*********************************

"He's a devil!"

"Oh come on, look at him, his round cheeks, big green eyes and his little hands and feet," Liana cooed, "How can this cute little baby be a devil, right Moon?"

I grinned, "Of course, little Marcus is the most handsome and the most innocent baby in the world."

"Yeah sure; you're not the one he keeps awake at night." Mercy rolled her eyes; her disheveled hair came all over her face again.

It was surprising how a Werewolf, who was also a healer, and who was supposed to have unending strength was so tired because of a child.

But then being a mother was an all consuming task, a twenty four-seven job and of course, if someone kept you up all night long, there was no way you could really remain energetic. Along with that, Marcus was no human child, which meant that his antics and his tantrum were much more draining that that of a normal human child.

Liana didn't seem to think about all of that as she completely ignored Mercy and held her eight months old son, Marcus all the while cooing and giggling with him. Her baby fever had reached its peak ever since she realized she was pregnant. The glow on her face, her slightly rounded cheeks because of the weight she gained were always full of happiness. She loved Marcus like a dear aunt, and Mercy was happy enough to let her take care of him whenever she wanted to.

I still remembered that day; it was a month after she had confirmed she was pregnant, Liana was in tears and had spoken non-stop about how Jaxon was being so attentive ever since she told him.

Both the women sitting in front of me glowed with love – even Mercy, who was so tired.

I sighed inwardly.

I tried my best to keep in the sinking feeling of my heart every time I thought about the words 'mates'. I missed both of mine dearly and it made it extremely difficulty for me to move on. Whenever these two talked about their own mates, I was guilty of feeling that familiar stab of envy everytime.

"I wish Kia was here." Mercy mumbled, missing the only person who wasn't present here, "I haven't seen her in ages. The last time I saw her was when Moon was in the hospital and we had gossiped together."

Liana handed Marcus back to Mercy and looked at me, "She and Josh are dealing with the witch Zora. I have a feeling that they will be needing help, but right now we can't do anything because it's their internal matter, and as long as Zora doesn't directly harm the Werewolves, we really don't have any right to go ahead and deal with her." She sighed, "There's been no contact with the witches since you left."

"Don't worry about all of that. If they needed help, they would've reached out to us. They know we are there to help whenever they need. Do you think Josh broke that curse already? It would be wonderful if Josh finally sees his mate, and of course, make things easier for both of them." I asked.

Mercy shrugged, "I have no idea. I don't think the curse is that easy to break. They will have to destroy Zora and her powers."

We sat silent for a good amount of time, with Marcus's coos and gurgles acting as background noises.

We were sitting in a cafe near the Alpha Hospital, where Jaxon and Theo had to attend a meeting. Liana and Mercy tagged along with them so that we could catch up, and I could see and play with baby Marcus again.

It wasn't as if I never went to the Kingdom. I did go there to meet Mercy when she gave birth, and a few other times to meet my grandparents. I did bump into Adrian most of the time and we talked cordially, like two casual friends.

The urges were strong but we had to remain in control of ourselves. It hurt me every time that I couldn't just jump in his arms and have him take me against the nearest surface.

The first few days when I returned home were hard to bear. I was suddenly forced to face the loss of Aiden and Adrian at the same time. All I had of Aiden's was the pictures we had clicked on my phone, and there were days I used to endlessly scroll through them until mom pried it from my hands.

Of Adrian, I only had our memories, and perhaps the lingerie, he had sent for me long ago.

It took me some time, but I soon could say that I had accepted Aiden's death and that he was never coming back. Also, I had stopped feeling guilty for every emotion that I felt towards him. I knew that he got what he deserved. He was not evil to me, but he had committed his own mistakes - huge mistakes for which he had to pay .

The problem was, I had made wonderful memories with him, in the same house where I was staying, which made it even harder to let his memories go. Every corner reminded me of something or the other, and it only reminded me how happy I was when Aiden had brought me there.

I couldn't do all of this without my mother. She was my therapist through the entire ordeal and she listened to every word I had to say, very carefully. She was the one who comforted me most of the times when I began crying out of nowhere.

I had missed them both of my mates, too much.

I still missed Adrian, more than I wanted to admit, and it was easy to see it when I was always trying to catch glimpses of him whenever Jaxon and Theo came to drop Mercy, Liana and Marcus.

He was never there, though. It was like he was avoiding coming in contact with me at all costs.

I could still remember how I couldn't even sleep properly for the first two months, over-ate as if there was no tomorrow and cried out of nowhere. I used to only look at Aiden's pictures all the time and used to cry over what a lying bastard he was. I sometimes tore through my underwear - the ones Adrian had gifted me - and then cursed him because I had called him once when I was not in my right mind and he hadn't answered or bothered to call back at all.

There were mood swings, hunger swings, temper tantrums and my parents were with me through it all.

While my mom comforted me, my dad kept up his efforts to keep me distracted whenever he could. Sometimes all he did was take me in his arms and sing to me, or tell me one of his childhood stories amongst other things.

In all of the eight months, I realised that I was the daughter of a very wise man.

He told me everything happened for a reason, and then proceeded to tell me what my actions had led to in the past few months.

Both my parents and my friends brought my confidence up to par by constantly telling me how proud of me they were.

I was lucky to have all of them with me.

Once I had started getting better in the Aiden department - unfortunately, I couldn't get Adrian out of my head at all - my father started teaching me the ropes of handling a Kingdom in the PureBlood ways. Then I learnt a few things from things from my Grandparents - both being the Alpha King and Luna Queen back in their days and having quite some experiences up their sleeves.

In short, they were preparing me for handling one of the biggest responsibilities in the Werewolf Kingdom.

I still knew that I would have to take some time to go around and mingle with the Kingdom people before I could finally take the throne. It was made clear to me that unless I couldn't empathise with the people of the Kingdom, there was no way I could help them make their lives better.

But all of that came under the formal training that was given to all the Lunas and would happen only after I returned to Adrian.

It wasn't like I wanted to be the Queen - but I wanted to fulfill my responsibility, even if I wasn't the one to take it willingly. If I was made to be the Luna Queen, then I was not going to go against my fate.

I also felt the kind of guilt working moms felt when they left their children behind at home to go to work - it wasn't like that those moms or I should be feeling guilty, but we did. I did feel that I had left people who were innocent and needed my presence and comfort all alone, without a maternal presence.

And then, I wasn't going to let anyone else take my place.

"Moon?" Liana's voice broke me out of my thoughts, "You just slipped away from us for a while."

"I was just thinking, you know, about these past eight months and before everything." I murmured, shaking my head. "How's everyone else back in the Kingdom."

"The Weres are waiting for their Luna Queen so that their Kingdom is complete." Liana said, a smirk appearing on her face when she didn't add to it.

"Liana," I urged, knowing that she was closer to Adrian and would know more about him.

"He's doing good, Moon. I don't think the Kingdom has ever seen him this carefree and happy. I think it's because he knows that the one he wants the most is surely out there and he's also now working on his own happiness. He takes out time for himself, the boys go and have fun. I think the entire Kingdom can feel that their Alpha is finally taking care of himself."

So, he didn't miss me. I sighed internally.

"You don't have to be so disheartened, Moon. He misses you just as much as you miss him."

"I don't miss him." I grumbled.

Liana rolled her eyes, "Whatever makes you sleep at night." She placed a comforting hand over mine, "You both have progressed a lot ever since you decided to take a break for a while. I can see the confidence in you shining through again and you are getting to spend a lot of time with your parents. I think all you need is some more time and you'll be running back to each other in no time."

I shrugged slightly, "Who knows? I can't just believe how you and Jaxon managed to stay away from each other for such a long time. These eight months have been difficult to bear. There are days I feel like I can't stay away from him anymore and I have to run back to him. It's difficult to stop myself during those times."

She just smiled at me, "You are mates."

"But we weren't the best to each other – there were barely one or two times when were nice to each other because we wanted to be, like that date and after Aiden had died. It should not be this way."

"So let me ask you a question." Liana said, "If you both had been humans, what qualities would have attracted you to him – or let's say, what qualities in him would have made you love him.

"I don't have to think too hard about that," I murmured, "He's handsome, very handsome – just as tall as I want him to be, rugged features, and perfect in bed. I have never seen anyone as perfect as him in my entire life." I wondered, dreamily, "Attraction would have come easy to me, I guess. And about falling in love," surprisingly, this came to me easy, too, "It's about how passionate he is about his people and their good. The entire thing between us did happen because he put his people above his own needs. He had always been honest to me, and tried his best to keep communication open between us. He was protective, seductive, teased me all the time and knows just the buttons to push me. He respected me even if I was weaker than him and respected my emotions, too."

I stopped for a moment.

"Something makes me think that even if he didn't do all of that, I would still be in love with him for just being Adrian. It's just there, the feeling, and it's not just the mate bond."

"I don't remember if I ever said this to you before – but humans and werewolves, both have soul mates. The difference is that we immediately know ours and humans have to find out. If we had been humans, Adrian – and Aiden – would have still been the love of your life because, as cliché as it sounds, they were made for you. Adrian is made for you. You don't have to stop yourself from loving him just because you didn't have a stellar start to your –"

A loud snore interrupted us and we looked across the table to find Mercy fast asleep in an awkward position while sitting up and Marcus snuggled into her, sleeping as well.

Liana and I smiled at each other.

**********************************

"You never told me – how did you two happen?" My Mom and Papa were tucking me into bed, something that had come to be a nightly ritual for us, and along with it came a bedtime story. It had been eight months, but I had never asked them about their love story and now I wanted to know desperately..

I had read mom's journal, but still, I wanted them to tell me how it actually went, and with actual details.

"You never asked kiddo." Papa said, "There's not much to tell except that we together made a beautiful little girl who saved the world from tainted vampires."

"Oh come on," I flushed a little, "It's not like you were normal mates being from different species - one a Werewolf and one a PureBlood. You must have felt weird, awkward when you first met or felt for each other."

"We are supernatural beings and we accept it wholeheartedly when love is offered to us on a silver platter." Mom said, "I was fine with it, but you father was a stubborn ass – ahem – man. He couldn't believe that a Werewolf, who is centuries younger than him, has been given to him as his second chance."

My father nodded, "Yes, and the moment we met, I had realised that my child would be burdened with the prophecy. It was scary, but we couldn't alter what was already written in our fates."

"You are not telling me what I want to hear. I want to know how you met, how you progressed with your relationship and stuff. I'm curious."

"Let Elise start with the story then." Papa looked at Mom, who rolled her eyes at him. Maybe there was some secret message that passed through that one look.

"The way we met was very weird and awkward. I had met Vashisht before, when I was still with John, so I knew he was the Pureblood Pratham but I never ever thought he would be my mate - second chance at that." She shook her head, "When John died, and I had nothing of his to remember or keep with me, I went away from the Kingdom for a while, knowing that I would die anyways in no time, without my mate with me."

Papa's gaze hardened.

"So I wanted to explore the outer world while I was depressed at the same time. I realised slowly that I wasn't that gravely affected by his death even though I had loved him so much. I kept on touring wherever my budget could take me and that was when I met Julia, your grandma. We hit it off instantly, and I took her with me to the places I went to. Then there was this one time when I went to a hotel, in which your Papa was staying, too. He was there for somewhat the same reason as mine - he wanted some break from his duties."

"It was my marriage anniversary, with my first mate." Papa added.

Mom nodded, "So Julia bumped in him accidentally and spilled all of her tray's items on it. I still remembered when I had heard loud noises in the hallway and had come running to see what was happening. I can still hear him saying, 'You pathetic little human, you dare argue with me?'" Mom mimicked his voice and laughed a little.

She continued, "Julia was at loss, she didn't know what to say as she stood gaping at him while I ran towards them to save her. That was when we both felt it, the mate pull. It was surprising for the both of us. Second chances were extremely rare, that was why most of the beings mated out of choice the second time. And we were not even of the same species. So guess what your father did? He turned around without saying a word and ran back to his room and locked it."

"I did not run. I was walking fast." My father grumbled, and it made me laugh inwardly.

Mom rolled her eyes, "Whatever helps you sleep at night."

"Fast forward, Vashisht gave in after ignoring me for some time. We ended up spending some more time there, and then when we returned, the Kingdoms were in shambles. Of course, you happened before we returned."

"I ignored you because I was confused. I found you after centuries. Above all that, I knew you. And I hadn't felt that before with you." He grumbled as he explained to Mom, "I don't care anymore, anyways. I love you, I have you, we have our daughter, and we have our Kingdom. There's nothing else I need - well apart from a grandchild."

My cheeks flushed and I buried myself in my blanket deeper.

"There's a lot of time for that, Papa." I murmured.

He chuckled, "And I can wait for a good while. Your Papa is still young and will live on almost forever."

My Mom smiled at him.

The phone rang and he excused himself, while my Mom stayed in the room.

"Mom?" I started in a small voice, "Did it feel wrong when you were with Papa after such a short span after your previous mate died?"

I didn't know why I never asked this question. Maybe, it was because she told me their story today.

"No, it didn't feel wrong at all. From birth, we are taught to accept who Moon Goddess chooses for us, and accepting Vashisht as my mate was easy. I knew John had, and still has a separate place in my heart, even though it's been years since he's gone. And then, you don't really have a choice in this matter. Your heart decides, and it's firm - your mind has no time to think twice if it's wrong to move on."

"I feel conflicted, Mom - and I feel conflicted that I feel conflicted. It should be easy, Aiden had betrayed me, wronged all of us, Adrian never did that. But it's difficult for me to forget Aiden, and when I do, which is usually when I'm around Adrian, I feel guilty." I admitted.

"You've told this to me a lot of times before, and I'm telling you once again: Aiden loved you with all of his heart, even though he was betraying you. For him, what he was doing wasn't wrong. And he was your mate, Cel, you are bound to feel that way for him. Aiden and Adrian have two separate places in your heart and you have and will love them all the same. Adrian will have to accept this, too." She ran her fingers through my hair.

"I love Adrian, Mom. I think I'm ready to go back to the Kingdom."

She smiled at me warmly.

"About time, kiddo." Papa said, and looked at Mom, "It's time for us to return to the throne and rebuild the PureBlood Kingdom's glory. And about you and Adrian," Papa looked at me, "You will go to him to take your throne only when he comes to our kingdom and courts you in the PureBlood ways. Till then, you'll be staying with us."

I stared at my father for a while and then nodded.

I guess I was now more than ready to face whatever life threw at me.