**Ethan’s POV
It had only taken almost four years.
The war had left behind a ss. Roads, communication, mass transit, factories, all of that infrastructure as well as the economy needed to be rebuilt.
Rosalie and I had to get back to work the second day after our wedding, and we’d been working hard ever since.
During the past four years, we both had to travel a lot and sotis we couldn’t even see each other for two or three months at a ti. The good thing was, our hard work had paid off.
From Mirage to all the way to the Northern Tier and Winter Forest pack, everything was finally gotten to a place where the kingdom could run on its own, without needing us to handle every single detail of the day to day operations.
It was a good ti for us to take a break. I could finally take my beautiful Rosalie for a belated honeymoon.
I walked out of my office, heading to my room, excited to start packing. I couldn’t wait to see her face lit up. I knew she had been looking forward to it as much as I had.
I hadn’t told her where we were going yet. It was supposed to be a surprise. I intended to take her to a private island, one she hadn’t been to before. I hoped that was sothing she would like and that she wouldn’t be reminded too much of her previous ti on the islands.
Of course, I would take her wherever she wanted to go. As long as we were together, that was all that mattered to .
I entered our room, excited to tell her my plan. However, I saw Seraphine leaning over the bed, talking to Rosalie in a quiet voice.
I saw her face was a paler shade of white than usual. "What’s wrong?" I asked, rushing to my wife’s side.
"Ethan," Rosalie said, reaching for my hand, which I gave to her. Her hand was cold and slightly trembling.
I knew my wife well enough to know sothing must be going on. Tears in her eyes made my heart sink.
Was she sick—or sothing worse had happened? My mind went back to how I had felt when she’d been in a coma. My heart started to go crazy—I couldn’t lose her!
"What happened?!" I could almost hear the quivering in my tone. "Seraphine, tell !"
"Your majesty," a smile crept up on Seraphine’s face, which relaxed my tense nerves a bit. This was a good sign. I let out a breath that I was holding in a little relief.
"The queen is pregnant! Congratulations!" she exclaid.
"Wh-what?" I could hardly believe my ears, and my brain was still processing the news. "Pardon ?"
Rosalie nodded and then reached to pick up a pregnancy test from the nightstand. A small smile crept up her face, "Ethan, I felt a bit nauseous earlier, so Seraphine suggested a pregnancy test. I’m about six weeks along!"
"What?" It seed to be all I could say. Okay, that was why she looked pale. Hold on, that wasn’t what I should be focusing on...
I sank down onto the bed next to her. "We’ll have a second child?"
She nodded, her beautiful eyes on . "Are you happy?"
Finally, the realization settled in. "I’m overjoyed!" I proclaid. "Oh, Goddess!"
I couldn’t help but lean down and take her face between my hands. I kissed her deeply. With my forehead resting against hers I said, "The Moon Goddess has truly blessed us."
"Yes, she has," Rosalie nodded, kissing back.
I laughed. "Rowan will want a brother to chase around and play fight. Where is he anyway?"
"He’s with his aunt," she said. "He will love the baby, no matter what. Rowan is such a gentle soul."
She was right about that. Our son had more of his mother in him than , it seed. Seraphine had already left the room, leaving us so privacy to enjoy the mont of joy. I asked her to keep the news secret for the ti being.
I kissed Rosalie’s forehead again. "Baby, are you up for traveling then? We are supposed to fly out tomorrow. But...do you feel up to it?"
Her smile brightened. "I would love to go away with you..."
"Why do I sense there was a ’but’?" I whispered as I looped my arm around her. She was so soft, and it made my heart lt knowing she was mine, and in her belly, another beautiful life was growing.
"Why are you always able to read my mind?" Her face blushed a little, then she said, "Do you think we can stop by Winter Forest as part of our trip? It’s been a while, and I miss everyone back ho."
She squeezed my hand, and I locked my gaze on her beautiful brown eyes.
Yes, she was the White Queen, and she needed to be with her people. Yet, for , she had chosen to stay in Mirage, to be by my side.
She never once complained, and even now, it was only a humble wish that she requested as a detour from our honeymoon.
How was I so lucky to have such a considerate and supportive woman as my wife and mate?
Rosalie might not have expected to stay silent. She was a bit worried and she sighed softly, "...However, I understand if we don’t have enough ti."
A plan ford in my mind as I held her tighter. I kissed her. "Baby, of course we can! However, I’ll need so ti to get prepared. Let’s postpone our honeymoon for two weeks. Is that okay?"
She tilted her head in confusion, "Ethan, if it’s too much trouble, we don’t have to..."
I shook my head, "No, it’s no trouble at all! I just want to make this perfect for you. Trust , okay?"
She nodded, and I could see her face lit up in a wide grin, "Of course, I trust you!"
***
All the reports I needed to file were finished. I set the last one on top of the stack and surveyed my office.
It was all finally done!
I only had two weeks to get everything in order. Now, it was ti to talk to Talon and Georgia.
I found them in the library where Georgia seed to be reshelving so docunts while Talon was making so notes at a desk not far away from her.
"Alpha!" my Beta said. "Thank goodness you are out of your office. You do rember your honeymoon starts tomorrow, right?"
"Yes, I do."
Georgia ca over, "How could Rosalie put up with you? Holy crazy workaholic!"
"Dunno," I admitted, sotis wondered the sa. Just the thought of her ward my heart, and I was hopeful she would be pleased with my plan.
Georgia made a face at . "Brother, why can’t you ever give us answers that are more than a few words long?"
I shrugged in response, which irritated her just a bit more. As expected. She growled at and I chuckled.
Talon took her arm and tugged her back into submission. "Are you looking for us for sothing?"
"Yes, first of all, I wanted to make sure you saw that Damian had requested to open two more trade ports—"
Talon nodded. "I saw. I handled it already, Alpha."
I grinned at him. Of course, he did. "Great. Have you sent soone to talk to him to flesh out all of the details?"
"Yes, I did. I sent Paul. He’ll be back in a few days," Talon told .
"Perfect." I should’ve known he was already on top of things. "Secondly, a few of the Alphas have been asking about having reinforcents at the ready in case there are rogue attacks—"
"And I’ve sent Richard and Alex to take care of it." Talon wore a crooked smile.
"Looks like you’ve got everything handled here," I told him.
He shrugged. "I’ve learned from the best. Also, I’ve been thinking about the Alphas’ Summit scheduled in two months. I need to get your thoughts on the primary topics and focus. But we can discuss it in detail when you’re back from your honeymoon."
"That’s the thing." I pulled in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I won’t be back."
His eyes widened, but it was Georgia who asked, "What did you say?"
"I’m taking Rosalie to the north, back to her pack lands. She’s the White Queen. She wants to be with her people. They’ve been without her, or a queen for that matter, for far too long. So... we’ll go up there."
"But what about Mirage?" Talon asked .
"What about it?" I asked. "Seems to that the perfect leader is already here."
Talon swallowed hard. "Okay... I’ll arrange it. How long will you be gone? A month? A year?"
I stared at him, but didn’t answer.
"You an... you’re staying there?!" Georgia gasped. She didn’t sound mad, just shocked.
I nodded.
"But..." Talon started.
"Rosalie is pregnant," I interrupted him.
They both were stunned. Then my sister squealed so loudly before she threw her arms around , I thought she might be shifting into a mouse but then, with the power of her hug, I thought she might have beco a boa constrictor.
"Congratulations! Oh, Goddess!" she laughed loudly, "I’m so happy!"
Once they got over their shock, I continued. "I didn’t get to be with Rosalie when she was pregnant with Rowan. Now that she’s pregnant again, I don’t want to miss anything. But I also want her to be comfortable and happy. So... we’ll do whatever she wishes."
"D*mn right we’ll do whatever it takes to make her happy! Holy sh*t, brother, that’s what you’ve been planning for the past two weeks. You had us all tricked!"
"I tried. I hope Rosalie likes the plan too."
Georgia let go of , "Are you kidding ? She’s going to love it!"
I smiled. I hoped so too. Then I thought of sothing, "Oh, before I forget, you’ll need a new healer in Mirage though. Estrella is coming with us."
"Don’t worry about that. We’ve got it!" Georgia assured .
I nodded. "I, Alpha King Ethan Gray, appoint you both to be the rulers of Mirage. All the necessary designation docunts are already in my office. If you need support, co to , but I don’t want you to feel like you’ve got to ask anything before you make a choice. I trust you."
Talon reached out and gave a hug. "We won’t fail you, Alpha."
"I know you won’t." I smiled at my Beta and my sister. "I love you. Both of you."
They both stared at wide eyed. I found a bit of amusent in their stunned faces.
I started walking away. "I’m going to tell Rosalie now," I told them, "Take care!"
A huge grin covered my face, and I picked up my pace.
I couldn’t wait a second to see Rosalie, to tell her my plan, and to start a new Chapter of our lives!
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