Her Royal Wolves

Chapter One

My gods, I knew nothing. I guessed nothing like what the truth really is.

Small mountain pack isn't the smallest pack in the world, like I was taught, butinstead, it’s the largest and most powerful.

Millions of wolves live in the city in front of me, a wholepack that the wolves of the Ravensword Pack could never even imagine exist. Since learning aboutthe angels and seeing the world outside when we were on the train, I always assumed the angels werethe ones ruling the world and they could never be challenged.

But, looking over at this city, I’m not so sure anymore. Everything that has happened to me—being

rejected by the alpha of Ravensword and thrown to sea, surviving that to find my alphas, then learning

that we knew each other all along and they had been looking for me—all of it has led me to this point,

to this city, to my people. My wolves. My alphas.

The grass crunches under our feet as we walk down the hill, surrounded by enormous black

wolves. My eyes watch the red cloaks of the alphas of Fall Mountain Pack, the red fabric stroking the

grass as they walk in front of us.

Valentine and Silas are close, on either side of me, their arms

brushing me every so often, comforting me.

“You were bound not to tell me anything about this pack,” I say. My statement doesn’t need an

answer. I know I’m right.

“Yes—”

“I bound them with blood, forbidding any conversation about this pack. It is the same bloodbound promise any wolf makes who leaves. Our city is our secret for a good reason,” Alpha Reine

interrupts, looking back at me, and then pauses.

“And any conversations like this should be done in

private. We have a reputation to uphold, Mai.”

The sternness of her voice, the power behind it, makes me want to bow my head. I feel the pressure of her gaze as we stare each other down, and my body starts to shake, a feral growl slipping

from my lips. She growls right back, her eyes bleeding to a blood shade of red.

“Mai—” Valentine steps in front of me, placing his hands on my shoulders. I immediately snap out

of it, the trance I was just in, and shake my head.

“I don’t know what just happened,” I whisper.

“Young wolf,” Reine huffs. “But such power. The rite is going to be very interesting.”

Valentine and Silas both tense, and it only makes me more nervous of what I’ve just signed myself

up for.

“Wait for me!” Trey shouts, and I look up to see Trey running down the hill.

“Who is the boy?” Reine asks, walking to Valentine’s side. I keep my eyes from hers, not wanting

a repeat of what just happened. Trey crashes into our group, brushing back his blond hair, his

cornflower blue eyes looking between us all.

Phim places her hands on his shoulders, but Silas speaks. “Trey is our ward, who we have

raised.”

Soren walks to Reine’s side, glancing at Trey. “How old is the boy?”

“Ten,” Trey answers. “But I look older.”

“That you do. You are tall for your age,” Reine comments, smiling his way and looking up at her

mate. Something silent passes between them, and he walks away before she looks to us. “Some wolf

children grow faster than humans, after all. Some do not.”

“Trey certainly has done,” Valentine agrees.

“As our ward, he will be staying with us,” Silas states, his tone offering no room for argument.

“I look forward to learning all about you, Trey Fall,” Reine softly tells him before turning away

and continuing her descent down the hill, walking easily between the many ragged, moss-covered

rocks.

It takes a while for all of us to get down the mountain, and the whole time, I’m aware of Silas’s

and Valentine’s gazes on me, watching my reactions to this city, to their pack and the secret they were

forced to keep from me. The reason why they always hold back, never tell me how they feel, makes

so much more sense now. They have a duty to this pack, to be alphas, and this rite means they can’t

choose their own mate.

But I know, deep down, how I feel. I think I might know how they feel, and finally I have some

answers. We eventually come off the hill and onto brick-laid streets and pathways, lined with small

houses. It’s staggeringly beautiful. The crater walls that make the hills cast deep shadows down on the

city, and where the sun does touch, it highlights how lovely it is. Every house on the row in front of us

is made of golden brown bricks with white roofs and sweet little white windows with different

coloured flowers hanging out of them. The wooden doors have the mark on my hand drawn into the

wood, each one painted in a different way, but it’s all the same symbol. It’s their symbol for Fall

Mountain Pack, I realise. I turn my hand around, looking at the mark there. I have so many marks now,

starting with the moon marks on my back, the pomegranate and vipers on my arm and now this on my

hand. My marks are my story painted on my body, and I never want it to end.

Marks have meaning, marks have power.

I lower my hand and look once more at the city I now call home, a place I am meant to feel safe.

Each house has its own little picket-fenced garden in front of the door, filled with beds of plants

and fruits, some with people in their gardens, enjoying the beaming sun shining down on us. Two little

girls in soft cherry dresses run through the gap between the houses, their laugh making my lips tilt up.

The roads, the streets even, have beautiful crystal street lamps lining the edges, and I can scent

nothing but wolves, the distant forest, and fresh, clean air. It’s effortlessly peaceful here, untouched by

the brutal world outside. A place the Levi hasn’t destroyed, humans never found, and the angels

haven’t ruined.

I know why my four alphas call this home, why they never spoke a word of it, blood-bound or not.

This place is worth protecting with my life. So are the people. They are happy, content, and most

importantly, innocent.

For a while, I just take it all in, the beauty of the city, of everything stretched in front of me down

this one road and strip of homes. This is only an inch of the city, but it’s so different, so unusual

compared to everything I’ve seen in my life. The pack in Ireland was close to this, but on a smaller

scale and not as hidden. Ravensword was never this quiet, never this calm.

The city is calm.

“What do you think?” Valentine questions. Reine looks my way, as does her mate, waiting for my

answer.

“I have a lot of questions...but this pack is incredible from where I’m standing. I see why this is

home,” I say.

“We will answer anything you wish now,” Silas tells me. “Anything, Mai. We told you, once we

got to the city, there would be no secrets. That is true.”

I look into his winter grey eyes that seem lighter now. His moon mark on his neck looks darker in

comparison, and I can’t handle the pressure of his gaze for long before I need to turn away. “Why do I

have this mark on my hand?”

“Every wolf who enters our pack lands is marked. Even the angel was presented with a mark,”

Alpha Soren answers. “It’s a safeguard. You won’t be able to speak of the city when you leave unless

I allow it.”

“The rest of your questions will have to wait until we are inside our castle,” Alpha Reine

interrupts, “as I have many questions myself, for all of you.”

She gives Valentine and Silas a pointed look.

I’m almost thankful for the interruption, as everything feels a little overwhelming, too much to take

in at once. My questions can wait; I trust my alphas.

I trust myself, and this pack feels like nowhere I’ve been before. The land is seeping with shifter

energy, and it’s enough to make me feel dizzy.

Valentine, picking up on my nervous energy, ever so softly links his fingers through mine as he

holds my hand. His warm hand gives me a little more strength, and I make sure to hold my head high. I

look up to see Alpha Reine staring at us, or more at our hands joined, before turning away to no doubt

hide her reaction. I did notice the look she gave me, the one that suggested she isn’t overly impressed.

I hear the sound of the horses before I see them in the distance, gigantic black-haired horses

running towards us down the path, while people move out of the way. The horses are twice the size of

me, galloping so fast I wonder if they can stop in time. The four horses are pulling along a mammothsized carriage behind them. The carriage is lit up inside but appears older, making me frown as I

wonder who made it.

“We mix some of the human technology with our own. Our engineers are quite extraordinary,”

Alpha Soren states. “Are you interested in the making of cars and carriages, among other things?”

“Of course she isn’t, dear,” Alpha Reine hushes him.

“I have watched Ragnar in his garage many times, and he showed me how some of it works. It’s

very interesting, but I prefer to have my head in books or training with Silas,” I say.

Silas chuckles. “Sure you do. The many curse words you throw my way during training suggest

you love it dearly.”

My cheeks redden as he winks at me, and Valentine chuckles. Even Alpha Reine and Alpha Soren

look amused for a moment before they both turn away. I glance back at Trey, Phim and Adira, who are

staring at the city in awe. Adira looks away from the city, probably sensing my gaze, and her robin

egg blue eyes fall on me. She smiles at me, a smile full of malicious intent.

I smile back, baring my teeth a little, before looking away. She is a snake, and we just let her into a wolf den. I’m determined the only one who is going to get hurt is her.