I feel a hand on my hair as someone gently pushes my hair behind my ear. 

I don't open my eyes as I feel the tears building behind them. I was so tired of all of this. 

"You can cry. I won't say anything," a soft stranger's voice says to me. I feel the sparks on my face from his touch. 

"Who are you?" I whisper. 

"I am Hunter. Sire of the Golden Clan. A friend of your brother." He answers immediately as I hear the smile in his voice. "Your mate." 

I open my eyes and look up at him. His black hair falls over his eyes a little as my head rests in his lap. His green eyes shine a little as he smiles at me. 

"I know you're Alpha King's mate." He says softly. We were outside as if only a few minutes had passed by. "We don't have to talk about it yet," he smiles at me. "I just want you to get better. We're waiting for your family." He tells me. 

I close my eyes as his kind words float in my mind. 

"I don't deserve any of this." I mumble softly. I don't deserve another mate. 

"You deserve the world at your feet, my darling." He chuckles above me. "You deserve the world to bow down to you like any Queen does." 

"How did you find me?" How did you know? 

"I was resting in bed when I felt the wind shifting close by. It felt like someone was screaming at me to get up, to come here. I came here and the only word I could hear in my mind was Queen when I saw you." 

See! I told you I could bring him here. 

I hear Luisa's voice around me. 

"I want to go back to when I was six years old. I don't want to jump out the window. I want to sleep and pretend it never happened." I say to him. 

Something about Hunter made me feel at peace, as if I could tell him anything and he would not judge me. 

"I think," he moves his hand on my face slowly, the sparks following every movement. "Everything happens for a reason in life. Maybe your reason was to find out you're a Queen and to make you stronger. If you never went through whatever you have gone through, would you still be the same person? Would you know pain? Would you have known you are a Queen?" He questions. 

"I'm scared to tell people how I feel because I think I'm too broken from the inside to trust anyone." I whisper to him, my eyes shut. 

"That is understandable." I could feel the smile in his words, "Trust is hard to gain once it's been broken." 

I hear people running. I open my eyes and sit up slowly as I see my dad and Alec running towards me. 

"Emily," Dad curses as he looks at me. Hunter helps me stand up and I smile at him. 

He is so sweet. 

Luisa says around me as I wrap my arms around Dad. 

"I brought Miles." He whispers to me softly and I close my eyes tightly. 

I knew if I looked at Miles, I would break down. We had been through so much and he was getting better whereas I was stuck. Stuck in the same place over and over again. 

"Are you okay?" Dad pulls away from me as his eyes scan me up and down. 

"Yes." I answer him quietly. My body was healing, the bruises fading slowly. 

"Hunter," dad looks at him confused behind me. "Thank you for saving her." He says to him. 

"She's my mate. I would save her from anything." He chuckles behind me as I hear Alec growling. 

"What did you say?" He questions as he takes a step towards him. 

"Emily!" I hear Miles shout my name. 

My knees weaken slightly as I see him running towards me. 

Alec growls at him but Miles ignores it as he wraps his arms around me,picking me up. 

I let out a deep sigh as if every worry had evaporated around me as I wrap my arms around him tightly. 

"Are you okay?" He asks, walking away from them all slowly. 

"Oi!" Alec calls out to him but I watch as Dad holds his arm back muttering something to him about showing some respect to me. 

Miles pulls his head back, not letting me go. "Take us away from here." He smiles at me softly as he places me on the ground. 

"Where?" I ask, confused as I stare at Alec and Hunter. Alec glares at Miles back as Hunter winks at me as if he understood something I did not. 

"Somewhere far away." Miles holds my hand tightly. I feel his fingers drawing the letter M on my hand and I smile as I flash us away. I run ahead, holding onto his hand as we appear near a cliff. The sun sets slowly and I smile at it. 

"I'm sorry I didn't come before." Miles mumbles as he walks towards the edge of the cliff. He sits down and pats the ground gently beside him. I walk towards him and sit down, resting my head on his shoulder. 

"It's okay." I answer him softly. 

"It's not. I should have been there for you. I'm sorry." 

"I ran away from you." I tell him truthfully. 

"Huh?" He asks, confused as I close my eyes. 

"I ran away because I knew if I saw you,I would break down. I have been through so much pain, Miles, that I didn't have it in me to cry it out. I didn't want to break down anymore. I want to become stronger, I want to be powerful and fearless."I turn to look at him. "If I'm around you, I can be myself. I can break down, I can cry, I can be happy and I can just be me. I don't have to be strong. I wanted to be though. For once I wanted to be stronger than the pain inside of me."I try to explain to him with words that probably did not make any sense. 

"Am I a breaking point for you, Emily?" he asks, confused.

"No." I shake my head. "We have been friends through everything. Our relationship is different." It was the truth. "I didn't want to come in between you and Amanda." I tell him truthfully. 

I was dependent on Miles just as he was on me. We found our soulmates and it felt like we were ripped apart. He had learnt how to move on but I had not. I could not trust anyone. 

Miles chuckles humourlessly "Amanda," he sighs. "I rejected Amanda." He mumbles under his breath. 

"What?" I ask looking at him with wide eyes. 

"We got into a fight, Emily." He sighs as he runs a hand through his hair. "She said I was a weak wolf and I wouldn't be able to move on from the pain I was feeling because I was a coward. It made sense because all the nightmares I was having, made her a little frustrated." 

I stay silent as he carries on. "I don't think I'm ready to be with her. She wants to move on in her life and I'm just holding her back. We thought it was best for us both to reject the bond between us." He sighs deeply. 

"She didn't try and help you?" I knew he had nightmares but calming him down always helped him. 

"She didn't want the stress." He shrugs his shoulders. 

"I don't like her." I frown as I hold my hand out to him. 

He chuckles as he places his hand in mine and I rest our hands in my lap, drawing the letter E on it. 

"What about you? Two mates?" He asks, nudging me with his shoulder. 

"Alec has become sweet all of a sudden. I just met Hunter," I shrug my shoulders, as I trace the lines on his hands. 

"All of a sudden?" He asks with a raised eyebrow. 

"I'm finding it hard to trust him. He hasn't been the nicest to me." I mumble. 

"Tell me what happened." He asks, his fingers curling around mine. I smile as I push his fingers open and start drawing on his hand. 

"He didn't want me as a mate. He locked me in a room, he di-"

"What?" Miles asks, as he bends down to look at my face since I was looking down. "What do you mean he locked you in a room?" He asks angrily. 

"I wanted to go outside and he wasn't allowing me. I snuck out the window-" he smiles at that. "And he found me and dragged me inside. He locked me in a room and it brought back memories of Cameron. I had a breakdown." I tell him truthfully. 

Nothing was ever a secret between us. 

"Did you burn his ass?" Miles tilts my chin up so I was looking at him. I shake my head and he sighs. 

"I'll have a word with him." He promises me and I smile as he puts his hand down and rests it in my lap again. 

"He broke up with his girlfriend when Cameron took me again. I marked him because he was dying and-"

"Dying?" He questions, confused. 

I smile realising Miles was missing a lot of information. I told him about how James had cursed him and how Alec didn't trust me and wouldn't let me mark him. I don't tell him the reason behind the curse. 

I tell Miles the whole Queen situation. 

"Okay," he nods his head slowly. "So you think Alec might want you because of your crown?" He asks quietly. 

I nod my head slowly. It was a thought that would swirl through my mind at night. What if he knew before I did and he knew he would become King if we were together? 

"Tell me, Emily. How does he make you feel? When you're around him, are you scared or are you happy?" He asks me suddenly. 

I think about my answer. "Ava is happy but I think I feel scared. I'm scared he will turn back into the old Alec and he might turn out like Cameron." 

"Nobody is worse than Cameron." He smiles at me and I nod. 

"What about Hunter?" He asks suddenly. 

I shrug my shoulders. "He is kind but I think he might have someone else. I did not feel a strong connection with him."

Miles hums. 

"What about you? Tell me what you want?" I ask him. I would make it possible. Anything. 

"What I want? I haven't been asked that in a while." He smiles to himself as he stares out at the castle. 

"I want to live somewhere far away from the world. Just you and I and we heal. When we're ready for the world, we take it on, together. Like we promised." He says softly. 

"I heal you, and you heal me?" I question and he turns to look at me as he nods. 

"Don't you think that's possible? Maybe we shouldn't wait for the Afterworld." He smirks at me. "Maybe you and I could live in your castle. You could wear those long princess dresses and I could chase you around the castle." He grins at me. 

He is so cute. 

Lusia swoons.

"You think I can heal you?"  I ask with a raised eyebrow. 

"I think you already are." He smiles as he turns to the sunset. "It's just an idea." He shrugs his shoulders. "Maybe we don't need other people to heal ourselves. Maybe we just need each other. We know what makes us happy, we know everything about each other. It could be a start." 

I listen to him quietly. "I would protect you to the ends of the world. I know you would protect me. I would make you so happy, you would cry of laughter and those are the only tears I would accept. You cry, I would hug you, like I always did." He sighs as he stares ahead. "We have been through so much together, Emily. Don't you think we should heal each other? Let's see where the sunset takes us." He turns to smile at me. 

My future king. 

Luisa sighs, dreamy.

"What about Alec and Hunter?" I ask him quietly. 

He shrugs his shoulders. "It's just a thought. If we are here together or not, you would always be my soul mate in the Afterworld. I wouldn't change that in a heartbeat." He tells me. 

Silence fills the world around us as I rest my head against his shoulder and we watch the sunset. 

"I think I want that." I whisper softly. "I trust you." I say to him and he chuckles as he wraps an arm around my shoulder. 

"You and I? We're going to bring happiness to this world, Emily." He grins at me. 

"You think so?" 

"I know so." He nods, determined. 

"I'm going to end things with Alec and Hunter. I like your idea," I smile up at him. 

"You do?" 

"We will live in the castle and you'll be my king." I say with a big smile on my face. Genuine. 

"A King? Are we going to wear crowns?" He gasps as he turns to look at me. 

I nod my head. "You need to read the book, Miles! It has everything about the Royal Crystal Pack. All their traditions. We could write our vows for when we accept the crown," I say feeling giddy as he nods and holds my hands. 

"We could learn how to dance and we could open our own bakery! Is that allowed?" He asks as we both stand up. 

For the first time in forever, I feel the burden disappearing from my shoulders. Happy. 

"We could do anything!" I say to him and he wraps his arms around me tightly as he lifts me up and spins me around. 

"We're going to be so happy!" He laughs excitedly. 

"But first!" I say to him as I tap his shoulders and he puts me down. "First I will wear a long princess gown and you can chase me in the halls of the castle. We can explore it and design it however we want. My parents could live with us!" I tell him with a big smile on my face. 

"Yes! We should do it tomorrow? A castle date." He smiles as I feel a blush on my cheeks.

"Date?"I ask with a raised eyebrow and he blushes a little. 

"I don't know how any of this goes, but we could learn so much together." He says to me. 

I nod my head as he takes a step back. 

Miles places his hand out to me. "Will you, Emily Rose Perry Gray, stay with me forever and ever?"  

I place my hand in his. "I promise to protect you and stay with you forever and ever." I say as he tightens his hand on mine. 

Miles leans down slowly and he kisses me on my cheek softly. "I am proud of you." He whispers to me. 

I smile as I lean up on my toes to kiss him on his cheek. "I love you." I say to him. 

I would always love Miles, no matter who was destined for me. Miles would always be in my heart. 

I pull away from him. "I'm going to go home and talk to my parents. To Alec and Hunter. Come with me?" I ask softly. 

"Can I stay here and wait for you? I want to watch the sunset." He lifts up my hand and kisses it softly as I nod. 

"Are you okay?" I ask him and he nods his head. 

"Always." He smiles at me. "I just need to clear my head a little." He tells me and I nod. 

"Shall I stay with you?" I take a step towards him. 

"I am going to be fine. I'll be there in ten minutes. I just want to let my thoughts go with the wind." He says to me and I nod my head. 

Let my thoughts go with the wind was Miles's way of saying he needed to scream it out. To scream the pain away and he needed to be alone. He would scream the pain of Amanda's words away and come back to me. 

We should kill Amanda. I say to Ava and she grins at me sinisterly. 

A little too protective, aren't you? She answers me back as Miles leans down and kisses me on the forehead. We would take it slow, at our own pace. 

"Go. I'll catch up to you." He says to me and I nod. 

I let out a deep breath as I flash away from him and back to Pack house. 

I was going to finally end it and be happy. 

●●●●●

Is it even possible for an author to fall in love with a character and ship them together and *not* make them end up together?

No.

I love them.