The Unexpected Queen 2: His Hunted Luna

LEAH

“No, Zeke, it’s a false alarm, it’s always a false alarm,” I say, walking past him, but stop abruptly when he grabs my arm. “No, Your Majesty, I have orders to take you to the basement.” Zeke’s voice is harsh, and I look up at him and then at John who is looking just as serious. I sigh in resignation and let them escort me to the basement.

We have experienced this procedure several times over the past year. It’s usually some lonely little rogue trying to cross the border. One time two managed to do it but the guards got control of the situation quickly, just as they always do. That is why it is so unnecessary to rush down into the safe room when we will be getting out of there right away anyway.

“What’s going on, Ares?” I ask via our link.

“Leah, let Zeke and John take you to safety.”

“Is it serious?”

We approach the spiral staircase that would lead us down to the basement; guards storm into the castle as the servants are escorted to another part of the basement. People are whispering anxiously to each other as the guards try to push them forward.

“I’ll tell you later, do as Zeke and John say.”

“Where are Maria and Mateo?” I ask Zeke, who is practically dragging me down the stairs.

“They’re in the safe room in the West Wing, don’t worry. Mateo would never let anything happen to Maria,” he replies as we hurry to the ground floor.

John opens a heavy thick metal door that squeaks so loudly that I need to hold my hands over my ears. It isn’t the first time I’ve been here; as soon as every alarm sounded, Ares sent me down here. Totally unnecessary if you ask me, I can take on a rogue without any problems.

“We need to watch the hallway. Lock the door from the inside, but don’t leave the room, okay?” John says, walking up to me.

In the past they have never left me here by myself, Zeke and John have always been with me inside the safe room. A slight nervousness and worry spread within me.

“John, what’s going on?” My voice breaks a little. The feeling of wanting to escape Zeke and John is instead being replaced by a strange worry about suddenly being by myself, something I have hardly been for the past year.

“Don’t worry, Your Majesty,” he replies, his gaze holding me steadily as he places a hand on my upper arm.

“Tell me right away what’s going on, you are worrying me, John! You haven’t left me alone for a second by myself in the past year and now you’re going to leave me down here by myself?” I raise my voice and look back and forth between Zeke and John, who are exchanging a glance with each other.

John is about to answer me when Zeke clears his throat and gives him a threatening look.

“She deserves to know,” he argues with Zeke. John turns to me again with his hand still on my arm. “We have a breach in the border, about a hundred rogues have passed and the army is working to take care of them.”

I look into his blue eyes, aware that he is still gently touching me. He must have realized how inappropriate it is because he quickly jerks his hand back. A slight blush spreads across my cheeks, and I nod. I wonder why he feels so tense all of a sudden.

“Okay, but hurry back,” Leah says quietly.

“We will stand guard above the spiral staircase, so you are not completely alone. There’s no other way in, okay?” Zeke replies as John leaves the basement.

I fold my arms over my torso and nod.

“Lock the door now, Your Majesty. And no matter what you hear, don’t come out until the king calls you.”

I nod again and pull the huge lock over the gate when it was completely closed. With my hand still on the barricade, I hear the sound of their footsteps fading.

With a sigh, I turn my back to the door to look out over my voluntary prison. The room is relatively large, with large bookshelves against the far wall, a door to the left leading to a small toilet with a shower, and sofas placed in the middle of the room. There is a cupboard next to one of the bookshelves that contains a smaller fridge that is always full of drinks and canned food. I open the fridge, grab a bottle of water, and lie down on the couch with my feet up on one armrest.

I have spent a lot of time in here lately. Ares hasn’t wanted to explain too much about why we are experiencing so many rogue attacks, but I won’t be left in the dark anymore. It will be my job to make sure I have the right information. He promised that we would be equals, but he worries too much about me and thinks that I will be scared if he gives me all the details. I’m not as weak as they seem to think I am!

I sit up, walk over to the bookshelves, and look over the well-read books. All the books are covered in dust, no one has read them in years it seems. I have only scrolled on my cell phone when I have been down here, but I didn’t bring it with me this time. I pull out a suitably thick book and sit down on the couch again. Werewolves and Other Creatures, the title read. Carefully, I dusted off the book cover and opened it to the first chapter, “Our Beginning.”

***

Time passed, and it has been a few hours before Ares’s voice echoes in my consciousness and tells me that John and Zeke will come down to escort me out of the safe room. I sigh as I slam the book that has kept me busy and put it back on the bookshelf. The dust has been scraped off the shelf, so I am sure I’ll be able to pull out the same book again if I return here any time soon.

“Your Majesty?” I hear a muffled voice call from the other side. I pull up the boom and unlock the door, which squeaks loudly as it opens.

To my surprise, they both look worn and tired, with parts of their clothes ripped off and their hair in tangles.

“What happened?” I ask when I find John bleeding on one of his hands. Quickly he places it behind his back but I’m faster, so I grab it to examine the wound—a scratch mark. “What the hell is this, John? Did they come into the castle?”

He exchanges an anxious look with Zeke.

“Don’t look at him, I’m your queen, look at me!” I growl, and he obeys instantly. I tear off part of my sleeve to wrap his hand with. His blue eyes glint with something I’ve never seen before, but before I can reflect on it, he rips his hand away from me.

“The king will inform you,” he replies harshly walking away, leaving me and Zeke behind. I look questioningly at Zeke, who shrugs. In silence, the two of us go up the spiral staircase, but before we get all the way up, Zeke stops.

“Your Majesty, there has been a commotion up here, just so you know.”

I push my way past him but stop abruptly when I reach the hallway. I suppress a scream with my hand to my mouth when I see the blood stains adorning the floors and walls. They must have already moved the bodies, for which I am grateful.

“What happened here?” I gasp.

Zeke is squirming where he stands, unwilling to be the one to tell me. So, I huff irritably and march toward the only place I know Ares must be. Furiously, I rip open the door to his office and am about to scold him when I see him sitting in his office chair. He is covered in blood, wearing only shorts. His hair is tangled, and his gaze is pitch black.

“Leah,” he whispers as he meets my gaze.

All the anger that was occupying my body washes off me immediately at the sight of him.

“Are you hurt?” I ask anxiously as I approach him, my eyes wandering frantically over his body in search of wounds or injuries.

He shakes his head, continuing with his intensely dark look fixed on me.

“Tell me what happened, I demand it,” I say with my arms folded, a little anger returning now that I know he is not hurt.

“The attacks are getting worse and worse,” he says wryly. “There were over a hundred this time, some made it into the castle. They initially came from the north, so we directed our army there, but it was just a diversion, allowing a smaller group to penetrate the borders in the east and enter the castle. John and Zeke had to fight them off alone until we could let some of the army help them. It was close to…”

I sink down and sit on his desk, unaware of what to say now.

“They were after you, Leah,” he says in a dangerously dark tone, his wolf very present.

“Why?”

Ares pulls his chair closer to me so that my legs straddle his torso. He puts his hands around my thighs and puts his head on my lap.

“Why doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’re here now and I won’t let anyone take you,” he says with finality.

“But I deserve to know Ares, it’s my life we’re talking about!” I answer desperately.

He quickly gets up and lifts me up into his arms, I hook my legs around his body and my arms around his neck.

“It doesn’t matter,” he replies in an unusually deep voice as he bares his corner teeth. I look at his face—his eyes are pitch black, his wolf about to take over his body.

“Okay,” I whisper as I hug him, worried that he will lose control. I feel him take deep breaths against my neck, something that always calms him. His body slowly stops trembling, and I relax. But what is he hiding from me?