The Love of a Lycan-Chapter 1081: After the war (5)

The destruction that resulted from the war seven years ago, left the kingdom with so many damages and many things had happened since then.

Jedrek had appointed seven new generals and also the Beta, a second in command for him.

The king hadn't appointed a Gamma because he didn't really think it was necessary since there were already seven generals, who were more than enough to help with work.

Aside from the Beta and the seven generals, Jedrek also appointed another four supernatural creatures, as the lords for the four domains; east, west, north and south.

Of which, the two dragon shifters took the east and west territories, while the other two were occupied by the magicians and the fae respectively.

A lot of lycanthropes had died during the war and their numbers had decreased significantly, therefore the recovery of this realm took quite a long time.

And after seven years had passed, finally everything almost returned to normal, though the sorrow of losing one's family member, mate or children would follow them for the rest of their eternity.

And that dark feeling was also felt by the king, he was not an exception in this case.

Jedrek stood in his balcony, staring at the full moon above him while basking himself in its cool light and let the wind play with his cloak.

He had been like this ever since they returned to this realm. Staring into the distance while deep in thought.

No one had the slightest idea what had happened to him and the guardian angel during the war. However, they knew that the queen had sacrificed herself to save them, just like the other guardian angels.

And for Jedrek, times like this were his moments to remember what had happened back then, because he didn't want to forget even a tiny detail about Lilac.

He wanted to remember how he had hurt her and how much he loved her. That was the only way for him to regret the mistakes that he had committed and repent for his reckless and ignorant actions that caused his mate so much pain.

Jedrek then glanced at the burns on both of his hands. The ugly scars crept from his shoulders to his wrists, which he got when he followed Lilac and jumped in to the crater, the gates of the hell. 𝘧𝓇𝒆𝗲𝓌𝙚𝙗𝓷o𝘷𝒆𝘭.𝐜𝚘𝒎

He didn't really remember what exactly happened when he felt his body get burned by the flames, as the only thing in his mind at that moment was only Lilac, about how he wanted to be close to her and be with her, even it meant that he had to go through the hell.

However, before Jedrek could reach his mate, he had lost his consciousness and the moment he opened his eyes, he was brought back to the land below which the crater had closed.

He found himself alone with his scars that couldn't heal no matter how much long it took.

Yet, Jedrek didn't regret it even for a millisecond. He thought of them as a reminder of what had happened during the war and also how he lost Lilac.

Everything seemed dull after that. Every single one of them were busy, as there were a lot of things needed to be fixed and established again.

The hectic schedule helped Jedrek a little to forget about the hollow in his heart, but when the night came and he was all alone again, the void in his heart start longing for his mate and no one could fix that…

It went without saying that all the Donovans believed that the guardian angels would return again and that their mates would come back to them, yet no one knew for how long they needed to wait.

And for Jedrek's case, he was even more anxious of the fact; whether his mate wanted to return to his side or not…

Lilac.

The name echoed for the millionth time in his heart, calling out to her softly in the breezy wind, yet it was only nothingness that replied to him.

Jedrek was not sure about anything now, since seven years had passed and there wasn't any sign of the resurrection of the guardian angels whatsoever.

Jedrek glanced at his ugly scars and clenched his fists tightly.

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The guardian angel had returned.

That was a piece of news that managed to shake Jedrek's composure and since he heard that news three days ago, the king always asked about some related news, whether they saw someone like Lilac or any other human, or a creature that was not a shifter.

However, he got nothing.

Maybe, tomorrow he would see her.

Maybe, tomorrow she would return to him.

Maybe, tomorrow they would finally meet.

And Jedrek kept saying the same thing for the whole week, but nothing happened, except for the fact that his high hopes were slightly wavering.

Yet, the king kept waiting for the return of his queen.

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A year passed in a blink of an eye and nothing significant happened since the last news about the return of Raine and Hope to their mates.

However, Lilac had never once appeared, even her whereabouts were unknown.

At first Jedrek thought Lilac still needed time to think about their relationship and when she got the time that she needed, she would return to him.

However, it didn't seem like it was the case anymore.

A year was enough time to think about everything thoroughly, but if even after a year Lilac was still nowhere to be seen, it only meant, she decided that she didn't want to be with him anymore.

That was the only explanation that Jedrek could think of, but every time that thought aroused, he would always deny it with the excuse that his mate still needed some more time.

But, how long? And until when?

Or maybe, it was just like his dark thoughts which told him that Lilac didn't want to return to him.

Why would she do that?

Why wasn't she willing to give a chance for them?

Based on what he heard, Jedrek knew that the mate bond between Raine and Torak or Hope and Kace was long gone. There was no mate bond between them any longer.

How could such an important essence be gone from their life?

At first Jedrek didn't believe it, but when he saw how happy his other brothers with their mates even without the sacred touch of the mate bond, the only thing that crossed his mind was; that was love.

A pure love that took form very differently from that of the coercion of the mate bond. The love that it did not make you feel like it was not an obligation to love your other half.

Then again, Torak and Kace didn't seem to be bothered by that fact. They loved their mates regardless…

Maybe that was the answer for the question, which had been asked by Jedrek and Lilac during the whole upside down charade of their relationship; whether they would still love each other and want to be together, even without the presence of the mate bond or not.

Even now… Jedrek still wanted to be with Lilac… didn't she feel the same too?

==============

Seven years had passed since the return of the guardian angels, yet there was still no news whatsoever about Lilac and the king was still waiting for her…

Under the bright sun, Jedrek walked toward a pack house. Torak's pack house.

Raine had just given birth to their second child and just like before, Jedrek was invited to see his brother's child as Torak threw a party for the baby.

"Uncle Jedrek!"

A childish voice called out his name and made Jedrek turn around out of instinct, but the moment he saw the little boy, the child jumped up to him which caught him by surprise.

It was lucky enough that Jedrek had such good reflections that he could catch the boy in time.

"Uncle Jedrek! Show me how to hunt in the woods!" The little boy around six years old screamed excitedly.

It was Sean, Kace and Hope's second child. He met Jedrek a year ago when Torak called him for a small reunion that he said as a meeting to discuss about the issue with humans. ƒ𝘳ee𝔀e𝚋n૦𝐯el.c𝗼𝓂

And since then, Sean seemed to like his uncle Jedrek more than his own father, because at that time, Jedrek took him to hunt, though the little boy was not yet able to shift.

"I will," Jedrek said, smiling as he put the little boy down, and he found his brother frowning at him while Hope giggled.

"Hi Jedrek, nice to see you again," Hope greeted him sweetly, but his brother glared at his son.

"Nice to see you too," Jedrek muttered.

"You are a traitor," Kace hissed and Sean pouted his lips.

But Hope elbowed him and spoke sharply, "Behave."

Behind the couple was Sean's twin sister, Selena. She was a cute and energetic girl, just like her parents and was the apple of Kace's eyes.

Everyone always teased Kace that, Selena only needed to move a little finger of hers and the lycan would come running to her. She had her father wrapped around her fingers.

"Uncle Jedrek, will you teach me how to hunt too?" Selena came to Jedrek and in the next second, she was being picked too, but this time together they walked toward the pack house.

"Yes, but after we see the baby," Jedrek said and Selena cooed cutely, clapping her hands excitedly.

"Father said Aunt Raine has a baby girl!" Her eyes shone with happiness.

"That's what I heard." Jedrek nodded.

In front of them, Kace was having a father- son argumentation and left the rest of them behind when they raced toward the pack house.

"How is it?" Hope asked, but Jedrek knew what she meant. "There is still no news?"

Jedrek shook his head and he felt the hollow in his heart became even darker.