I am the Queen

Charlotte

I sat on my bed, holding the letter with shaky hands not sure what to do. If I stayed, my son might be in danger. Logan’s at the battlefield with Michael-everything seemed clearer when they were around. But now if I left, leaving behind the castle, it would leave him vulnerable to a probable attack by the rebels. My biggest worry was whether Diane was telling the truth or was this just another lie to manipulate me, putting my son at risk and taking advantage of my husband’s absence.

The bedroom doors opened and Lia came in. When she saw me, she ran towards me with her hands outstretched. "What's wrong? Why are you shaking?" I held out the letter for Lia to read.

"What do I do, Lia? She's openly threatening my son, saying that if I don't go they'll kill him," I said tearfully.

In the letter, Diane wrote that Aiden didn't know that I can't have children after giving birth to Fenrir. Eventually, he'll find out and lose interest in me. Aiden's plan involved killing Fenrir, once he would become useless. To save my son, I needed to meet up with Diane and take my son home.

"I need to go, I need to get out of the castle." I got up and started pacing back and forth inside the room, trying to think of routes that would get me to Diane faster without me being seen leaving.

"You can't go, Charlotte," Lia said in a controlled voice. I turned to her, sitting in the chair with her perfect posture and expressionless face. I went over to her, grabbing her by the collar of her dress and lifting her.

"Are you telling me to let my only son die cowardly while I stay here, protected?" I shouted in her face. Lia grabbed my hands and carefully pulled them away, but kept them in hers.

"I'm going to tell you what you still don't know about Aurora's she-wolves." Her voice trembled for a moment, her eyes on our hands."

"There's no time for that, Lia," I said desperately. Lia touched my face with her trembling hand.

"In that castle where you were imprisoned, did you see a painting of a wolf with copper-colored fur, like yours?" I remained silent. I hadn't told anyone about that painting, so how did Lia know?

"There was also a painting of a black-haired queen." Lia nodded in agreement with her eyes closed.

"You probably already know about Selene and her predecessors, but perhaps you don't know how this lineage came to you," I agreed as Lia gestured for us to sit down at the table. "First, the she-wolves of Aurora protected the forest of Reims, and it was the Eastern Wolves who brought the plague there. They wanted that land, but realized they had little power against the she-wolves protected by the Goddess and possessing splendid abilities. So they spread the disease and other malicious actions that led the Wolves of the Dawn to make the ultimate sacrifice, but they didn't foresee that one of them would survive.

"Selene took it upon herself to be the guardian of the forest, so she found her predestined companion." Lia gave a sad smile.

"It would be a beautiful fairy tale if it were like that, my child." I looked at Lia in confusion. "Athos and Selene were not predestined, but they became companions so that they would both benefit. Selene had wisdom and magical gifts and Athos was a powerful alpha with a large pack. Selene was alone and would be easily overwhelmed if an attack from the east occurred. This union intimidated the invaders, who decided to retreat until they found out about Selene's daughter, and then they proposed." My blood ran cold.

"Don't tell me Selene sold her daughter to the East?" Lia nodded in agreement. "How could she do that? She was supposed to protect her!"

"But she was protecting her," Lia said calmly

"How? By handing her over to the same people who forced her family to sacrifice themselves after spreading a plague in the forest?" I was angry, as I put myself in Selene's daughter's shoes.

"If Athos and Selene hadn't agreed to that marriage, the East would have invaded and taken the she-wolf, made her a slave until they covered that she could only give birth to two children, then she would have been killed and her daughter would have suffered the same fate." I felt the blood leave my face and sat down again. "They had no choice but to protect the only descendant of the Aurora Wolves. Her brother wouldn't accept it and left for the North, giving rise to the most powerful wolves the continent has ever seen."

All of us, in some way, were descendants of the She-Wolves of Aurora. Logan was a Northern Wolf, shrouded in prophecies and curses linked directly to me, a descendant of Selene. The union thinking of benefits and self-preservation from Selene until today, a history fated to repeat itself forever.

"What happened to the Eastern alliance with Selene and Athos?" I asked hopefully.

"That union gave rise to the powerful alphas kings, much stronger and more ferocious wolves, born to rule over all the packs that inhabited the forests of Reims. But, one day, when yet another alliance was about to take place between the alpha king and a daughter of the North, his sister, the one who inherited Selene's gifts, simply disappeared. Wolves from an unknown place, far beyond the great sea, invaded and destroyed everything, including the castle. The future queen disappeared and a new capital was created."

"Disappeared? How could she just disappear like that?" I asked and Lia closed her eyes for a moment, as if she was having painful memories.

"What is known is that, before your mother was chosen as queen, nothing was known about Selene's descendants. Whether they were alive and hiding somewhere or whether the Goddess had stripped them of their power for abandoning their duties as guardians."

"Gabriel said that his mother was a she-wolf of the dawn," I said and Lia looked at me in shock.

"Other daughters disappeared in mysterious ways, which could explain Gabriel's descendants and his mother."

"He also said that he identified my lineage because I smell like his mother, but I don't have any of the gifts of these she-wolves, I'm just a weak creature who has been protected by everyone all along." Lia held my hands tightly.

"That's not true, Charlotte, you went to the North alone, trying to understand your destiny and surviving moments that other she-wolves would only have given up to stay alive. You fought and overcame adversity, you are not weak in any way." The way Lia spoke, full of pride in achievements that even I didn't know were so incredible, made my heart fill with pride.

Yes, I had managed to overcome difficult times while I was still pregnant and Diane would not be the one to intimidate me and take my child and my future away from me. Whether I was a descendant of Selene, I couldn't just sit back and do nothing, but now I knew exactly where to start. Lia was right, I needed to know everything before I acted, knowing the truth freed me from a foolish and childish fantasy I had begun to harbor. I wasn't just a descendant, I was the queen and guardian of Reims alongside Logan, I was the Luna of that kingdom and I needed to start acting like it. I got up and left the room, Lia following me closely without saying a word.

I reached the room where Gabriel was to receive the necessary care and saw the doctor putting away his equipment. Gabriel was still asleep on the bed, his face and body covered in bloody bandages and dressings. The doctor noticed us and bowed. I looked around and didn't see the other wolf who had arrived with Gabriel.

"How is he, doctor?" I asked in the softest voice I could manage.

"Another minute and we'd be looking at a corpse, ma'am, but now he has a good chance of surviving," he said, looking at Gabriel with a certain pride in his work.

"What about the other wolf? I don't see him in his bed." The doctor looked at me in confusion.

"The soldier? He only had a few scratches, nothing that needed more in-depth treatment."

How was it possible that Gabriel was on the verge of death and the wolf who, theoretically, should have been with him to protect him, didn't have any significant injuries?

"Soldier!" I called out and one of the soldiers at the door came forward. "Arrest the soldier who arrived with Gabriel and take him to the dungeons," I ordered. The soldier looked at me a little evasively. "Do you have a problem obeying your Queen's orders?" I asked and the soldier paused, bowed, and left.

"Are you sure about this, Charlotte?" Lia asked me. I looked at her smiling.

"I'm the queen, I have to act like it." Lia nodded in agreement, then we walked to the dungeons.

The soldier was tied up with ropes, three soldiers around him waiting for orders. I approached and they lowered their heads. The captive wolf laughed from his position on the ground.

"Did Diane or Aiden order you to give me that letter?" I asked in a firm voice and the prisoner just sat down comfortably and continued laughing.

"Or what, are you going to torture me?" I approached, looking down at him.

I needed to understand that the wolf in front of me was nothing more than an obstacle, something that was getting in my way. I needed to see him as my enemy, just as Logan did. I smiled and watched his back, his laughter gradually fading. I looked at a soldier who understood the order immediately. I watched carefully as his fingers were ripped off, one by one, then his canines, and finally an ear. Lia touched my shoulder and I had a little jolt.

"You don't have to take part in this," she said in my ear.

"Yes, I do," I replied and then raised my hand, ordering the soldiers to stop.

I approached him once more, now the prisoner was no longer laughing, but, he was shaking like a coward, cowering on the damp floor of the cell.

"Now I think you're ready to talk, if not, we can continue," I said, mentioning to raise my hand once more.

"No, wait!" he said in a panic. "It was Aiden, he ordered me to bring the letter, they plan to capture you as soon as you arrive at the meeting place. They believe that, with King Alpha away, you're weak and would blindly follow a request from your mother."

Once again Diane was trying to manipulate me, as she had done all my life. I turned my back on the prisoner, I already had the information I needed to take my next step. I took one last look at the soldier before leaving the cell and climbing the stairs, but I could still hear that traitorous wolf's cry of despair before his death.

"Lia, prepare everything you need and call two soldiers to go with me," I said, walking quickly back to my room.

"What do you intend to do?" asked Lia calmly.

"I'm going to rescue my family."