Queen’s Strike Back

The Stronghold

The Fortress of the Northern Wastes rose before us like a sleeping beast, its black walls gleaming with frost under the pale morning sun. Eli gasped from his spot in front of Aldric, his small hands gripping the saddle horn.

"Mommy, is that your castle?" he asked, his voice filled with awe.

I smiled, something warm blooming in my chest. "Yes, little one. It's our castle now."

"Can I have a room with a tower?"

"You can have the tallest tower."

Eli's laughter echoed across the frozen plains, and I felt something shift inside me. For five years, I had been a ghost in my own life. Now, I was beginning to feel alive again.

The Stronghold's gates swung open as we approached. My warriors had been busy, the courtyard was clean, the walls repaired, and the symbol of the Northern Wastes had been restored above the entrance. A wolf's head, carved from black stone, its eyes gleaming with silver.

Home.

I dismounted and lifted Eli from Aldric's horse. He was light in my arms, his small body warm against the cold.

"Let me show you around," I said.

The Fortress was vast, a labyrinth of stone corridors and torch-lit halls.

I carried Eli through the main hall, past the great fireplace where I had once planned battles, and up the winding staircase to the tower I had chosen for him. The room was round, with windows on all sides that looked out over the frozen landscape.

Eli's eyes widened when he saw the bed, a massive four-poster draped in furs and velvet. "This is for me?" he asked.

"All yours," I said, setting him down. "Do you like it?"

"Mommy, I love it!"

He ran to the window, pressing his face against the glass. "Look, there are mountains everywhere!"

I watched him, my heart aching with a bittersweet pain. He was so innocent, so full of wonder. I would do everything in my power to keep that innocence intact even if it meant burning the world down.

A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts. Aldric stood in the doorway, his face grave.

"My Lady, we have visitors."

I left Eli with a trusted warrior and followed Aldric to the main hall.

Three wolves waited for me not in their human forms, but in their wolf forms, massive and bristling. Their fur was dark as midnight, their eyes burning with amber fire. They were Northern Wasters, through and through.

I recognized the largest of them immediately. "Kael's scouts," I said, my voice flat.

They shifted back into human forms. The leader was tall, broad-shouldered, and scarred. He bowed his head, but there was no respect in the gesture.

"Luna Seraphina," he said. "Alpha Kael demands your return to Shadowfang."

I laughed. "Demands? That's bold of him."

"Your presence in Shadowfang is required," the scout continued. "You are still his mate. You are still Luna."

"Am I?" I raised an eyebrow. "Last I checked, he was planning to have me killed. That doesn't sound like a devoted mate to me."

The scout's jaw tightened. "Alpha Kael is willing to forgive your... disobedience."

"Forgive me?" I stepped closer, my golden eyes blazing. "Let me make something clear. I don't need Kael's forgiveness. I don't want it. And I have no intention of returning to Shadowfang as his broken, docile Luna."

"You have no choice"

"I have all the choices in the world," I cut him off. "I am Seraphina Blackwood, the Wolf of a Thousand Battles. I do not answer to him. I do not answer to anyone."

The scout's face twisted with anger. "If you refuse, he will come for you."

"Let him."

The scout stared at me, his eyes searching for any sign of weakness. He found none.

"You are making a mistake," he said finally.

"No," I said, turning away. "I'm making a statement. Tell Kael that his war is coming. And tell him I'm going to win."

The scouts left, their tails between their legs.

I watched them go from the battlements, my arms crossed over my chest. Aldric stood beside me, his face unreadable.

"That was bold," he said finally. "You've declared war on the Shadowfang Pack."

"They declared war on me first."

He nodded slowly. "What's your plan?"

I turned to face him, a fierce smile on my face. "We're going to build an army. The strongest army these lands have ever seen. And then we're going to march on Shadowfang and take back what's mine."

The weeks that followed were grueling.

I trained my warriors relentlessly, pushing them to their limits and beyond. I traveled to neighboring packs, forging alliances and gathering support. I sent emissaries to the rogue territories, offering them a place in my army in exchange for their loyalty.

And I trained Eli.

Not to fight, he was too young for that. But I taught him to ride, to hunt, to track. I taught him the history of our people, the legends of the Northern Wastes. I taught him to be strong, to be brave, to be proud of who he was.

One evening, as the sun set over the mountains, Eli asked me a question that cut me to the bone.

"Mommy, do you still love Daddy?"

I froze. "What?"

"Lady Lyra said you didn't love me anymore," he said quietly. "She said you left because you stopped loving us."

I knelt in front of him, taking his small hands in mine. "Eli, I never stopped loving you. Not for a single second. Leaving you was the hardest thing I've ever done."

"Then why did you leave?"

"Because I had to become strong again," I said. "So I could come back and protect you."

He thought about that for a long moment. "Are you strong now?"

I smiled, wiping a tear from his cheek. "Stronger than ever."

"Good," he said, nodding seriously. "Because Lady Lyra is mean. I don't want to live with her anymore."

My heart clenched. "You never will again, little one. I promise."

The first attack came a month later.

Kael's warriors descended on the Stronghold under the cover of darkness. There were at least a hundred of them, a massive force, well-armed and well-trained.

But I had been expecting them.

My scouts had spotted them three hours before they arrived. My warriors were ready, positioned on the walls with bows and arrows. The gates were reinforced, the courtyard filled with traps.

I stood on the battlements, my twin daggers in hand, my golden eyes scanning the darkness below.

"Wait for my signal," I told Aldric. "Let them come through the gates."

"They'll be expecting a fight," he said.

"Let them think they have a chance."

The gates burst open with a crash. Kael's warriors poured through, their war cries echoing across the courtyard.

And then I gave the signal.

Arrows rained down from the walls, cutting through the invaders like wheat before a scythe. The traps I had set sprang to life pits filled with spikes, ropes that tripped horses, oil that burst into flames.

The invaders had thought this would be easy. They had thought I was weak.

They were wrong.

I leaped from the battlements, landing in the center of the chaos. My daggers flashed, and the enemy fell around me. I moved like water, fast and lethal, my fury a cold fire in my chest.

I had spent five years being weak. Never again.

The battle lasted an hour. By the end, every single invader lay dead or dying at my feet. My warriors cheered, their voices filling the night.

Aldric approached me, his eyes wide with awe. "You've done it. You've won."

"This was just the first wave," I said, wiping blood from my blade. "Kael will send more."

"Then we'll be ready."

I nodded, looking out over the battlefield. The snow was stained red, the bodies of the dead scattered across the courtyard.

But I felt no remorse. These men had come to destroy me and take my son. They had made their choice.

"You know what this means," Aldric said quietly.

"What?"

"War," he said. "Full-scale war. There's no going back now."

I looked at him, my golden eyes burning. "I never planned on going back. The only way now is forward."

That night, I visited Eli's tower.

He was fast asleep, his small body curled under a mountain of furs. I sat beside him, brushing his hair from his forehead.

He stirred, his eyes fluttering open. "Mommy?"

"Shh," I said softly. "Go back to sleep."

"Did you win?"

"Yes, little one. I won."

He smiled, his eyes already closing. "I knew you would. You're the strongest warrior ever."

I smiled, my heart swelling with love. "Go to sleep."

He closed his eyes, and soon his breathing evened out. I sat with him for a long time, watching his peaceful face.

In the morning, I would need to be strong again. I would need to plan, to strategize, to prepare for the coming war.

But for now, I was just a mother.

And that was enough.