It’s been six months since I was last with Payton. My beloved King. How I’ve ached for the day I could leave home in the days following my father’s death. I wondered if it would ever happen. If I would ever be able to be the woman I was destined to be? Yet anytime I saw him, Payton that is… the youngest Alpha, the youngest King in the land. He brought peace. So of course, when I learned I was his mate, I was elated but terrified. How could I fill those shoes? But at the same instance it awakened a memory of who I was, who I am. Asena Rose Dorin. Daughter of Alastair Vanahalin Dorin, a man who was both kind and stern. Smart and goofy. A father who knew where the world had been, and he knew the kind of world his fathers before him had fought for. A true leader! That’s the blood that flows through my veins. Similar to Payton’s father. They were brothers in arms, two kings united.
I won’t allow what our fathers built for us to die… luckily, he feels the same. Though, it is a bit odd being back in a home with a television…
To be honest, I forgot where I was. I slept so well, I hadn’t slept that well in years probably. When I woke up in the queen bed surrounded by a red and black bedspread. A small bit of drool leaking from my mouth. Ew. But a sure sign of a good night’s sleep. I squint, at the sunlight as it comes into the room through the blinds. Hearing someone talking in the next room.
As my eyes adjust to the light, I take a look around the room, noting the photos of Payton and his friends and family in frames on the wall – the adventures he had been on… I envied that but it amazed me. A poster from a band or I think that’s what it was? A few little charms and really the place looked like it was barely lived in, save for a few stay pieces of his laundry on the floor and in the chair by the bed…
“Morning…” He smiles as I walk out into the living room.
“Good morning.” I whisper hugging him. I’m not much of a morning person. But something about waking up in his house made a morning not so bad.
“How’d you sleep?”
“Really good. I think that was the best night’s sleep I’ve had in years!” I laugh. “But what about you? You didn’t have to sleep out here…” I feel a bit of guilt creeping up as I notice the bedding on the couch.
“It’s okay. I usually sleep out here anyway. Plus, I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable. And it seemed like you needed the whole bed too…” He laughs.
“You could have made me move… I do know how to share.”
“Warrior Queens deserve a full night’s sleep however they wish to sleep when they finally get back to base. They also deserve a good breakfast when they wake up. So, what would you like to eat? I can order take out or I can make you something?”
“Do you have those little cookie cereals?” I feel dumb not remembering the name, but I haven’t had them since I was a child. “The ones with the cartoon wolf on the box?”
“Cookie Crisp? You are in luck, my love. They are a favorite of mine as well, though I would greatly appreciate it if you kept that on the DL, the guys and everyone would never let me live it down.” He winks as he pulls out the chair for me to sit in. “Now I don’t have to have my mom buy them for me in secret.”
“Will they really tease you that bad over a cereal?” I ask, watching him get everything and come back to the table… I wasn’t used to eating with anyone. Usually, I was left to eat alone. Left out of everything…
“Yes. I once made the mistake of telling them I still sleep with my baby blanket – the one my nana made me? And, and they all – mind you these guys are my friends. They still call me Blanky Boy.” He smiles as he pours the cereal in a bowl sliding it to me. “Oh…I probably should have let you get your own huh? Sorry, it’s a habit.”
“It’s okay. Thank you. But I think you forgot the milk.” It was all new to me too. I liked that Payton was so humble and down to earth. He was a kind soul. Always has been; one of my favorite memories of him was when he rescued a lizard from the meeting room. He’s a goofy guy too. Cleary a morning person too. Bright as a summer wildfire, as my dad would say. To be honest, I never understood that saying, but dad used it so often.
“Oh, shoot. I’ll get it.” His cheeks flushed a bit. It was cute. I liked it. Did I make him as nervous as he makes me? The butterflies were they a two-way street. I know he’s my mate and I, his. But I always liked him… admired him from a distance though I figured he’d never have any interest in a human girl like myself… let alone with everything else. “Here you go, I don’t want to overwhelm you, but I sent my cousin out to get some things for you. To at least start you off. I figured that you and I could go out later on in the week to find some other things… but today we can just hang around here so you can rest… you really need it.” He looks up from his bowl his eyes locking onto mine, in a penetrating gaze.
“What about the plans?”
“We can look them over discuss them here but there’s no rush. You have to be at peak mental and physical capacity for us to do anything anyway.”
“I’m…fine?” I try to sound more confident, yet I wasn’t all that sure, I’ve not had too much sleep, and I’ve barely been eating and honestly my heart just hurt. I kept replaying the last conversation my mother and I had before I left. I didn’t want to waver, I wanted to follow through to prove them all wrong. This was never what my father would have wanted for his legacy and she knows that. How could she betray him? Claim to love him, claim he was the love of her life and stab him in the back? Even if she had nothing to do with his death like she claims, she’s protecting Atlas and that means she is equally at fault here. I deserve the truth about his death.
“You and I both know that isn’t true. You’re exhausted. You need to rest. Lay low and enjoy some peace and quiet. We’ll get back to it in a day or two.” He breaks my thought loop with a bit of a smirk. Still the same arrogant all knowing Alpha King.
As much as I hated to admit it he was right, he could see right through the lies. Plus, I did really just want to bask in his eyes for the rest of eternity to wash away the feelings of regret and sorrow. To feel like I meant something to someone. If I was being honest with myself, all I wanted to do was to drag him back to bed with me and go back to sleep for eternity in the safety of his embrace. Let the world burn, as long as I had him I was fine… but I was going to see this through. Just not today.
If you made it to the end of this post drop a ❤ in the comments for our lovely King and Queen who have finally been reunited! I am so glad I kept working on this series behind the scenes. I truly love Payton and Asena, I hope you all love them as much as I do. Their adventure is just getting started! And OH MY GOD! It’s been FOUR YEARS of “thechronicalesofhails”! My heart! Five years strong and today makes exactly four years since I posted Canadian Coffee Shop which was one of my very first actual stories. Technically it was the original Prologue of my novel but it really did pave the way for this series and it especially paved the way for The Road to Redemption as that was Connor’s birth place! So if you’re feeling curious of how it all started go check out Canadian Coffee Shop.
Thank you so much for reading this far and staying around, I hope you all have a lovely day or night whenever you read this and as always, stay safe, love hard and protect your peace ❤
I will see you next time!
XOXO Hails
Stormy Ville 
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