The New Heirs
Regina’s POV
Returning to this cursed realm ignited a deep fury inside me. My power burned through my veins as I led the largest pack of werewolves I had ever commanded through the forest under the cover of night. The alpha and beta flanked me, growling low as we neared our destination.
I raised my hand, halting the pack. Pulling back the hood of my long black cloak, I turned to my beta.
“Find them. Bring them to me.”
He bowed his head in obedience. No supernatural creature could escape my control. They fought it, of course, but resistance was useless.
Up ahead, a cabin stood by a lake. Smoke curled from its chimney, carrying the scent of burning wood through the air. The moon’s reflection shimmered across the water, painting the scene with false tranquility. It was almost enough to understand why Grace left me for this place. Almost. But betrayal always cut deeper than beauty.
I lifted my chin with regal pride and sneered. “My pack,” I commanded. The wolves growled, straining against the invisible leash that bound them. “Attack!”
They surged forward in a wave of teeth and fury. Trees sprang up from the ground, shielding the cabin, but my lips curved into a cold smile. Grace had felt me. She was weak now, her power dulled by distance from our realm. My wolves tore through the trunks as if they were twigs, charging toward her.
I glided closer, weaving past thrashing wolves and snapping vines until I saw her. Grace stood at the cabin’s front, arms raised, roots and branches whipping forward in desperate strikes. From the cabin, her pathetic human husband appeared, brandishing a weapon that spat silver, cutting down my pets one by one.
Hatred burned in me, my eyes glowing red. “Kill him,” I ordered. My alpha lunged, and his screams echoed through the night—music to my ears.
“NO!” Grace cried, rushing to his side. She left herself open, and my wolves seized her arms in their jaws, pinning her.
“Regina, please!” she begged, tears streaking her face.
“You left me no choice, Gracie,” I hissed, spitting her childhood name like venom. “You chose these wretched humans. You abandoned me! I ruled the Celestial Realm alone for a thousand years, and now you dare to defy me? With your filthy human children?”
“They’re just babies, Gina! They’ll never have to set foot in the Celestial Realm. Please—don’t take them like you took Daniel!”
I sneered. To think this woman was once my equal, a queen of true power. My fury swelled. “I don’t believe you.”
Gripping her temples, I forced my gaze into hers. Her eyes widened as realization dawned.
“No! Regina, it will destroy you! If you take my power, the bond with the Celestial Realm could collapse. Everyone will die!”
Her words meant nothing. “I wish things were different. I love you, Gracie,” I whispered, kissing her forehead before beginning my chant.
Her power surged into me in waves of searing light. My soul trembled under the weight of it, but I bent it to my will. When the last spark of her strength was mine, I released her. She crumpled to the ground, lifeless, tears still wet on her cheeks.
I knelt beside her, closing her eyes with trembling hands. A broken wail tore from my throat, and my pack howled with me. I had not felt such agony since the day she first left me.
The alpha pressed his massive head against my side as I sat in the dirt. My voice broke. “Has my beta returned with my nieces?”
The wolf shook his head. Rising to my feet, I straightened my cloak and gave Grace one final look. “I will find them, sister.”
Turning to the pack, my voice thundered. “Search the woods! Search the cabin! Leave nothing untouched!”
Inside the cabin, embers glowed in the hearth. A worn brown couch faced the fire, and a modest kitchen stood to one side. But it was the back room that drew me. I pushed the door open, finding two wooden bassinets near the bed. Empty.
My lips curled in frustration. “Alpha,” I summoned.
He appeared, shifting before me in a grotesque cracking of bones until he stood naked, human-shaped. I tossed him a blanket in disgust.
“Where is your beta?” I demanded.
“My Queen, Beta Benedict cannot be reached. His scent vanished in the lake.”
“No…” Sparks crackled at my fingertips. “Impossible! No werewolf can resist my control!”
The alpha lowered his head, hiding his smirk. “It seems, my Queen, that Benedict has taken your nieces. The future heirs are gone.”
My hand struck his face before he finished smiling. “Find them, or your entire pack will drown in the lake.”
His wolf stirred beneath his skin, his fury rising. “You will never find them,” he growled. “Your reign is ending.”
I leaned close, whispering, “Oh, my dear Alpha… this is only the beginning.”
With a snap of my fingers, my wolves marched into the lake, thrashing helplessly until the water silenced them. I left the alpha to watch, then join them.
Standing alone in the quiet cabin, I summoned a glowing blue portal between two trees. “I will find them myself,” I vowed. “And when I do, they will suffer the same fate.”
I stepped through, returning to the Celestial Realm.
