CHAPTER 1: Heir to Despair

"Any last words?" Nameria asked Valen.

Her voice was already trembling with grief. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she held the poisoned silver sword against the neck of the one she loved most—her fated mate. Her love, her soul… But their years of secret love had led them to this bitter end. 

"I did what I had to, Nameria! Your father poisoned mine last year, and as a prince, I must avenge him!" Valen spat through gritted teeth. 

"And I was the one you chose to use? How long will we keep killing each other?" Nameria's voice wavered with sorrow, but she knew she had to do what was right, even if it shattered her heart. The Nameria who had loved Valen deeply had already died when he admitted to using her. 

The lycans and her pack will never be friends.

"This ends now! Kill me!" His golden eyes blazed with desperation. She knew he was fighting the same urge to give in. 

Valen was supposed to be stronger than her as a lycan prince. Yet here she stood, with the power to end it all—the one holding the sword that would take the life of her beloved. 

"Ahhhhh!" With a cry of anguish, Nameria plunged the poisoned sword into Valen's chest. Lucy, her wolf, groaned within her, feeling the same pain that Valen did. 

Nameria screamed in agony, but she fought through it. Darkness began to consume her. 

"Nameria!" Logan, the beta, called out, and everything faded to black. 

*** 

[Three Centuries Later]

Keira

Through a haze of pain, I struggled to focus my blurry vision. Hot tears streamed down my face, but they offered no relief. 

My efforts were futile—I couldn't sense my wolf, Amara. I was too weak. The rough bark pressed into my back, and coarse ropes bound my wrists to the old oak.  

"You poisoned me!" I spat, my voice hoarse and filled with venom.  

The toxic wolfsbane was spreading through my body, causing pain in every nerve. My body shook uncontrollably, with my muscles spasming as the poison took effect. I glared at Selene with pure disgust. She was Ronan's destined mate, the she-wolf he brought to our pack four years ago, changing everything I thought I knew about my future. 

Ronan is my alpha, and I was meant to rule beside him as his luna. But that title, once a source of pride, now felt like a cruel joke, and I was certain that I loathed the day I agreed to be his chosen mate. 

As the daughter of the late alpha of the Darkwood pack, I had been raised with certain expectations. When my father brokered a truce with the rival Nightclaw pack, I became a pawn in the political maneuverings. "Marry their beta's son," he had said. I never imagined it would be the beginning of my nightmare. 

Even as pain wracked my body, I saw Selene's smug smile. "Poor Luna! Aren't you ashamed of your ancestor, Queen Nameria?" 

A sob escaped me, not from pain but from overwhelming disappointment in myself. I, the last descendant of the great Queen Nameria, had ruined her legacy. 

Nameria is the only alphaqueen ever known in werewolf history. She was a powerful and clever she-wolf who avenged her father's death and ruled the world.  

History tells of how she killed the lycan prince and began her conquest, taking one pack after another. The lycans were her slaves for years until her death. 

The pack elders said I looked just like Nameria and felt her strong spirit in me. They predicted I would rise to power and lead a new era of wolf dominance.  

What a cruel joke! 

I am the last descendant of Nameria! She had ruled alone, without mate or alpha, the strongest she-wolf in history.  

"Any last words?" Selene asked, her eyes sparkled with malice as she looked at the two rogues beside her, their faces lit by the flickering torches. 

"If only I could turn back time!" I sobbed. The memories of the past nine years flashed before my eyes, a parade of mistakes and regrets. "I'd never have agreed to the pack union between the Nightclaw and Darkwood packs nine years ago! I despise the day I met Ronan at the lake!"  

My voice grew more frantic as I continued, "I despise the day I started believing him! I despise the day he came into my pack and asked me to be his chosen mate!"  

Each word was a dagger to my heart, a reminder of my naivety and misplaced trust. 

Tears streamed down my face, mingling with the sweat from the fever induced by the wolfsbane. It was mortifying to think that I am the reason why Queen Nameria's legacy has been lost! After nine years of following Ronan, I'm now confronting my final moments! 

Selene's laughter cut through my anguish. "You're truly losing it, Keira. Your tears and regrets won't change a thing. Your fate is in my hands, and I'm the one who will end it." 

With a casual flick of her wrist, Selene signaled to the rogues. Time seemed to slow as they hurled their torches towards the base of the tree where I stood bound. The dry undergrowth caught immediately, flames licking upwards with frightening speed. 

"Ahhhh!" The initial sensation of the fire was numbed by the poison coursing through my veins. I tried to hold on, determined to face my end with whatever dignity I could muster. 

As the flames creaked up, searing my skin, I whispered, "Moon goddess, I call upon you! I never asked for anything before… I am responsible for everything that's happened to the Darkwood pack. It's my fault…"  

Tears evaporated almost instantly as they fell. The inferno roared around me, devouring everything in its path. Through the swirling flames, I glimpsed Selene's smug face, reveling in my suffering with sickening satisfaction. 

With my last breath, I made one final, desperate plea: "I wish I could go back to the day when all these mistakes were made!" 

But I knew it was a futile wish. The intense heat burned my skin, and smoke filled my lungs. My vision blurred, and everything around me was just a swirl of red and orange. As I lost consciousness, my final thought was of Nameria and how deeply I had failed to honor her legacy… 

*** 

Groans escaped me as I dragged myself out of bed, wincing as a sliver of sunlight pierced through a gap in the curtains and seared my skin. The sudden brightness drove a spike of pain into my skull, causing me to collapse from the mattress to the floor with a soft thud. 

As my vision cleared, confusion set in. Nothing about this room looked familiar.  

"Lucy!" I called for my wolf, but there was no response. 

Suddenly, the door burst open. I looked up, bewildered, at the she-wolf who had entered. Fragments of past events and recognition started to surface in my mind, but a pounding headache quickly overshadowed them. 

"Damn it!" I cursed, clutching the bed sheet tightly. 

"Sis, are you alright?" she asked, her voice filled with concern. The name Freya surfaced in my foggy mind. That's right, she was Freya! 

I barked out an order. "Call Xena! I need this headache to end. Now!"  

The name came automatically to my lips—Xena, my trusted gamma.  

Freya's expression shifted to one of confusion as if I'd grown a third head. 

"Happy birthday, Keira!" She thrust a small, neatly wrapped box towards me. 

"W-who is Keira?!" I stammered, struggling to piece together fragmented memories through the fog of pain. The headache was unbearable. 

Freya's initial concern gave way to a chuckle. "Oh, I see. This must be a prank!" 

"What do you mean? What is a prank?" I snapped, my voice rising. "Is this how you treat your queen?!"