~Aurora~

　　There was light again in the kingdom.

　　"Prince Emeric…Prince Emeric is back! He didn't abandon us! He could never abandon us!" A mother joyfully told her son as Emeric, Odin and I looked at the woman.

　　"You are my people. My only regret is that I couldn't have protected you in the first place. I know you've lost your mate because of my lack of strength. But—"

　　"Prince Emeric! What are you t-talking about!?" The mother was shaking as she held her toddler up towards him, "This child lives…Because of you! We all women are alive, because of you, Your Highness!"

　　Tears danced in my eyes at her words. Odin quickly tucked me under his arm, I cried on his chest profusely!

　　We got back to the palace which seemed so foreign to me.

　　"Emeric…? Emeric, is that you!?" Came running the Kingdom's beloved Beta. Emeric's eyes widened as he dropped everything he held in his hands and ran towards the older male.

　　"Emeric! I thought- I thought we all lost you!"

　　"You could never lose me if it involves protecting my kingdom, Roman. Besides…I've had plenty of help." As he moved to the side, I smiled up at Roman. He almost flew into me, crushing me with his hug!

　　"And…me. I assisted the Prince as well." Odin joined in as we giggled at his goofy intervening.

　　"Oh Goddess…I can't thank you all enough for your contribution, your sacrifice for this war. I just wished it never happened!" Roman expressed, his lower lip wobbling in sadness.

　　"Trust me, Roman. None of us here wanted this to happen. We will hold the last rights for the deaths of all who have died, give them closure. And yes…that includes the enemies as well. They were werewolves, too. Just too driven and blinded by everything—"

　　"And, what about me?"

　　All of our heads turned to the female voice. Irritation was rising to my peak when I saw her, unscathed. She wore a nice dress, acting entitled and was checking her nails out. So typical for her to act this way.

　　"I might as well fucking fight you and see who will win. Then we can think about you." I threatened the older woman.

　　"Oh, no. No need for that, isn't it? You'd win anyway. You're much more powerful than me. But what matters to me the most, is your contract.

　　Half, and more other packs, as promised. It's all in the agreement."

　　Odin and Roman were confused as they simultaneously asked, "What agreement?"

　　"Oh! You haven't briefed them about it?" Alexia walked towards Odin. She was touching his chest, making him visibly uncomfortable.

　　"You better not—" before I could jump Alexia and show her her place, Emeric quickly held me back by my arm and gave me a wordless signal with his eyes. I wanted to know what was going on in his head.

　　"Well, Alexia. I hope you have the papers with you? We should have witnesses for our agreement, right?"

　　"Hmm…I figured you'd do something like that. Well, here it is." Alexia had a rolled bunch of papers which I even forgot that they existed! Oh, she is going to be embarrassed by him tonight for sure!

　　"Okay, this is our contact, right?" Emeric held the papers in front of her face. "Yes, yes they are~" She touched Odin and was making him feel so uncomfortable that I felt bad for him. I then lifted my gaze up and watched Emeric wink at me…before tearing the papers to pieces!

　　"Wha—" wide eyed at the action, Alexia stared at the falling pieces of paper until they hit the ground.

　　"How could you…" voice mixed with frustration and betrayal, she stared up at Emeric as well. He remained as unfazed at her tears as a rock. He barely cared for her.

　　"Roman. Imprison her in the depths of the dungeon. This is her punishment. Enjoy your period of salvation under my kingdom, Thorn." Her life had flashed before her eyes. She couldn't believe that she was being snatched away of all the power and land that she thought would be hers! After all that she's done…

　　Her only fate now is to remain incarcerated in the dungeon for the rest of her life.

　　We watched as Roman dragged her away after sneakily injecting her with a concoction of wolfsbane. I didn't know he had that on him. But it came in handy as he dragged her all the way to the dungeon and imprisoned her by himself.

　　Well, now that all war had conceded, there were only a few more procedures before everything would go right back into place.

　　I turned to emeric, after we were the only ones around in the corridor,

　　"Emeric…I want to attend the funeral of both Torin and Leif. I want their graveyards to be in the forest, far away from haunting us and the fallen Warriors." Emeric caressed my hair gently. He pulled me into his embrace, my head against his chest.

　　"I'll arrange that for you, my love.

　　After that, we need to make a few more announcements to my kingdom, to your pack, and to the world." I smiled at him. Of course. We needed to do a lot more things after this phase.

　　As promised, Emeric hosted a funeral for all the fallen and martyred and held special funerals outside the kingdom for the other two. Both were buried side by side, hoping their friendship would reconcile in the other realm. They were a team, I'll give them that.

　　But all the memories I had with both of them suddenly dawned over me. They made me smile, despite having bad intentions against me. Before any of this had even started, Torin was like an uncle to me. People change when circumstances change. It is inevitable.

　　And hence, I decided to live a normal life from here onwards. I've got everything I need now.

　　A best friend, a lover, a fighter, a person who cares for me like a parent, and a role model. All rolled into one; My Mate.

　　As it rained heavily, he suddenly appeared behind me while holding the umbrella over my head.

　　"I thought I told you to leave me here for a moment, love." I said calmly. Emeric sneaked his arm around my waist, kissing my cheek and almost kissing the freshly rolling tear from my cheek, it could've been the rainwater too. I didn't know…

　　"I'd never leave you at your lowest, can I?" I sniffled, turning around and hugging him.

　　"Take me away from here, Emeric. I just know I'll keep suffering if I stay here any longer." I stuttered out my request. He closed the umbrella and carried me bridal style, all the way back to the palace.

　　That was the closure that we all needed…