Everywhere was silent. Would Diana say no to Calhoun? Could she say no? And for the first time in his life, Calhoun felt anxious, somewhat scared of what would happen in the next second. He looked up expectantly at Diana and when she shook her head slowly, his eyes showed the fears he had.
Diana saw them and she truly realized that Calhoun was deeply and madly in love with her. If she said no, he could go on a killing spree and then if she came back to say yes to him, he would never believe it was out of love.
She took out her left hand and raised it to him. Calhoun let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and he slipped the ring onto her finger.
"It's not like I have a choice though," Diana said. "But even if I did, I would still choose to marry you."
Calhoun chuckled and stood to his feet. He still held her hands in his and he raised it to the crowd.
"Behold, the future queen of Wisteria!" He announced. "And my wife."
Diana leaned into him, fighting the grin that wanted to spread across her face. Elizabeth started clapping and then everyone else followed. They cheered and celebrated the new queen of Wisteria. It was something they never expected to happen.
Calhoun was the cursed king and they never believed anybody would want to marry him. But now that there was someone who loved him, it felt like everything had been predestined from the beginning of time.
Calhoun led Diana to the empty seat beside him and the banquet continued. There was music and many couples came out to dance until it was time for the main part of the celebration. To offer their tribute to the moon goddess.
Calhoun started it. He stood up with his small candle stand that held a scented candle. Everyone offered whatever candle held the scent which best described how they felt about the moon goddess.
Calhoun held Diana's waist, hugging her as she held Coco. On the other hand, he held the candle.
"Everyone, light your candle and raise it to the goddess," Calhoun announced.
The people did as he had instructed and within a few minutes, the atmosphere was filled with different scents and the smoke rose towards the sky as if being received by the goddess.
They all looked up at the moon and began to howl in unison. Calhoun's howl was the first and the loudest. After him, Diana joined Felix and Evander, and one by one, the rest of the towners joined in the howl.
Elizabeth joined in and someone else did, but at that point, no one was bothered about who joined in the howl. It was one of the most peaceful times for the Wisteria pack and it was the time when they could all witness the lovely side of their cruel king.
After their offering, the celebration continued. Then Felix paused the cheers and asked that Calhoun and Diana dance with the crowd. Diana felt shy instantly and began to shake her head.
"Um, no no. I'm feeling very resty tonight." She denied. She did not want to dance with Calhoun for the first time, before a crowd of wolves.
"Come on, Diana. How bad can it be?" Calhoun persuaded. "Sweetheart, it'll be fun. I promise."
"Fun, sure. Easy? Nope." Diana remained adamant.
Calhoun sighed. He turned to the crowd, feigning a defeated look. "The future queen says she won't dance with me. Can you all persuade her?"
Diana gasped. "Calhoun!" She scolded him in a whisper.
Calhoun grinned as the people began to murmur and then someone started yelling from behind.
"Come on, Luna Diana! Dance for us!"
"Yeah!"
"You look like a fairy, we want to see you dance!"
"You and the king, you have to dance for us!"
"Come on!"
"Please!"
"We beg, don't say no!"
Diana was amazed at the way they yelled out their pleadings so bravely. Was this just because Calhoun was smiling at them? Oh, if only they knew how short this happiness from him was going to last.
"Please, Diana," Felix begged from the side. "It will just be a few minutes and only one dance."
Diana bit her lips, she was in thought.
"Don't tempt me, darling. Otherwise, we can also forget about this dance and do another one... In bed." Calhoun whispered.
Diana's cheeks turned so red and she whacked him in the guts. "Get out, you shameless man."
Calhoun laughed. "I can only be that around you."
Diana rolled her eyes. Just as she turned, Elizabeth stretched her hand to take the child but someone else grabbed the child from her. Everyone turned to see who it was. The person was in a black cloak and their entire body was covered.
Diana felt a strange connection to the person that even as her son was being snatched by them, she did not feel any danger signs.
"Who are you?" Calhoun demanded fiercely. Before the person could move, he was already behind them and pulled the hood over the head to reveal his identity.
Slowly, the person raised their head and...
"Julitta!" Diana gasped. She quickly hugged her tightly. "Oh, you foolish girl! What do you think you are doing, showing up like death's second choice?"
Julitta giggled. "That's no way to welcome me back from the dead."
"Don't say anything baby girl, go and dance with your king." Julitta interrupted.
Diana smiled widely. "Alright, alright. Since everyone is against me now, I'll dance. Cal, let's dance."
Calhoun took her hand and led her to the centre space. The music began and it was slow. She held his shoulder and he held her waist, and they intertwined their fingers together.
Slowly, their legs began to move in sync. Diana did not know what she was doing, but she followed Calhoun's lead and she kept her gaze locked on his.
The air was thick and there was affection in the air. Everyone could feel the sparks of their love spread all around them and after watching them dance for a few minutes, some people decided to join them.
Once the song was getting over, Calhoun caressed her cheeks with the back of his finger.
"You know, history used to be something I hated so much... But if there's one thing I learned from it, it's that after every perfect dance, there has to be a perfect kiss." Calhoun said.
Diana chuckled softly. "Cheesy."
Calhoun shrugged. "What else can I do? I have you all to me now so I can go full cheesy on you. Or can I not?"
"Darling, all this talk is gonna make me bite you before I kiss you," Diana said.
Calhoun wiggled his brows. "Why does that sound so tempting rather than painful? You can just kiss me too and skip the biting part."
Diana stood on the tip of her toes, despite the heels she wore, but Calhoun pushed her shoulder down. Rather than letting her tiptoe, he bent his head towards her and his hand left hers and stayed on her cheek, while the other one held her waist firmly.
The moment their lips touched, there were fireworks in the sky, but Diana felt them explode in her tummy. Why did it matter? It wasn't the first time they kissed each other.
Calhoun didn't stay long since he was already in a mood. He pulled away from her and stared her in the eye. He leaned in and kissed her forehead.
"I love you." He whispered.
"I love you even more," Diana whispered back.
"I love you even more." Calhoun returned.
Diana chuckled. "I love you the most!"
"I won't argue, let's see who can show more love in bed tonight-"
"Calhoun!" Diana scolded. "Don't utter such shameless words in public."
"I'm dancing with my wife, what public?" Calhoun defended.
Diana shook her head. She led him back to their seat and she noticed how sour Elizabeth's face looked. Seeing Julitta play so much with Coco made her feel like her job was at stake. But the boy didn't also know her so well as to follow her against Julitta.
"Ellie, meet Julitta, my soul sister." She said. "Julitta, meet Elizabeth, we call her Ellie. She's the new nanny for Coco and she's also my dress adviser!"
Julitta stared her up and down. "Hi, Elizabeth."
"Hi, Julitta. Nice to meet you."
Julitta nodded. She returned her focus to Coco and Diana rolled her eyes.
"Julie, that's offensive," Diana said.
"I'm sorry, I'm out for like a week and you already have someone to care for my godson-"
"Calm your horses, Julitta. You have your life to live. What's to say you weren't going to move back to Fraco too?" Diana refuted.
"Fraco? Come on! We are soul sisters, if you're here, how can I be there?"
"It doesn't change the fact that you're my best friend and not Coco's nanny. She is employed for the job, I pay her to take care of my son-"
"But she's forming a bond with him," Julitta complained.
Diana scowled. "Should she remain a stranger to him? How well can she take care of him if he doesn't love her? Don't be like that, Julitta. Ellie is Coco's nanny and you're just his godmother. End."
Julitta frowned. She handed the baby to Ellie and stormed off. Diana was surprised to watch her leave so abruptly but she didn't go after her. She ignored it but somewhere, Elizabeth started to feel uncomfortable about it. She decided to go and look for her.
"Diana, I'm taking Coco for a stroll around the castle. I think that whatever is happening now is for the grown-ups. Let me take him to the place that's less noisy. Who knows, he might just fall asleep." She said.
Diana nodded. "Please feed him. He didn't eat before the start of the festival and he might be very hungry."
"Does he not cry when he's hungry?" Elizabeth asked.
Diana shook her head. "He would only cry when he's uncomfortable and he can't find me or his father close by. Or at least someone he's very familiar with."
"Like Julitta?"
Diana turned to glance at her. Was she also going to get upset and walk away?
"Yes, like Julitta. She has been with me even before I birthed him so he grew to know her." Diana explained.
"That's wonderful. I would be thrilled to watch you birth another child. Maybe she will grow to know me too!" Elizabeth exclaimed. "Also, I can understand her plight. If I watched a child grow from the belly out, I would feel heartbroken if I was no longer the only one she would run to aside from her parents."
"I'm glad you understand. Maybe you can find Julitta and let her know that you both can take turns in caring for the child. If you're fine with that." Diana said.
Elizabeth nodded. She waved Diana and Calhoun bye as she pushed Coco's stroller and walked in the same direction Julitta had gone.
Elizabeth was a special type of werewolf that could sniff people from their footprints. She could tell where the feet had trodden whether or not she followed them, or knew what their feet smelled like.
With her special ability, she traced Julitta to the back of the castle. There was a small garden there before it turned into a huge forest as one went further. She easily found Julitta sitting by a small pond.
She walked to where she sat and pulled Coco's stroller to be in the middle. Julitta watched her silently, wondering what she was up to. Why did she come now? Was it to rub it in her face that she got to care for Coco while she, the initial carer, was being tossed aside to just be the godmother?