The Alpha and His Queen

o n e

Ice skating is like breathing with the chill of winter on my skin, the air blowing past me in every movement and in every turn. There’s a melody in my head that only I can hear and a tension in my muscles towards it. The sheet of ice beneath me is sleek and thick, allowing the blades of my skates to glide easily through the frozen lake.

Around me the early winter morning is just waking, the tall trees that shoot up to the sky covered in snow and the picturesque mountain that had the enchanting frozen castle on top of it. It was quiet still but it won’t be for long. I could already hear the distant pounding of paws against the snowy ground from the nearby patrols and the hustle and bustle of the morning activities from the castle. 

All of this, I tune out for the music in my head and the rhythm in my bones. 

I love winter.

Nothing could ever pull my thoughts away from it. I close my eyes, feeling the cold as I spin above the frozen crystal lake. Even in winter when it’s frozen over, it’s still beautiful and clear. Bluer than anything else in the world. Many prefer it in the summer when people can swim and play but I prefer it in the winter when the cold is almost unbearable.

It’s invigorating.  

My mother would always tell me the story of the day I was born. It was the coldest day of the year. A strong snow storm was raging through the lands. It was so cold that the castle windows were frosted, the winds harsh and beating on the castle exterior, and there was just an ever present unearthly chill in the air.

I always love hearing that story just as much as I love the cold. 

Mother countlessly says Jack Frost kissed me when I was born because my eyes are so blue and my love for the winter is unparalleled. 

Maybe I was kissed by Jack Frost. Maybe it’s the reason I could tell when the first snow would fall. I could always smell it when it’s coming, I’d get goosebumps and I just know… the feeling is from deep inside me. A different kind of sensation.

Even the howling wind seems to stop as I do my finishing pose, hands up over my head, chest heaving and nose sucking in cold air. I closed my eyes, savoring each moment. 

I was turning eighteen soon. These rare moments of quiet and bliss were soon to leave me permanently. 

“Bravo.” Clapping starts from behind me and the moment is over. “Everyone’s looking for you.” 

I turn around to find Kaleb at the edge of the frozen lake, grin in place and directed at me, his back leaning on a tree. “What did you tell them?”

 “That it’s winter.” That was all the explanation anyone ever needed. 

I couldn’t help but laugh as I made my way to him. When it snows, everyone in the castle knows I’ll be out. Usually skating on the frozen crystal lake… sometimes just laying on the ground embracing the cold. My parents have learned to accept my love for it and despite being so strict, they allow me this short time of peace for myself. “What do they want with me now?" 

Kaleb takes my hand, allowing me to lean on him as I change out of my skates and into fur boots. “Birthday preparations.” 

“You mean our birthday preparations.” I muse, hoping Kaleb didn’t see how I closed my eyes for a small prayer. 

 Eighteen. 

Finally eighteen. 

My final chance to get my wolf. There were complications in my birth that no one openly talks about. My mother couldn’t shift and thus many assumed I wouldn’t be able to. It was like everyone was holding their breath for me… waiting… anxiously. 

Many years together and Kaleb of course easily saw it. “You’ll shift, Liz. You will.”

 There was more than just my kingdom and my reign at stake with my impending shift. It also meant Kaleb and I will finally know if we truly destined mates. People say we’d surely know by now. That it’s impossible for a wolf not to know his mate at first glance Kaleb has shifted for years. He’d know.  

Right? 

But nothing has changed. 

We’re still us. The two naughty kids addicted to sweets and old movies. The ones with quiet promises and hands always clutching each other. We are still the same kids that relied heavily on each other. Was that good? Was that bad? What about our vows as children? And what if I don’t shift? I’ll lose it all, not just him.  

“Whatever happens, happens.” He reassures me but I could also see the worry in his eyes.  

“And if it doesn’t happen?” The question was vague but he knew what I really meant; what if we didn’t happen? 

“It will.” Kaleb so blindly believed. “One way or another.”

I froze, staring up at him. He couldn’t mean… that. Kaleb’s parents were a rare circumstance that not many in the werewolf community approved of. They were imprints. An abnormality in terms of mating. Mates are pre chosen by destiny and fate even before one is born whereas imprints are chosen by both couples— ignoring soulmates altogether. Chancing on fate itself. 

It’s supposed to be an awful thing but growing up with Kyle and Kat— Kaleb’s parents… they didn’t look as awful as people say they are. In fact, they’re the farthest from awful. Pure even. They love each other and brought an amazing person into the world: Kaleb. 

But he couldn’t possibly mean that though. 

Not imprinting. 

We’ve never discussed it openly since we were children but I’m sure he wouldn’t… he shouldn’t but then again would I let him? 

I pushed those thoughts away and gave him a small smile, squeezing his hand with mine. If it’s meant to be it’s meant to be. “We’ll be okay.”

“As long as I’m by your side, it will be. I’m your Beta. Nothing will ever change that.” He swore, his deep caramel eyes boring into mine. “I’ve always been yours before we even knew what anything was.” 

My chest tightened for a reason I couldn’t identify. “Kaleb,”

“Trust, Liz.” He wrapped an arm around my shoulders, pulling me close. “Things will fall into place.”

My best friend. 

It was hard not to fall in love. The small crush that I harbored as a child has since grown but also… the understanding that werewolves didn’t have the luxury to have crushes. It was complicated for a lot of reasons. One never truly knows who their soulmate is until they’re there. Crushes, relationships, whatever else is nothing when that one true person walks in. 

Maybe that’s why Kaleb’s father decided to fight it off and imprint. He wanted to control his destiny instead of accepting it. 

Would we be like that? 

Did I even have a chance to? 

Many people think it’s easy to be the Princess. I hear the whispers of people say it. The mocking tone of how and what I am. They think all I do is sit and be pretty. Smiling and waving. No one knows the struggle of waking up every morning at three just to rush to training until my entire body is shaking and bloody. Before I can even breathe, I’m sent off to my private lessons until my head feels like it’s going to explode. All the way into the night I’m with my father and his associates, learning and shadowing. 

Politics… territorial disputes… all of it waiting for me. 

All of it will become my life forever.

“I thought we’re meeting up with the mothers for our birthday preparation?” I ask, noticing how we were heading to the opposite direction of where our mothers usually are at this time. We stirred away from the back entrance, passing through the lavishly decorated hallways with rich rugs, high arch ways and a long line of golden chandeliers towards the less occupied area of the castle where no maids or helpers roamed with baskets and cleaning equipment.  

Kaleb grinned proudly, his arms flexing. “I have to get something at my office first.”

I pat him on the back, lips pressed together in mock sympathy. “Kaleb, please, don’t flatter yourself. They gave you a storage cabinet.”  

“Storage room.” He corrected vehemently. “There’s a difference.”  

I stifle a laugh. “Sure. Anything you say.”  

“Laugh all you want, Liz. Everyone wanted to have my office.” He says, my comment not at all affecting his good mood towards his new room. As he’s also turning eighteen, his father decided to let him have more workload after Kaleb begged for an entire year to be more involved. 

I was proud too but I wasn’t going to let the opportunity to tease him about it pass up. “I’m sure the maids are absolutely miffed you took a supply closet from them.” 

“Room.” Kaleb corrected once more. “It’s a room.”

“Clearly not this room.” I remark staring straight at the ornate door of my father’s office. “What are we doing here?”

He hesitated before blowing out a breath. Kaleb could never keep a secret from me. “Alright, I promised your dad I wouldn’t tell you but I’m dying here.” 

I look between him and the door. “Okay?” 

The excitement bubbles up to him and he gives me a squeeze. “You’ve passed everything. The King called to congratulate you.”

A gasp leaves my lips and I bring my hands up to cover my mouth. “Passed… everything? Even my-“

Kaleb nods. “Yes, even your combat lessons! Now, shush. Pretend I didn’t tell you.”

“Of course.” I straighten, brushing my hair back and calming my erratic heart. I still couldn’t believe I passed everything. In order to get more responsibilities around the kingdom, I’m required to have a set of classes to pass perfectly. Only then can I be properly crowned and named as heir. 

My parents say it’s only a formality and that I am the sole heir to the throne but they forget to tell me that it’s actually to pacify everyone that has ever doubted me. The council and the kingdom will have little to say to the heir when she has passed all her classes perfectly without a need for a wolf. No other monarch or Alpha in history has ever passed everything without shifting.  

But I did. 

Surely that will have the old council out of my back. 

The moment we pushed open the door to father’s glorious office with the polished mahogany wood and the even grander carpeted floor, he takes one at us and sighs dispassionately. “He told you.”

I schooled my expression from the surprise and excitement I was actually feeling.  

He didn’t even give Kaleb and I a chance to defend ourselves. “Don’t bother to reason out. I can see it on Kaleb’s face.”

My father, the King of the Werewolves, is Luca Basco. Our sovereign. Our leader. The one holding everything together. 

Before royalty, the werewolves all over the world have always been at war with each other until of course the Bascos took over, creating peace after centuries of war. 

Soon, I will be the glue that holds everything together. 

No pressure at all. 

From my side, Kaleb let’s out a defeated groan. He scratched the back of his head nervously, “Sorry, my King.”

My father rose from his seat, his towering frame commanding the room in an instant. “I suppose being unable to keep a secret from your future Queen is a good trait.” 

“Exactly. The perfect way to see this.” Kaleb mused, giving a cheeky smile. “All in the line of duty.” 

The King opened his arms wide for me and I made a run for them. It didn’t matter if I was seen as far too old to receive hugs from my father, I gladly took it whenever I could. “Congratulations, my little Princess. I am so very proud of you.”

I fought a tear from spilling as I nod, my cheeks rubbing against the buttons of his shirt. “Thanks, dad.” 

“You’ve proven them all wrong.” He whispered, placing his chin on top of my head, arms tightening around my back. “I couldn’t have asked for a better daughter. With or without this. You know that, right?” 

I paused for a long time, understanding the depth of his words before I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. I had to tiptoe to reach him. “I love you.” 

My father pats me on the head. “I love you so much more, my girl.” He clears his throat before glancing at Kaleb who was looking over a map of the kingdom that’s been mounted on the wall. “Now to more important matters.”

“What is it?” I ask, taking a step back from him. 

He sat back down on his seat, gesturing for Kaleb and I to sit across from him. “We’ll celebrate your crowning the same week with your birthdays.” 

Kaleb furrowed his eyebrows. “Same week?”

My father leaned back into his leather seat, eyes looking out the window. “Yes. Week. We’ll have a week long celebration in honor of the future Queen. It’s time Liz is finally introduced to the world and your people.”  

Something warm swept through my chest. I’ve always been kept hidden. No one apart from the people in the castle knows what I actually look like. “You’re inviting everyone to the castle?”

“Everyone.” My father confirmed with a short incline of his head. 

Kaleb let out a whistle. “That’s a lot of people.”

“The Alphas and the Betas of every country.” He pulled out a thick file from on top of his desk. “Which brings me to our next agenda.”

I blinked in surprise. There was more? 

“Have you heard of the Russian pack?” My father began, flipping through the papers in the file. 

Like the paper in my father’s hand my mind flipped through everything I knew of the Russians. “Yes. They have a different way of things. Alpha’s aren’t handed down from parent to offspring or by blood. Every time an Alpha dies, the Russians hold a sort of tournament and battle it out. Whoever wins becomes Alpha. Quite brutal.”

“But effective.” Kaleb remarked. “They’re really strong. Deadly strong. It’s what they are known for.” 

My father let out a sound of approval. “Correct and most recently, the Russians lost their Alpha quite… mysteriously.”

Kaleb perked up instantaneously. “Are we coming to watch the tournament?”

A dismissive wave of the King’s hand kills the smile on Kaleb’s face. “It’s already over. Won by a soldier by the name of Alek Volkov. He won by killing off twenty two other contestants.”  

I frown, my features hardening. “I didn’t think killing was a part of it." 

“It isn’t.”  My father says simply. “The contestants only need to concede but that’s obviously not what happened.”

Probably the only one enjoying this, Kaleb grinned. “Wicked.” 

“Kaleb,” I chastised, shooting him a glare.

He threw his arms up. “My bad, my bad.” 

I turn my attention back to my father. “What do you need from us?” 

“I’m afraid it’s not ‘us’” My father looked between Kaleb and I before directing his attention to me. “But you.” 

Kaleb drew back, eyes wide and playful disposition gone. “Sorry? Did I hear you right? Only Liz?”

“As the future Queen, one of your many responsibilities is conducting visits to Alphas of other countries. More specifically, the new ones.” My father says casually, like it was no big deal that I’ve never once in my life left the castle but was now being sent away. Without Kaleb. “For your first assignment before your crowning as heir, you are to go to Russia and meet with this new Alpha.”

Kaleb stands from his seat, his hands in fists. He was shaking. “My King, I mean this with utter respect but are you actually sending Liz away to a foreign country with a new savage Alpha without me?” 

My father’s expression doesn’t change. “Yes. Your father will stand as her Beta.”

“Shouldn’t I be the one to come with her? She’s my future Queen after all. I am her Beta.” The steely look on Kaleb’s face was unwavering even in front of the King. He respects my father but his instincts to protect me were higher than anything else.  

“This is not up for discussion.” My father says with finality. The command was heavy on his tone of voice. “The Council and I have already decided on what’s best for Liz. She’ll be leaving as soon as Kyle has everything prepared.” 

“But dad-“ I hesitantly began.  

My father gives both Kaleb and I a lingering look. He was separating us on purpose.  “There’s nothing to worry about. These visits are quite enjoyable and with Kyle as your chaperone, you’ll be safe.”  

Kaleb’s jaw clenched. “Is he mated?” 

“No.”