Seeing the General again #3
“I know,” I said. We waited a bit longer for him to gather his thoughts. I closed my eyes. I took in his scent. I was hit with the realisation that he was really there with me. That he was real. That we were real.
“We have the same mother,” he said. I stilled. My thoughts came to a halt.
“What?” I asked. That made no sense. Jareth is Victor’s child.
“Jareth and I, we have the same mother,” he repeated.
“I don’t understand?”
It was quiet again. I heard the crackling of the fire. Axel’s breathing, slow and steady.
“She was a werewolf. An omega. She was married to my father.”
“The court sorcerer?” I asked. I suspected that part for a while. I realised then there was a lot to his story I had not even begun to imagine.
“Yes,” he said. He laid down then. Legs off the edge of the bed. Staring up at the canopy. “My father never cared for her. She was a gift from a pack that he helped. During a pack war.”
“She was beautiful. I remember she had dark hair.” I stroked his leg. It took him a while each time, to speak. I let him take his time. I didn’t want to push him.
“Victor thought so too,” he said. I took in a deep breath. “He took her from me.” I let it out.
“He took my father too,” I said. “At least I think he did. We have that in common.”
“We do,” he said. “When Jareth was born- I loved him. We were raised together. In the castle.”
I laid down next to him. We stared at the ceiling together. At stone and wood and silk.
“The king didn’t like us,” he said. “Me especially.” I put my head on his chest. His chest rumbled as he spoke.
“We wanted to escape together. Start a new life. We were young and stupid, but we almost made it out.”
“What happened?”
“We tried to escape through the sewers. We were hoping to end up in the river, and swim to shore. Pretend to be commoners. Beg for food first. Learn a trade then.” He looked wistful as he recalled those memories. “I got caught before Jareth made it out. And I left. I left without him.”
“You were a child,” I said.
“Jareth was a child. I was a young man.”
“You were still so young.” I could tell he did not agree with me. But he let it go.
“When I rebuilt the castle, rebuilt the city, Emperor Victor sent me a letter.”
I turned on my stomach to look him in the eyes.
“He wrote that Jareth was dead. That he killed him because of what I did.” There was such sorrow in his eyes. “I can’t believe he lied about killing his own son.”
I took a moment to take it all in.
“Jareth said he was waiting for your message,” I said. “What did he mean by that?” Axel looked at me then.
“I’m not sure. But he is now Victor’s only heir,” he said. I bit my lip. “I’m going to help him get his throne. It is his right by blood.”
I looked him over for a bit.
“This war isn’t over, is it?” I asked.
His answer was curt and honest as always.
“No,” he said.
“Will you promise me not to die next time?” I asked. He huffed. “I’m serious. We need you.” I hugged him. He put his arm around my waist.
“It’s your turn,” he said. I looked up.
“What?” I asked.
“Your secret.”
“Oh, right,” I said. “I’m pregnant.”
His body went rigid. I didn’t move.
“What?” It was finally his turn to be lost for words.
“It must have happened about a month ago. You know when. You were there.” I joked with him. “It’s going to be a boy,” I said.
“How do you know?” he asked. He raised an eyebrow at me.
“The forest told me,” I said.
He held me then. Tighter than ever before. One hand resting on my stomach. We had to get through this war. Not just for us, or his people. But for our child as well.
It wouldn’t be easy. Beating the Emperor. He might have lost his armada, but there were plenty of men left for him to call to arms. Ordinary men. They outnumbered us ten to one at the very least. I couldn’t linger on the future. Not when the present moment was so perfect.
“Let’s sleep a little longer,” I said. I noticed his breathing. My alpha was already asleep.
When I met him, I was a prisoner. I came to believe that fate would have never allowed me to live a simple life. There were always two choices, and a crossroads that would present itself in any timeline.
The General was always one of two possibilities, and in all possible happy endings, he was the choice I had to make. He was my chance at survival. At a life well lived.
That was, however, not what I expected when our eyes first met.
Neither was it what I anticipated when I was first captured by his men.
Who could have known that a chance could masquerade as something as shady as an abduction?
That our story could start with him instructing my captors?
Could it have been that the gods decided that the chain of events that started in the empire would lead me to him?
Sleeping in our shared chambers, with his hand around my waist, we welcomed a future that neither of us had foreseen. The first time I was in these chambers, I could have strangled him for keeping me there.
I couldn’t cool down. The castle was too hot in the summer. His bed was too soft. Despite the cold climate, I was burning up. I turned to my left. It gave me no relief. I turned towards him.
“Gabriel?” A low and gravelly voice. A call to go back to sleep.