A Little Wicked

The morning air is crisp and cool, blowing through my wet hair as I sit on the porch, enjoying the silence of the morning as I breath in the fresh air. I barely slept after my talk with Penelope, her words repeating over and over again in my head as I became stressed about everything around me. I woke up at dawn, brewing myself tea as I came out to the sitting area on the porch, taking in the sunrise over the tips of the trees as the sunshine bled through the leaves. As the moon had faded away into the sky, I found myself recalling my two brief encounters with Lily Maxwell, as she was at my wedding and I had then gone to her later for questions about Zion. She was nothing more but a fragile human when I last saw her, afraid of the world she was thrust into, and unsure just how much she wanted to find out.

"Do you wish we had met under different circumstances...at different paths in our lives?"

Looking over, I spot Zion in the doorway as he looks to me, pondering his own question as well. "Nothing can change how we met," I comment, placing my cup of tea down as he walks over to the seat beside me.

"But if we could, would you?"

I bite my lip, thinking over the question as the silence seems to drag on. "I wish I could have known a younger version of yourself, the one before Lillian collided with your path." It's an honest answer, for I wish I could have met the Zion without such a dark and twisted past. "Would you change it?"

"No." His answer shocks me. "The man I was before Lillian was one of arrogance, entitlement, harmful ways, and lack of respect for others. Lillian was a dark part of my past, but without all she did, I would not have become someone who would have helped you the day that thief took your purse, I would not have lead you to my car and whisked you away...let you see my life and have you be part of it."

His words are honest, something which makes me happy to hear as Zion leans forward in his seat. His eyes scan the horizon, the treeline as the bright rays of the sunrise are reflected in his eyes. "I am scared of what is happening...of what could happen," I whisper, my voice weak as I want to seem strong in these moments.

"The future is never certain."

"Sometimes I wish it were," I comment, catching Zion's gaze as he shakes his head.

"Then there would be no surprises in life, none to shock you and leave you happy or sad, angry, disgusted, and every other emotion which makes us human. Part of life is experiencing all of those emotions and surprises." Zion is right, for without the excitement and even the pains life gives us, would it really be the same? "Perhaps it took your death and resurrection for the two of us to really come together."

I bite my cheek, wondering if we really are together. I have learned more of who Zion is than when I married him, I have come to terms with reality, we have started to trust one another as well...but will we ever really come together. We have promised Keva and her kin a child of our own, something I do not wish to produce unless I have really come to love Zion again. "There are still obstacles in our way," I point out, referring to Lily Maxwell and what she plans to do.

"We will conquer those obstacles, I swear to you," Zion promises, his tone stern as he looks over to the door.

Penelope stands there, her skin pale, and her face holding an expression I wish would be erased from her face. She steps forward, her legs seeming weak, arms supporting her up as she walks over to the lounge chair, colliding into the seat as I immediately ask her what is wrong. A phone drops from her hand, the screen cracking against the porch as the most powerful woman in this kingdom I've ever known seems completely weak in this moment. Her auburn hair usually curled with gently waves is in wet tangles from a shower, bags under her eyes, and the spark missing from her eyes. Zion calls out to her, telling her to inform us what happened, to tell us what has happened which scares her.

"Lily Maxwell brought a book of Nixon's to King Laraxus and showed him entries of Nixon's journal which could incriminate you," Penelope speaks, looking to Zion as we know the worst has happened. Zion looks defeated immediately, pinching he bridge of his nose as he tries to keep himself calm. "King Laraxus has agreed with Lily that you should be declared an enemy of the kingdom and is calling on you to either return to the palace peacefully for trial or they will come after you." Alpha Lily Maxwell must feel proud of herself, to see her wish come true for Zion to be declared wanted by the crown.

"Do they know where Zion is?" I ask, my words spoken fast as I try and figure out where exactly we stand on a scale of safety.

"Lily, Elijah, and Laraxus believe the two of you are still with the elves in the East, so you are safe as long as they believe that you are not back here. Word will not be released that Zion brought you back to life, but I would not rely on that staying true," Penelope warns, "for one whisper overheard by the wrong person in the palace could travel fast and soon enough...people will be after you."

Rising to my feet, I pace back and forth on the porch as I try and understand what can be done now. "This is the time in which Lily will come after the throne to tear it down. She knows Zion will not come willingly to be put on trial so Laraxus will send royal guards to the East, lowering the protection of the palace walls."

"And Lily will use Fiona's coven to tear down the ancient shield protecting the palace to be able to attack it from afar," Zion comments, his voice soft as he comes to realization, "for her coven was the one in the ancient days of the kingdom to put up that shield...they know the ancient spells to tear it down."

"Whispers speak of Fiona having told Lily that Sybil is pregnant among other things to spark a fury for Lily to go after the palace." Penelope looks to me, raising an eyebrow as she motions for me to tell her if the rumors are true.

I shake my head, "I am not expecting."

"So you did not tell Fiona you wished for her to kill you when all of this is done? Of course, Fiona told Lily this with the lie of you being pregnant, informing Lily that you wished for Fiona to send you back to the afterlife after you gave birth."

"I did no such thing," I snap, defending myself as I cannot believe Fiona would say this. "Fiona threatened me the whole ti-"

"She threatened you?" Zion shouts, rising to his feet as he cannot believe what he just heard. "She threatened you and you never told me."

I can remember her words, the poisoned words she spoke like daggers. She should beware a patient woman though, for I was patient with her and the journey as Keva was able to give me my powers back. "She wanted me to regain my memories faster than I was able to, threatening to send me back to my grave and to an eternal burning wheel in the afterlife, and if I told you, it would only make it worse," I inform, Zion's eyes darkening as he hears of what Fiona did to me, how she treated me.

"That bitch will pay," Zion growls, the ground vibrating as he slams his fist in the porch railing, wood splinters breaking off and flying into the grass below. Pulling his fist back, Zion begins to pull the wood splinters from his flesh as Penelope has a light laugh. "I should have never lifted the curse on her coven."

I shake my head, disagreeing with Zion's words. "You promised them to lift the curse and you did not keep your true promise, for it was to raise me from the dead, not also help me remember who I was. Fiona was protecting her coven. She is a wicked woman, but she did what she did because you did not keep your initial promise and too many of her coven had suffered an eternal fate of brutality."

I walk over to Zion, taking his injured hand in my smaller one as I help him pull out the splinters, wiping the blood away as I look up into the black eyes which begin to lighten up to their original golden hue. "You would have done the same for me," I whisper, offering him a soft smile as I pull out the last splinter and feel the warm sunlight upon my face. Looking over to Penelope, I hold my head high as I take in a deep breath. "We need to defend the palace, for if Lily attacks and breaks the core of the kingdom, war will break out among the packs. It will destroy the kingdom, treaties, and kill innocent members of our species."

Penelope remains silent, sitting back in her chair as she runs a hand through her tangled hair, trying to figure out what she will do. "I do not have a large pack, I only have fifty warriors."

"The pack I came from had half of that. My pack would be wiped out if war broke out," I point out. "Some packs have warriors who are three times my age, their wolves not as strong as they used to be. Some have warriors younger than me who do not have skills to fight off warriors who have been trained in your kind of pack. This is not about just trying to stop one revenge-fueled Alpha from getting what she wants, but to protect our kingdom from falling apart from within and losing the structure the kingdom has been built on for centuries."

"No pack will unite to fight until the name of Zion or even Sybil," Penelope comments.

"Unite them under your pack, your name," Zion speaks up, entering into the conversation. "Unite packs you hold treaties with under your lead and go to the palace to defend it from Lily."

"Why not just get the rogues who praise your wife?" Penelope asks, looking over to me as I shake my head.

"They believe I am dead. I called upon them once for the war under Zion's rule and so many of them died. I cannot unite them for a cause which saves the structure of a kingdom which they do not belong to. It would be asking them to help protect packs which may have rejected them and made them rogues." Penelope is scared still, worried to get her warriors and friends involved in this war which could turn very brutal. "You are the first beacon," I point out, "and if you are lit, then others will follow, calling for aid and providing that aid."

<><>

Penelope left a few hours ago, returning back to her pack to give the news and call upon those who hold treaties with her. She decided to be that beacon, to have her men and women get ready for a battle at the palace as we know attacking Crimson Lock on their territory would be too hard, for the mountains around it and the strong treaties they hold are too hard to go up against there. We know Alpha Maxwell will be weaken when she goes after the palace, for packs which hold treaties with her would not go up against the palace, meaning she is rely on her warriors, the witches, and perhaps a few others if she needs more men. Penelope told me she would try and get three to five more packs involved, believing they held the strongest treaties.

"Will we be there, to be on the battlefield?" I ask, wondering if Zion thinks we could make an appearance. "It is our idea, it makes sense we should be there. Besides, it is Lily who is after you."

"People could see you," Zion points out. "Others would see us and perhaps would want to take us down."

"We were their king and queen. You were a loved king of theirs, someone the kingdom respected. To see their past king fighting beside them would make them proud to be fighting. Napoleon fought on the front line with his men," I point out, my desire growing to be there and be part of the movement.

I stretch out on the couch, laying my head on the pillow as I look to the ceiling. Zion sits across from me beside the fireplace, his hand bandaged up from earlier, and his eyebrows furrowed together. "I do not want to lose you again."

"Then stay beside me during the fight, we will protect one another."

"Do you even know how to fight?"

"I learned a few things in my pack and at the palace," I rely, knowing I may not be half as good as Zion, but I can attack in my wolf, I know where to sink my teeth into someone's flesh, and I will be protected from spells thanks to Keva.

Turning to face me, Zion reaches forward with his hand. Giving him my hand, he gently pulls me up from the couch and I find myself walking towards him in a few steps. Getting to his feet, Zion leads me to the backyard, standing apart from me as he informs me to block his punches. Right away, he takes a swing and I block it with my forearm coming up at an angle, his punch barely with any force behind it as he does not want to harm me. He kicks up his leg quickly, my legs moving fast as I get out of reach and decide to throw in my own moves as I come forward right as his leg begins to lower, my fist colliding it his jaw as he seems shocked. "Fuck."

"Oh no, did that hurt?" I ask, worried as I did not mean to put so much force behind my hit. Moving forward, I reach out my hands to try and see if I hurt him, only to find myself landing on the ground as Zion laughs from above me. I kick out my feet, wiping him off of her feet as he falls beside me and I roll over, straddling him as I pull back my arm and make a fist. "If this were a fight I would so be winning right now," I point out, my voice filled with laughter as Zion keeps laughing, his hands on my waist as reaches a hand up to my cheek. Pulling my towards him, he wraps an arm around my waist and places his lips on mine as goosebumps run along my arms and legs.

I run my hands through his hair, finding our positions switched as I am on the ground as he is above me, pulling back from the kiss slowly as he looks down to me with a smile. "I love you," Zion whispers, running his fingers along my cheek as my heart skips a beat.

Sliding out from under him, I sit on the grass, looking over to Zion as the smile on his lips begins to slip away. Placing my fingers under his chin, I pull him forward, placing my lips on his for a soft and quick kiss. "I love you too."