Hello! I just made it home after an 8-hour long trip and a chaotic weekend!, long story short, I finally have internet and here is the last part of this Daring Quest. I also saw Epic Winter! The plot came a little out of the blue for me, but I like it alright. I will keep my hopes up for Darise, although it's pretty imposible now, but still! And on a side note, I hope all your countries are doing well on the Olympics! And lastly, but most importantly, THANKS for all the support given to this fic! The favs, follows and reviews! Simply amazing! It had been a fun week writing and updating this story! And now it comes to an end. I really hope you will like it, so with nothing else to add, I give you this last chapter!
"Come on everybody, it's time to eat!" Red called.
Daring walked to the garden feeling very uneasy and it just got a lot worse when he saw two more unexpected guests.
"What are they doing here?" he mumbled to his sister after seeing the members of the pack sat by the blanket.
"Well, they are family" Ramona answered "It's a family picnic, so mom or dad probably invited them since they already where here" she explained casually.
"Daring!" Cerise went to his side wrapping her hands around his arm.
"Hey, my beauty" he smiled, noticing how the two teen wolves mocked him at the distance "Um…Cerise…remember when you told me your family loved me…did that included them or…?"
"Come on, Charming. My cousins just like to tease"
"I get that is the wolf part, but I do think they hate me, especially since I am not even of their specie when I turn"
"They don't hate you they…" she really though of something to say "are just not particularly fond of you?" she offered getting a very defeated look in return "it's going to be alright, Daring" she kissed his cheek "just be yourself"
"You mean the human part by that, right?" he teased.
"Oh, isn't that the little beast?" one teen wolf said.
"Hey guys" he replied with an irritated tone.
"Don't you have someone to kidnap? An old man or something?"
"Don't you have your own tail to chase?" Daring countered.
"Ok, ok, settle down, we are going to have a lovely picnic together" Red said throwing a stern gaze towards her nephews.
"Fine"
Daring thank all his stars that Red was around, the wolves seemed to respond better to her. Perhaps she was the alpha after all.
"We are so glad you could join us, Darling" Red added, squeezing her shoulder.
"Thank you for having me over"
"It's always a pleasure" Wolf said heartedly. Daring never thought he would see that side of him, it seemed like no one was immune to his sister's charm.
"So let's eat" they sat down around the food.
They all started to talk, Darling and Ramona has some scores to settle, and spend the picnic competing all the time, they really were fond of each other. The wolves seemed to be in a teasing mood, but limited all their interaction to just comments. Red and Wolf were just glad to have them gathered together, and then there they were, Cerise and Daring. They were holding hands and Cerise had no problem in leaning into his shoulder while catching up with her friends and family. So many things had changed, and still this felt like time had frozen.
Daring's hands started sweating, he was looking for the perfect moment, for a cue, or something. He tapped his pocket making sure the little box was there, then he looked up, getting suddenly pale.
"I-"
"Daring, mind giving me a hand with the dessert?" Red asked forcing Daring to swallow the words that got stuck on his throat.
"Certainly" he said a bit chocked "be right back, love" he said to Cerise unaware of the nickname he used.
"Aw, he called her love" one wolf said.
Ramona snorted "He also calls her his red rose and his beauty" Darling poked her ribs with her elbow to no avail.
Cerise blushed like her name's sake "Stop that"
"How do you call him?"
Daring felt like face palming himself for his slip of tongue. If they made that much of a fuzz for the name, the actual proposal would be somewhat more of a scandal with those wolves in there. So he just turned around ignoring their remarks and went with Red.
She had a sly smile on her features "Don't worry, Wolf used to be just the same with me"
"Thanks" he mumbled helping her carry the trey.
"So, you intend to marry my daughter?"
He felt his knees bend under him, forcing him to put the trey back down noisily "Wolf told you?" he exclaimed in a loud whisper.
Red just laughed softly "I would know what a ring's box looks like anywhere" she eyed him "your pocket"
He reddened "Does…Cerise know?"
"I think she is actually the only one that is clueless"
"She is the only one that I wanted to surprise anyways" he whispered to himself.
"Well, you managed to impress me as well, Daring" she started walking back, speaking softly so none of the wolves would hear "Tell me, are you ready for that responsibility, for that commitment?"
"I can't imagine a future in which she is not in it" he solemnly said "I don't want to keep looking, I know I found the one. And I am ready to give up anything to be with her"
Red sighted "You kids grow up so fast nowadays" she tried to smile "it's just hard to say goodbye"
Daring nodded wordlessly while they made their way back to the others.
"Dessert is here" she announced, forcing the smile when she actually felt like crying.
Ramona noticed and tilted her head intrigued, but her mom subtly shook her head, mouthing a 'I'm fine'.
Daring bend down to grab his glass "I would like to propose a toast, if that's alright with you" he gazed to the parents.
They knew just then that they would see their little girl turn into a grown woman.
Wolf gazed towards her, his eyes even a bit watery "Of course, son. Go ahead"
He smiled feeling a little bit more confident, he no longer called him young man or boy "Well, I just want to say, first of all, thank you. Thank you for having us over" he looked at his sister "for making us feel welcome, for giving us a taste of family warmness"
"Welcome" Red muttered nodding.
"And, since I am already talking about feeling welcome…" he held the box behind his back, nervously playing with it with his sweaty hand, opening it sheltered from Cerise's sight, while with the other, he raised up his glass.
The beta smirked punching his cousin's shoulder "Watch this" he grabbed a soda shaking it before opening it in his direction. The sudden splash not only cut his speech short and ruined his appearance, but it also made him loose his grip on the box. He turned around worriedly trying to relocate it. He threw his sister a worried look.
She rapidly stood up "My! Um- let's get you cleaned up!" she kneeled next to him "What happened?"
"Grandmother's ring fell from the box, help me look for it!" he pleaded whispering.
The wolves just had a laugh out of it
"Boys, behave!" Red scolded.
"Are you alright, Daring?" Cerise stood up going towards.
"No!" he urged "I mean, no, I'm fine, these things happen" he smiled forcedly.
"Got it!" Darling exclaimed noticing her sudden outburst "I, got the napkin" she said "here you go, dear brother, so you can clean yourself up" she gave him the white paper hiding the box with the ring on it.
"Thanks, sis" he said heartedly.
She winked going back to her seat.
"Don't you have something to say, boys?" Wolf asked sternly.
"Yeah, yeah, sorry, beasty, it was an accident"
"Of course it was" Darling said sarcastically.
"Hey, cut them some slack" Ramona barked.
"Come on! You have to back him up this time" Darling countered.
"Girls, calm down" Red asked
"They are my family" Ramona continued.
"Loyalty should apply when you defend the right actions"
"Girls" Wolf intervened.
"Please, you don't know loyalty, you aren't even a wolf" the beta said.
"Hey, she has been my most trusted friend ever after" Cerise defended "she kept my secret and watched my back in school"
"No school now, Hood" the beta scoffed.
"She is a Bad Wolf as well" Ramona said knowing they used to call her Hood as a way to demean her because of their story.
"Ok, enough all of you" the parents started to argue as well and suddenly it was all chaos.
Daring looked around, still standing in front of them, holding his glass in one hand, the hidden box in the other, while watching this mess… he had nothing to do but to chuckle to himself in a mixture of amusement and exhaustion from all the nervousness of the past days.
"You know? I practice for days in front of the mirror" he laughed shortly startling the family "I thought of all the ways I could do it. With fireworks, a path of roses, a trip to the snow mountains on a dragon or a weekend in the resort, but… I couldn't take you away to tell you. I couldn't take you away from your family" he said motioning to all of them "because, I know they make you happier than anything else in the world. They are part of who you are, they raised you to be the way you are and I love every part of you…" he admitted, ignoring what anyone could say about it "I grew up thinking the only thing I had to be was a knight in shining armor, a hero, a prince, but… a weekend in your house taught me I needed to be more, I needed to be a man. Someone worthy of you, someone that could take care of you, someone that could understand you and that you could count on…" he knelt down "Now I know I won't be taking you away from your family, but I will try to be part of it, if you ever allow me to be the one, and hopefully, someday we will raise a family of our own" he said longingly "So why not ask in front of all of them?" he pulled the box out. Cerise turned as pale as snow, her heart beating strongly on her chest. She felt like fainting all of the sudden "So, Cerise, both Hood and Bad Wolf, would you make me the happiest man and beast alive and…marry me?" he pulled the ring out.
His heart beat rapidly, feeling like time had frozen waiting for the response that would change his life forever. All eyes fell on her while an answer was hexpected…
"Daring…" she found herself crying out of the blue. She couldn't see anyone else, but him. His baby blue eyes, looking directly at her like if there was no other person in the world for him. She was so overwhelmed…with joy "yes" she nodded wiping her eyes "yes, Daring Charming, yes!" she launched forward tackling him with her embrace, incapable of believing what just had happened.
Daring couldn't hold his smile either when he held her in arms. He then took her hand and slid the ring to its rightful place, on his beloved's finger. Then, he drove her to a kiss that promised eternal love and beyond. Just then, they were brought back to reality, remembering they weren't so alone.
"Yes!" Darling shouted "congratulations!"
Both blushed looking around to them. Cerise showed her hand with the ring on it.
"Come on, let us see it" Red called, her eyes filled with tears too.
"So, guess now you will have to be loyal to your new family" Darling teased towards the wolves while Ramona wrapped an arm around her shoulders messing her hair up.
Both wolf teens just shrugged "Congratulations, cuz'?"
"I guess there is nothing much else to say, but" Wolf held his glass up "welcome to the family, Daring"
The night had fallen, the whole family was inside the house celebrating the engagement. Cerise gazed around and took a minute to let it sink it in. She was going to marry, Daring Charming, her perfect hero and knight. The one person that accepted her for who she was. It all felt like a dream from which she didn't want to wake.
She quietly went to the balcony taking a deep breath to the night's breeze. She then looked at the ring and smiled at the sight of it. She gazed up at the bright full moon realizing this was real. If only she had known, all those years ago that her future was going to have such a happy ending…
"Hey" she heard that voice and turned... there he was, charmingly smiling, containing all the bliss in the world in his eyes. He went to her side and embraced her, while they both stared at the sky. Cerise leaned in sheltering in his chest.
A dash of light flew through the sky "Look, another shooting star" she murmured.
Daring lightly laughed to himself "My wish already came true, when you said yes" he mumbled to her ear "have yours?"
She smiled looking up to kiss him softly, gazing deep into his blue eyes "It just did"
-What a Daring Quest-