Pacifica
I rode into the tunnel at breakneck speed, the mare's hooves thundering against stone.
Halfway through the shadowed passage, I swung down from the saddle while still
in full gallop, boots hitting the ground running.
My hands flew to the messy bun, yanking the ties free so my long hair cascaded down my back once more, princess again, not intruder. I didn't slow until I burst through the
hidden door into my bedchamber.
And then I froze.
My father stood by the tall arched window, silhouetted against the predawn grey. The
Alpha King. Ruler of the Werewolf Kingdom. His broad shoulders were stooped
with the weight of too many battles, yet the regal bearing remained unbroken.
My maids knelt in a trembling row along the far wall, heads bowed low, already paying
the price for failing to keep watch over their wayward princess. They had let
me slip away, and now they awaited judgment.
Those keen, bright-grey eyes, eyes that had stared down armies and outlived sons of rival
packs fixed on me. They were tired, so very tired, but they sharpened the instant they caught the tears clouding mine. A small, troubled frown carved itself deeper into his brow.
"My child," he said, voice rough with sudden alarm.
I crossed the room on unsteady legs, lips trembling, heart fracturing anew with every
step. When I reached him I sank to my knees before the only man who had ever
truly terrified and protected me in equal measure.
"I am not marrying the Dragon Prince, Father. Send word. I beg you."
Silence crashed over the chamber like a winter storm. Heart-stopping seconds stretched while he studied my face, searching for any sign that he had misheard. Then a
soft rustle of silk came from behind me.
I turned.
My mother stepped through the inner doorway, her face already pale with shock.
She had heard every word.
"You will marry Flame Shai, Paci," she said quietly, though her voice trembled at the
edges. "He is the love of your life."
"Until I saw him tangled in sheets with his stepsister." The words tore from me, gritted
and raw. My heart stuttered violently. I watched my father's expression darken
to fury in an instant.
"I will not marry a man like that, Father. Please… send word."
The Alpha King regarded me for a long, heavy moment. Then his jaw set like forged iron.
He turned away, to overlooked the kingdom gates far below.
Years of ceaseless war had forged him into a warlord who had held this realm together through blood and fire. Now age and weariness had begun to claim
him, yet his will remained unyielding.
"I gave you to the Dragon Prince because you loved him," he said at last, voice low and
final, "and because we believed, truly believed, he loved you in return. But if
he has been unfaithful, then we break the union. We would rather face war again
than chain my daughter to dishonor."
My mother stepped forward, clutching the folds of her gown so tightly her knuckles
whitened.
"Your Majesty, I beg you, reconsider. The Dragon Kingdom must not be
provoked to wrath. There must be another way to salvage this."
My father's gaze snapped to her, sharp as a blade.
"So you suggest I hand my only
daughter, my miracle child, won after decades of barren grief to a man who would
treat her as a whore?"
She swallowed hard, words dying on her tongue. She had none left to offer.
He turned instead to the shadowed corner where Beta Slan had stood silent all this time.
"Send a royal decree to the Dragon Kingdom. The union is dissolved. Better to
die with dignity than live in shame."
***
"Incoming! It's the Dragon Prince!"
The shout rang from the watchtower, slicing through the heavy silence of the bright morning. I had spent sleepless on the edge of my bed. I rose slowly, every muscle taut.
Then I heard it. The steady, ominous drum of many hooves approaching. The royal
cavalcade.
A cold chill raced down my spine. I moved to the window and peered out into the paling morning.
There he was on the horizon. Flame Shai, riding at the head of his armored retinue,
banners snapping in the wind. I started to turn away, then froze.
Riding close behind him was a figure cloaked in black plate and shadow. The Knight.
The loyal Knight. A living omen of slaughter who answered only to a Dragon King.
My breath caught.
Flame Shai was not yet king. Why was the Loyal Knight here?
Panic surged. I bolted from the chamber, racing through corridors until I reached my
parents' rooms. The great bed stood empty.
"Father! Mother?!"
"My lady?" Beta Slan's calm voice came from behind me.
I whirled,
heart slamming against my ribs.
"Where are they?"
"They are in the royal hall."
I ran.
I burst into the grand hall just as the massive iron gates groaned open with a metallic
scream that echoed through the stone. I forced myself to slow, approaching the
dais with measured steps even as terror clawed at my throat.
My father sat upon the golden throne, the ancient sigil of the deity werewolf carved deep into the wall behind him. A snarling beast wreathed in moonfire. My mother stood
beside him, chin high, though her hands were clasped so tightly they trembled.
Beta Slan had delivered the decree. Flame Shai had received it. And now he was here with the Loyal Knight at his back.
The marching footsteps filled the hall. I lifted my gaze.
There he stood in the soft morning light. Flame Shai. Dragon runes glowed faintly along his neck and down his fingers, shimmering like molten gold.
He wore his royal fur-lined cloak clasped with obsidian, bracers gleaming at his wrists, eyes as piercing and unreadable as ever.
Those eyes found mine. That same slow, devastating smile, the one that had once melted every defense I possessed curved his lips.
I set my jaw. I would not be fooled again.
"I greet you, Your Majesty, Alpha," he said, voice carrying easily through the thick
tension as he advanced. "The moment I read your letter, I mounted my horse and
rode without pause."
We waited in brittle silence. He continued forward, steady, unhurried until the royal
guards stepped into his path just before the dais steps. Flame Shai halted, expression unchanging.
"My father died overnight," he said quietly.
The words struck like a hammer. I went rigid.
"He fell ill only days ago," I whispered, barely audible. "He showed no sign…"
Flame Shai's gaze never left my father's face. "So I stand here now as the new Dragon
King to ask why you break the alliance you swore with me."
"I love your daughter," he continued, and his eyes finally shifted to mine. The
confession landed soft yet heavy. "And she will be my wife. Anyone who claims
otherwise… is simply courting an early grave."
"I am not marrying you," I said, voice shaking with fury. "Not even over my dead body
will I…"
The rest died in my throat.
A sudden whoosh of displaced air. A blinding flash of steel and lightning-swift motion.
Blood sprayed across the throne steps.
Time shattered.
My father's head slipped from his shoulders and rolled across the marble with a sickening
thud. The Loyal Knight's sword dripped crimson, held steady and unhurried.
Horror flooded every corner of my being. I opened my mouth to scream but before sound could escape, Flame Shai was upon me.
He seized me, pinning me hard against the cold stone wall. His body pressed close, heat
and fury and possession radiating from him.
"You are mine, pup," he murmured against my ear, fingers curling possessively at my
waist. "Tonight we seal it with a vow. If you want your mother to live, if you
want your people to escape joining your father in death, then come quietly."
My mother's scream tore through the hall behind us.
Tears burned my eyes. His satisfied smile widened as he felt me tremble.
"That's it," he whispered, almost tenderly. "Happy birthday, Paci."