Her Forever

Orion’s POV

What kind of fuckery is this? Are there some evil demons out there that are hell-bent on trying to make my life hard? Not one moment of peace since my love has come to me, everything that could have gone wrong had been slammed in a month, and not one moment I can relish in her beauty. I just wanted to love and cherish her, and so far I’ve been to battle, sent her away only to have her come back with the Atlantean army, be drugged and now we face another threat of her being taken away from me.

Just one moment of peace, that’s all I wanted.

“Where are they?” My voice was stern, the kingdom thought their King would be in a more playful mood, they were outside the gates celebrating right now, but this is not the case. I’m livid, not even a note letting me know of their arrival. Is father out for a death wish? The invitation I sent was to him was instructions to come the day before, not seven days before. Now I will have to hear all his “suggestions” on how I should be running the nation.

Well, guess what? I changed it all, and the people are happy about it.

“Right here, your highness,” the look of fear was slapped across the servants’ face as my father and mother opened the other door that kept them hidden. Here I was, bare-chested as Willa had a cloth cooling off my heated body with her I in a rather compromising position. Willa’s eyes grew wide, and I felt the heat from her face flow down between her legs, and it wasn’t for l**t. Pure embarrassment.

Willa whipped her head around and put her head into my shoulder, a small sniff came from her. My Darling wasn’t one for a crowd, especially being caught in such a position in front of my parents.

“Next time, have them wait in the receiving room. Hmm?” My voice left for no disagreement as my parents continued to walk in the room as the servant backed away.

“Is this what you do in your free time, son? Mess with some harlot?” Willa’s body flinched and I felt a damp tear on my shoulder. That’s it.

“Father, I suggest you watch your tone; this is the future Queen and my true mate. Do you not have the decency to leave after seeing us like this?” My mother, the follower of the relationship, was almost dancing on her toes, keeping her mouth shut while father bore his amber eyes into me. My mother’s squeak caught my father’s attention and she released her hands from her mouth.

“Can I seeeee herrrrr!? Oh, my baby got his mate!” Mother was the one I confided into the most growing up. If there was a scrape on my knee or I feared the rolling thunder mother was there while my father was too preoccupied with his duties. He may seem like a stern King, but that was only to his own family. In the Court he was a pushover, always wanting what was best for them and not the kingdom.

Willa sniffed as she tried to dry her eyes. My darling had certainly opened her feelings the past few weeks together, but even so, this was a bit much for her. “Is this too much, would you like to meet them later?” I whispered while I kissed the shell of her ear.

“Your mother sounds excited, but your father called me a harlot; what am I to do with that?” She sniffed again and took the once cold rag, and dabbed her nose. Damn her nose was adorable when it was all red and stuffy. “Spend some time with my mother, she is better than him.” I glared at my father while he crossed his arms. Willa nodded her head and fixed her hair quickly before getting off my lap.

“Good evening, Your Highness,” Willa bowed gracefully. “My name is Willa, and I am Orion’s-“ before another word was said, my mother embraced her in her arms and lovingly petting her head.

“I’m Nissa, or just mother to you, little one. You are so small! Oh, my, and you have been marked! It’s true!” My mother engulfed her in another hug and led her out of the study, my mother was fully aware what was about to go down with father and I.

“You marked her already? Do you have no regard for the etiquette lessons you spent day in and day out studying? What the hell is wrong with you? You are to mark her the day of the coronation and binding ceremony!” I growled at him as my wings flung right back out of my back. There was no more hiding, no more being shied away from what we are.

My father stood back in surprise; he hadn’t seen my wings for a long time. “What are you doing?” He yelled again and I immediately stepped forward, my wings were black, almost charred looking, the anger of my aura was rolling off of me like roaring thunder as he continued to walk backwards and fall into the couch behind him.

Little did anyone know, the bonding that Willa and I completed unlocked a new power in me. I was able to not only use my light power, but I was able to touch my ancient ancestor’s dark power. Something no fae had ever yet done. It has said I was to be the strongest fae yet; the seers confirmed it the day of my birth and was written for all to see. The fae people didn’t know how powerful, and today it was unleashed by the utter rage of the chance my mate would be taken from me.

“You listen here; you are no longer king of this kingdom. You are weak, feeble-minded, and were easily persuaded into darkness. The people have suffered because of you, you let the court rule over you when it should be the other way around. Kings are pledge to do what is best for the people, not tax them into starvation and give up their wings.” My breath heaved as I tried to reign in my anger. I didn’t know how far I could go with this darker power, and I didn’t want to test it now.

“We are fae, and we are to be proud of it. As of yesterday, the kingdom has seen what I have done and has approved it themselves. Now, if you want to stay, I suggest you apologize to your Queen, the princess of Atlantis. Her father Girard is not an understanding man when it comes to his only daughter.” My father’s eyes widened, he knew he was in some deep s**t now, offending a lost princess and a princess of Atlantis no doubt will certainly be the end of him and hell, I’d have front row seats to that.

“I’m sorry son,” he pulled at his tunic as he tried to sit up. The information was suffocating him and having a shot of brandy might be good for him. I go to the bar and pour him a glass while he wipes his brow with his handkerchief. What caught me off guard the most was those three words I had longed to hear him say, ‘I’m sorry son.”

“I know I’m a terrible father.” He put his glass down on the desk and walked to the large window overlooking the marketplace. “I did what I was told in the Court and thought it was for the best. At the time, I didn’t know they were conniving little shits because we all grew up together. I thought they were looking out for me.” Again, my father picked up the glass and swirled the ice inside. “Part of me still hurts, but I know they did wrong. I didn’t want to admit to it. I came back early for your forgiveness, but hell, old habits die hard. I was more upset that the woman in your lap wasn’t your mate,” he scoffed.

Even though the supernatural doesn’t age, he looks older. He wasn’t as fit as he used to be, and the worry lines littered his face. A permanent frown had taken over and my mother’s cheerful attitude couldn’t even help him. “A King shouldn’t have to apologize, but a father should. The way I have treated you has been wrong, and I know I have a long way to go to make up for it. I have so much to do to make it up to you, and me fleeing the palace and letting you fend for yourself was also wrong. I didn’t want to admit my mistakes. Hell, I still don’t. A father is supposed to be someone to look up to, and over the years, it has slowly sunk in how wrong I was to you, Orion.”

The anger that I had felt just ten minutes ago started to fade. His aura had become significantly lighter as he spoke. He wasn’t the father I once knew; he was trying to turn over a new leaf. The question was, could I really forgive him? Just that speech alone couldn’t erase everything he had done. He made my life miserable for so long, listening to the wrong people, forcing policies down my throat I didn’t agree with.

“We do have a long way to go,” I walked to him and put my hand on his shoulder, “we also have a long life ahead of us may it be blessed by the gods. Now, do you want to meet my mate?” Men don’t need to dwell on these things; women do but not men. I wouldn’t mind if we spared a bit, and we could beat the s**t out of each other and call it good but with everything else on my plate I don’t think Willa would be very appreciative of the primitive things men could do. I couldn’t forgive him, not yet. I wanted him to prove himself to me, and with all the s**t we have coming up, he could do just that this week.

Father nodded his head as he took a large swig of his whisky. “I thought she was one of your old concubines; I’ll be sure to grovel.” His face was back to being harsh, he certainly had a much longer road than he thought. Changing one’s attitude doesn’t happen overnight. He was still ticked that I marked her before the ceremony, but Willa was mine, and I wasn’t going to let her get away from me. How he waited with my mother, I will never know that kind of strength.

After the long walk to the tearoom, father explained where my five brothers were. Most of them were off hunting for their mates. I grew up mostly as an only child until I was 300 years old and they decided to start over again. She popped out my bothers one after the other until she was satisfied and now no longer has that maternal drive. All she would talk about before my father took her and my brothers away was how she was ready for grandchildren. That was so many years ago, and now that chance might come sooner than later.

I could feel tingles down in my heart at the thought of Willa being swollen with our child. Having more time with her alone would be preferable, but like hell I was going to use anything to prevent my seed from coating her walls. She could very well be pregnant right now, for all I know. If her sudden burst of tears of embarrassment was any inclination, I may be on to something.

I silent smirk flew on my face, and I knew my father could feel my excitement. He could also read auras with those he was related to. His hand went to the back of my neck to squeeze his affection on me. “She is certainly beautiful. I’m glad you found her after all these years.” I wish father’s gift was a bit stronger so he could read his very own friends that went against him all those years ago in Court.

Even though my father looked like he turned over a new leaf, I was always going to be wary of him. Like I said, years and years of bickering and trying to drill me into submission of the court was going to lay heavy on my mind and heart. If only he had trusted his son, but as a father, he thought he knew best. I hope not to make the same mistake with my children.

As we walked I had to explain how most of the fae Court were in the dungeons, along with his supposed best friend, Onyx. Once I had taken over, Onyx, father’s right hand and speaker of the Court had dropped my father like a fly and tried to win my favor. Never worked, I could smell him a mile away and his overwhelming stench of horse dung.

Father nodded his head in agreement and was even understanding of their punishment. The evidence was overwhelming, the papers I had collected, budgets, embezzlement, treachery, treason it was all there, and he would succumb to his own devices and be locked away or put to death depending on the will of the people.

We wandered down the hall as we both felt the pull of our mates and found ourselves in the tearoom. It was a brightly lit room with shelves upon shelves of different types of teas and sweeteners such as honey, agave nectar and juley juices from the palace orchards. Willa was sitting up straight as mother showed her proper ways to pour tea; she was really enjoying herself, smiling at my mother brightly.

“And this is Honey Ambrosia Tea, the leaves are dried for at least two years before you can crush them and place them into the small baggies,” my mother smiled as she let Willa smell them.

“At least she likes to learn some etiquette,” my father said under his breath while he pushed me playfully. I gave a large smile as I saw my Willa listen to my mother. The 800 some years of waiting for my mate was worth it, if we could get past this next week, we would be set for a long time.