Into The Wild ~ Book 3 ~ The Royal Blood Collection

Epilogue

The frilly skirt bounced around the waif legs as she skipped around the swing set. Claudia was like a mini-me, long blond hair that curled into large ringlets. She stopped, realizing that her father wasn't behind her like she expected.

Claudia looked at me and I shrugged. Warily she tiptoed to the playhouse and opened the door. Silas jumped out with a mighty roar and Claudia squealed, giggling as she ran off. The noise was enough to make Alden jump with fright. Lifting the light cover, I looked at the gummy grin.

"Back to feeding, mister," I whispered.

Alden was a month old now. The time between him and Claudia has been interesting, to say the least. At first, Silas and I decided that a few years before the next child was ideal but Claudia looked at the rest of her growing family and questioned why she didn't have any siblings. So, we reassessed what we wanted and decided that it was probably a good time to start again. We did not plan for Claudia to be ten by the time Alden arrived.

Life got in the way but the bonus was that Alaric was no longer interested in this province. He had his grip in it, through the family avenue and that's all that he really wanted. It was his, but technically not his. Silas ensured that Oliver kept their eyes pinned to the north.

Family life was progressing well but I could still feel the strain between Alaric and myself. He was pleasant, he talked to me and he accepted the way things were but I knew that deep down, he resented that I'd been able to bring him to his knees. I think that the only reason things between us were civil was that he knew that I loved Silas. I was giving his uncle the family life that he never had. Because honestly, raising his niece and nephew was not his own family.

As for the north, that was a whole bundle of issues. The bridge was now complete. It had taken a few years to get that done, now it was a matter of dealing with the alphas that were bombarding the entrance.

Oliver kept us up to date with the information, knowing that Silas wanted to be in the loop. It had been his project in the beginning and I think that if he could put aside the atrocities he'd seen, he would have finished it too. His family was not aware of it but there have been many days over the past ten years where Silas has woken in a cold sweat. Sometimes he'd be asleep and babbling about the babies, sometimes he'd have tears streaming down his face. The psychologist had his work cut out for him. I guess that it was a part of the reason why there was such a distance between Alaric and myself. I knew what that place had done to Silas and there was a part of me that hated Alaric for it. Of course, he had no idea what the future could have held for Silas and he still doesn't know the whole truth because Silas foolishly wanted to keep it hidden.

Realizing that Alden was not going to continue feeding while his sister and his father were making a lot of noise, I fixed myself up and removed the feeding cloth. Alden sat on my lap and grinned as he watched. Slowly I moved a hand over his back, my mind wandered off until I heard the hurried footsteps over the path.

"Your Highness, word from five."

Asa stopped just short of the chair, holding out the sealed note. Silas stopped and looked at the note, concern filling us. There hadn't been a sealed note from Alaric since his attempted coup.

Putting Alden into his bouncer, I took the note and broke the seal. Taking a deep breath, I opened it and began to read what could only be described as an idiotic nightmare.

"It would seem that your niece and nephew have lost the plot, my love."

Silas walked over, Claudia wrapped around his leg.

"What have they done?"

"This is a note from Oliver that says that Otanawa will be going to the base in three. Her mission is to make contact with the betas. He also adds that a full security team will be with her at all times and that she will have a permanent guard that will not leave her side regardless of what she's doing. That sounds like a father that is not impressed and doing all that he can to protect his little girl."

"Otanawa is not little anymore," Silas said with a huff as he sat down. "But I understand where Oliver is coming from. I would not send Claudia into that nightmare. You are right, they have lost the plot however, she is the best person for the job."

"How? She doesn't know their language. She was not raised in their society. How do we know that those creatures won't see her as a travesty to their way of life and destroy her? This," I said, waving the note at Silas. "Proves my point that Alaric only cares about his plan. Mark my words, Silas, this will not end well."

Giving the note back to Asa, I looked up at him.

"Send word to Oliver and say that we wish Otanawa and her security team a safe journey and pray that she is returned to us quickly and unharmed. Then tell them that the queen thinks that the king of five is a fool and if he ever comes here with a plan like this for her children, she'll set off the pain implants."

Because yes, they were still in his body. I always smiled when I thought about them.

"As you wish, my lady."

Silas watched as Asa quickly walked away. He shook his head as he pulled Claudia onto his lap.

"I know that you think that this is not the right thing to do but someone has to cross that bridge and make contact with the creatures. We've stopped them from jumping the gap, it is only a matter of time before they figure out how to build boats and go around the walls. They only go a hundred yards out to sea, and there is barely any depth to them. If they can swim then they can easily figure out that a mere dive will bring them to the base of the wall."

"It doesn't go to the seabed?"

Silas shook his head.

"Alaric didn't want too many changes to the area. When he was a child, he always asked about the ridge and why the humans had to cut the land as they had. He couldn't understand why the humans hated us, why they were determined to keep us at a distance. The land was ripped apart for no reason because Maelen proved that gaining access to this land was easy."

"Do you think that maybe he wants to end the segregation between the races?"

"We live in a land that is torn apart by war. There are parts of this planet that are either dead, on the verge of being dead or overgrown. He wants justice for what has happened to his parents and to his people. We are the top predator and species but that does not mean that we live a happy life. The human race is struggling and their attempts to create a super soldier are a foolish waste of time. They should be more concerned about lifting their population numbers higher. Alaric believes that if he has control, he can end the war and stop the humans. He wants to turn their attention to proper creation, not enhanced monsters that are determined to destroy us."

"He won't get it."

"I think that he suspects that and it is why he wants the alliance with the betas. With them on our side, we will win the war and when that happens, we will control everything."

"No, he will control everything. Be careful, Silas. The plan is grand but it can fall so easily if the man in charge is a megalomaniac."

I think that the statement startled Silas for a moment but he soon relented.

"I will have words with Oliver."

Claudia slid off his lap so that she could sit in front of the bouncer. She was still fascinated with Alden, even if he woke at all hours of the day, screaming the place down. Silas wriggled his finger and I happily complied, moving to his lap. Our kiss was only short, Alden screeched a giggle and made us curious as to why. Claudia was playing peek-a-boo with her hands covering his eyes.

Snuggling deep into the chair and his embrace, I leaned back against Silas and looked at our babies playing. His arms wrapped tight around me and I smiled. Nothing was better than this.