PREQUEL: Royal Ancestors

“I will not accept ignorance, Alaric!” Beatrice growled angrily at her first in command.

“It is not ignorance, your grace. We simply do not know.” Alaric sighed.

“We are the realm, Alaric, there is nothing that we should not know.” She was pacing the throne room, cradling her bloated belly.

“The warriors will not rest until the rogues have been wiped from existence.” Neil said, watching me closely.

“Neither shall I.” Beatrice mumbled.

“My Queen, you….” Forrest started to argue but one glare from Beatrice shut him up.

“The rogues will attack us again. They will come for the crown and they will not leave empty handed this time. They will either be killed or the crown will fall.” Beatrice said in an ominous tone of voice.

She would not ignore the warnings that her mate gave her in his final moments. He warned her of the coming battle as the Moon Goddess warned her so many years ago of something that was so much bigger than her. Deep down, she knew that everything had to do with the words Arlo couldn’t say, the warning he wanted to give Beatrice about their unborn daughter.

“Have you shown your mates the way to the portal?” Beatrice asked the royal guards. They all looked displeased but nodded anyway,

“Yes, my Queen, against my better judgment I might add.” Killian grumbled.

“Do they know the way by heart? Have they memorized the passage to the portal and to the safe house?” Beatrice ignored his complaints.

“Yes.” Neil nodded.

“You really believe that it will come down to that?” Forrest asked.

“I hope that it does not, but we must be ready if it does. If everything fails, your bloodlines and mine must survive.” Beatrice told them.

“Our bloodlines, my Queen?” Alaric questioned her.

“You four come from the oldest, strongest bloodlines known to the werewolf species. The Hayes, Landry, Oxford, Greystone, and Merriweather bloodlines must continue if the realm and the species are to continue. Everything depends on it, the future depends on it. I cannot explain how I know this, but the Moon Goddess has ensured that I do.” Beatrice said,

“We follow your lead, my Queen, without question.” Neil bowed his head.

“I must speak to the people.” Beatrice declared suddenly.

“What? No. The King’s final wish….” Forrest began to argue.

“I will not tell them of my pregnancy. I will conceal it within my gowns. The people have not heard from the royal family since the announcement of the King’s death. If we are to survive, I must keep our people informed.” Beatrice decided,

“I will not keep the people of the realm in the dark. Secrecy will only help the rogues grow stronger. Without the knowledge of the rogue werewolves working against the royal family, the realm’s people will not know who stands against or beside.” She went on to explain.

“Yes, your grace.” Alaric sighed but agreed with his Queen’s request.

Alaric left the throne room to make the royal announcement that would gather the realm on the steps of the palace, but his message would never be delivered. Before he could make it to the front doors of the palace, they were barrelled down by an army of werewolves.

“Protect the Queen!” He shouted to warn the others.

Beatrice ran from the throne room just in time to see three wolves ascend on Alaric, ripping his head from his shoulders.

“No!” Beatrice shrieked before the remaining guards pulled her back into the throne room, “Mindlink your mates. Tell them to grab the children and run.” She told the others quickly.

Beatrice ran across the room and picked up Austin who was playing on his father’s throne, the throne that should have been his one day.

Neil, Forrest, and Killian shifted into their wolves and snarled dangerously at the doors to the throne room. In seconds, the monstrous doors had fallen from their hinges and at least two hundred rogue wolves stood on top of them. The wolf who stood at the point of the pack shifted and walked further into the room, despite the snarls of the royal guard.

“Who are you?” Beatrice shouted, keeping 6-year-old Austin behind her back.

“I am Reginald Jacobs. Beside me is Maxwell Harvey, Henric Cardinal, and Fredric Eliason,” As he spoke the names, more wolves began to shift until four men were standing before the Queen,

“We are the leaders of the wolves you have deemed as the rogue werewolves. We prefer to be known as the Council of the Werewolves.” Reginald Jacobs explained.

“The Council of the Werewolves?” Beatrice questioned.

“The Council will be the governing body of the werewolves once the crown has been thoroughly erased from both the present and the history of our people.” Fredric Eliason said,

“You killed the King.” Beatrice glared at the four men who named themselves as the leaders of the rogue werewolves.

“That honor belongs to me.” Maxwell Harvey said with a smug expression.

“I will say, we have all been fighting over who gets the honor to kill the future king.” Henric Cardinal snickered.

“Why are you doing this?” Beatrice screamed.

“We have been gathering followers for years now, sensing the weakening strength of the royal family. When the King Alpha declared that he was taking a mate and Queen Luna who had no wolf, that was the final straw. The werewolves cannot be led by a weak, pathetic wolfless mutt.” Eliason sneered.

“Once the King was killed we thought that one of the royal guards would be named the king until the young prince was old enough to rule. When the realm announced that the Queen was to rule alone until Prince Austin was old enough, that was when we knew completely that the realm had truly fallen.” Harvey said, glaring at Beatrice.

Before Beatrice could respond, her stomach tightened and a trickle of liquid ran down her leg. Her water had broken and she was going into labor. Beatrice clenched her teeth to keep from crying out and refused to grip her stomach in an attempt to hide her condition from the rogues.

“The crown will not fall at your command.” Queen Beatrice said, giving a silent command to her royal guard.

Neil, Forrest, and Killian began their attack; the royal army closing in behind the rogues and attacking from the flank. While the wolves were distracted, Beatrice grabbed Austin and ran towards the King’s throne. She pulled open a secret door in the back of the throne and stepped inside the darkness, closing the hatch behind her.

The tunnels snaked below the castle, a system that Arlo had made Beatrice memorize her first year here. She took the tunnel all the way to the servants quarters, knowing it was the last place anyone would look for her. She burst through the rusted metal door and into the kitchen. Everyone gasped and Helena came running up to her.

“My lady!” She cried out, catching Austin as Beatrice fell to the ground.

“The castle is under attack. Alaric is dead and the rogues have infiltrated our walls. Also, my baby is coming.” Beatrice stuffed her fist in her mouth to keep from screaming when another contraction hit her.

“Help me!” Helena yelled to the staff who all jumped into action.

Helena forced Beatrice to lay down on the floor of the kitchen and gathered up her dress, pushing the fabric out of her way.

“I see the head, my Queen.” Helena said and Beatrice prayed that this birth was easy as her last.

“I need something to bite on so I don’t scream.” Beatrice said and one of the maids handed her a towel. Beatrice stuffed the towel in her mouth and gripped two fistfuls of her dress, nodding at Helena.

“Push, my lady.” Helena ordered and Beatrice did as she was told.

She pushed with all her might, screaming into the towel which, thankfully, muffled the sound. She pushed and pushed, but felt no relief. Pain gripped her pelvis and she knew that something was wrong.

“The shoulder is stuck, my Queen.” Helena said, fear evident in her eyes.

Beatrice removed the towel from her mouth to give Helena an order.

“You get her out, no matter what may happen to me. You get. her. out.” Beatrice commanded before biting down on the towel again.

“Yes, my Queen.” Helena frowned at her orders, not liking them but having no other choice.

Helena reached into Beatrice and gripped the baby’s shoulder, twisting the infant painfully in the birth canal until she was freed from the pelvis. Beatrice screamed and thrashed around, feeling more pain than she thought she was capable of surviving. Some of the maids held her down as Helena removed the purple newborn from her mother.

Helena cut the umbilical cord and shook the baby, slapping it on the back until it started to cry. The entire room let out a sigh of relief. Helena laid the baby on Beatrice’s chest.

“Your daughter, my Queen.”

“Ember Arlo Merriweather.” Beatrice sobbed, kissing the top of her daughter’s head.

Beatrice started to feel lightheaded, her hands beginning to shake.

“You’re bleeding, my lady.” Helena said as she moved back between Beatrice’s legs. She started stuffing towels into her to try and stop the bleeding.

“Where is my son?” Beatrice asked in a trembling voice.

“Mommy?” Austin whispered as she wrestled with the maid who was holding him and ran towards me.

“This is your sister, Ember. Give her a kiss.” Beatrice told her son. Austin kissed Ember’s cheek and she cooed at him, glancing up at her brother with beautiful hazel eyes.

“Mommy loves you, Austin,” Beatrice said, bringing Austin down to his chest, “And Mommy loves you, Ember.”

“We have to go. I have to get the children to safety.” Beatrice said, pushing Helena away.

“My lady, you’re bleeding….”

“Nothing can save me now. My duty is to save my children.” Beatrice said, fixing her dress and standing on shaky legs, “Try to get yourselves out if you can. The crown has fallen.”