The Werewolf King's Bride

(From Blue's Perspective)

Two days passed since Dem had left. He had sent me a letter yesterday saying he was on his way to the battlefield. He promised to send me a letter if he got any time and would come to visit me in a month.

The fact that he would be by my side probably for the remaining months of my pregnancy was saddening. But more than being sad, I was scared for his well-being. Read new chapters at empire

"Don't just sit in your room," Evan said as he walked into the bedroom while I was sitting on a chair with Sapphire on my lap. I was trying to read a book unsuccessfully as my mind kept thinking only about one thing, one person.

"I have nothing else to do. I am trying to read a book," I said.

"You," he said, taking the book from me, "are holding it upside down. And this is what you call reading?"

"… Just leave me alone…"

"No, you will get up and take a walk with me in the garden," he said. "I am bored too. Your husband has brought me here, but I have nothing to do. Don't you think you should listen to only this request of mine?"

I sighed and got up, accepting the helping hand he offered. "Are you sure my husband hasn't threatened you? I see no reason why you should accept to stay by my side in his absence," I stated.

"You know very well that even if your husband threatens me, I have no obligation to listen to him. Whatever I am doing is for my own gain," he said.

"I am partially blind, I think, regarding this. Mind opening my eyes?"

"I think if I stay close to you, I will be able to find out more about your father," he said. "There is no way he will stay completely quiet."

"Trust me, I believe, he is busy trying to defeat us and kill my husband in the war because he can't use another method," I said. "He is now not just after me, but my husband as well. While he wants me alive, he wants him dead. I don't think he will do anything to my baby."

"Of course, as your child will have some of your power and since you are really powerful, your child will be one of the most powerful dark mages ever as well," he said. "Your father does not seem to be the type of person who will let go of any opportunity to get more powerful."

"That's what I meant," I said. "I am worried about Dem now. He is… I don't know what will happen to me if something happens to him."

We started to make our way to the garden. I wrapped a blanket around my shoulders since it was slightly chilly.

"What are you worried about? You will get the kingdom of Querencia anyway," Evan said.

I stared at him in disbelief. "No," I shook my head, still processing what he had just said. "I don't want to be the ruler of Querencia when he is not by my side. It's because of him that I even got to be a Queen. And I love him."

"Blue, I know I am in no position to say this, but we are by nature judging. And I must say that your relationship with King Demetrius is full of red flags."

"I know that. I know that very well. Since the moment it began, it was but a red flag. But you know, none of us are a green flag. We are toxic, just in different ways. Two toxic people cannot make a healthy relationship.

I accept his toxicity, while he accepts mine."

"Yours is considered nothing to his," he said.

"Yes, he might be extreme. But you know, at the end of the day, I cannot blame him entirely. You don't see a person every day whose mind has been messed with for at least seven years, who could not afford to have a good childhood despite being the son of a King, who was exposed to the ruthlessness and cruelty that a child should not face at such a tender age. I cannot expect him to be normal.

That would be stupid of me to think."

Evan did not say anything. "Well, if you two are happy, I have nothing more to say. I have already crossed the line."

"I don't blame you for thinking this way, Evan," I said. "But, rest assured, we are happy. Yes, I still get surprised every day by some of his secrets. But really, for someone like me, I cannot imagine a better life. He has improved a lot now. He is trying.

I just… I need to be by his side. I want to be there for him."

"… It sometimes angers me how forgiving you are, Blue," he said.

"Well, I never learned how to hold a grudge about certain behaviors," I said. "I cannot hold grudge against him even when I know some of them are wrong in the general sense."

After all, I never learned to hold grudge against someone who showed strange behaviors that I was not familiar with. I knew to be angry at someone who would get angry at me for no reason or hit me. But I did not know if I should be angry at someone who obsessed over me, who was overly jealous, and who would rather chain me up than ever think of letting go of me.

No matter what he did, it was not compared to what Father and Draven did to me. I learned to get angry at the kind of behavior Father and Draven showed, not Dem's. So, even after knowing Dem was doing something wrong, I could not stay angry at him.

"Come over here," he said, advancing toward a bench under the shade of a mango tree.

We sat down there. I actually felt quite better here than in the room. "Does the baby kick?" he asked.

"Not yet," I said. "I still don't feel anything. I read in a book that pregnant women feel the baby's movement around 16 to 24 weeks of pregnancy. I am almost over that period of time, but I still haven't felt anything like my baby moving. But I also read that in the case of first pregnancy, a mother might not feel anything, at least not until the 20th week. I hope I will be able to feel my baby soon."

"Are you so impatient?" he chuckled.

"Of course! I want to meet my baby quickly! I hope the time passes quickly! Dem, our baby, and I can be the best family then."

"I wish so too," he said, a little sulkily. It made me look at him. "I envy King Demetrius. I really do. I should have taken the chance when I had time. If only I was more determined, I could have."

"Don't tell me you like me romantically, Evan. That won't be a good thing," I said.

"That's not it," he shook his head. "But I envy King Demetrius because he got to have a family when I could not. I did not know how much I craved a family of my own until I saw the two of you. Trust me, I am much better than King Demetrius. I am not obsessive like him, I respect personal space and I am not overly jealous. Still, he got the best things.

Nothing can be better than having a family, having someone who got your back. I don't think I have romantic feelings for you, but I think I should have married you."

"If I married you, you would have fallen for me. It might be hard to listen but you fell for King Demetrius only because he was the first person to help you escape from that place, to show you kindness. Even though it was a kindness covered with greed, you fell for him. If we were married and I showed you that kindness, it would be me you loved. Of course, there is no use saying that.

You are married to him and we are friends. That's the reality. And I am happy for you. At least, you have gotten a real family."

Evan did not change his form to hide his identity here, which only made me feel even worse for him. I wished he had someone who could love him too. He was lonely. What he said was true and false at the same time and something that I did not even want to think about. There could be an alternate ending to everything. But what was the point in thinking about it?

In the end, we had to live the reality, not the alternate reality.

I placed my hand on his. "I hope you will find someone in your life too," I said. "I wish at least you will get the peace of mind through anything, not necessarily a person."

"You are a good person, Blue," he smiled. "Though I cannot say I will be successful in that, I wish you are right. But, you know what, I don't hope anymore. It's gone. Time is gone."