Unexpected Surprise [Open]

[Princess Audrey Niall]

*Please note this thread takes place a few weeks after the Wedding of Henry and Elina Niall.


Gwen looked around herself as she stood against one of the trees in the forest just outside the palace. She had been on the island only a day now trying her best to cover her and Audrey’s tracks. Not really sure if anyone was close on their trail or not, Gwen wasn’t going to risk her daughter’s life by not being cautious. Had she know that Audrey would be able to get to the isles herself, she would have left her daughter at the pier and simply taken off leading whoever was tracking them away from her completely. However, she knew that the four year old would never make it there and her own conscience would simply eat away at her until she knew that her daughter was safe. Gwen knew what she had to do even if it meant giving up the one person in her life she cared for with all her being.

Shifting Audrey in her arms, she looked down at her daughter wishing she didn’t have to do this. She wanted nothing more than to have her daughter with her. However, if she kept running with Audrey it would end up with both of them getting killed and that was the last thing Gwen wanted. Pressing a kiss to her sleeping daughters head, she continued out of the woods once she was sure that no one was around. Running through the backyard of the palace, all that could be seen was a hooded figure heading towards one of the doors. Despite being this close, Gwen could not help but constantly look around as she ran towards one of the back doors. The front would be too noticeable if she took that route. Gwen was smart enough to know how to cover her tracks and she was doing well so far.

Getting there, she stopped the guard at the door giving her a look. He didn’t seem as if she would be much of a force for her to take down if she needed to. Being an alpha made it easier for her to go up against anyone lower ranking. However, she wanted Audrey safe and that meant playing by the rules right now. Stopping, Gwen looked at the guard for a moment. “I have a delivery for Prince Henry Niall.” she started before looking down at Audrey shaking the little girl for a moment to wake her up. Looking back at the guard she pulled Audrey’s hood off as the little girl slowly woke up. “She’s Prince Henry’s daughter and I was to bring her here.” she stated looking at the guard. He was fairly average nothing like the ones that followed the royal family around. Sad really but it was better for Gwen at this point. The guard looked at her then at Audrey his eyebrow rising in curiosity. This was something new it seemed for him. “As much as I’d enjoy to see the disaster in the making that would come about if she were this daughter, I can’t let you in.” he stated despite how curious he looked.

Finding her anger flaring a bit, Gwen sighed in frustration as she looked at the guard again. “Fine, just take her inside and to the Prince. I don’t need to go in. She is just a child and no threat to anyone what so ever.” she explained hoping to appeal to the guard in that way. As long as Audrey was inside the castle no one could get to her at least not without being taken on by a whole palace full of guards. The guard seemed to consider this as Audrey finally woke up. Gwen looked down at her daughter smiling at the pup. “Hey Sweet pea…” she whispered pushing some hair out of her face as she watched the pup waking up. Audrey yawned and brought her hand up to her eyes rubbing the sleep out of it or trying to. She was still sleepy and wanted nothing more than to curl up in a warm bed. “Are we there yet?” she asked remembering her mother having told her they were going somewhere and it would take a few days to get there. She still didn’t know what had happened and why they had to leave their home but she was with her mother and that was all that mattered right now.

The guard seemed to have finally come to the conclusion that Gwen was right; Audrey wouldn’t be a threat if she was taken inside. He cleared his throat to get the woman’s attention. “Alright I’ll take her inside, but only her.” he explained wanting nothing more than to see the chaos that would come about from this situation if the girl did turn out to be the Princes. Gwen nodded before setting Audrey down on the ground. She knelt by the little girl smiling trying not to show how much it was killing her to leave the little girl there. But she knew that this was the only way for her daughter to live a normal life instead of always being on the run. The young lycan woman had already explained to her daughter before about why she was going to be staying with her father instead of her. She told her she was going to look for her grandfather before coming to get her again. The young pup hadn’t seen her father before and seemed excited to finally meet him. What she didn’t know was that Gwen might never see her daughter again but the child didn’t need to know that. Instead, she smiled down at the pup, pulling her favourite teddy bear out of the small backpack she was wearing.

Holding back tears, Gwen pulled Audrey into a tight hug, placing a kiss to her temple as she assured her that her bear would be there in her place in case she missed her. “This man here works for your daddy sweet pea, he is going to take you to see him okay. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” she told her a knot forming in her stomach as she knew it was probably going to be a lie. The people after her hadn’t spared a single person in that village let alone a descendent from the leader of the pack. Standing up, Gwen faced the guard pulling out a letter explaining everything and who Audrey was. “Give this to the Prince. It will explain everything to him.” she told the guard before stepped away from the doorway. Audrey rubbed more sleep out of her eyes as she waved at her mother thinking she’d be seeing her soon enough.

Taking the guards hand, she followed him inside wondering where they were going and if they were finally going to see her daddy like promise. “I’m Audrey… do you know my daddy? Mommy told me I was going to finally see him.” she questioned as she walked with the guard looking up at him. She was still somewhat sleepy but the excitement was slowly taking over. With the teddy bear clutched in one of her arms, Audrey looked around as they walked.



*This thread is open to anyone however, I do request that anyone wanting to post please wait until after Dawn Roseburn posts first. It is merely to make the whole thing flow better. Thank you <3

[Captain Dawn Roseburn]

The clean night hair felt wonderful brushing against Dawn’s skin causing her to sigh softly in pleasure. Her fingers curled around the railing connected to the balcony she found herself leaning on, her eyes skimmed along the outer wall of the palace just searching for any disturbances. However, the night was still calm. And for some reason that set her wolf on edge. Under her skin, her sister wolf growled and clawed wishing to be released. A deep breath in, she released it trying to ease her animal side back down. A smirk tickled on her lips when Vaan’s scent was pulled into her lungs. The room which belonged to the balcony was the King’s. Looking back on it, the time since the attack on her life the Captain found herself spending more and more time alone with him outside of the court and his office.

What else would anyone expect from her? Her wolf knew they were mates, Vaan’s wolf had known it. Sure, it might have taken Dawn YEARS to tell him but it was worth it. It was worth finding herself curled up at his side in the middle of the night with the knowledge doing was acceptable, even encouraged by Vaan.

But Dawn found it incredible difficult to still her body long enough to fall into sleep’s embrace. Maybe a walk would help. Nodding to herself at the idea, she went back into the room. Her deep brown eyes fell on her mate’s for spread out across the oversized bed, right where she had left him. Leaning over him, her lips brushed against his cheek before whispering, “Sleep well, mi amor.” A hand reached up to trail down his cheek so softly it could have been mistaken for a breeze when the balcony door was clearly closed now.

Turning on her heels, Dawn swiftly left the room making sure her movements were as quiet as possible not wishing to wake the sleeping king. The hallway held that same silence, dragging against her nerves when her wolf began once again whispering to be freed. Also, the sudden absence of Vaan’s scent surrounding didn’t east the beast’s wishes. Her human side pushed her sister wolf away to begin her walk through the halls.

“Captain!” Around the next corner, Dawn arched an eyebrow at the guard brisk fully walking her way. It wasn’t the guard whom held her attention as the little child heading along as well aside the guard. “A woman came here demanding someone deliver the girl to Prince Henry.” The panic in his voice was the only logical response to the dark expression thrown his way by the Captain.

“Why would she need to be delivered to the Prince?” There was a bite to her voice which she couldn’t hold back. The royal family was to be protected not allow anyone to come waltzing in around the palace this late at night. It was unprofessional. And stupid.

“The woman claimed she’s his daughter.” Those words forced the heavy expression to slide away and take note of the girl’s large blue eyes. Eyes that were an exact match for Henry’s. But eye color wasn’t the deciding factor in telling whose child this was. Of course, Dawn couldn’t deny the eerie feeling she had seen the child before but knew she’d never done so. “I’ll take her.”

Relief washed over the guard’s face before bending down to the girl. “Can you go with the Captain for me? I promise she will take you to your daddy. She’s practically his mother.” Dawn ignored those last few words to smile sweetly at the girl, trying not to frighten her. Children had always been one major weakness of hers. “This came with her.” The guard pulled out the letter which was taken by Dawn after nodding, understanding. Henry’s name was twisted in delicate loops on the envelope, clearly the handwriting of a woman.

Holding out a hand, her fingers beckoned for the babe to come along. The guard slowly inched away until he vanished back to his post at the back of the palace. “This way, I’ll take you to Henry.” A promise was a promise. Maybe Henry could clear up the mess blown into the palace before Vaan found out. In truth, she had no idea what she was supposed to feel about a child claiming to be Henry’s daughter. It pained her to say it but it was one hundred percent possible. What hurt even more? The story was so believable that Dawn was able to see Henry doing something like this.

[Baroness Elina Cali]

Elina was making her way back to the suite after a short run through the woods. She was taking as many of them as she could when she wasn't sick because she knew how it was going to get once she got further into the pregnancy. Pretty soon it would no longer be safe for her to change without causing harm to her pup. She sighed as she pulled on the cotton short shorts and the lacy camisole she wore around the suite as she walked through the woods towards the palace.

She was starting to feel much better, and the sickly palor was gone now that Henry had returned. She was still having morning sickness problems, but she had manage to gain a few pounds since his return, but that's only because he usually forced food down her throat even if she didn't want it. She felt a little better than she had been. And it was because of Henry. She never realized how much he had meant to her until that night that he never came home. She forgave Henry the day they took their vows. The way he had looked at her. The way he was so incredibly sincere when he was giving the vows. It was in that instant that she forgave the man she would spend the rest of her life with. There was still a bit of mending that would have to be done with the two of them, but Henry spent his nights in bed with her once again. It had been so hard to keep him from their bed those first couple of nights. She had been so happy to welcome him back to their bed on their wedding night. Even if she had felt about as cuddly as a porcupine.

She was happy once more, and she was fairly certain nothing could bring her down from that happiness. She made her way through the hall towards her and Henry's suite, barefoot and looking a little rumpled from her run. She was thinking a nice long bubble bath would be in order after that delightful run.

Her walk through the halls came to a slight pause though when she found Dawn in the corridors heading for her and Henry's suite. What struck Elina as odd though was the pup that she had with her. She studied the pup for a moment thoughtfully before looking to Dawn. "Captain." She said gently, bowing her head a little in greeting before she looked back to the pup. "And who is this little cutie?" She asked sweetly as she crouched down in front of Audrey. "Hello, my name is Elina." She greeted sweetly, a big smile on her lips. Elina loved children. She couldn't wait for the day that she got to hold her own pup. She studied the one that stood in front of her for a long time, soft, brown eyes assessing. She was a gorgeous little girl. Those eyes. So deep and blue. They looked so very familiar to her. The entire face looked so familiar to her as a matter of fact, but Elina did not get all huffed up about it. It was only a pup after all.

[Princess Audrey Niall]

Audrey continued to hold on to the guards hand as they walked through that hall. She was already lost and confused but all the artwork and things around the hall were a nice distraction. So was the conversation she was having with the guard. All the little girl really was doing was telling him about her teddy bear his name and some of the adventures they had gone together on. One of them was the recent one she had encountered with her mother while down in the desert. It hadn’t been that fun but Audrey still told the story in her own version of it. How her and Sir Wigglesbee the third had taken on a giant scorpion. Being four meant just about everything was giant to her and having an active imagination her mother had encouraged lead to the tall tale she was telling now.

Still wearing the light jacket, and her backpack, Audrey continued talking as they turned the corner. It was then that her blue eyes caught sight of pretty woman coming towards them. She wondered who she was just as the guard started talking to the woman. Staring wide eyed at the two, Audrey frowned trying to figure out what was being said. Being four meant she had more questions than she did answers. It wasn’t till the guard bent down to speak to her that Audrey smiled at him her attention on the man. When he told her to go with the woman, Audrey looked up at Dawn for a moment. Her mother had told her that the guard was going to take her to see her daddy. However, the moment she heard that the woman was her daddy’s mom, the young pups attitude changed. ”Otay!” she exclaimed letting go of the guards hand to walk over to where Dawn was.

She reached out and took hold of the older woman’s hand instead looking up at her with curious blue eyes. “Hi I’m Audrey. Are you my gamma? I never had a gamma before.” she explained pausing in her story for a moment to wave at the guard. “Bye!” she called waving to his retreating back. Once he was out of site, Audrey’s attention returned back to Dawn. “I had a gampa. Mommy never said where gamma was.” she continued to explain as they walked further into the palace.

At this point she didn’t really seem as tired as before. Her energy was up for now, but it would soon crash as she was merely four and it was way past her bedtime. Oblivious to the mess her arrival was going to cause, Audrey continued on with Dawn talking about how stuff her mother had said about her father. “Do I weally get to meet my daddy? Mommy said I was. She made a pwomise.” she explained to Dawn a serious look on her face. Since she could remember, the young girl had often wondered why she never had a daddy before. It was during her question that Audrey found herself running into yet another new person. This time the woman crouched down to her level introducing herself. Audrey smiled at the older woman. “Hi I’m Audrey. Gamma is taking me to my daddy. Do you know him?” she asked curiously. Already the young girl was throwing out millions of questions at everyone she meet and she had only been there a few minutes.

[Captain Dawn Roseburn]

The small hand which slipped into hers caused Dawn’s face to soften while looking down at the little child. The excitement of possibly meeting her grandmother was written straight across her face, adding to her child cuteness. “Hello Audrey, I’m Dawn.” Tilting her eyes away for a second to glance at a nearby wall, she wasn’t sure how to answer the question on if she was the little girl’s grandmother. Biologically, she wasn’t. However, would the girl understand that or be more confused by it? Sure, she had practically raised Henry since his mother was a backstabbing bitch who had left Vaan and their son. But did Henry see her as his mother? Or was that just something her wolf had conjured up in her mind? While trying to work out the problem in her mind, Audrey waved good-bye to the guard that had led her to the Captain. “I’m not really your grandma by blood, but I did take care of Henry when he was a pup just like you.”

Taking the lead, Dawn cocked her head to the side as the child went on and on about stuff her mother had told her about her father. She attempted to put the mystery of the girl’s mother together in her mind, but so far no matter how many faces she shifted through her brain, she couldn’t figure it out. If the child had been left in the care of a guard instead of the mother coming straight before Henry while in court, she clearly wasn’t out to gain money or some revenge. Sadly, there weren’t that many ladies she could name who wouldn’t have used such an opportunity to earn something. Was it possible the mother wasn’t a member of the court? If she was then there would have been no need to drop the child in the hands of a random guard whose post had been at the back entrance of the palace where mostly servants came and went. “You may call me gamma if you wish.” No matter how old it made her feel.

There was no stopping her from laughing softly at the serious face on such a cute child. That was just one of the reasons she loved cachorros. They put on brace faces or serious ones to make sure no one saw that either they were scared or vulnerable. In some ways, children were braver than some of the nobles that claimed to want to protect their own family. It was also a trait Henry had as a boy. “Yes, sweetie, you’re going to get to see your daddy.” The more the little girl spoke, the more Dawn was convinced she was related to Henry. He had been the exact same way, asking so many questions in such a short amount of time. “I promised you that you’d see him as well. I don’t break promises.”

A new scent filled her nose nearly making Dawn sigh heavily knowing that Elina was heading in their direction. It would have been too easy for the young she-wolf to be tucked in bed while Henry greeted the child first. There was no telling if Lady Elina could take another kick like the one Dawn was about to hand over. When Henry had left so close to the wedding, Elina had shut down, sealing herself off from the court for weeks right up to the point when the prince did return for the masquerade. When she finally came into her line of sight, Dawn was intrigued by the scent of the woods surrounding Elina’s normally clean, pure scent. The ruffled hair and state of her dress made it clear she’d been out for a run which as her pregnancy went along would become come fewer and fewer until she could simple watch others shift while her wolf would beg to be released even at the risk of the pup’s life. “Good evening, Lady Elina.”

Elina might have forgiven Henry, but Dawn couldn’t remove the sting of his departure from her heart. It had hurt. Incredible so. It had been like her own child turning his back on her, no word or warning just up and left. However, she wouldn’t allow herself to give into her rage while in the presence of the child. And it wouldn’t be fair to take it out on her for Henry’s mistakes. The Captain had never been on to baby the Prince and she wasn’t about to do so now. When others of his body guards had been too afraid to lift their hand against his precious backside, she had spanked him when it was readily needed.

As Elina took it upon herself to inspect the child, Dawn waited silently for the realization that there was something oddly familiar about Audrey to set in. Before she could tell Elina the girl’s name, Audrey did it, she didn’t seem to have a hard time meeting or greeting new people. Good, because the way it was looking, there was going to be hundreds of new people, lycans and humans, she was going to be meeting. The simple title of ‘gamma’ came from the child’s lips making Dawn wonder how long it would take Elina to realize, one, she had no children of her own and two that the only people she claimed as her children were Henry, Richard, and Xavier. “Audrey, Lady Elina is married to your father.” Keeping her eyes on Elina, she held herself in an attack position in case the lady did something rash. The child was in her care until this mess was sorted out, no one would touch her unless Audrey wanted to.

[Baroness Elina Cali]

She smiled softly at the pup when she introduced herself. "That is a very pretty name, Audrey." The smiled faded though when she realized she had called Dawn Gamma. She looked up to Dawn with a questioning gaze for a moment before she looked back to Audrey. She knew Dawn had no children of her own yet. She considered the two royal sons and Xavier her son's yes, but... She looked over Audrey, suddenly growing a little weary of her familiar features. She slowly stood and looked back to Dawn once more.

Elina's face paled as she stood, staring at Dawn. At first she thought this was all a joke, but when she saw Dawn take a defensive pose, Elina realized quickly that this was no joke. "Audrey, Lady Elina is married to your father." She could hear the words echoing through her mind. Elina knew that Dawn meant no harm to Elina when she said them, but they felt like a sharp blade had just been shoved into her gut. Henry was already a father. A part of her wasn't surprised at all at this revelation, but that made it hurt no less. It took all of Elina's power to keep from bursting into tears right then. Once she was sure she had a hold of the tears she looked back to Audrey, studying her more intently. There was no doubt in her mind now that she realized just how familiar that face was. She probably looked a lot like her father had at her age.

Elina was at a sudden loss for words. She couldn't be mad at Henry for this. Whatever happened between Audrey's mother and Henry had clearly been well before they were ever even engaged. And she couldn't be mad with the pup, even though she was a little. Why now? When Elina carried her own pup in her womb, why did this pup have to come along? Luna just seemed to enjoy being cruel to Elina. Henry had been so excited at the thought of becoming a father and starting a family. How ironic that Audrey showed up now of all times. When Elina was supposed to be the one giving Henry his first pup. She finally looked up to Dawn after a moment before she stepped aside to let Dawn and Audrey pass. She wasn't so sure she wanted to be present when Dawn made it known that Henry was already a father.

[Princess Audrey Niall]

The young pup was quite taken in by everything she was seeing. The palace she was in right now was far bigger then her home she was used to. Audrey wondered if this was there her daddy lived or if he simply was staying here for now. So many questions ran through the girls mind as she continued on her long walk with the woman whom she assumed was her grandmother. After all the previous guard had mentioned that she was Henry’s mom and that meant she was her grandmother. The young pup was determined to get to know all of her family now that she was here. Problem was her burst of energy was slowly going to run out causing her to fall asleep. For now, she was still running on pure adrenaline. Audrey was too busy waving to the retreating guard to really pay much attention to what Dawn was saying that moment. She had heard something about taking care of her dad when he was her age. “Will you take care of me now too?” she asked looking up at Dawn with her big blue eyes identical to Henry’s.

Audrey continued to listen to the older woman as much as she could however her attention span was short and that meant her eyes were going everywhere as they walked. Some of the painting she saw where nice and other’s she simply made a face at wondering why it was up in the first place. Her attention was only grabbed again when Dawn mentioned that she promised to take her to her daddy. The young girl took that seriously as she really couldn’t take anything else to heart. She was too young and the only thing that really meant anything to her right now was promises people made. “Good, mommy said you should never break a promise.” she explained with her child naivety.

When Elina came into the picture, Audrey was excited to meet yet another new person. She was wondering who the woman was when Dawn finally explained it. Apparently the woman was married to her daddy. She didn’t know what that meant she was to her. The young girl hadn’t really heard the term step mother before. Despite that, the young pup smiled up at the woman. “Really….do you think my daddy will like me? Mommy says he will but he doesn’t know what I like…” she explained. The example she was basing this on was having met a boy her age once who didn’t like the same things she did and Audrey didn’t really like him. He was too annoying and loud.

Still staring up at Elina, Audrey clutched her bear in her hands tightly. Despite how brave she seemed, the young pup was scared at the same time. She missed her mommy already but the prospect of seeing her dad for the first time finally was balancing put her emotions. “Yours pretty…” she added smiling at the two woman. Being four meant that Audrey wasn’t aware of the odd silence that came over the two adults she was with. Nor did she notice Dawn stepping in front of her in a protective manor. Instead, she merely looked around thinking of all the places she could go off to and explore. When Elina stepped aside, Audrey reached out and took her hand. “Are you going to come see my daddy with me and gamma?” she asked the older woman.