The Lost Queen

Ch. 11: Option Three

Much to Rayne's chagrin, she wasn't at all wrong about her prediction of the Fae council.

She and Jarrah traveled back to his kingdom the following morning while Nashoba went to console Ezra and Navaeh, who hadn't come back to see her the previous evening. Though it pained Rayne not to get her mother's support during such a critical and exciting time, at least she had her father's, Ronan's, and Declan's. And for right then, that was enough.

The Fae council, after Jarrah shared their news, was just as shocked and outraged as the wolf Elders. Their hurls of surprise were expected, but shot down almost immediately by Jarrah, who was tired of hearing it.

Rayne did her best to ignore Terryn's shocked features, but luck wasn't on her side when the polite senator congratulated them with the flash of pain that tugged at her empathetic heart. All Rayne could do was smile in return and thank her for the wish of a healthy pregnancy. If she didn't love Jarrah so much, she would have killed him for the girl. How could he not love someone as sweet and amazing as her?

She supposed she'd never truly understand how he chose her over Terryn. And maybe she wasn't meant to, even if everyone else in the Fae kingdom was probably trying to make sense of it themselves.

It wasn't until they got back to the safety of Jarrah's room that Raye flopped back onto his pillows and breathed out a hard breath of air. She dropped her hands above her and swung her legs off the edge of his bed, temporarily enjoying the solitude while it lasted.

"Well, that's the last of them," she groaned, then paused. "Wait, that is everyone right?"

Jarrah chuckled at the end of the bed as he nudged off his shoes. "That's everyone, love."

"Thank the Creator," she murmured, closing her eyes. "I don't think I can take any more of those dreadful 'half-breed' comments."

"They were pretty ugly, huh?"

"I don't think ugly even covers it," Rayne sighed. She peeked an eye open with a frown. "What are we going to do? It's easy to deflect their worries out there, but I don't know how we're going to raise a child who's inheriting a pack and a kingdom."

Jarrah sat on the bed beside her. He placed a warm palm on her knee and she glanced down at him. "Well, there are a few options I've been considering."

Rayne raised a curious brow. "Care to share with your pack?" she teased, balancing on her elbows and giving him her full attention.

He couldn't stop the smile from gracing his perfect lips at that one. "My pack?"

She glanced down at their invisible baby and patted her stomach. "Your pack," she reiterated.

"I like the sound of that," he admitted, bending down to press a soft kiss to her belly. A swirl of warm desire rose at the action, but she pushed it away. She wanted to focus on what he had to say, with no distraction.

Jarrah leaned back and stared into Rayne's face for a split second before proceeding with his ideas. "So, the first option is simple. They can pick being an alpha or a ruler of my kingdom once they come of age, and give the other position to someone else in the royal family or pack, in your case."

Rayne tilted her head at that one. She didn't know if she liked it, but it was a fair option. "Not bad. What else have you got?"

"They spend part of their time with the wolf pack on your land, and part of the time in the kingdom here with me. So they can rule both but separately."

Her nose crinkled at that. "Wouldn't that be exhausting for them? And confusing?"

Jarrah rolled his bottom lip between his teeth and shrugged. "It's just an option."