Wolves' Queen (The Royal Heir Series Book 1)

by Jen L. Grey

  “Nope. It’s only a few miles from the house.” He slowed as he turned on a gravel road right before the lake. “As a kid, I hung out there all the time. It was fun for swimming and fishing.”

  “That sounds fun.” I never had those experiences before. For the first few years, I was highly anxious anytime I left the house. “Does your dad know we’re coming?”

  “Yeah, I just linked him now.” He leaned over and adjusted the air conditioning. “He’s meeting us at the house.”

  “Wait. Who all will be present for this?” That part I hadn’t considered.

  “Oh, no one.” He shook his head. “It’ll just be me and Dad.”

  “Do you think he’ll find this weird?” The closer we got, the more anxious I was.

  “I told him that you were out of balance with your wolf somehow and that you needed to find an alpha you could submit to in order for the shift to not be so overwhelming.”

  I guessed that kind of made sense. “So he just stopped asking questions?”

  “Well, I told him that you were my world and I wouldn’t ask for his help otherwise.” He glanced my way and linked his fingers with mine. “That’s when he was sold.”

  “The last thing I’d want is for your family to get hurt because of me.” Was I being selfish doing this?

  “Our family is strong, and nothing bad is going to happen.” He took my hand in his. “Believe me.”

  People can’t always know things for a fact. I’m sure my parents expected to live until they were old and gray, and look how that turned out for them.

  Dammit, I needed to stop thinking negatively. I did believe in energy, so I needed to stay positive.

  A small subdivision appeared in front of my eyes. The neighborhood had a craftsman feel to it, and there were at least thirty houses that were spread out to give them lots of space between. Since the neighborhood was in the woods, each house butted up against a section of the trees. That had to make it easier to shift and run. “Wow. This is amazing.”

  “It’s not much, but we do well.” Mason released my hand and pointed to the house at a dead end. “That’s home.”

  Their house was only slightly bigger than the others. Its hunter-green siding made it look earthy and inviting. “Your house looks the coziest out of them all.”

  “That’s due to my mother.” A small adoring smile filled his face. “She said our house should reflect us, and what better way to signify an alpha than to be the same color as the trees he loves to run through?”

  “She sounds amazing.” I hated that she was so sick. I wished there was some way I could help.

  “Yup, and she’s going to love you.” He turned right onto a street that led us straight to the house.

  It wasn’t long before he was pulling into the driveway and turning his car off. “You ready?”

  “Let’s do this.” The longer I waited, the more anxious I was going to be.

  “He wants us to meet him around the back.” He walked over and placed his hand on the small of my back, leading me to the side of the house. “He doesn’t want questions from the members of the pack until after you’ve shifted and smell like one of us.”

  That made sense.

  When we turned the corner of the house, I couldn’t believe what I saw. Their backyard was angled so none of the other pack members could see it, and there were beautiful flowers that surrounded the backyard. A tall man stood in the center, and his eyes were locked on me. “I can see fate has done you well, boy. She is a vision.” He nodded his head at me.’

  Raw power much like Mason’s poured from him. He was maybe an inch shorter than Mason, but he was built strong and sturdy. It was easy to tell that he was born to be an alpha.

  My wolf growled at his presence. “Thank you.”

  “Thank you for doing this.” Mason nodded at his dad as he nudged me forward. “This means the world to me.”

  “She’s your mate, so that makes her my daughter.” He lifted his hand and waved me forward. “Please come. My son has told me of your great struggles.”

  “Yeah, it’s my wolf.” I wasn’t sure what to say.

  “The best thing you can do is allow him to challenge you in a stare and force yourself to lose.” Mason followed beside me as I made my way to his dad.

  “Force? You make it sound like she’s stronger than me.” His dad shook his head and grinned.

  “Nah, of course I’m not.” The last thing I wanted was for his dad to be more suspicious.

  “Then, let’s do this.” He squared himself in front of me and stared right into my eyes.

  I held his gaze for a moment, but when I tried to avert my eyes, it was as if I couldn’t. I kept his gaze.

  “Elena, you need to stop if you want this to work.” Mason’s voice had an edge of warning to it.

  He was right, but damn it, I couldn’t look away.

  Sweat broke out on his father’s forehead. “You are incredibly strong.”

  Mason took my hand and squeezed.

  My wolf growled, ready to dominate. I wasn’t sure what to do. Do you want to be with your mate?

  The wolf paused as she seemed to look at me. Are you talking to me? Its voice was filled with rage and hate.

  Yes, if you want to be with your mate, we have to back down to this man. Otherwise, my uncle will find us and kill us just like he did my parents. I had to be damn crazy to be talking to my own wolf. It couldn’t be natural.

  Fine, but only for him, and I can’t promise how long I can be submissive. A growl rang in her words. But for now, I will.

  She pulled back some, and my eyes finally diverted to the ground.

  Mason blew out a breath and chuckled. “You scared me there for a minute.”

  Before I could say anything, my wolf sprang forward, catching me off guard. I fell to the ground as my body began to snap and break in ways that it never had before.

  “Elena.” Mason cried, but his dad rushed forward and blocked him.

  “You weren’t kidding when you said she’d never shifted.” His dad’s brown eyes widened as he watched me.

  “Did you think I was lying?” Mason jerked, trying to get around his father, but he wasn’t able.

  “Well, no.” He kept a strong grip on Mason, but he still had his eyes locked on my crumpled body. “But for some reason, I wasn’t expecting that.”

  Auburn fur sprouted along my arms, and my body broke in half, making me stand on all fours. It wasn’t necessarily pain I felt running through my body, but it sure didn’t feel good either. It oddly reminded me of the one time I received a deep tissue massage. The masseuse’s fingers dug into my body, but it somehow gave me a high.

  Before long, my vision became more precise. It was as if I was wearing contacts or something. Mason’s earthy scent surrounded me, and I let out a loud howl.

  “Hey, it’s okay.” Mason’s soothing voice calmed me. It had always felt like my wolf and I were two separate beings. Hell, I’d just talked to it. But now that she was free, our minds converged into one.

  The back door slammed shut, and Ella came running outside. “Who the hell is that?”

  Her tone caused a growl to escape me.

  “Ella, calm down.” Her father lifted a hand toward her. “This is the first time she’s turned, so you’ve got to let her adjust.”

  “But who is it?” Her eyes locked on mine, and l lifted my head, daring her to challenge me. It was hard enough standing down to Mason’s dad. There was no way in hell that I’d be able to do that to anyone else.

  “It’s Elena.” Mason took a few steps closer to me, approaching cautiously as though he was a little afraid. “It’s okay.”

  I whimpered. Why would he be scared of me? He was my mate.

  “Dammit, you’re hurting her feelings.” Ella ignored both her dad and Mason and walked directly up to me. She reached out her hand and patted my head. “Hey, I wasn’t expecting you to be a wol…” Her hand stilled on my head, and she pivoted toward her brother. “You selfish
asshole. You bit her.”

  “What?” Mason startled and shook his head. “No, no I didn’t.”

  “Then how is this her first time?” Pure rage made her hands clench into fists. “That’s not possible.”

  I needed to shift back before things escalated too much. But I turned my head to find my clothes laying shredded on the ground. Ugh, of course, this would happen in front of his father.

  Ella followed my eyes, and she snorted. “Come on.” She waved to me to follow her. “Let’s go find you something to change into.”

  Thank God she figured out what the problem was. I trotted after her, and as I entered the house, I heard Mason’s dad.

  “Are you going to explain to me how a fucking royal who was of age only shifted for the first time today?”

  “How did you know?” Mason’s voice was barely above a whisper.

  “She’s an auburn wolf.” His dad sighed. “Only those with royal blood have that coat.”

  This was already going over so well.

  Ella was halfway through the house, so I had to catch up. At least I overheard the conversation so I wouldn’t be blindsided when I joined them. Maybe this shifting thing wasn’t a great idea after all.

  “All right.” Ella walked to her closet. “Let’s see what we’ve got here.”

  Her walls were a teal color, which didn’t surprise me. She had a bright and blunt personality, and I’d always felt like that’s what the color signified. She had a queen bed in the center of the room with coral sheets. Her room was pretty bare like mine, but she had a pink bean bag in the corner with her laptop sitting on the floor beside it.

  “What about this?” She pulled out a light blue dress. “I think this would look awesome on you.”

  I ran across the room and stood next to a blanket. I closed my eyes and pictured me standing as a human. It didn’t take long for my body to begin shifting back into my human form.

  When my arms straightened out, I grabbed the cover and wrapped it around my body.

  “Hey, you were able to shift back easily.” She grinned. “I figured I’d have to talk you through it.”

  “No, my dad told me his trick a long time ago.” I’m glad he did since it worked for me. “Can I find something other than a dress?”

  “But it’ll look good on you.” She pouted.

  “So I’m going to go around Porky Pigging it?” She wasn’t thinking this through.

  “What?” She tilted her head and stared at me strangely.

  “You know how Porky the Pig has a shirt on and no underwear, pants, nothing?” I needed her brain to comprehend what I was hinting at.

  “But this is a dress.” She glanced back at it and then me.

  “Let me put it more directly.” I took a deep breath. “I really don’t want to be wearing a dress with no underwear.”

  “Oh… got it.” She looked upward. “You can borrow some of mine.”

  That was so weird. It was like we’d reached another, more intimate level of friendship. “Really?”

  “My God.” Ella threw the dress on the bed and placed her hands on her hips. “They’re clean. I’m not going to give you used ones.”

  “Okay, fine.” Beggars couldn’t be choosers. “May I please borrow some underwear as well?”

  “Of course.” She cocked her head and overly grinned so it looked cheesy. “But this makes us official best friend status. So do you accept this status?”

  “Fine. Just give me the damn underwear, please.” She was a pain in the ass.

  “Here.” She shuffled through some drawers and threw some at me. “This may be a little too big for you.”

  “I doubt it.” I dropped the blanket and quickly put on the outfit she was letting me borrow. It felt so odd wearing a dress. I only wore them for extreme special occasions. “Thank you for doing this.”

  “Girl, we’re besties.” Her smile dropped for a minute. “Why didn’t you tell me that you were a wolf though?”

  “It’s a long story.” I felt like an ass right now. “Something bad happened, and long story short, I’d been holding my wolf off from me. I wanted to be human.”

  “No, I get that.” She nodded. “Being a supernatural is a lot sometimes. I’m just glad I don’t have to keep mine a secret from you any longer.”

  “Me too.” I walked over and wrapped my arms around her. I figured it’d be weird, but it wasn’t at all. “Mason only found out last night after the fight.”

  “Really?” She glanced up at me.

  “Yup, my wolf surged forward, and he was there for the ride.” I leaned back and gave her a huge smile. “I was going to tell you today, but your dad was waiting for me, and it all happened suddenly.”

  “So you’re part of our pack?” Her eyes appeared to glow.

  “Sure am.” I tried to smile wide, but I couldn’t get what Mason’s dad said out of my mind. It was like it was running on repeat. “Do you mind if I go back out there? Mason seemed a little off with my change.”

  “More like afraid you were going to get hurt.” She rolled her eyes. “I’ll let you go talk to them for a few minutes to straighten out the pack shit and your announcement, but then you get to hang out with me.”

  “It’s a date.” I winked at her. She’d always been so supportive and good to me.

  “All right.” She waved at me. “Go calm Mason down, and I’ll be out there soon.”

  “Okay.” I opened the door and slowly headed down the hall. My heart hammered in my chest. If Mason’s dad knew this, it scared me to think about how many others could figure it out as well. And I wondered if his dad would keep my secret or if he’d rat me out to my uncle. All of these questions swirled in my mind.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Hey, I’m so glad…” Mason’s words stopped as he took in my appearance. “Holy shit.”

  “I’m right here son.” His dad shook his head as he grinned.

  “Thank you.” This was weird, so I decided to take control of the situation. “For helping me.”

  “I might not have been so willing had I known.” He sighed and ran his hand through his dark hair as he glanced at his son. “I’m hoping you didn’t know and that it was only a coincidence.”

  “Well…” Mason started, but I cut him off.

  “I hid it from everyone. How did you know?” There was no way in hell that I wanted to cause Mason potential problems with his father.

  “Your wolf is auburn.” He arched an eyebrow. “Only royal blood results in that color.”

  Mark that down as something no one bothered to tell me. “Is that common knowledge?” If so, I was screwed.

  “That’s brand new information to me.” Mason reached out and snagged my hand with his.

  “Calling it common knowledge would be a stretch, but older wolves like me probably know.” He took a step toward me and schooled his expression. “So that means there are only two possibilities concerning what’s going on.”

  “Which are?” My heart thrummed in my chest even though I tried calming it down.

  “Either you’re a daughter that King Corey hid or you’re supposed to be dead.” His eyes stayed on my face.

  I couldn’t believe that he already pegged exactly who I was. “Why couldn’t it be K...” I couldn’t force my lips to use the title before his name. “Darren?”

  “Because he doesn’t have the auburn coat.”

  “But he’s the king.” Mason’s forehead creased. “So why doesn’t he?”

  “That’s what all the alphas have asked for the last twelve years.” He searched for something within me. “Destiny has a funny way of making sure the truth gets told eventually.”

  He had helped me and deserved to know exactly what he stepped in. “Mr. Lockly…”

  “It’s James to you.” His words were soft, and a small smile spread across his face. “You are one of my own now.”

  To be so easily accepted surprised me. “Okay, James.” My heart seemed to thaw a little bit more. “I’m King Corey an
d Queen Sarafina’s daughter.”

  “You’ve been alive all these years?” His breath caught as if he hadn’t expected to hear the words.

  “Yes, I’ve been in hiding.” Now that I started telling the truth, it was just rolling out of me. The second time wasn’t quite as difficult as it was with Mason.

  As I thought of him, he moved over and took my hand. “If you aren’t ready to tell him, we can wait.”

  “No, it’s fine.” Hopefully, this would be the last time we had to discuss it.

  “Why would you hide?” James shook his head as he glanced toward the woods. “You were meant to rule.”

  I opened my mouth to say the words, but they were lodged in my throat.

  “Darren is the reason why her parents died.” The words sounded like they scratched Mason’s throat as if it was hard for him to say them.

  “Wait.” James startled back and sucked in a breath. “When you say he’s the reason why, what do you mean.”

  “He’s the one who orchestrated my and my parents’ deaths.” My emotions were all over the place. I had never planned on telling anyone, and in the past twenty-four hours, I’d told two people.

  “So that’s why you struggled when submitting to me.” James blew out a long breath and began to pace in front of us. “That’s not right. I need to submit to you.”

  “No.” The word was spoken louder than I intended. “We can’t.” I wouldn’t be able to force myself to submit again. I felt it in my blood. In fact, I wanted to challenge him for his spot. “My uncle can’t know I’m alive. He’ll come finish what he started.”

  “There’s no way in hell I’d let that bastard hurt you.” Mason turned and faced me. “If that’s what you want…”

  “This was a mistake.” I should’ve known and run from here. “I don’t want that.”

  “Then, okay.” Mason nodded and stepped closer to me. He placed his finger under my chin, lifting my face so I’d look him in the eye. “We do whatever you want.”

  “But…” James turned toward me again.

  “I lost my family over it.” He had to understand. “I don’t want to lose anyone else.”