Forbidden Queen

Katy

I am exhausted after spending time with the warriors and visiting the wounded. It is the least that I could do. I am so grateful to them for fighting the Black Moon pack warriors. I feel guilty that so many wolves were injured or have been killed in order to protect me. If I didn’t exist Lucius wouldn’t have attacked today, and no one would have lost their life.

Alex as always can sense my mood. He wraps me in his arms and holds me close.

“It isn’t your fault” he tells me. “Our warriors were killed and injured because of Lucius ambition not because of you.”

“They only attacked because of me. If I had stayed as an omega in your pack Lucius would never have attacked and killed my wolves.”

“No, he wouldn’t have. He would have concentrated on defeating the Royal Pack and the other packs who have formed alliances with them. Without you they wouldn’t have had a reason to fight on. Instead, he would have been able to take over and crown himself king. A cold brutal king, who would have killed the weak and subjugated everyone else.

You give people hope and a reason to fight. Without you we would never be able to truly beat him.”

I sigh. Alex always manages to make me feel better. To make me believe that what we are doing is right. It is one of the many reasons that I love him.

“Thank you” I tell him. “I know that this war is necessary, I just don’t think that I will ever be able to accept that people should lose their lives in order to save me. “The wolves that have died today, are people that I have spent time with, started to get to know. They have told me about their families and the people that they love. They have shared some of their hopes for the future and their ambitions. I had begun to care for them.

He kisses me gently. “That is one of the reasons why I love you so much. You have taken the time to get to know and care about every wolf in this convoy. You would do anything for them. That is why you are going to be a great queen. But don’t let your feelings of guilt over the casualties we suffered today take over.

There is no peaceful way to end this war. There will be more fights and more deaths. I know that you will never be able to switch off your emotions and harden your heart to the losses, but you need to accept that this is war. To beat Lucius, we will need to defeat him in battle, and that means that some of our wolves will die”

I think about his words. I know that he speaks the truth. That this is war and people will die. “You are right. I don’t know how I would cope with any of this without you being here to support and advise me. I love you so much. The moon goddess could not have given me a better mate.”

He smiles at me. A wide, open, beautiful smile. “I love you too. Now though my beautiful mate it is time for bed.” He kisses me hard, and for the moment I forget everything but the sparks that break out as he touches me, and the heat that ignites in my core as he presses his mouth to mine.

Daniel

I finally feel as though I can trust my mate. I know why she has been hiding who she is. I can’t imagine how horrible it must have been to grow up with a cold and brutal father like hers. The courage it must have taken for her to run away, knowing that her father would chase her, and inflict a harsh punishment if he caught her. She was so close to being taken when we found her. I dread to think what would have happened if we hadn’t been there to save her.

Now though I have to convince Katy, and then eventually Alex and Joseph, that she is not our enemy, and she doesn’t pose a threat. They have to look past who her father is and see her; the caring person who has risked her health to heal our wounded.

I have decided to try and catch Katy alone, after her training with Joseph has finished. So far, she has been sympathetic towards Anna, and I believe that she will give us a fair hearing, before making her decision. I have to trust that she will not just throw Anna into prison. If she can accept Anna, and believe that she is not a threat, then we have a chance at persuading everyone else too. If not, at least I know she will advise me on the best way to handle the situation.

I just hope that they can all understand that just because Anna is Lucius’ daughter that does not make her a bad person, I need to explain how cruel he has been to her while she was growing up. She is as much his victim as anyone else. I am hoping that the way they all protected Lily when her father was found to be a traitor will mean that they can understand that Anna is in the same sort of situation.

Whatever they say, if they are not prepared to accept her, or give her a chance I will not abandon her. If it comes to it, if they will not accept my mate, then I am prepared to leave my pack. We haven’t known each other for very long, we aren’t fully mated yet, but I cannot imagine life without her. She is everything to me.

Katy

I am just finishing a training session with Joseph when Daniel appears, he hovers in the background reluctant to speak until he knows that we have finished. It has been a long and arduous session. The fact that we have fought a major battle with the Black Moon Pack only yesterday hasn’t been enough of a reason to cancel my training.

In fact, Joseph is so impressed that I managed to kill one of my attackers that he has decided to step up my training regime. Before his goal had been to make sure that I could escape and survive an attack. Now he is determined to make sure that I can fight any warrior that might try to attack me.

He has altered my training programmes so that I use the fighting skills I have learned to defeat my opponent, without having to resort to dirty tricks to bring them down.

I can’t wait.

It also takes my mind off the horrors of yesterday. Thinking about all the wolves that died to keep me safe, the injured who may never truly recover. While they were risking their lives for me I was hiding in a tent. Never again. The next time my wolves fight for me I will be with them, at the front taking the fight to Lucius and his pack.

As I walk away from the training ground, Daniel falls in beside me.

What could he want now? Anna had proven herself to be invaluable yesterday. We would have lost many more wolves without her healing skills. I need to speak to her alone and thank her for what she did. It also clears up the question of whether or not she is one of Lucius’ traitors. She had plenty of opportunities yesterday to abandon us and run to the enemy, or sabotage our ability to fight, but she didn’t she worked tirelessly to heal our warriors and I won’t forget that.

I say to Daniel “Hey, how are you doing?”

“Good, really good. Anna and I have accepted each other as mates. I plan to mark her soon and make it official but there is something I need to tell you first. I need your help.”

“Of course. What is it you need?”

He doesn’t answer me at first. Whatever is wrong, must be something big because he is struggling to tell me about it. “Spit it out, Daniel we have been friends for far too long for you to worry about telling me anything.”

He smiles at me. “Yes. I know and that is why you are the only person I can confide in. The only person who will be prepared to help us. “Anna has told me who she really is and why we found her in the forest with Black Moon Pack warriors. She isn’t a spy for Lucius, and she was telling the truth when she said that she was trying to reach her uncle, but….

He pauses I can tell the next thing he is about to tell me is going to be difficult. “And” I say gently.

“She was running from Lucius, from the Black Moon Pack. Those wolves we fought were trying to capture her.”

“Then she is welcome here” I tell him. “Any enemy of Lucius is a friend of ours. We have all suffered because of him and I am prepared to help anyone who he tries to hurt.” I hope that my words will reassure him, but the opposite seems to be true.

I watch as he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath as he tries to steady himself, when he opens them again I can see determination in his expression.

“You might not feel that way when I tell you who Anna really is, but please don’t judge her before I tell you the whole truth. Anna is Lucius’ daughter.”

I am shocked, horrified but before I have time to respond Daniel continues quickly.

“Her father has never shown her any love. Her mother is dead. She hated living in that pack with him, hated his cruelty. She is so different from him; all she has ever wanted to do is become a healer.

A few weeks ago, he made the decision to forcibly mate her to one of his allies. An older, cruel man much like himself. To escape that fate, she ran. Knowing that Lucius would punish her severely if he caught her. And he would have caught her if we hadn’t stumbled across her in the forest.

She was too scared to tell us who she really was. She thought that we would judge her for being related to Lucius. That we would kill her or try to use her as a bargaining tool against him. All she wants is to be left alone to heal those who are ill or injured and be my mate.”

He stops I can hear the passion in his voice, the desperation to be believed and for me to agree to help his mate. I am conflicted. I know what it is like to love someone who you are not supposed to be with. I know that just because Lucius is Anna’s father that this doesn’t mean that she is not a good person. Look at who Lily’s father was, but Lucius’ daughter? The child of the man who has caused us all so much pain. I am not sure if I can look past that.

Minutes pass as I try to decide what to do next. I can see the tension in Daniel’s face the fear that he has made a mistake in telling me the truth. That is enough for me to make my mind up. Daniel is my friend. The moon goddess would not have paired him with someone who wasn’t the other half of his soul. I needed to give Anna a chance.

“Tell Anna to come to my tent tonight, after dinner. You can escort her there, but I want to speak to her alone. I need to find out who she really is. I will make my decision on what to do next after I have spoken to her, but make sure she knows that there can be no more lies. If I am even to think about taking her side and defending her to Alex and Joseph, I need her to be completely honest with me.

Daniel sighs, the tension leaves his body and he nods at me.

“Thank you. That is all that I can ask. She is a good person, and you will see that for yourself when you speak to her. You will see that she isn’t a threat to us.”

I nod and smile, but as I walk away, I think about how difficult this situation is going to be. I will make my own mind up about whether Anna is a threat to us or not. The girl will need to do a lot to convince me that she is not like her father.

Unlike Daniel I am not biased by the mate bond, and what is most important to me is that I keep my people safe. No one else will die because I or my wolves put their faith in one of Lucius creatures. I hope that Daniel is right for his sake because if he is not, the loss of his mate will break him.