CONRI’S POV I stared at my mate in disbelief, her words echoing through me. She never once showed interest in being Queen, and now suddenly, she was throwing it up in my face. I was the Alpha King, and she was challenging me. Her steel grey eyes were hard and dark, like a thunderstorm was brewing in them. I could feel her uncertainty down the bond as she tried her best not to cower under pressure, but a part of me admired her sense of bravery for standing up to me. I inhaled deeply to try to stop my temper from boiling over. No matter how much I admired her courage, I did not appreciate her defying me. “Go back to the bedroom, Rieka,” I told her as calmly as possible. “I will discuss this with you later.” I didn’t think her eyes could harden anymore, but they did as she narrowed them at me like she was trying to decide whether to push the matter or not. When I thought she would argue some more, she turned on her heel and stormed out of the study with Cody following her. Once she
My stomach grumbled with hunger, but I couldn’t bring myself to eat anything without Conri here. It was late into the night when the door swished open, and Conri stepped back into the room. My heart immediately started to flutter at the sight of him, and I couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across my face as I sat up in bed to greet him. My core instantly heated and throbbed as my want for him grew more assertive. I could tell he could smell my arousal by how his hazel eyes darkened with lust when he inhaled deeply. I wanted to pull him in and kiss every inch of his hard, muscular body, but my motherly instincts also kicked in. “What did Devil want?” I asked, concerned for the packs flooding through me and almost drowning out my arousal. “Asked for sanctuary. There’s a section of my territory just southwest of here. I offered it to Devil and his pack.” “Will they be safe there?” Conri sighed and ran a hair through his dark thick hair. “I hope so.” “And if the Hunters att
“He had some business to take care of with the Nightshade pack,” Connor answered. “Threats were being made against them. Cody and the king went to ensure their safety.” I sighed heavily. This was getting worse by the day. “May I go outside?” Connor blinked at me as if I had just asked a stupid question. “Of course. You’re going to be queen. You may do whatever you wish.” I rolled my eyes. “Of course, I have to go with you to do whatever you wish to do.” He gave me a coy smile, and I huffed a laugh as I rolled my eyes again. “Well, then, I’m going outside. Feel free to join me.” I walked back into my room to the side door that led to the yard. It was a little hot, with the sun blazing across the sky, but there was a gentle cool breeze to balance the heat. “I want to walk to the pond.” Connor fell into step beside me. “You don’t want to run?” I shrugged my shoulders and frowned as I looked up at the sun and squinted my eyes. “Nah. I don’t think I need to run. I just want to wal
“You want to pull rank and be the queen. So be the queen. Lead them.” I swallowed hard as I looked back at the pack. My voice shook as I tried to speak as loud as possible for the wolves in the back. “As many of you know, we were giving sanctuary to the Wolfsbane Pack. Before they could cross the border, the Hunters ambushed them. Once again, the Wolfsbane Pack needs our help. The King is not here, but I am. Help me protect what all you have sworn to protect. We are Guardians, and we will not back down from a fight. We will not let anyone take away what we stand for.” As I finished speaking, my heart beat so hard I was sure I couldn’t feel it. One by one, each wolf threw their heads back and let out a unison of harmonious howls. “Very nice, my queen,” Connor whispered, brushing his shoulder against mine. “Let’s go.” Connor took off running towards the trees, and I followed him with the pack behind me. For once, I was running towards something, not away from it. CONRI’S POV Ever
“Yes, my queen. The King and Cody should be here soon. Stay put. Don’t wander off.” I nodded my understanding before watching Connor weave through the pack, checking on everyone. I slowly turned my head, looking around at everyone, when I heard a faint noise in the darkness of the woods. My ears perked as I strained to listen more carefully. The slight whine came once more. Cautiously, I stepped towards the sound, curiosity taking over every nerve in my body. I didn’t realize how far I had strayed from the pack when a sudden force barreled into my side, and I was knocked off my paws. A vast, muscular wolf loomed over me, his red eyes bloodthirsty. I scrambled to my paws quickly and launched myself at him. Something clicked inside of me, some ancient instinct. It was like some part of me knew that I had a pack, no, I had packs, wolves to protect. I had wolves that needed a queen to rely on to protect them. And I was going to be that queen. I latched my teeth to his scruff and used my
“You’ll never be able to stop us, little queen.” The Hunter snarled quietly. “You can pretend all you want, but the Malikah belongs to the Hunters.” His weight vanished as Conri called out for me once more, and in the next instant, he was a wolf again, racing off into the darkness. I scrambled to my feet and struggled to get a breath. My lungs felt like I couldn’t get enough oxygen in my body. Branches cracked and snapped as my mate barreled through the undergrowth, skidding to a stop beside me, breathing heavily. His blue eyes were wild and crazed as he looked me up and down for any signs of injury. “I’m fine,” I said hoarsely, my throat feeling raw. I grabbed a handful of Conri’s neck fur, and he raised his head to help me stand. After realizing that I was lying and indeed all right, Conri snarled angrily at me, his iced eyes now blazing. “What were you thinking, Rieka?” Conri snapped at me as I leaned against him. “You could have been killed.” I laid my head against his neck, c
I scrambled to the nearest tree, attempting to get off the ground to cover my tracks. My hands were cut and bleeding from falling down a rocky shore moments before, but I kept pushing forward. Each breath was like swallowing glass as I was pretty sure that the Hunters broke most of my ribs on my left side, but I kept going.I had been running for over ten years; I wouldn’t stop now. Gathering the last of my energy, I ran down the branch just as something crashed through the brush nearby, snarling viciously. It was just one Hunter.As I slowly turned around to see glowing red eyes low to the ground. The silhouette of the eyes slowly came out of the bush, revealing a wolf. The grayish wolf gave a slight lunge towards me with a loud snarl. The wolf stalked towards me as I growled once more. More rustling sounded all around, and more wolves emerged into the clearing. All with blood-red eyes and all with their teeth bared. The first wolf had been a distraction so that they could surround
“Please, Alpha King,” I tried to plead to the King, but he stared at me sternly. I was trembling so hard that my aching bones and muscles throbbed with agony. “You may turn your back to me if that will make you more comfortable,” the King growled quietly. More comfortable? Nothing about this situation made me comfortable, but I quickly nodded and turned my back to him before he could see the burning tears forming in my eyes. My lips trembled as I pressed them firmly to keep myself from sobbing. This position that I was forced to be in was embarrassing. I was better off with the Hunters. Slowly, each movement an effort, I slid my arms through my tattered t-shirt. I gritted my teeth to keep myself from crying out as my right side protested from me moving my arm above my shoulder to slide the shirt over my head. I let the ragged piece of fabric fall to the ground, my arms shaking as I felt the King’s stern gaze on my back. I could only imagine what he was seeing. Scars and claw marks fr