The Alpha's Son

//44//

SIX YEARS LATER

"Is wearing this really necessary?" Zion complained, tagging at the hem of his tie.

"Stop it." Azazel swatted his arm away, "And yes, it's necessary."

It was finally time for her to let him go and take his rightful place as alpha.

And she was getting very emotional about it.

So much had happened over the last few years and with all the change that took place, Zion seemed to have changed just as much, if not more.

He didn't smile much. And when he did, it was forced.

He didn't talk much before but he was practically a mute now.

Something happened to him six years ago but he never opened up about it to anyone.

And when Azazel tried to pry through his mind, she nearly passed out because he blocked her out.

Where he learned how to do that? She had no idea, but if he didn't want her to know then she decided that she was going to respect him.

He, at least, deserved privacy to his own thoughts and memories. She understood better than anyone just how important that was.

"You look so handsome." She said once she was done with his tie.

"You should be smiling and not crying." He smiled, wiping away a traitor tear from her cheek.

"I know." She sniffled, "I just never thought you'd be leaving us so soon. These last few years have passed by in a blur and it's not going to be easy on any of us once you're gone."

"The pack isn't too far. I'll visit often, I promise." He pulled her into a tight hug. "You're my family. Distance will never change that."

Pulling herself together, Azazel took a few steps back to look at what a handsome young man Zion had turned into. Like Zenith, Zion could pull off any shade of red suit.

Taking her hand in his, Zion led her out of the room and outside to where everyone had gathered to see Zion finalizing his alpha position.

Azazel still didn't know who he had decided to take with him as his beta and gamma yet. She had asked him once and his only response was that it'd be something she never would've guessed.

That didn't sit quite well with her.

But he was a grown man and he could make his own decisions.

"What has you all worked up? I could feel how anxious you are all the way from home."

Turning around, Azazel smiled at the only person in the entire world who could light her up in a second. Just the voice of her mate was enough to make her smile. But that wasn't what made her heart beat as though it could leave her chest any second. It was the sight of her mate holding their little three year old sons in his arms.

Never in a million years could she have envisioned the life she currently had. It felt surreal and even though she had lost bits and pieces of herself in the past couple of years, those parts were filled up with new emotions that she had a hard time figuring out. All she knew was that she was satisfied with everything she had and everything she had gone through to get to this point was all worth it.

"Is everything alright?" Kruel asked when she kept staring and not saying a word. "Did I get their outfits mixed up? I just knew there was something I got wrong."

"Everything's fine, Kruel." Azazel smiled, pecking her mate's cheek as she took one of the twins from his arms. "Hi there, Auriel."

"I don't know how you even tell them apart." Kruel rolled his eyes, "They're identical."