Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The castle’s hallways seemed brighter.
Ren’s walk to Chaya’s rooms from his chambers used to be silent and filled with strange looks and growls from Falk whenever he would catch their gaze.
But now, Wolves greeted him, even smiling and exchanging pleasantries as people got used to Ren’s presence.
Once he was allowed to be alone for small bouts of time, other Wolves had seemed too shocked to see him by himself to say anything, but slowly they had opened up to him.
Ren smiled as he walked over to Chaya’s shop, grinning as he knocked on the door and glanced around. The small space was filled with colorful fabrics and yarns and half-finished projects—though, it seemed to be void of Des’s cheerful chatter and Chaya’s laughter.
“Chaya?” he called out as he wandered inside.
“Ah, Ren?” She stepped out from inside of one of the closets, wiping off her hands. “What are you doing here?”
“I thought I’d offer my help. If you need it,” he said.
He missed coming here every day, missed seeing his friend, missed working with her, so he tried to drop by at least once a week or so.
But it had been a while since he’d come by, caught up in preparations and trying to help as much as he could with Falk, Mont, and Oren.
Ever since Falk had become Oren’s right-hand man alongside Mont, Ren suddenly had far more responsibilities as his mate and partner.
“No, no, I’m sure you have better things to do,” Chaya said, shooing him.
Ren couldn’t help how his eyes shifted down to her stomach as she walked over to him. She was barely showing. Ren was only able to convince himself he could see the tiny bump there because he knew what Chaya’s sweater was hiding.
“I always have time to come see you,” Ren said with a smile.
“Ah, I thought you were working on not lying so much, Ren.” Chaya laughed.
“Gut reaction.”
So much had changed in the past five years, including how Dr. Bram and him barely met anymore.
The doctor was too busy rushing around the castle tending to everyone who needed him.
He never had time for more than a tight hug or a rushed greeting whenever he saw Ren.
He used to feel like Dr. Bram was sitting right on his shoulder whenever he lied, but nowadays that spot was empty.
So, sometimes Ren lied—never with Falk though, he would never lie to Falk.
“Isn’t Falk leaving tomorrow?” Chaya asked, moving away from Ren to start sorting through a few skeins of yarn.
She held up a few to Ren, eyebrows raised in question.
Ren shrugged helplessly and took them. He had a whole basket of yarn that hadn’t been touched in months alongside a dozen half-finished baby sweaters he had started. “You should be with him.”
“He’s with Oren,” Ren sighed. His mate was always with Oren. Oren had gotten greedy with Mont and Falk’s time, wanting them with him at all times. “I doubt I’ll get to see him until tonight unless I go fetch him myself.” Which he most definitely had plans to.
Chaya looked at Ren with pity in her eyes. “Don’t be too hard on him,” she whispered. “He can’t say ‘no’ to our king.”
“I know,” Ren said. “I just… needed to get away. I need a distraction. So, if you need any help with anything, please let me help. You should be resting, anyways.”
“I cannot only rest for nine months.” Chaya laughed.
“I’m sure Kina wishes he could keep you in the infirmary that long,” Ren said, his lips quirking up at the edges.
“Don’t even joke. He’ll get ideas,” Chaya said with a short laugh. “He’s so stressed about it because of how many Wolves have had complications recently. I keep telling him it's fine. Dr. Bram checks up on me whenever he can and there’s been absolutely nothing wrong so far.”
Chaya let him organize the last bits of fabric she had as they chatted, the air between them feeling like the old days where every afternoon was like this.
“Are you and Falk still trying for a pup?” Chaya hummed.
The question surprised Ren enough that he nearly dropped the fabric.
“Yes, we are,” he said quickly. “It just… hasn’t happened yet.
I feel like everyone is having trouble conceiving right now, though,” he muttered.
Flory and Mont had been trying for years now and nothing had come from it besides several mental breakdowns and a lot of tears.
“Well, you better hurry up. I want my kid to have friends his own age,” Chaya said, grinning over at Ren.
“Yeah, yeah, tell Falk’s dick that.” Ren huffed out a laugh.
Chaya laughed along with him as they moved around each other like an old dance that ended too soon. They both searched for more work so they wouldn’t have to leave, but everything was folded and put away—the shop nearly spotless.
“That’s that,” Chaya hummed.
“That’s that,” Ren echoed.
Chaya followed Ren, both of them quiet until they got to the break in the hallway where they would have to part. Chaya smiled up at him and patted his shoulder. “I’ll see you later, Ren,” Chaya said with a little wave before turning on her heel to head to her own chambers.
“See you,” Ren murmured before heading in the opposite direction.
Ren made his way down to the library—one of the biggest enclosed spaces in the castle, the only one big enough to be turned into a makeshift meeting area for Oren and his Warriors.
It was a shame it was no longer a space for Wolves to gather, for Wolves to bring their children to get books or sit and read together.
Ren missed it, even if he hadn’t really participated—he had accompanied Falk many times and slept with his head on his lap while the Alpha read.
Now, the doors were guarded by two large Warriors who didn’t even look at Ren. His eye twitched as he glared at them. “Open up,” he ordered.
“They are having a meeting. You cannot?—”
“Yeah, they’re always having a meeting,” Ren scoffed. “Open up. I need my mate.”
The guards exchanged glances. None of the Warriors seemed to know what to do with Ren anymore—ever since he had gotten over the timidness he felt when he was first learning to navigate the castle and had found his voice again.
Oren told him he was too loud, too brash, spoke out of turn too much and Ren was sure that was what many Wolves thought.
“We cannot?—”
“Open the gods’ forsaken doors!” Ren yelled at them.
They moved immediately, pulling open the heavy doors so Ren could step inside.
He peered around curiously for a moment before walking over to where a rather large gathering of Warriors were standing around a table filled with maps and other papers.
He shoved his way through the bodies until he found the front.
Oren instantly glared up at him as Mont sighed and rubbed a hand over his face at the sight of Ren. Falk perked up when he noticed him, and poor Kade still looked so sheepish, shoulders curved up toward his ears, not sure what to do where he stood beside Falk.
“Ren,” Oren snapped. “Out.”
“I need my mate,” Ren announced.
“We are in the middle of a?—”
“Yes, yes, very important meeting about going and fetching your little Faerie prince,” Ren waved a hand at him. “Falk knows all about it already. He doesn’t need to be here.”
“He is my third in command, he needs to?—”
“He does not need to be here for you to make decisions when you don’t even listen to him,” Ren interrupted.
“Where he does need to be is in our bed helping me make a baby. It takes two people for that, you know. It doesn’t take”—he quickly counted the heads there—“twenty two people to talk about a three day mission!”
Falk moved to be able to sidle up beside him, protective arm wrapping around his waist. He leaned in close to whisper in Ren’s ear, “I’ll be back soon, Oren is already in a bad mood and?—”
“And he keeps stealing you away from me,” Ren whined. “You know how the fertile window works. It’s not open for very long, Falk!”
Falk looked helplessly over at Oren who was pressing on his temples as though he could ward away the headache that always started up when Ren was present. “Falk, please learn how to control your mate when he?—”
“Good luck with that,” Ren chirped, arms crossing over his chest.
“Sorry, Oren,” Falk whispered.
Ren didn’t wait for their king to answer, just grabbed Falk’s wrist and dragged him along.
“He’s not going to put up with you forever, you know,” Falk chastised him as they walked.
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll apologize to him after we make a baby,” Ren hummed. He didn’t miss the way Falk’s lips quirked up at the corners.
Ren dragged him inside the moment they got to their rooms, trying to shove Falk toward the bed, but Falk laughed and wrapped his arms around Ren. Ren grumbled as Falk held him so tightly he couldn’t even think about moving, how he rocked them side to side as he hummed, “How was your day?”
“I didn’t do much,” Ren muttered. “I helped with the kids in the nursery and then went to see Chaya.”
Falk chuckled as he buried his nose in Ren’s hair and held him closer. “Couldn’t stop thinking about dragging me back to bed, huh?” He teased.
“Yeah, all I thought about was your cock all day,” Ren deadpanned.
Falk laughed. “You’re going to have to watch your mouth around our new Queen.”
Ren sighed in annoyed agreement and let them drift into a comfortable silence, the two of them swaying to the silent music in both of their minds.
“What should we name our pup?” Ren suddenly asked into the open air.
“How about we make one first?” Falk chuckled.
“Sure, but names are important,” Ren said. “I think they should have a strong name. Do you have any names you like from your family?”
Falk shook his head. “No. But I have always thought it would be nice to get to know my child before naming them. Maybe it will be obvious once we see them.”
“That’s true,” Ren nodded. “I’m sure it’ll be obvious what we should call them once they are here.”
Falk’s hand moved from the small of Ren’s back to his stomach, fingertips gently stroking over his skin there. “I can’t wait to meet them,” Falk murmured. “Our pup.”
Ren pulled away entirely, grabbing Falk’s hands and dragging him toward the mattress. “Then let’s stop talking and get to making them. I have a good feeling about today.”
Falk laughed as he let Ren pull him down on top of him. Ren giggled as Falk buried his face in his neck before tugging his shirt off and over his head. He fit his teeth into the silver scar right over his heart and Ren did the same to the mark at Falk’s neck—a little ritual they always did.
“I love you,” Falk murmured as he pulled Ren’s pants off before shoving off his own. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too,” Ren whispered. Somehow, after all these years, the phrase still felt so heavy on his tongue, making his mouth tingle with the weight of it.
“I love you,” he said again as Falk pressed inside of him.
“I love you,” he said again as Falk nipped at his neck.
“I love you,” he said again as Falk came deep inside of him.
“I love you,” he said again as they lay together afterwards.
“I know,” Falk whispered.
The end