Epilogue
S lade
I arranged the tools on the table, and then made sure the straps were secured on both men.
Elijah and Dexter were standing against the wall, smirks on their faces. Elijah and I had made up, but that didn’t mean I trusted him fully. He had a long way to go before he earned my trust back.
Lars and Zeke were restrained to two chairs with ball gags in their mouths. A long time ago, I told myself I would be the one to enact revenge on them so Raven wouldn’t have to. The day of the wedding proved to me just how much the two of them had fucked her up.
Watching her take a knife and stab Zeke in the chest, her face void of emotion as they took her off to the station messed with me. It made me a whole new level of angry.
Thankfully, it didn’t take long to clear her name. After the police looked through all the evidence I had collected, and reading the journal I gave them, they cleared it as self defense.
Not to mention, parliament proclaimedme as King shortly after. So Zeke and Lars didn’t get their way like they’d hoped. After I became King I made a deal with the police to help them crack down on the trafficking ring Lars created, to help them make several arrests. But if I were to do that, I needed both Zeke and Lars released to me, no questions asked.
It was a very corrupt thing to do, and probably not the best route to take being the new King, but I was protecting Raven and our daughter from ever being harmed by these two again.
I cracked my knuckles and tried to figure out which tool to use first. I circled around them, watching them quiver in fear. “You know, it’s pretty interesting. Watching the two of you, eyes wide, squirming underneath your restraints because you’re scared.” My eyes went to Lars, who had no remorse for what he’d done. “You weren’t scared when you tortured my Queen.” My gaze switched to Zeke’s who showed me exactly why he couldn’t be King. He was a fucking pussy. “You weren’t scared when you raped and defiled her repeatedly, using her to get to the top when you wouldn’t have made it. You would’ve been the second weakest king this country had ever seen.”
Elijah piped in, a grin covering his mouth. “Can we get started, King? I’m getting a little giddy at the thought of giving these fuckers a taste of their own medicine.”
I nodded, but held up a finger. I had one more thing to say to Lars. I took the knife from the table, leaving the rest of the tools for the boys. He had placed a mask over his face, a survival tactic that wouldn’t last long. “Elijah, place his hand down. Hold it still.”
He came over and did just that. For one final time, my gaze met Lars. The biological father who abandoned me for Raven, to only end up abandoning her and putting her through a torture no one should have to live through. “This is for everyone you’ve fucked over, including our mothers. Enjoy hell, because you won’t be coming back.”
I raised the knife and slammed it down, cutting off his hand. He screamed bloody murder through the ball gag, and I took several steps back. I laid the knife on the table and raised my hands. Looking at Elijah and Dexter, “It’s your turn boys. Have your fun with them, but I will give the final blow.”
I left the room and went to wash my hands. We were at the estate in the dungeon and as much as Raven protested keeping this place around, it only made sense to keep it standing.
My family from the compound came and stayed at the estate. This was now their home. Most of the people Lars had employed were hired on to stay. The ones I knew back from when I lived here, the ones we could trust.
Raven and Julianna moved out to the home I created for them, with other houses on the same spit of land, for those who needed to be there to protect them. It was a new estate, built from the ground up, with only happy memories.
Lewis remained by Raven and Julianna’s side. We had a small villa built for him on the grounds, so he had his own home to go to. Thinking back, he never had his own place and the way he stood by us, through thick and thin, meant he deserved the world.
I’d contacted the prison and requested a release of his son. He’d been on the straight and narrow for years and deserved a second chance, being able to get to know his father. That was something Lewis didn’t know about yet, but Raven and I planned to surprise him with that soon.
Dexter and Elijah both lived on the old estate grounds, being here to run things while I was at home. It seemed a little unorthodox, the King and Queen not living in the estate castle, with people everywhere they go, watching them. But it worked for us. Raven had been through so much, she deserved some peace and quiet. When matters arose for us to take care of, we did.
The screams grew louder and a smile fell on my face. Finally, the love of my life would no longer have to live in fear. On that note, I headed home.
RAVEN
“Daddy, can we get this one? Please? He’s so cute and fluffy!” Julianna pointed to the two year old golden retriever who had his tongue hanging out of his mouth, head tilted to the side, all in love with her. She’d wanted a dog for so long, but Lars never let us have any animals on the estate. That changed the moment Slade came back into our lives.
He looked up at me, gaze full of warmth. “I think that can be arranged.”
For the first time, my heart was full. At peace. I wasn’t fully healed, though. A life full of trauma, exasperated with all the events leading up to the wedding, wasn’t something I could just get over.
I was seeing a therapist and going on long walks to help me clear my head. I rarely went to the estate unless I had to. Memories plagued me each time my feet landed on that soil. Most of the time I had a breakdown, remembering and feeling what they did to me on those grounds. I refused to step foot in the dungeon. I wasn’t someone who got off on torturing others, and even though I tried, I couldn’t go through with it.
Slade told me Zeke and Lars had been taken care of and I didn’t ask questions. I didn’t want to know. I just wanted to be free of them, able to go about my life, living the way I wanted to.
So now I spent all my free time with Julianna because she was so pure. Slade and I didn’t get to be around our mothers for a long time. We didn’t get to have that warmth cascading around our lives, knowing that we were loved and taken care of.
Slade’s adoptive parents did the best they could for him, but their lives were also cut short. We made a vow to each other to make sure Juliana knew how loved she was. I submitted a DNA test to see if we could find out who my real father is, and if he was alive. If he was alive, I wondered if he knew about me, or if Mother had kept that a secret. Lars was all I knew. If my biological father was alive, he probably didn’t care about finding me or want me.
She jumped up and down, joy spilling out of her. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!!” He gave her a hug and walked off so he could get the clerk. “Mommy, can we name him Jack?”
A warm smile lit up my face, my heart full to joy, tears filling my eyes. “Yes, sweetheart.” Jack was Slade’s father, and I knew that Slade would be overjoyed that our daughter wanted to honor him.
We went home shortly after we went to the pet store to get him everything he needed, and Julianna made sure to get Jack all settled in.
I took a seat on one of the rocking chairs on the porch, enjoying the warm string lights Slade had installed. The crickets chirped, and deer started making their way into the grounds, as the sun fell over the trees.
I rocked and placed my hand on my belly. The growing boy was going to be our heir to the throne. Slade was overjoyed when I told him the news. We made sure that it wasn’t Zeke’s child, which, thank fuck, it wasn’t. I couldn’t stand the thought of having a monster’s child growing inside of me. I would never come back from that.
I started to hum, laying my head back on the chair and resting my eyes. I heard some rustling in the background and a hand went to my bare leg. My eyes opened and Slade was kneeling in front of me.
I went to open my mouth, but he shook his head. “I want to do this the right way.” He pulled out a solid, diamond ring, with red rubies outlining each side. The ring was absolutely gorgeous.
I looked back at his gaze. Getting married was the last thing on my mind right now. Healing was my main focus, but him wanting to marry me, to finally seal the deal, made my heart soar.
“ We’ve been put through the ringer, but we made it out on the other side. I know our main focus is healing, and getting you the help you need, but I want to be by your side through all the ups and downs. We have an amazing kiddo together and we are about to have another. I knew a long time ago that you and I were meant to be, even though life made it seem like we weren’t. So Rav, will you do me the honor of dating me again, to eventually marry me and make our bond strengthen ten fold?”
Tears welled up in my eyes. My throat clogged up and I couldn’t speak. I nodded a yes, and he slid the ring on my hand.
While there was a long road ahead with many ups and downs, getting the chance to be with him again was all I ever wanted. Julianna and I were finally getting our happy ending.
Slade gently pulled me from the rocking chair, placed his arms around me, and gave me a heated kiss. This was my King, and I would never let him go again.
The End
Stay tuned for Slade and Raven’s prequel, coming this February.
A spinoff series focusing on Julianna and her love interest is coming summer 2025.