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He might be the king of the realm, and I might be its queen. But we belonged to each other first.
Dawn’s light was trickling through the window by the time we finally collapsed in the bed. Even exhausted, our magics played with each other, green and black sparks filling the room. Two halves of a whole. Life and death. We had power over both, while we sat in the middle—not the final death, not alive. A place where we’d watch over the millions of souls that lived in that exact same space.
“We’ve made a big commitment,” I mused, my head resting on Cole’s chest. His fingers were laced in my hair, softly combing throughthe strands.
He chuckled. “Overseeing the cycle of souls? What could be hard about that?”
I grinned, tucking myself into the crook of his arm. We had signed up forforever.
“Do you know what happens now to the souls?” I asked. “The ones who escaped the Moon Goddess’s realms, and the ones that your magic led into darkness?”
He shook his head. “Even I do not know what lies beyond.”
For a moment, there was no more sound than our soft inhales and exhales. My entire universe was the rise and fall of my mate’s chest.
I swallowed, meeting his amber gaze. “Will you stay with me until we go into that darkness together?”
The King of the Underworld lifted my chin with a crooked finger, pressing his lips to mine. “I can think of no greater honor, little goddess.”
Epilogue
“When you said we’dhave a honeymoon, I didn’t think it would take several years to happen.”
Cole arched a brow at me. “Need I remind you, you were the one who insisted on seeing all the newly freed souls settled. Which given the nature of the pits, was notquick. I was ready to go the first day we got back from that harebrained trip to the pits.”
“Hey, youagreedto that harebrained trip,” I reminded him.
It didn’t matter how much time passed, we still bickered with each other. I might have teased him about it having been several years, but the truth was, time had flown by. It seemed like only yesterday we’d returned from Tartarus and changed the order of the universe permanently. Taking care of all the souls—guiding them to where they wanted to go, whether in our kingdom to rest, to reincarnate in the land of the living, or to fade into the ether—on top of running an entire realm—which was no longer Hell, with all the bad PR associated with it, but simply the underworld again—was several full-time jobs stacked together in a trench coat posing as something a person could reasonably accomplish.
I eyed the male next to me. Well, two people. Because though Cole might tease me now, he was every bit as committed. He took his duties as King and Alpha seriously. The same way I had found my home withhim, we had helped countless others find a place where they belonged.
“Of course I agreed. Any male knows the first rule of a happy marriage is to back up his mate in all herharebrainedschemes.”
I huffed to cover the fact I still got butterflies when he called me his mate. Even now, his mate mark was on full display. Partly because I’d freshened it last night, right after he’d announced that he was done waiting, we were going on our honeymoon, and Hecate could rule in our absence or the realm could burn for all he cared.
“Really? Then why were we arguing over whether to install a second library or expand the main one last week?” I’d wanted to build a second, smaller library since ours was nearly busting at the seams. Cole had argued we could just bend physics with magic and expand it. There had been several heated arguments before Hecate reminded us we could simply do both.
“Because I’m happy to know my little wolf likes to argue.” Cole smirked. “And she really likes making up after those arguments.”
I raised a brow. “Are you implying you pick fights with me just to have make-up sex after?”
“Do you want me to admit that, or would you rather we leave it unsaid?”
I growled. Cole’s smirk widened.
“If you’d like a spot for angry sex, that boulder over there is the perfect height for me to bend you over.”
He pointed to an outcropping of rocks at the edge of the path. My cheeks warmed, his words conjuring an image immediately of me, exposed in the outdoors, while he pressed my chest into the cold stone. I fought a shiver.
His voice dropped to a low rumble. “I’m always more than happyto oblige my mate.”
I forced myself to turn away from the stone and keep moving. “You’re not getting off that easily.” He grinned, and I flushed all over again. “You know what I mean. I was promised a secluded little cabin.”
“And you’ll have it,” Cole assured me, rejoining my side.
We were in the realm of the living. Although we could’ve gone anywhere—could’ve portaled anywhere—Cole had insisted on walking, and I was glad of it. So much time was spent in the palace these days, and though it had every luxury, the nature of our creatures was to go outside and explore. I hadn’t shifted and run in at least a week, and I was antsy to shed my human skin and hunt. Plus, it was nice just to have time with Cole, where we could flirt and tease without outside pressures. I loved our kingdom dearly and cared for every soul. But Cole was my mate, and after so much darkness, seeing him smirk at accidental entendres was a gift I didn’t take for granted.
We could’ve created another pocket realm. In the last lifetime, that had been our oasis to get away. Even though Cole had wrecked it to rescue me, with the mantles residing squarely inside us, we had enough power. But the pocket realm had been a kind of stasis. I didn’t want to stand apart from the realms I ruled.
