Chapter 250

She cocked an eyebrow. “They might be related, but there’s no way to know if they’re compatible.”

“They’re both golden wolves. That should be enough.” I swallowed. “I don’t care what you have to do, you have to keep him alive.”

Her eyes drifted down to Candido with an odd expression on her face.

“I’ll see what I can do,” she looked up at me. “But… there will be a hefty cost.”

“I don’t care,” I said.

If Candido was really being used to stabilize Solare, whatever that meant, then I had make sure that he had enough life force, that his body still remained, after that was done to wake up.

“I developed a drug that strengthened wolves,” she said. “I have a feeling that it would at least help.”

My eyes bulged. “You’re… You’re the one who made the drug for the vampires.”

She smiled. “I am. And?”

I growled at her. “You’re a traitor.”

Her smile turned cold. “And you aren’t the alpha king’s mate.”

She cocked an eyebrow. “Given the state of the world, do you think they’ll care?”

“Of course, they’ll care—”

“Can you prove it?”

“You just told me!”

“Can you prove it?” She pressed. “Because I can prove that you aren’t his mate.”

My gut turned.

“We’re at the end of the world for all intents and purposes. They’ll want stability. There are a lot of sick people. Between a doctor and a whiny twenty-year-old with no real skills, I assure you, the choice will be simple.”

I swallowed thickly and met her gaze.

“You’re lucky. While I believe in the Goddess, I also understand my part of play in this. I don’t personally care who he marries. We’re no longer what we were, but my research is important to me. We can cooperate.”

“How so?”

“You let me continue my research, support it, and I will keep Candido alive.” She chuckled. “I’ll even help fix up your image among the remaining population. What do you say?”

I looked at Candido then met her gaze. I could tell she was telling the truth, and worse than that, she was right. She was the only one with medical knowledge still around, and people were already doubting me.

“What do you need?” I asked.

“Blood,” she said. “And equipment.”

It took a few days to get access to the equipment that had survived the attack, but it was enough for her to start her experiments. The forest started to change around us, growing dull. It got a bit harder to find food, so I had them start planning how to farm and hunt. In the meantime, I told everyone that the alpha king needed blood transfusions. We told them that if they helped, he would wake up sooner and we’d all be able to get some answers.

Some people donated willingly. Others didn’t. The woman who had wanted the right to leave her mate was among them. With the doctor’s help, we managed to turn the population against those people. We labeled them as traitors and locked them up, forcing them to donate.

It was incredible how easy it was. I wished that I had met the doctor sooner. Maybe I would have never had to make a deal with Cillian if I hadn’t.

Since no one could shift any longer, it took a lot longer to get anything done, but as more people made their way to the city, we were now calling the new Full Moon capital, and rebuilding the city started to speed up. With the doctor by my side, everyone started to listen to me. No one questioned what I asked of them. When we ran out of people to drain, I had them start scanning for the remaining vampires and the rest of Blue Moon and Moon Shadow.

“Hedy!” Someone called.

I turned back to look at the woman. I still hated not being called luna, but the doctor said that it was better to wait for Candido to give me the title so no one could question it.

“What is it?”

“The other golden werewolf… He’s gone.”

My gut clenched. Apparently, his body had turned into swirling lights. It had only been four days since he’d shifted into his human form. Candido had shifted to his human form two days ago.

“Wh-What could that mean for the king?” She asked.

“I’ll talk to the doctor about it,” I said.

She put a hand on my shoulder. “I know what it means to lose your mate. I don’t think the Goddess will take him from you. Have faith, and know that even if he doesn’t wake up, we’ll all still be here for you.”

I nodded. “Thank you.”

I headed to the little shack they’d put over the entrance to the hospital’s basement, feeling a bit lighter. It seemed like people were starting to believe what I wanted them to. The doctor’s plan was working out. I heard someone groaning in pain as I walked downstairs. They’d caught another vampire and the doctor was already draining them.

“I managed to drain quite a bit from the other one,” she said. “We won’t have to worry about it for a while.”

I nodded and leaned back. “What should I say to them?”

“Nothing,” she said. “If you start looking like you will crumble, people will doubt everything you’ve told them.”

She looked over at the wall. “There’s at least another three months’ worth of the serum here. If we could catch any other awakened werewolves or vampires, I could probably make a year’s worth.”

She smiled. “Making a showing of giving blood worked better than you thought it would, didn’t it?”

I nodded. “Someone tried to comfort me.”

She nodded. “Keep going. Go and check on him. If we hadn’t been draining the other one, he would have likely lived a good while longer.”

I nodded, but we needed Van’s blood for Candido. I wandered around the city and pretended to be checking on things until the sun went down. Then, I headed to the house and changed for bed. Candido was still sleeping. I’d put some clothes on him when he’d shifted back and tried to clean him up.

Today, the moon mark was gone. I smiled and sat beside him and stroked his hair.

“A few of the women have helped me put together a plan for our wedding,” I said. I lay beside him and curled up to him. I placed my head over his heart with a deep sigh. “And the doctor says that we have at least three more months in reserve, but I know you’ll wake up soon…. I’m going to be with you always… Just like you’ll always be with me.”

I’d make sure of it.

The last drop ran out exactly three months later as we hadn’t found a single vampire. The doctor was working on a substitute, but I ran to the ruins of the temple.

“You think you’ve won!” I yelled at the pile of rubble. “But I never believed in you anyway. I’m going to have Candido, and you can’t—”

“Hedy!” Someone called. “Hedy, he’s awake!”

I whirled around. I could barely breathe and I took off running back to the house. As I entered, I saw the man who had been wrapped in bandages all that time ago leaning on a cane. He looked pale and shocky. My heart lurched and I ran at him just as he entered. I tackled him. He crumpled. He didn’t even move as I pulled out a dagger and stabbed him in the chest. My heart hammered in my chest. I didn’t know how much he’d said or how he’d made it this far, but when I looked down at him, I realized that he was so much paler than he should have been and his body was already cold.

“Hedy?”

I looked up and met Candido’s gaze. His green eyes were darker. They were almost brown now, but he looked at me.

“What…” He looked at the body and I rushed to him.

“Are you okay? He didn’t hurt you?”

“Who was he?” he asked looking at the man.

I licked my lips. “A traitor… He helped he vampires during the war.”

He smiled. “Thank you for defending me and the rest of the werewolves in my stead.”

I flung my arms around him. “I love you so much. I promised that I would rule by your side. We’re mates, Candido. Isn’t that what that means?”

He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me in for a deep kiss that took my breath away. He pulled me close and sighed into my hair.

“I knew from the first time I saw you at the Academy that we were meant to be together.”

What does he mean? That’s not how we met…

I swallowed, frozen at his words. What did he mean? I bit my lip and pushed the thought away. It didn’t matter what that meant.

“I’m just glad that you feel the same,” Candido chuckled softly.

I pulled back and looked up at him. “Does that mean we can finally get married?”

He laughed. His now dark eyes sparkled with happiness. “As soon as I can stand!”

Several years later…

I leaned on the window sill and watched Candido swoop our twin boys up from the ground and spin them around. I put my hand on my stomach, feeling where our third child was, and smiled again as I looked up at the sky.

No matter what anyone else believed, I had everything I wanted. I had Candido.

“Mom, what are we having for dinner?” One of them asked.

I smiled. “Whatever your father’s cooking!”

-End-