Chapter 11

-Fawn-

I can’t sit still. Tomorrow. My father and mate are travelling to Karlisle, our long-time enemies. I don’t care about being in their fancy castle, I only want to see my brother again. It’s been 5 years, and I had honestly given up hope that he was even alive.

But he’s alive and well.

I really hope he’s well; the king of Karlisle said he was being treated like he is his own son, so I assume that means he’s well. I don’t know what he’s been through in those five years. Was he a prisoner for all that time?

“Fawn,” my mate wraps her arms around my back, pressing her head to my back, massaging the stress from my muscles. “He’ll be alright,” she says calmingly. Fern presses a kiss to my temple, and it saddens me that she never even had the chance to meet Kit.

We mated two years ago, shortly after we met. It’s customary between werewolves - we can sense if someone is right for us, by smell and other things no one really understands.

“What if he’s different now?” I whisper, turning to bury my face in her chest. Fern chuckles, smoothing her fingers across my shortly shorn hair, humming as the short strands spike her slightly.

“Then get to know him again. He can’t have changed that much anyway,” she says, leaning in to kiss me on the lips. As she pulls away, I smile, snaking my arms around her waist, bringing her back to me for another kiss.

“So long as my baby brother is alive, it doesn’t matter what he’s like,” I say, persuading myself that everything will be alright.

—————

I hate being around so many humans, but I trust the fragile peace my brother’s sacrificial marriage has granted us with. I still feel sad for my brother; to have finally been released from the human prisons, only to be imprisoned with a human mate.

And a prince at that. Kit must hate it.

Standing in the long hall, none of us were impressed at how long the human king was making us wait. The queen was respectful enough to arrive on time, assuring us that Kit was a lovely man, and he and her son were happy together.

Of course she said that. We all know it’s not true, but ignore that fact and smile tightly at her. Eventually, the king arrives, and he’s as rude as we had expected. Negotiations are boring and difficult, but we eventually get him to agree to release their wolf prisoners, as well as some other things about trade agreements et cetera.

Afterwards, we are led into a smaller room with sofas and armchairs, where the king informs us that we must wait until Kit arrives. He leaves. He actually just leaves, and we all see the annoyance on the queen’s face before she quickly turns her expression welcoming again.

“Please excuse him,” she says, but evidently can’t come up with an excuse for his behaviour. I kind of like her, she seems like she wouldn’t be pushed around by others.

The door opened again shortly after, and a man with black hair, purple eyes and a mole under his left eye enters. But, my eyes barely even linger on him, when I catch a glimpse of forest eyes with beautiful silver flecks in.

I admit, I was a little rude as I shoved the other man out of the way, wrapping my arms around Kit in a crushing hug. The human stumbled, but the queen caught him. I expected to hear some kind of backlash for behaving rudely, but neither the queen nor the man, who I assumed was the prince, said anything.

Kit hugged me back gently, and I took fistfuls of his shirt into my hands as I let out my tears. I’m not much of a crier, but seeing my baby brother again means everything to me. Pulling back, I inspected his face, running my fingertips over the scar on his right cheekbone and cheek, which hadn’t been there the last time I saw him.

I gripped him into another hug, before my father pulled me off him, hugging Kit himself. “My precious son,” he murmured, and I swear I saw tears on his cheeks. The alpha never cried. I never cried, and Kit never cried.

But here we were, all crying our eyes out, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

—————

-Kit-

I clung onto my father, my alpha, tears streaming down my face as I was reunited with my pack after so much pain. Talking of pain, I was trying to ignore my back where Fawn had rather enthusiastically hugged and grabbed at me too hard.

It hurt still, but had healed a lot in the past week, and the pain was worth the hug with my big sister.

“Little kitten, this is my mate, Fern,” my sister explained, still wiping tears from her eyes. I used to hate the nickname, but hearing it again almost made me begin crying again. Fern strode forwards, wrapping her arms around my neck as she stood on her tip toes to hug me.

She is rather short, and in comparison with myself, she looks even tinier. My sister laughs fondly, plucking her mate off me so my father can hug me once again. “And you’re alright?” He says after a moment.

I open my mouth to say of course, I’m doing great, but the heat from the burning chains slicing into me in my memories causes my mouth to freeze up, and the words die in my throat. Tears begin to prick my eyes, but I don’t want to cry over this. I’ve already cried so many times.

Trynnian takes my hand softly, reaching up to hug me gently. It’s a very different feeling to when my family hugs me - his touch is always gentle and calming, rather than strong and fierce. Both are comforting, but in different ways.

I wrap my arms around his waist, trying to keep the tears in my eyes as I hide my face in the crook of his neck. My husband strokes through my hair reassuringly, giving me all the time in the world to compose myself.