The Pull

Chapter 25 Henry

Authors Note: LAST CHAPTER!

I'm shaking as I write this. I really want to thank everyone who took the time to read this story. It's been amazing. To all of you who commented and voted, a thousand times thank you!

I hope you all find the ending satisfying. Its always nerve wracking to end a story. I hope all the lose ends are tied up, and you have some idea the direction in which our characters are travelling in.

I have a bonus chapter to give you soon too. Its a special Alex POV so I hope you all enjoy that too.

Henry.

Fawn slept on and off for forty-eight hours. Occasionally she would wake for a short time, usually hungry and I would climb in bed next to her, and feed her until she went back to sleep. I refused to leave her side, insisting on keeping a constant vigil in case she woke and needed me. Jane also stayed in my apartments, checking on me, bringing me food, a bowl of warm water to wash and a change of clothes. I allowed Jane to wash Fawn and dress her in a clean nightgown, but other than that, I wouldn't allow anyone near her.

For once I was grateful for Lawrence's inability to respect boundaries. Lawrence took charge of the Kingdom, ensuring a smooth transition of power. I was surprised when he came to me with questions and to ask permission to take some actions. Between Lawrence, David, Felix and Qiang, they were able to keep control of the kingdom, keep it running smoothly and started investigating Alfred's guards.

The first time Rowena woke up she immediately asked if Charlie and Alex were ok. I told her that Alex's challenge had been successful and Charlie was going to come back in a couple of days, which would give Alex time to solidify his position and ensure the children's safety. She nodded, closed her eyes and went back to sleep.

Rowena had a lot of visitors, David of course was beside himself. He visited several times to check on her. I growled at him when he tried to hold her hand. When I saw the pain in his eyes, I felt ashamed by my reaction. He didn't argue with me, just pulled up a chair and sat next to me and we sat in silence as we watched her sleep.

Of course, Angelica and Felix visited, they had both spent a lot of time with Fawn and loved her as family. I had held myself together until I saw Felix come in and as he embraced me I fell apart in my uncles' arms. Felix didn't shame me, he understood why I cried, as all mated Vampires would. When I was able to gain control of my tears and released him, I was surprised to see a few tears from him too. I made him promise he would stay on at the Castle as an advisor, I told him I needed him, both as Monarch, but as a young male, who wanted to be better than he was brought up to be. Felix and Angelica both agreed to stay.

Min and her guards visited Fawn too. I was surprised by how quickly Fawn had seemed to gain their devotion. In the chaotic hours after Alfred's death there had been a lot of yelling outside my chamber and poking my head out ready to tell them all to fuck off, I found Min, prostrate on the ground begging to be punished for failing to protect Fawn.

I wanted to tell her that we had all failed Fawn, me most of all, but I saw the hard look of her face and knew she wouldn't accept it. Min did not want forgiveness, she needed her honour back as a guard. I thought back to some of the older texts I had read and remembered an appropriate punishment. I set her to stand at my door and not to leave for 24 hours. No sitting, eating or drinking. If she was caught doing anything except standing guard, she would add another six hours to her duty. Min was grateful, and started immediately. More surprising than Min's reaction was that the rest of Rowena's guards chose to suffer the same punishment. The next time I saw them, their uniform had changed, each now wore a silver patch on their sleeve with a red R embroidered into it. Min gave me a challenging look when I noticed, but I nodded in approval and told Min once her punishment was over, she would be promoted to Captain of the Queen's Guard.