Mated to the Werewolf King
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Alena Des
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Family Ties
BELLE
This was how the world ended.
The king of wolves, the mythic monster, the majestic man Iâd grown to love and lust for with my every breath, he lay thereâŚbleeding out beside his throne. Dying.
Towering over him was a grinning demonâŚthe Demon Lord. He pointed at me with a long, black, spindly finger.
âYouâre mine now,â he croaked, fire spitting from his mouth. âAnnabelleâŚmy princess of darknessâŚâ
I fell to my knees and cried out in anguish. But as the tears trailed down my cheeks, I felt themâŚbubblingâŚboilingâŚmelting through my skin. I shrieked, tearing at my face, trying to make it stop.
But there was no stopping what I was becoming now. I heard the Demon Kingâs cackling laugh as my tears became black scars, my eyes voids, my lipsâŚthat would never know the taste of his againâŚthe Werewolf King I lovedâŚ
He was lost.
I was lost.
The world was lost⌠Only darkness ruled nowâŚ
***
I woke up with a start, shaking, hyperventilating, but the world was still dark.
âWhat?â I said, freaking out. âWhatâs happening?â
I realized I was wearing an eye mask, and as soon as I pulled it off, I could see I was safe and sound in my chambers. Phew.
That damn dream again. Itâd been recurring for weeks. But every time I woke up, I couldnât remember a single detail. Only the terror, the dread, the feeling that something big was coming. But what?
A heavy knock at the door made me jump.
âHoney?â
I turned to see my father. That was all. Get a grip, Belle, I scolded myself.
âWhat is it, Dad?â
âThereâs something important we need to discuss.â
He came and sat down on my bed. My father was the alpha of our pack, built like a brick wall, but with a quiet kindness in his brown eyes that couldnât be rivaled. He was fiercely devoted to his family, which is why what he said next shocked me to my core.
âAnabelle,â he said, eyes lowering. âI donât know how to say this, but itâs time for you to leave the pack behind.â
My eyes widened. âWhat?â
âYour mother and I are sending you somewhereâŚsafe. Warm. Far away from here.â
âWhat are you talking about?â I said, standing up, backing away. âThis is my home! I canât leave the pack. I belongââ
âYou belong where I say you belong!â he bellowed, and I was struck quiet.
My father rarely raised his voice. That meant this was serious. It meant that he, the alpha of our pack, was scared of something. ButâŚwhat?
âWhyâŚwhy are you doing this?â I asked, and now tears filled my eyes.
I thought of my brother, Sean, my best friends, Joshua and Danny, and most of all, of Gregory, the man I believed I was destined to be with. How was I ever going to live without them? What was happening? My world was slipping from beneath my feet.
âI canât explain,â Dad said. âBut you must understand, Annabelle. Itâs for your own protection.â
Protection from what? Was this related to that damn dream? If only I could remember the details. But I wasnât scared of itâŚwhatever it was. No. This was my home. And nothing, nobody, was going to take that away from me.
âAnnabelle,â my father said, seeing the wheels turning in my head. âDonâtââ
âTry to stop me,â I said.
And before he knew what was happening, I ran from the room, out of the house, and into the woods as fast as my feet could take me.
***
I was running for my life. In the distance, I could hear my fatherâs booming voice. âCome back here, Annabelle!â
But no way was I stopping now. I shifted and felt the familiar warmth seep into my skin. My limbs stretching, a pelt of reddish fur emerging from my body, covering me like a thick blanket.
Now on all fours, I sped toward my secret spot in the forest. I discovered it when I was much younger. Sean, my big brother, had teased me relentlessly, leading me to flee into the forest in tears.
âYouâre not my sister!â he shouted. âGo back where you came from!â He was five years my senior, and all Iâd ever wanted was to be loved by him.
That night, I stumbled exhausted into the clearing, but the full moon looked down on me, blinding me with its fluorescent majesty. It spoke to me silently, soothing my worries. It was my secret friend when I was lost in the darkness.
I was running there now, hoping to find the same solace and comfort I first felt those thirteen years ago. Being sent away meant I would have to leave behind my special clearing, too. I couldnât bear the thought.
Where could I turn? Where could I be alone? Oh, dear Moon Goddess, donât let this be my fate. Donât let my father send me away!
âBelle, stop! Wait for me,â hollered Sean. Time had done much to resolve our differences, making us close now. I knew he cared, but something inside me refused to let my legs stop running. I needed to be away from everyone.
I heard him shift behind me, his large six-foot-ten-inch frame morphing into a massive grey wolf that was just as quick as it was strong. He would catch up with my small, weak wolf at any moment.
When I first shifted at fifteen, I thought my wolf would get bigger, but it never did. Unlike the rest of my family, my wolf remained small and scrawny.
Which made me easier to catch.
Seanâs wolf jumped on my back, pinning me to the dirt. I tried to wriggle free, nipping at his legs, but it was no use. Sean snarled and dug his nails into my pelt.
Relenting under the pain, I morphed back to my human form and he let me get up. One upside to being an undersized wolf? I was the only one in the pack who could keep my clothes on while shifting.
âWe need to talk,â Sean said, putting on his shirt.
âIâm not going anywhere,â I spat. âIf Dad sent you after meââ
âYou have to, Belle. Itâs the only way.â
âI canât believe youâre on his side,â I shot back. âFor the Moon Goddessâs sake, will you tell me what the hellâs going on?â
Sean looked away. I knew it must be something serious. He wasnât one to avoid confrontation. In fact, he had quite the reputation in the pack for knocking out anyone who looked at him wrong. Or any poor guy who looked at me, for that matter.
âHeâs coming for you, Belle,â Sean said quietly. âHe knows where you are. You canât be here when you turn eighteen.â
âHe? What are you talking about? Whoâs he?â
âThatâs not for me to say. If Dad didnât think you should knowâŚâ
âItâs my life, Sean!â I shouted. âI deserve to know if someoneâs after me. Please? Tell me. Who is it? Whoâs coming for me? Is it another alpha?â
âNo, heâs not a werewolf. HeâsâŚheâs something else.â
âSomething else? What do you mean? There isnât anything else. Just humans and werewolves.â
âThereâs a lot you donât know, BelleâŚâ
I felt like the world I knew and loved was falling apart and not even my secret clearing could protect me from what was coming next.
âLook, do you remember that day you ran away in the forest because I was taunting you, and no one could find you all day, and Mom went ballistic?â
âAnd then you were grounded for a week?â I replied. âYes, of course. I hated you that day.â
âSure, I would have, too,â Sean said impatiently, as if I was keeping him from making his point. âBut, do you remember what I was saying before you took off?â
âYou saidâŚyou said that no one loved me, and Mom and Dad were lying to me. You were a real jerk back then, you know that? You made my life a living hell.â
âI also said, you were found at the Pack border.â
âWhatever. Thatâs the same stupid joke every older brother makes. What does it matter?â But my body betrayed my true feelings. I could feel my heart pounding fiercely in my ribcage. A revelation was comingâI could feel it.
Sean looked at me with heavy eyes and let out a deep sigh. âThat wasnât a joke, Belle.â
I silently pleaded for him to smirk or wink, anything to indicate he was just pulling my leg. Instead, his face remained solemn.
âI remember one night, Dad came back with a bundle in his arms, and he and Mom argued. I had never heard them argue like that. So, I got closer and started to eavesdrop. Mom wanted to keep you, but Dad was worried.
âHe kept saying, there must be more to the story. He said somebody was going to come back for you one day. I rushed downstairs to see what they were talking about. And thatâs when I first saw you, bundled in that blanket. You were so small and fragile, Belle.
âThatâs why I was angry for so long. I was scared to love you because I thought you might be taken from us, and I couldnât bear the thought of losing my little sister. It took me a while to realize, it didnât matter if someone came, because they werenât your family. We were your family.â
It was too much to process all at once. I didnât know where to begin. I looked at my brother, my protector, my friend. This was tearing him apart from the inside.
âThat's why youâre so over-protective?â I asked.
âI canât help it,â he said, nodding. âI promised Iâd never let anything bad happen to you. Thatâs why you have to come back home with me, all right?â
âFirst, tell me,â I demanded. âWho is he? Whoâs after me?â
Sean sighed, looking down. I knew the answers were imminent, though, I suspected, they werenât going to make anything clearer.
âLast week, an ultimatum was issued to the King. It said to hand you over or else war would be declared on all werewolves.â
âThe King? A war?â I stammered. âWhat could that possibly have to do with me?â
âBelle,â Sean said, holding me firmly. âWe donât know much. But we know heâs a ruler of all his kind. We know heâs calledâŚthe Demon Lord.â
A flash of horrifying imagery struck me silent. A black, spindly finger pointed right at me. A fiery, cackling mouth. The dream.
That was who Iâd dreamt of. The Demon Lord.
âI wish I knew more,â Sean said. âAll we know is, heâs incredibly dangerous. And heâs willing to go to war if it means getting you back.â
I choked for breath, my hands clammy. I felt like I was suffocating.
âWhy? Why me? What could he want with me?â
âBelleâŚâ Sean said, looking into my eyes. âI think youâreâŚI think thatâs where you came from. You belong to him.â
I took a shaky step back, eyes widening, hyperventilating. Everything started to blur, and it felt like my body was weightless. I was falling.
And now, I could hear his voice againâŚthe voice from my dreamâŚ
âAnnabelle, my princess of darknessâŚâ
Seanâs voice was screaming; he was trying to reach me. But he was too far. It was too late. My secret clearing, illuminated by the moon, was drowning in darkness, the stars blinking out, one by one.
And as all went blackâŚas the world ended around meâŚall I could see was the other man from my dream, the Werewolf King, lying in a pool of his own blood.
âBelle,â I watched his lips silently mouth. âI love you.â
And then there was nothing but darkness.
