Chapter 101: Epilogue
“Are you certain that you have no task for today?” I asked for the nth time as we headed to the kitchen area to grab snacks for the three kids who were near finishing their tasks.
Desmond helped me prepare for their snacks but after a while, he hugged me from behind and couldn’t stop sniffing my scent. “You sound like you want to shoo me away… I am sulking, seraphim.” I could tell that he was pouting. “You know that we are on vacation.”
“Hilarious…” I leaned on his back and stayed in that position for a while.
We were both enveloped in the silence that was so peaceful. Both of us were purring at each other’s presence until I felt something poking behind me which made me frown.
“Desmond…” I warned him and pinched his arm.
“Aww!” He stepped backward and caressed his arm that I pinched. “That hurts…” He frowned.
“We can’t do it right here.” I shook my head.
Desmond chuckled. “Ah, yes. It is not the two of us now. We have kids.” I could feel my cheeks getting in heat right now because of what he said.
We used to do the deed here in the kitchen area and every part of the manor. We even did the act in Luna’s Garden and even in the horse stable.
“But we can do it in our secret room.” I shivered when Desmond whispered huskily to my ear, making me bite my lower lip in delight.
When I looked at him, he was grinning already. I couldn’t help chuckling. “Fine, fine. We can do it later.” I winked at him.
That made his grin grow more. “Yes!” He jumped in joy before he took the tray from the table.
When the twins and Sander were finished with their lessons, we told Elron to summon them to the pavilion.
“How’re your lessons, everyone?” I asked as I took the handkerchief to wipe Harolyn’s mouth when it got stained by the mayonnaise from the sandwich she was eating.
“Thank you, Mama,” Harolyn said, beaming.
“You’re welcome, sweetheart.”
“Mama, I also have here.” Hezekiah stood up and approached me. I creased my forehead and saw that he had no one.
Chuckling, I still wiped the corners of his mouth. “Alright. You are clean now, too, sweetheart.”
“Thank you, Mama!” Hezekiah beamed, returning to his seat.
I had also learned to accept the twins as kids on my own. The twins were easy to get along with and they learned to accept that I was their second mother. When I grew fond of them, I told that to Desmond and he was happy to learn that the twins and I were getting along.
“Mama, I also have one.” It was Sander who was pouting.
“I have one, too.” I looked at Desmond in disbelief.
“Come here, little man.” Sander’s face brightened up as I gently wiped the corners of his mouth. He thanked me and stuck his tongue out to his father who was frowning since I did not wipe his mouth. I only looked at him, laughing.
“That’s unfair!” Desmond squinted his eyes at me when I bestowed him his own handkerchief.
“You are not a kid anymore, cinnamon.” I rolled my eyes. But in the end, I also wiped the corners of his mouth which earned Desmond a big smile.
“Papa keeps competing with Mama’s attention,” Sander stated.
Desmond winced his hair. “And you keep sabotaging me. I thought we are good now?”
“What do you mean by that?” I asked, bewildered. Why did he sound like the two of them argued or something?
“Nothing.” Desmond and Sander shook their heads vigorously.
That made me grow suspicious of what they were acting. But I just let it slide. I should ask Mother later.
Speaking of Sander…
We were so glad when Mother decided to return our son’s soul back to his body. It was a joyous moment but at the same time, we were confused.
“Mother…” I uttered when She showed Herself right in front of us the moment Sander woke up.
She flew towards me and held my face. “Yes, it is part of being a spirit goddess to experience hardships, Sicilia. You and Desmond…” She paused, glancing at Desmond who was also bewildered. “As much as I want not to return Sinbert’s soul, however, I do not wish for the two of us as mother and daughter to collide. So, I shall make an exception for my grandson. I have broken one of my laws of nature and returned Sinbert as soon as possible.”
What She said had me in tears. It was pure agony having to collide with my mother and at the same time, I lost my son. I also did not want to collide with Her.
She was still my mother, after all.
But I was a mother, too, who had pups. My concern the most was my son’s life.
“Does this mean that our son will not be reincarnated?” Desmond asked after a moment of silence.
Mother nodded. “Indeed. He will not. But I shall only do this one time. If Sinbert happens to meet his death for the second time, then that shall be the time for his reincarnation. No exception. Do you understand, Sicilia, Desmond?”
We both nodded at Mother’s words but still, I was grateful that She bestowed a second life to our son. I immediately hugged Her as I wailed in tears, thanking Her. Then I apologized to Her because I said things that I wanted to cut ties with because of what I felt at that moment when I saw that it was futile to negotiate with Mother any more.
“My, my… I am sorry, too, dear… I have been harsh on you.” Mother’s soothing voice made me feel at ease. I only nodded but I was really accepting her apology. I just couldn’t find my words right now.
I was so happy that my son was back now. That was one thing I would like to thank my mother for.
“Thank you, Moon Goddess,” Desmond said as he bowed before Her. “Please. Allow me to deeply apologize for the disgraceful behavior I showed to you earlier.” He didn’t add that he only did that because we were talking about Sander already.
Mother chuckled, nodding before She urged me to be by Desmond’s arms. “It is fine. You are a great father, Desmond. You only did what you thought was right. I hope that the three of us shall be alright now.” Then She turned to Sander and raised Her hand to hush him. “Remember what we talk about, Sinbert.”
“Yes, grandma! Thank you!”
I had once asked Sander what sort of agreement he had with his grandmother. Sander that about his future mate. It turned out that Sander asked who should be his mate. As soon as he mentioned that Lady Clariscia was going to be his fated mate soon, I could have sworn my jaw dropped at that time.
“Our son will become her second mate, right?” I asked, turning at Desmond while I was breastfeeding Saoirse. Our children were playing in the garden. I already told him about it. Desmond was amused once he learned that Sander could never forget Lady Clariscia.
“Indeed, he will be. So, it means that having a second mate is not a legend.” Desmond grinned, stroking his chin. “Interesting…” I frowned at what he said. He looked so amused that he looked so alluring. That sheepish smile would certainly make me feel tingle how I also fell in love with him more. “I should conduct a background checking.”
I rolled my eyes. “Screw you… Are you really supporting it?” I was still against it but there was nothing I could do if they would be fated in the near future.
“Why not?” He grasped my hand and intertwined our hands. “If you are worried about their age gap, do remember our six years gap, seraphim.”
I rolled my eyes seeing how he grinned. He really liked to highlight that part that we were six years apart.
“Let’s see if you can say that once Harolyn and Saoirse find their mates that have a huge gap from their age.”
His smile turned into a frown. “Who says our daughters can even meet and be with their mates?”
Hold on… What did he mean by that? “Are you being serious right now, cinnamon?” I looked at him in disbelief. “You are going to allow Sander and Hezekiah to meet their mates but Harolyn and Saoirse couldn’t?”
Oh, boy… I knew that this day would come. I knew that as soon as Desmond would get to have a daughter, he would be overprotective. I should’ve known better because he already told me before when we were still planning about having our pup when we both were newlyweds.
He already said in the past that he would never allow our daughter to meet their mate and now, it looked like he was going to be truthful to his words.
“Our daughters’ mates must undergo interrogation.” Desmond clasped his hands and rubbed them repeatedly, looking like a mad evil as if he was concocting some dark plans.
“Stop it.” Shaking my head, I turned to Saoirse. “If Papa becomes the hindrance for you and your mate, just tell Mama, Saoirse. Then I will tell your grandma. For certain, your Papa cannot even do anything,” I teased her when she was finished being fed.
Saoirse giggled. “Papa scawed.”
“That’s not funny, seraphim.” He was already frowning. He knew that if Mother was the one who stepped up, he couldn’t really do anything.
“It is to me.” I winked at him.
As soon as we finished our vacation in the Elian, Desmond and I went to check on Hazel in the celestial realm. We made it show to everyone that she was dead when in fact that we brought her here in Mother’s world so she could receive a heavenly punishment for killing a son from one of the spirit goddesses.
The celestial guards showed Hazel to us whose jaw was dropped and her eyes widened in shock. That was her expression as soon as she received punishment from Mother. Her soul was being tortured as well as her mental health.
However, for her physical body, they did not imprint any scars on it. Mother was after the soul and mentality of a mortal. It was easy to manipulate and torture was more unbearable than physical punishment.
“You deserve to be treated like that,” I said coldly, not feeling remorse or feeling guilty that she was being punished like this.
My son’s life was at the stake. I could never forgive her for killing my son in his first life. He almost had to experience rebirth in a different body if Mother did not change Her mind.
“She will never see the twins ever again. Is it more painful than death, Hazel?” Desmond asked, gritting his teeth.
The two of us would never forget how she stabbed our son. It was a very frightening moment for the two of us to see our son die in our arms. The moment Sander was awake, Desmond and I settled on punishing her physically before we faked her death and conducted a very poor funeral service.
She did not deserve to have a grandiose funeral service that came from the effort of her brother who had loved her so dearly. But what did she do? She created chaos in our pack so she must bear the consequence of her action.
We did not receive an answer from her. Hazel experienced a psychological shock. Mother made it worse so it was impossible for her to recover unless Mother or Iseldis healed her mental condition.
That was an exhausting experience when we returned to the mundane realm. “I am really sleepy, cinnamon…” I yawned as I leaned into his arms.
Desmond scooped me up. “Take a rest, seraphim. Let’s call it a day.” I nodded as I snuggled closer to him when we reached our chamber.
When I was well rested, it was already dawn when I woke up hearing giggles in the chamber. I rubbed my eyes and saw that my three pups were here, smiling from ear to ear.
Yes, three pups. I had treated the twins as pups of my own. So, they were not different in how I treated Sander and Saoirse. I treated them equally and gave them the love they both deserved which they did not receive from their birth mother.Exclusive © content by N(ô)ve/l/Drama.Org.
“What is happening?” I asked, bewildered seeing their facial expressions. There were teasing gazes they had in their cute little faces.
“Mama, there is an emergency,” Sander said.
“Emergency? A rogue attack?” I almost panicked but then I realized if it was a rogue attack, I should be at ease since Desmond and our pack warriors could surely handle it. Also, why were they smiling?
“No, Mama.” It was Harolyn, giggling. “It’s Papa…” she paused.
“What happened to your Papa?” My heart started to race so fast upon the mere mention of Desmond. “Did something happen to your Papa?” I decided to get up from the bed. “Where is he?”
Hezekiah and Sander held my hands as they started to pull me. “Papa is in Luna’s Garden, Mama,” Hezekiah said. “Hurry! It is an emergency!”
I was expecting that it would be something to worry about but why were these three not worried at all. Did something really happen to Desmond?
If something happened to him, shouldn’t I suppose to feel that through our mate bond? But why did my wolf feel at ease? Did this mean that nothing happened to Desmond?
“What is really happening? Where is your baby sister?” I asked, getting bewildered as they dragged me, excited to go to the garden. “Hezekiah? Sander? Harolyn?” They did not answer me.
They only giggled as an answer, exchanging teasing gazes to each other.
But as soon as we arrived there, I was greeted by scented candles and some delicious meals settled on a table that was good for six people. I was astonished, jaw-dropped seeing Desmond who looked so dashing in his expensive suit while he had Saoirse in his arms.
Sander approached him and took Saoirse from him before Desmond stepped forward. “H-Hi, seraphim…”
I creased my forehead, perplexed. “Hi…” I smiled wryly, wandering my eyes around. It was somehow nostalgic because I remembered that we used to do this before when we got married. The very special event that I would never forget was Desmond proposed to me back then. “W-What is happening?” I fluttered my eyes.
“Of all the hardships we have been through…” Desmond started to walk towards me. “I have hurt you… I have become a jerk to you… I have learned all the lessons that I should have not hurt you in the first place. I cherish you for you are my mate and the only woman I love.”
The surroundings felt like we were thrown back to the past. It made my heart pound so fast. My wolf and I were overwhelmed that Desmond had finally proposed to me.
The moment I had been waiting for…
It was making my stomach somersault the moment he was in front of me, not looking away but staring at me as if he did not want to leave his eyes even for just a second.
“Desmond…” I cried in happiness when he held my hand and planted a soft kiss on the back of it, looking at me lovingly.
Desmond nervously sighed before he fished out something in his pocket and knelt on one knee before me. My eyes widened upon seeing the familiar jewelry that sent chills down my spine.
Was that the citrine engagement ring, right? Right?
Upon seeing that, I covered my mouth with my hands, shedding tears in happiness.
“I have knelt before you, wanting to propose to you, seraphim.” Desmond gulped. His voice croaked as his eyes were getting misty. “Please spend the rest of your life with me again, Seraphina Beryl. Not only to me but with our four pups.” He sniffed. “You have forgiven me after all the things I did. I do not deserve you but I will do my best this time. I will show you that I really deserve to have you and you deserve to have me. I love you so much, seraphim. You are the only woman I want to spend the rest of my life with until the day I die.”
“Oh, Desmond…” I couldn’t contain my tears right now.
With the heartfelt words he uttered, I knew that this time it should have a happy ending. This was really the moment that I wished to spend my life with him again.
“Will you marry me again, Seraphina Beryl? Will you become my Marchioness of Blackmont again and be my wife?” he asked nervously.
“Yes!” I did not wait any longer as I entered the ring with my ring finger on my left hand. “Yes, Desmond! I will marry you again!” I did not wait for him to say anything as I crashed my lips into his.
Desmond responded back before he looked at me with so much love smeared on his eyes. “Finally… I am marrying you again… I am so happy… Thank you for giving me another chance, seraphim… I love you so much! I really do!”
Sniffing, I pecked his lips. “I love you, too, Desmond Verlice. Please this time, do not hurt me again so I would not need to repeat my action of Hiding the Alpha’s Heir again.”
Desmond nodded. “Rest assured. I have learned my lesson, Seraphina,” he said before he cupped my face again and lowered his head to capture my lips.
From the background, I heard the cheers from our pups. That made me smile as I deepened the kiss just to show him that I had loved him so dearly and would always love him.
Thank you, Mother. As your fourth daughter, I, Sicilia, thanked you for the blessings. May you continue to bless us even if it would come to the day that I had to return by Your side after I fulfill my duty as one of the witnesses of Your creations and would begin to fulfill my next duty as the Goddess of Fertility.
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THE END
Date finished (HTAH): September 8, 2020 12:52 a. m. (UTC+8)
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Mystique Luna’s note!
Thank you for finishing reading Hiding the Alpha’s Heir! Thank you for supporting Desmond x Seraphina’s love story! Until my next story again! See you guys!