The Alpha King's Rebellious Queen
The Alpha King’s Rebellious Queen Chapter 68

Jemma’s POV

All I felt was searing pain throughout my body. I was strongest around my uterus and I could feel the life of my pups waning until a cooling sensation made the pain stop. Then the most incredible comforting warmth spread throughout canceling out the pain. And then there was nothing but darkness. Warm and comforting darkness. I could hear muffled voices but could not discern where they came from.

My eyes opened and I was in the field of daisies I often found myself in with my children. But they were nowhere to be found. All I saw was the lonely flowers swaying in the breeze making me shiver. I heard a voice beckoning me away from the field and at first, I hesitated. A pair of wolves ran past me. One pure white and the other black as night. The white one looked back at me and urged me to follow. I ran after the yipping, happy creatures. I followed them through a green and lively forest into a large cave. The wolves lay upon the mossy ground of the cave. I lay beside them on the ground and fell asleep. Again darkness and I heard voices all around me. Becoming less muffled and more discernible. I was awakened by heavy panting. I was still in the cave with the wolves. The white wolf was laying on her side panting heavily. It was obvious she was in the late stages of labor. The black wolf lay beside her softly licking her muzzle. She whimpered as contractions wracked her body with pain. I watched as she gave birth to two white pups. She lovingly licked them clean as the black male stood guard at the cave entrance.

The pups squeaked and yipped as they were nursed by their white-furred mother. I heard a low growl and looked to the black male. Another black wolf with white streaks in its fur entered the cave. He lowered his head to the other black one and was allowed entrance. The solid black one trotted over to the white female and nuzzled her lovingly before laying beside her. I heard him sniffing the nursing pups and then giving them each a lick. He lay his head on the female’s shoulder. The other male approached and nuzzled the white female before laying on her other side. I closed my eyes again and when I opened them again the pups had grown and were now wrestling on the floor of the cave while the black male stood over them. His tail wagging as he proudly watched the pups. They yipped and yelped. The scene flashed again and the pups had grown larger and were now venturing out of the cave. I followed them to the field of daisies where their black and white parents awaited them. The sun broke through the clouds and the parents ran to meet the pups and together the family played among the swaying flowers. The other black male joined them and the pups ran to him and nipped at his legs and jaws. I soon found myself among the playing wolves until I was seeing the scene through the eyes of the white female. ‘The pups are safe,’ A familiar female voice resounded in my head. ‘The poison is gone.’

The scene changed and I was alone in the field of daisies until I heard the laughter of children. I got up to follow the sound and there were my blonde-haired twins playing with their older brother. My gallant mate stood proudly watching them. His blue eyes sparkled as I walked out of the trees and he ran forward to embrace me. We kissed and my eyes closed. When I again opened them three more children were playing among the daisies. They all had brown hair like their father and turned to greet us. ‘Welcome back Jemma. What do you think of our family?’ His deep voice said to me as the children ran to us and engulfed us with hugs. We fell to the ground and everything went black.

Darkness again took over. There was nothing and no one until I heard their voices again. They were clearer and familiar. I recognized my parents talking to my mate. “When is she going to wake up?” I heard my mother’s voice among the men.

“The doctors said soon. She is in the clear. The poison is gone and the pups are fine.” Cassius explained over the hum of the machines. I wanted to open my eyes to tell them I was okay.

“I just miss seeing her beautiful eyes,” My mother nearly sobbed. I so wanted to open my eyes to see her face. I wanted to reach out and grab her hand and feel the warmth of her embrace.

‘I’m here Mom,’ i whispered in my head. ‘Leonora’ I called to my wolf. ‘Leonora are we dead.’

‘No dear. We are resting. It took a lot out of both of us to keep the poison away from the pups. We will awake in due time.’ She explained and the voices faded into silence. I was alone again with only my thoughts. The events that lead up to this prison of the mind replayed in my head. The sting of the injection and then the burning. My pained screams as fear for the lives of my pups hung in the balance. Jeremy’s sinister face hovering over me. The boy who had been my best friend for as long as I remembered had wrought this pain upon me.

I saw our lives together flash through my mind. Playing together as pups through training together. The night of my sixteenth birthday when he took my virginity to the day I found out I was pregnant. The birth of our son as he stood beside me. Playing together as a family and then the painful day he accepted and marked his mate. I had loved him. He loved me. We loved our son.

I never would have guessed our life together would come to this. That he would attempt to kill my pups. He had gone down a dark path that there was no return from. His crimes were punishable by death. Through the darkness, I had heard Cassius, my brother, and my father discussing all of the ways they wanted to kill Jeremy. But through it all, I couldn’t help but feel pity for him. Jeremy deserved death but that’s not what I wanted for him.

My thoughts faded as the voices of my loved ones were present along with the beeping machines. I was trying in vain to open my eyes so I could return to them. ‘Leonora, I want to wake up.’ I pleaded with my wolf.

‘Then wake up. You have the power, Jemma.’ She replied.

I tried with all my might to open my eyes and return to life. But it was like they were glued together. Warmth and sparks spread through my body. “Come back to me Jemma,” Cassius’s deep voice resounded in my heart and soul. “We all miss you, love.”

‘I’m right here, Cassius.’ I tried to say to him only for it to echo in my head. ‘Leonora. Tell Enoch I am fine. Tell Cassius I want to wake up.’

‘You have to do it yourself, Jemma.’ She said as the darkness faded and I was standing in the room I shared with Cassius. It was dark and cold. I felt the yearning to be with my family. I heard their voices outside the door. They were muddled together. Even my son’s voice could be heard trying to get a word in edgewise. I tried walking towards the door only for it to move further away from me. Their voice became fainter as I fell to my knees wanting to get to them.

‘You can do it, Jemma,’ Leonora encouraged me.

Tears fell from my eyes as I felt hopeless. I could hear them calling to me. The ones I loved most calling for me to come back and I was stuck crying on the floor. ‘I’m sorry, Leonora. I am not strong enough to do this.’

I felt a cold nose nudge my arm and I opened my eyes to my white wolf. ‘You are the strongest human I know, Jemma. Now get off the floor. Walk to the door and greet your family. They miss you.’ She growled lowly as she spoke.

Slowly I got to my feet and felt faint and stumbled only to be caught by Leonora. ‘I will be with you every step of the way Jemma. I will never leave you. But you have to take the steps yourself.’

She backed away from me making me stand tall on my own two feet. I looked towards the door and reached towards it. Taking a deep breath I opened it and was engulfed with bright lights. My vision cleared and I was looking up at the ceiling of a room and then I heard my mother crying. I squeezed the hand of the person holding mine.

“She’s awake,” My mother cried out and her face entered my vision. “Phil, Cassius. She’s awake.”

I tried to get up and speak but a strong hand held me down as his ocean blue eyes entered my sight. He looked gaunt and tired. Stubble grew thick from his normally clean-shaven face. Black circles surrounded his eyes. “Hold tight, love.” His voice was the most beautiful sound.

I wanted to speak but my mouth was full of tubes. I reached up to my throat. Cassius pulled my hand away as Angela came into view.

“Jemma, don’t try to speak. I have to take the tubes out of your throat.” She said to me. She had to push my family back so she could work. “Take a deep breath.” I did as she said and she pulled the tube out of my throat. I cough as I took in deep breaths. Cassius placed a comforting hand on my chest.

“Easy love.” He spoke softly. My breathing eased and the bed was cranked up so I was in a sitting position. I looked around the room to see my parents, siblings, in-laws, and my son. They all looked at me through worn-out eyes. My eyes looked upward to the face of my beloved mate. “Oh Jemma, you came back to us. I thought I had lost you.” He bent down and pressed his lips to mine. The sparks from the contact. I reached up to run my hands through his hair as his hand traced down my cheeks. Tears fell from our eyes.

Someone cleared their throat and Cassius pulled away leaving me wanting more. My father stood there with arms folded and eyes narrowed at Cassius. He relaxed and smiled at me. “Oh my Jemma, we were so worried about you.”

I opened my mouth to speak. “How-” I rasped out through my dry throat. I glanced to the side as Cassius had picked up a cup and was offering me the straw. I drank and cold water relieved my burning throat and dry mouth. I smiled at my loving mate before looking around the room again. “How long have I been out?”

“A week,” Cassius replied.

“A week?” I felt fresh tears in my eyes.

Cassius sat beside me again with his tightly grasping mine. He traced the back of his hand down my cheek. “You were in a coma so your wolf could keep the poison from affecting our pups. I stayed at your side to lend Enoch’s strength to keep you from perishing.”

“I was here too, Jemma.” My brother stepped forward with my son on his h*p. “Leopold couldn’t bring himself to be away from Leonora.” He set Nicky down and my pup ran over to Cassius’s side. My father picked up my pup and set him on the bed. I hugged my son tight to my chest. “I missed you, Mommy.”

“I missed you too, Nicky. I missed everyone.” I sobbed as Nicky lay his head against my chest.

“You had us all scared to death Jemma.” My mother said as she stood beside my father. “But you refused to leave us. You are stubborn like that.”

I laughed. “I guess.”

Angela walked back into the room and weaved through the crowd. “Jemma should be fine to go home tomorrow, Cass.” She said to my mate. “Her vitals are normal and her b***d shows no more poison or wolfsbane.”

Cassius smiled at her. “Thank you, Angie.”

“Jemma just needs rest,” Angela looked at my gathered family before walking out of the room.

My family took that as a cue. “I guess we will be going to our room,” My father declared. “None of us has gotten much sleep.” He leaned down and kissed my cheek. “Your mother and I will take Nicky.”

My mother kissed my forehead and reached out her hands to my son. Nicky snuggled against my chest. I patted his arm. “It’s alright now, Nicky. Go with Grandma and Grandpa.” I kissed the top of his head.

“Okay, Mommy.” He said as he allowed my mother to pick him up. She and my father stepped back.

Izzy and Terry stepped towards the bed. “Jemma, you have no idea how happy we are that you are alright.” My mother-in-law said. She and Terry looked like everyone else. Tired and worn out. I felt guilty that it seemed the world had stopped just for me.

“It was touch and go for a while there kiddo,” Terry said to me. “But you made it through.” He leaned down to k**s my forehead. He glanced at Cassius. “We are going to go now, son.”

“Get some rest, Dad. Mom.” He replied to his parents and they walked out of the room.

“I am glad you are okay, Jemma.” My sister said to me. “I am going with Mom and Dad.”

“Thank you, Tiff.” I smiled at her.

“I am so sleeping for a week,” My brother declared. “I love you Jemma but this took a lot out of me.”

I smiled at my twin. “I will be forever grateful to you and Leopold, Iain.”

He leaned forward and hugged me before walking out of the room with my parents and son.

All at once, it was just Cassius and I left. I looked into my mate’s blue eyes. They looked so tired and sad. He held my hand tight interlocking our fingers and leaned in to k**s me again. This time there wasn’t anyone to interrupt us this time. His teeth lightly nibbled my bottom l*p and I granted his tongue entrance. After a bit of tongue wrestling, he kissed down my cheek and my neck. I gasped as he reached my mark and grazed his teeth over it. “Goddess, I missed you.” I breathe out to him.

“You have no idea how happy I am to see you awake.” He whispered against my neck. He rested his forehead against mine. Our eyes locked.

“Who took care of the kingdom while I was out?”

“Deke and Maria.” He said. “I also did some work in here on a laptop.”

I sighed. There was the issue of Jeremy. I didn’t want him dead. I hoped that Cassius hadn’t executed him yet. “And Jeremy?” Cassius stiffened and pulled away from me. He said nothing as he looked away from me. “I-is he dead?”

Cassius said nothing to me. I had to know. “Cassius? Tell me. Is Jeremy dead?”

He took a deep breath. “No.” I sighed with relief. He turned to face me again. “Do you still love him, Jemma?” He said with anger and pain.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “What?”

“In your coma sometimes you called for him.”

I looked down at the blankets on the bed. “I dreamt of our life together,” I explained as Cassius growled. “I meant the life we had. Growing up together and playing as pups. The birth of our son. I relived some of that. I may have been calling out to him through my memories.”

Cassius seemed to relax at that. “But do you still love him?”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “Yes.” My mate stood up suddenly and punched the wall. “Cassius, please.” I pleaded with him. He turned to me. His eyes were flickering between black and blue. “Cassius, I still love Jeremy. I will always love him. But he is not my soulmate,” I reached for my mate’s hand. I pulled him back towards me. “He does not own my heart. He is not my future. I saw our pups, Cassius. All of them. All six of them.”

He smiled and sat back down beside me as I spoke. I looked deep into his eyes. “Yes, I will always love Jeremy. But I was never in love with him. You own my soul Cassius Fury. You are the one I love with everything I have.” I finished my speech and his lips smashed against me. We kissed deeply before he pulled away.

“Six, you say?” He smiled broadly.

I rolled my eyes. “Yes.”

He laughed leaned his face against my belly. He stroke the soft skin as he kissed my belly. “I sense them.” I noticed my belly had gotten rounder in my coma. “I can’t wait to meet them.”

I ran my hand through his hair and we stayed in the moment. He kissed and stroked my belly while talking to the pups. I wanted nothing to spoil this. He lifted his face to mine. “Cassius, what is going to happen to Jeremy?” I had to go and spoil the moment because his face fell.

“He is going to be executed.” He stated firmly.

I took a deep breath. “I don’t want him executed.”

Cassius growled and narrowed his eyes. Jemma, he tried to kill our pups. You have been in a coma for a week because of what he did. Not to mention he had been raping his mate and you know I don’t stand for that. He has to die for his crimes.”

I nodded, “I know but I don’t want him to die. Please don’t execute him. Find another way to punish him. For me. For Nicky.”