The Luna Queen

Prologue: The Queen is Dead

~ Seventeen Years Ago ~

After finding out that his best friend, Ivan, didn’t reject his mate and that they might have two daughters, Alpha Darius Lance vowed to make his former friend and ally pay for his betrayal and lies. To help execute his plan, Darius enlisted Alpha Travis Isler for aid in taking down the Queen of Foxfire Coven.

Darius and Travis skulk through the bushes just outside of the gate to Foxfire Coven. Travis is against murdering Eliza. He feels there’s no point, but Darius strongly disagrees.

“Darius, I don’t understand,” Travis whispers. “Why are you so hellbent on killing Ivan’s mate?”

“Because she took away my best friend,” Darius seethes. “It is because of their relationship, I lost my strongest ally! An Alpha’s allies reflect the strength of the Alpha and his pack! Eliza made Ivan weak and I don’t like that! Ivan chose to stand against me because of Eliza. She has to go!”

“I don’t know about this man,” Travis sighs and hunches his shoulders. “She ain’t do s**t to me.”

“She didn’t do s**t to you,” Darius counters, condescendingly. “Didn’t her father take your mate from you? Doesn’t the thought of Draco’s offspring existing piss you off? Killing her takes care of my problem and helps even the score.”

Travis thinks to himself, Who said I still wanted revenge? She is not her father.

When Kyle and Sapphire Hart helped Glacier Run wolf pack kill King Draco over a decade ago, that settled the feud and Travis’ desire for revenge. However, Darius isn't content. He wants Travis to feed off bitterness and a thirst for revenge for losing his mate.

“Think about this,” Darius suggestively says. “You lost your mate because of the King, right? His daughter lived and has a mate and rumored children of her own. Why should she get to flourish and carry on the bloodline when you can’t? You never got a second chance mate. That isn’t fair to you! Are you with me or not,” Darius asks and Travis nods yes. “Good. I want to hit these fuckers while there’s still daylight. Let’s move.”

Darius is unaware that Travis and Jade already have a son, so the bloodline is safe. However, Darius’ words cause Travis to reflect on losing Jade and how his son Demetrius will grow up without his mother. He also thinks about how he sent Demetrius in hiding for his protection in case the vampires retaliate for killing Draco. Knowing that he has reeled Travis in, Darius prepares to leap over the gate, but Travis grabs his arm to stop him.

“Hold on, Darius. Tell me the plan,” Travis anxiously petitions. “We’re just gonna burst through the doors of the Coven unannounced and claw our way to the Queen?”

“We won’t claw our way to the Queen,” he sarcastically remarks. “The Queen is easily accessible. I’ve had scouts watching her for a while. She’s the only vampire that isn’t affected by sunlight. She does her rounds alone during the day. A foolish move for a Queen. According to her routine, she should be out doing whatever she does. When she returns, we will ambush and kill her.”

“Okay, say this works and we make it to the Queen. How will we take her out? I imagine the queen of this coven is a formidable foe.”

“Don’t you worry about that,” Darius assures. “I have a juniper cocktail that will immobilize her. She won’t be able to do s**t and that’s when we will take her out!”

“And how are you gonna get her to take the cocktail? I’m pretty sure she’s not gonna accept a random ass drink from you.”

“Who said it was a drink? She’s a vampire. Vampires suck blood, correct? All she has to do is bite me and the cocktail in my blood will do the rest,” Darius smirks proudly.

“Wait, juniper? How the hell did you get your hands on juniper berries and how do you know that’ll work,” Travis questions, annoying Darius.

“Look, I’m not gonna give you all the intricate details of my plan. Can you just trust me on this? Everything is going to work out just fine, Travis. Now let’s move before she gets back.”

Travis grudgingly sighs in agreement, even though his gut is telling him this is unnecessary. However, he knows the ruthless man Darius is, and he’s only agreeing to go through with this because he wants to stay on Darius’ good side.

After leaping over the gate, Travis follows Darius but continues to analyze Darius’ plan internally with his wolf. To Travis’ surprise, Darius walks to the front door and opens it. They walk right in with no issue. There are no guards around and the place is quiet. This baffles Travis, but the empty foyer and throne room excites Darius’ arrogant ego.

“See? No one expects a daylight attack,” Darius arrogantly laughs. “There aren’t even any guards around!”

Darius and Travis creep through the coven until they find the throne room. Darius sits in the throne chair and Travis stands by his side while they wait. After a little while, Eliza returns, stunned at their presence.

“Hello, queen,” Darius sneers.

“Who are you? How did you get in here,” Eliza queries.

“I am Alpha Darius Lance,” Darius stands to introduce himself. “This here is my ally, Alpha Travis Isler.”

“Travis Isler? You’re the one that killed my father,” Eliza shouts. “What is this? I have no quarrel with you!”

“Settling the score, b***h,” Darius exclaims. “Ya know, you really should’ve taken better measures to protect yourself and your coven.”

Vetřelec (Intruder)! Eliza links, signaling the Elders.

She’s furious the daytime guards are not on their posts. The Elders respond with a link, eager to aid.

My Queen, shall we sound the alarm? one links back.

She doesn’t respond because she’s readying herself for the coming fight. The Elders rush to the throne room.

“My Queen, what will you have us do? Shall we sound the alarm and request the warriors,” one anxiously questions.

“There’s no time! If the guards were on their posts -” Eliza frustratedly huffs. “Bart, Ophelia, Alexander, Vlad, and Lucien, dostat dívky někam do bezpečí! Víte, kde je vzít. Tyhle dva zvládnu (get the girls somewhere safe! You know where to take them. I’ll handle these two).”

The Elders hurry off upstairs to the girls’ bedroom to take them through the escape tunnel leading to the secret safe house by the Canadian border.

“Well… I guess you better come what you came to do,” Eliza says coldly, her eyes turning bright green and her fangs elongating.

Both Darius and Travis lunge at Eliza, but she voices “Impulsus!” and the spell throws them both back.

After briefly recovering from the force of the spell, they try to double team her again. Eliza slaps Travis before telekinetically choking Darius midair. Since Travis helped murder her father, she gives him a brutal, vengeful beating before tossing him and Darius against the wall.

“Damn, she’s too strong for us, Darius,” Travis complains, breathlessly. “How are we going to take her out when she’s kicking our ass like this?”

“I’ve got an idea. Let me see something,” Darius whispers.

Darius partially shifts to his wolf Remy, so his fingernails shift to claws, and his speed doubles. Darius quickly lunges at Eliza, stabbing her with Remy’s nail. She winces in pain before brutishly gripping his throat and slinging him against the wall. Travis rushes to his side.

“That was a shitty idea,” Travis mutters.

“I was testing a theory. Alright, this is the plan. To beat her, we have to fake defeat. We must let her think she’s won,” Darius dictates.

“But… she is winning,” Travis nitpicks.

“Shut up, Travis! Don’t give up so quickly! She’ll let her guard down when she thinks we’re down for good. We need to continue our assault to tire her out. She’ll need to feed to replenish her strength.”

Darius and Travis continue their assault, taking turns attempting to tag team Eliza, but they fail miserably. They are no match against Eliza’s physical strength and spells. She nearly crushes Travis’ vocal chords before hurling him at Darius. Twenty minutes later, Travis and Darius are still attacking Eliza. Travis has a broken nose and Darius’ shoulder is dislocated, and they both are nearly out of stamina.

Eliza grows weary of the back and forth and hisses, “Enough of this! Restringo,” she chants, and the spell pins Darius and Travis against the wall.

After overpowering both men, Eliza’s green eyes blaze with rage. She grabs Darius’ chin, turning his head to expose his neck. Darius smiles because his plan is going smoothly. She bites Darius, but immediately chokes and falls over.

“What is this,” Eliza gasps.

“Your kryptonite,” Darius jeers at her. “Until recently, I never realized how delicious Juniper is. I injected myself with a juniper cocktail. I also bathed in the berries this morning. Hey, Travis,” Darius turns and looks at his accomplice, “did you know juniper gives a vampire anaphylactic shock? Everyone thinks it’s garlic, but the real poison is juniper. Look at her,” Darius ridicules and laughs sadistically.

“All… of this… for what?” Eliza chokes. “What… have I… EVER… done to you?”

“You ruined my partner in crime; my best bud,” Darius shouts. “You cost me my strongest ally! He lied about rejecting you. If he won’t get rid of you, I will! Besides, vampires and wolves don’t mate!”

“Wha -? This is… about… Ivan,” Eliza stutters, confused.

“Getting rid of you will get me back my best friend,” Darius snarls. “Diamond Peak, Blue Ridge, and Glacier Run will be the trifecta of strength!”

Darius’ logic confuses and stuns Eliza. She tries to speak a combative spell, but her weakened state affects her witchcraft. Darius and Travis break free from their now weakened restraints. She sends a quick mind link to Ivan to let him know she has to cancel their date for today.

Unfortunately, Ivan is already at the coven, unaware of what’s happening to his mate. Meanwhile, the Elders are taking the girls through the underground escape tunnel. As they pass the throne room, a little vent causes Evelyn to stop once she sees her mother.

“Mommy,” Evelyn whimpers. “What’s happening to mommy,” she questions the Elders.

“We must keep moving, child,” Ophelia voices. “It is not safe for you or Amelia. The Queen ordered that we get you to safety and that’s what we must do.”

Both Amelia and Evelyn cry as the Elders drag them away, temporarily distracting Eliza. She links both her daughters to tell them that she loves them dearly. Not even a purifying spell would help Eliza right now. She’s helpless to defend herself. She calls for her warriors to come to her aid.

With Eliza subdued, Darius tightly wraps his arm around Eliza’s neck. She knows this is the end for her. As Eliza takes her final breaths, she uses the last of her strength to whisper a ward shielding spell to protect Evelyn and Amelia until Amelia’s eighteenth birthday. She hopes the spell works since she didn’t have the strength to use combative spells.

Ivan rushes in just as Darius is about to decapitate Eliza. He falls to his knees because he feels exactly what she feels in her final moments. He feels her fear for the safety of her daughters. She worries that Darius and Travis will go after the girls once they kill her. She knows she isn’t winning this fight, especially since the juniper is immobilizing her with each passing second. Eliza locks eyes with Ivan one final time and links him one final message before Darius rips her head off and drops her lifeless body.

“Ha-ha! The Queen is dead,” Darius taunts.

The conflux of emotions and the sight of his mate’s lifeless body enrages Ivan. Ivan’s anger causes an involuntary shift, and Apollo growls in fury, feeling all of Ivan’s emotions. Apollo prepares for a leap attack, but Darius kicks Eliza’s head to Apollo, stopping him dead in his tracks.

The vampire warriors converge on Eliza’s location, but they are too late. They prepare to retaliate and attack Darius and Travis, but the two shift and burst through a window to make their escape as the bright sunlight floods into the throne room. Apollo whimpers and gives Ivan control. Ivan falls to his knees, cradling Eliza in his arms, wailing in agony at the loss of his mate.