and looked down at her hands, “When my wolf and I finally realized that I had no mate, slowly our body deteriorated. Our healing weakened and our abilities almost gone. I grabbed that opportunity and jumped at the edge of a cliff. Unfortunately I wasn’t weak enough; some villagers found me and took me to Yuri who treated me. Three long torturing months of question and answer, healing bones and getting my strength back. I never spoke one word to Yuri, and he never pushed me to. He just worked on me, jolly and talking about what was going on outside the walls of his clinic. When he noticed that I was healing abnormally fast, that’s when he confronted me.”

She took a long deep breath and fidgeted on her seat, as if looking for a more comfortable position.

“That was when I told him my story and he told me his. How he was a royalty in hiding until he was needed to rule his land or something like that. He honored my request to leave when I was all healed, waiting for another chance to be able to kill myself again. And when I did, he was the one who stopped me. He told me that it wasn’t my fault, that I was acting only for the good, I was selfless and how the society is paying me was all wrong.” I hear a sob escape, “He said the words I have been longing to hear but it was too late, I had given up. And after everything he did and said I repaid him by asking him to kill me. I told him to not forget that we were enemies, and as a royalty it was his right and responsibility to kill an enemy. In some way, he did. He killed the side of me which was of a shifter, but he also turned me into an immortal, an immortal with a pulse and a heart.”

The room fell into silence as Gelya’s story came to an end.

“So let me get this straight,” Jake says, “You have been living for hundred of years as a vampire?”

“Yes.” She said.

“As the Vampire king’s daughter?” Ken asks.

“Yes.”

“Does that make you the princess?” Aaron asks.

Gelya makes face, “I guess so.”

“Then you’re the next vampire queen.” Siam says.

“I’m not really sure.” She says, “I mean, we never spoke about it. I don’t think we ever will.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

She sighed, “Well, I can’t really blame him if he tries to kill me now, I did kill his son.”

“His son?”

“Anton.” Cole sneered, “That *sshole attacked us at the circus, he was the reason we had to come here earlier than planned.”

“And you killed him?” Aaron asked. “Your brother.”

“Well, he ruined my birthday.” She pointed out, “And tried to take Serenity, and yeah, he is an *ss.”

“Hm, it looks like we owe you more than we know.”

“You owe me nothing.” Gelya says. “She did everything she could for me, this is nothing compared to that.”

“I’m pretty sure she thinks differently.” Uncle Leo says.

Gelya laughs, “I’m sure she does.”

“Anyway, you are welcome to stay with us as long you would want.” I said, “It’s the least I can do for you.”

“Thank you.”

“So tell us…” Aaron sits back, Gelya turns to him, one brow raised, “how far along are you girls with the planning of the wedding?”

She laughed, “You serious about that little boy?”

“Yeah, well, I want to know who she paired me to.”

We all laughed and watch Aaron rant about what would possibly happen at the wedding.

I made my way to Serenity’s room later that night.

I step inside at the same moment Serenity stepped out of her bathroom. She turned to me and smiled while she dried her hair.

“Hey baby.” She says and made her way toward me.

“Hey…” I reached for her and pulled her toward me.

“Hm, someone’s been drinking.” She runs her hand over her hand up my chest and linked it over my neck.

“Sorry, the guys just had one of those nights.” I said.

She grinned, “Its ok, I’m glad to know you got to relax.”

“You do know that I am happier with you, right?”

She giggled, “I never doubted that for a second.”

“So, how was your planning of our wedding?” I asked.

Her smile widened and gave a low jump inside my arms, “I’m having a dress made tomorrow, and you boys would need to have your suits made too.”

“So we’re going out tomorrow?”

“Yes.” She bit her lower lip. “Is that ok?”

I grinned at her and rested my forehead on hers, “Anything for your perfect day, princess.”

“Don’t call me that.” she says with a pout.

“Sorry, I like to call you princess,” I said, pulling her closer when I felt her try to move away, “you are my princess, the only woman for me, my wife to be, the mother of my child- to-be and- as of the moment until forever- my life.”

In an instant, her smile came back, “You do know you don’t have to say those things, I will marry you anytime anywhere.”

“I wouldn’t like it any other way.”

“You sure about that, Alpha Johansen?” she teased.

“Never been more sure in my life.” I said before I leaned in to kiss her.