Chapter 2: My Queen
1727 Words
The word hangs in the air. Queen.
Five hundred wolves hear it. Five hundred wolves say nothing.
Rowan’s mouth opens. Then closes. His fists are clenched so tight his knuckles are white. He looks like he wants to hit something. Preferably me.
I can’t move. The heat under my skin is new. It’s not the pain from the three rejections. That’s still there, like broken glass in my ribs. This is different. It’s warm. Old. And it’s watching.
Little moon, the voice says again. It’s inside my head but not mine. Deep. Female. Amused. They hurt you.
The King is still on one knee. His head is bowed to me. To me. The girl with no wolf. The girl everyone just threw away.
Elder Miriam finds her voice first. She’s shaking. “Your Majesty. This is… this is the Choosing Ceremony. The girl has no wolf. She cannot—”
“Look at her eyes,” the King says. He doesn’t raise his head. Doesn’t shout. He doesn’t need to. The whole Circle goes quiet again.
I don’t know what my eyes are doing. But I feel it. A pressure behind them, like light trying to get out.
“Impossible,” someone whispers. It’s Theo. He’s not smiling now. His trade deal face is gone. He looks scared.
The King stands. Slowly. Like every movement costs something. He’s taller than I thought. Broad shoulders under the black suit. No crown, no guards, but the air bends around him.
He steps toward me. One step. Two.
I step back. My body does it without asking. Three Alphas just cut me open in front of everyone. I’m not letting a fourth get close.
He stops. Respects the space. His grey eyes study me, but not like Rowan’s did. Rowan looked at me like trash. The King looks at me like I’m a puzzle he’s been trying to solve for a hundred years.
“What’s your name?” he asks.
His voice is quiet. Only for me. The crowd has to strain to hear.
My throat is dry. “Ella. Ella Shaw.”
“Ella Shaw,” he repeats. Like he’s testing how it sounds. He nods once. “I am Caelan Drayce.”
I know who he is. Every wolf knows. He ended the Blood War when he was twenty. He killed the last rogue King with his bare hands. He’s ruled for eighty years and never taken a Luna.
“Why did you call me that?” My voice comes out rough. I cross my arms over my chest. Armor. Don’t let him see me shake.
“Queen?” His head tilts. “Because that’s what you are.”
A laugh bursts out of me. It’s ugly and sharp. “Right. Your Queen. The wolfless girl. The one they just threw out.”
They will pay, the voice inside me says. Shall I show them, little moon?
I press a hand to my temple. Great. Now I’m hearing voices. The rejection must have broken something in my head.
“You feel her, don’t you?” Caelan asks.
My head snaps up. “Feel who?”
“Your wolf.”
“I don’t have a wolf,” I snap. The words taste like blood. I’ve said them for sixteen years. Doctors said it. My parents whispered it. The pack confirmed it. “Ask them.” I jerk my chin at Rowan, Jace, Theo. “They just proved it.”
“No.” Caelan’s voice gets colder. He turns his head, just a fraction, and looks at Rowan.
Rowan flinches. Actually flinches. The future Alpha of the Northern pack steps back like he’s been hit.
“You rejected her,” Caelan says. “All three of you.”
It’s not a question.
Jace drops his eyes to the dirt. His hands are shaking. “We… Your Majesty, she doesn’t have a wolf. The tests—”
“The tests were wrong.”
Elder Miriam makes a choked sound. “Alpha King, with respect. The girl has been monitored since birth. No wolf signature. No shift. No—”
“Look. At. Her. Eyes.”
This time he doesn’t speak quietly. The command rolls across the Circle like thunder. It isn’t a yell. Kings don’t yell. The ground seems to listen anyway.
Everyone looks.
I want to hide. I want to run. But my feet are stuck. And the heat behind my eyes is getting worse.
Let me out, the voice says. Just a little, little moon. Let them see.
“No,” I whisper. To the voice. To him. To everyone.
Caelan’s expression softens. Just a bit. “She’s afraid. After what you did, she should be.”
He looks at me again. Really looks. “Ella. May I?”
He lifts his hand. Not to touch me. Just holds it out, palm up. Waiting.
Like I have a choice.
I stare at his hand. Strong. Clean. No rings. There’s a thin scar across his knuckles. The one from the rogue King, probably.
I don’t take it.
His hand doesn’t drop. He just waits.
The silence gets heavy. The crowd is watching a war they don’t understand.
He is not like them, the voice purrs. He knelt first. He asked.
“Shut up,” I mutter.
Caelan’s lips twitch. Almost a smile. “She speaks to you already. Good.”
“What are you talking about?” My hands are fists now. Nails cutting into my palms. “I don’t have a wolf. I don’t have anything. I’m empty.”
“You’re not empty.” He says it like fact. Like the sky is blue. “You’re full. Too full. She’s been sleeping because your body couldn’t hold her. Not until today.”
That doesn’t make sense. None of this makes sense.
“Why today?” My voice cracks. I hate that it cracks.
“Because you broke.” He says it gently. “Three rejections. Three cuts to the soul. Most wolves would die. You didn’t. You woke her up instead.”
He knows me, the voice says. He’s known me a long time.
A shiver runs down my spine. “Who are you talking to?”
Caelan’s eyes flicker. Something like pain crosses his face. “An old friend.”
Before I can ask, Elder Miriam steps forward. She’s braver than I thought. Or stupider.
“Your Majesty. Even if the girl has a wolf, the law is clear. A Luna must be chosen by an Alpha heir, not claimed. You cannot—”
“I’m not claiming her,” Caelan cuts in. Cold again. “I’m asking her.”
He turns back to me. Still holding his hand out. Still waiting.
“Ella Shaw. Will you come with me? As my guest. As my equal. As my Queen, if you choose it.”
The crowd sucks in a breath.
Guest. Equal. Queen. If you choose it.
No one chooses me. Not ever. They reject me. They throw me away.
My heart does that dumb, hopeful thing again. I crush it.
“Why?” I ask. “Why me? You have every pack. Every Luna. You could have anyone.”
“I don’t want anyone.” He says it simple. “I want my mate.”
The word hits harder than Rowan’s rejection. Mate.
“No.” I step back again. Bump into someone. My mother. Her hand grabs my arm. Her fingers dig in.
“Ella, don’t be stupid,” she hisses. “This is the Alpha King. Say yes.”
I yank my arm free. “You didn’t care three minutes ago when they called me wolfless. Don’t start now.”
Her face goes red.
Caelan watches. He doesn’t interfere. He lets me fight my own fight.
I turn back to him. “I don’t trust Alphas. I don’t trust Kings. I especially don’t trust men who kneel after watching me bleed.”
He takes the hit. Doesn’t flinch. “I know.”
“You let it happen.”
“I did.” No excuse. No apology. Just truth. “I needed to see if they would. I needed to see if she would wake.”
Rage flashes through me. Hot and clean. “You used me.”
“Yes.”
At least he’s honest. I almost respect it.
He used them too, the voice says. He’s been waiting for us, little moon. Since before you were born.
I’m going crazy. I have to be.
“I’m leaving,” I say. “I’m going to the human city. I’m getting a job. I’m living my life. Without wolves. Without Alphas. Without you.”
Caelan finally drops his hand. “Alright.”
That’s it. No argument. No order. Just alright.
I blink. “What?”
“You can go.” He steps back. Gives me the path to the forest. “I won’t stop you.”
Now I’m suspicious. “Why?”
“Because Queens aren’t caged, Ella. Not by me. Not ever.”
He means it. I can see it in his eyes. He would let me walk away right now.
The heat under my skin pulses. Ask him why he knelt.
I don’t want to ask. But my mouth moves anyway. “Why did you kneel? You’re the King.”
He smiles. Real this time. Small, but real. “Because you’re older than me.”
The voice in my head laughs. Smart boy.
Before I can ask what that means, a scream rips through the Circle.
It’s Rowan. He’s on his knees, clutching his shoulder. Blood pours between his fingers.
Jace and Theo draw their claws, spinning. Looking for an attack.
“No enemy,” Caelan says. He doesn’t even look worried. “She’s just saying hello.”
“Who?” I choke out.
He looks at me. “Your wolf.”
The heat explodes. My back arches. My nails turn to claws without me telling them to.
And my eyes burn silver.
Elder Miriam stumbles back, pointing at me. “That color… that’s the Original line. That’s extinct. That’s impossible.” Rowan claws at the dirt, his voice broken: “She’s wolfless. She has to be wolfless.” Caelan steps between me and the three Alphas, his voice pure ice. “Touch her again, and I’ll show you what extinction really looks like.”
- Writer
