The Alpha: Claiming His Enemy's Daughter-Chapter 992: BONUS - : I LOVE YOU

It had been four years since the war and for these past four years, they really needed to focus on rebuilding the shifter kingdom, there were a lot of things that they had to take care of and with that came the sacrifice.

As the new king and queen, who carried the responsibility for the new reign, Cane and Iris had to sacrifice their time with their babies.

They tried their best to always be there for them, but of course, their time was limited and they couldn’t be with them as much as they wanted.

Therefore, after four years of so many sleepless nights and sacrifices, the kingdom flourished, they could start to see the significant change to a better future and their workload reduced as well.

In that case, Iris and Cane decided to celebrate their twins’ birthday lavishly.

Before, they would only celebrate Zander and Zenith’s birthday by gathering people that close to them, but this time, they went all out for their boys.

"Zen! Get up!" Zander climbed his bed and shook his brother’s body, so he could wake up. "Stop sleeping, wake up!"

"Go away..." Zenith pushed Zander off him, but his twin was persistence.

Meanwhile, Lil Thing perked his ear and saw this common commotion, but it chose to fall asleep again. There was nothing new. This was the routine in the morning.

Zander and Zenith were still sleeping in the same room, in different bed, but next year, they would be given their own room.

Iris wanted to keep them close with her for a little bit longer, but the boys were very excited to have their own room for them to décor. In Zander’s case, it was because he liked the idea of being able to have a big space for his own, but for Zenith, it meant he could sleep without his brother jumped on him every morning.

"Wake up! Wake up!" Zander bit his arm lightly, so his brother could wake up. "Today is our birthday!"

"No..." Zenith said grumpily, but when Zander bit him, he woke up and growled at him, yet the latter immediately dragged him out of the bed.

Poor Zenith had to keep up with his brother’s high spirit when all he wanted was some peace and quiet and a lot of nap.

When they went out of the room, Joel and Finn greeted them, congratulated them for turning four today. Zander thanked them, but Zenith pursed his lips, he looked grumpy.

"Mamaa... Mamaa...!" Zander knocked on the door, while Dean crouched down to talk to him to calm him down.

Dean chuckled to see how Zenith yawned, the little boy didn’t even have the energy to stand, as he squatted down, but Zander was still holding onto his right hand.

"Happy birthday to the two of you," Dean said cheerfully, so did Zephyr, who guarded the night with him.

"The king and the queen must be still sleeping. Do you need something?" Zephyr squatted down as well.

"Mama said she will take me to see the preparation for tonight banquet," Zander replied.

"But, this is still too early." Dean pointed out the sun that just appeared in the horizon. The sky was still bleak, because it was almost the end of the winter and the weather was still rather cold.

"But, I already wake up." Zander pointed at his twin brother. "Zenith already wakes up too."

Dean, Zephyr, Joel and Finn didn’t agree with Zander’s last statement, because Zenith obviously needed a few more hours to sleep. The four of them chuckled to see Zenith rested his head on his knees, using his left hand as pillow, while his right hand was still being held by Zander.

"I don’t think he is awake," Dean said.

"Why don’t you go with me and Finn?" Joel suggested. "We will see the preparation."

Zander frowned. "But, I want to go with mama..."

"But the queen is still sleeping," Zephyr coaxed him as well.

"I will wake her up," Zander insisted. He was beaming with excitement, thus it was hard to turn him down.

"I don’t think that’s a good idea..." Dean mumbled. He saw the queen was a little bit drunk last night when she returned with the king. Heaven only knew what happened afterward, since they knew how bold the queen could be when she had too much alcohol in her system.

Right at that time, probably because the commotion that he heard, Cane stepped outside. He was wearing thin clothes, seemingly didn’t get enough time to dress properly.

"Daddy!" Zander let go of Zenith’s hand and raised both of his arms up, asking to be picked up. Thankfully, Joel caught Zenith’s body first before he fell.

Cane picked up Zander, but he squatted down and picked up Zenith too, who opened his eyes and mumbled ’daddy’ before he snuggled against his neck and closed his eyes again.

"Mama said she will take us to see the preparation for tonight!" Zander was in high spirit, Cane wondered, who he took after. "Is there really a firework?"

"Yes." Cane took his boys for walk, before they made more commotion and woke Iris up. She was still too tired, since she slept so late.

"Yes."

"There are a lot?"

"How many do you want?" Cane hugged his boys a little bit tighter as he asked Finn to get their cloak. The weather was still cold and Iris would scold him if she found out they were going out with not enough clothes during this season.

"I want a lot!" Zander opened his arms widely.

"You will get a lot of it."

Zander beamed, his blue eyes lit up. It reminded him of how Iris’s eyes shone brightly whenever she was happy.

Because of how noisy Zander was, Zenith couldn’t continue to sleep, he opened his eyes and looked confused because they were outside, but when he saw his father’s face he nuzzled his neck again, in which Cane gave him a kiss on top of his head.

Joel returned with cloak for the boys and helped them to wear it. Zander protested, but when Cane said that their mother would get mad if they didn’t wear warm clothes, he relented. Iris could be scary when it came to their safety and wellbeing.

Zenith didn’t fall asleep again and paid attention to his surroundings, as the pale light of the winter sun illuminated the sky.

"Daddy, why do you smell different?" Zander sniffed at his father and scrunched his nose. He sniffed him again. "You don’t smell like you."

Cane chuckled, while Zenith followed his twin, he sniffed his father too and noticed his scent indeed different.

"You smell funny, dad," Zenith said.

"Why do you smell like this?" Zander kept sniffing Cane and the king didn’t know what to say.

"Mommy also smell funny when she met you," Zenith recalled a few days ago when her mother came out of their father’s study room. Zenith didn’t want to play with Zander, thus he sneaked out and went to his father’s study room to take a nap, because he learned that no one would bother him there.

"Why do you smell funny?" Zander tilted his head.

And Cane found himself lost for word. He was speechless to have two pairs of blue eyes looked at him curiously.

Later that night, they had a festivity and a lot of fireworks just like how Cane promised Zander. The two boys were in awe to see how the night sky turned so bright with the beautiful fireworks.

Not to mention Lou added some theatrical magic to live up the night. The boys liked this merchant, though Lou always told them that they were annoying, but they used to pester him. Zenith also took interest more with him.

And when Cane and Iris tucked their boys, Zander was giggling in his sleep.

"I wonder what he is dreaming of." Iris kissed Zander’s cheeks and then Zenith’s. Cane did the same too. "I really hope they have a good dream and they will remember tonight even when they grew up."

"They will." Cane and Iris sat down on the edge of Zander’s bed, as the boy kept smiling and mumbling something about firework in his sleep.

But, Zenith woke up and approached them. Cane immediately picked him up and sat him down on his lap. "Why are you awake?"

Zenith yawned again before he spoke. "I forgot to tell you something..." he said sleepily, it seemed he made a great effort to stay awake.

"What is it?" Iris caressed his cheek and fixed his clothes, she was a little bit obsessed to keep them warm.

"I love you," Zenith said, he rubbed his eyes sleepily.

Hearing this, Iris grinned widely. "I love you too, my baby."

Cane kissed the tip of Zenith’s nose. "I love you too." He loved this peaceful night, this unexpected affection and a lot of ’I love you’ with his little family.

Cane had never felt so complete. He loved every second that he spent with his family. Everything that he worked for, all the sacrifices were all worth it when he returned to them. They were his home. Something that he thought he would never have during the hellish days of his life.

However, Zenith shook his head. "Not me." He yawned again, snuggled against Cane’s chest. "They told me to say ’I love you’ to the two of you."

Iris frowned. "Who?"

Zenith blinked his eyes and looked at Cane. "Two little girls that looked like daddy... but have blue eyes like me and Zan..."