Page 34 of Lily of the Valley

"Fine, fine," Lily said, but quickly did so, though getting out of her dress and all the layers beneath took some time on her own, and then of course there was hair and jewelry. She could have called servants to come and help, but she really didn't want to be around anyone but Scout right then.

When she was finally in sleeping gown and dressing robe, hair simply braided and left to fall down her back, she returned to the main chamber, where Scout sat on the sofa in the little sitting area by the balcony doors. She most often used the space to sit with her inner circle, talk out the day, plans for the following, and similar such.

Seeing Scout settled there, already so easy in the space, filled her with a happy, bubbling warmth. If only her father could have met Scout; he would have liked her immensely.

Sitting next to her, Lily noted the neat piles of papers on the table. All official looking, and if she had to guess, she'd say there was a petition for a certain pack to become citizens. She spread her hands. "All right, Alpha Farahild, tell me everything."

"Rothenberg has split in two, officially," Scout said. "I left the land in the Highlands to their new alpha officially. I no longer have any claims there, and have agreed that the portion of the pack that came here with me will not return to those lands for at least two generations."

That was a pretty standard arrangement when packs split, to give each room to settle and grow on their own, without old arguments or unwanted traditions and the like muddying the process.

"I've also left them the name," Scout continued. "Contingent on Your Majesty accepting my pack as citizens, allowing us to remain pack as per our traditions rather than forcing us to break apart and—"

"I would never permit that. If pack is how you want to stay, then pack you are," Lily said firmly. "Of course I'll grant you citizenship. Those are both non-issues."

Scout smiled and cupped her cheek, thumb brushing whisper-soft over her lips before withdrawing. "Then we would like to be renamed Pack Rosewood."

"Pack…Scout…"

"I thought you'd like that."

"You're ridiculous, I adore it, of course," Lily said, practically climbing into her lap to kiss her senseless. If there was a better place to be than right there in Scout's arms, she never wanted to know it, because how in the world could anything be better than this? "How many came with you?"

"A hundred came with me immediately, roughly another thousand will follow as the weather improves. The rest of us will get to work establishing a place."

"Here in the palace? In the city? The woods?" Lily pursed her lips, shifting back to sit properly again. "The woods, I'd imagine. The ruins!" She clapped her hands together. "How perfect would that be? Everything you could need, and we'll redo the roads that have languished all this time."

"That feels…"

On Lily's hand, the jewels in her ring glowed softly, filling the space between them with golden light before slowly fading again.

"I think you have your answer, Alpha," Lily said with a smile. "Though I expect to see you here with me as often as you can manage. A queen and an alpha, we're going to be exceedingly busy."

"You'll see more of me than you want, my queen, never fear. My pack understands where my heart lays, we'll work everything out."

Lily shifted closer to lean against, heart fit to bursting, mind spinning with ideas and plans and more. The heart of the Laughing Forest brought back to life, the forest filled with wolves, and the presence of the Rosewood pack would likely bring other packs and strays, a place they could be themselves just like in the Highlands, an option wolves had never had before. "This whole mess started with wolves, how funny that it ends with them as well." She looked up, lifting her head slightly from Scout's shoulder. "A Wolf of the Woods."

"And a Lily of the Valley," Scout replied before sealing their future with a kiss.

Fin

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