Her Royal Wolves

Chapter Three

Adira laughs at something, snapping me back and reminding me we aren’t alone.

“What’s down there?” I ask, pointing at the darkness. “Is it a river or lake?”

“No one quite knows,” Valentine replies. “The castle doesn’t go that far down. It just stops at

some point, and no one is brave enough to climb or jump.”

“Maybe we should send the angel asshole to see, and hope he doesn’t come back?” Silas suggests

in a serious tone, rubbing his chin like he is actually thinking of sending Callahan down there. He’s

joking. He must be. At least I think he is joking.

“I want to have a private word with my boys,” Alpha Reine announces. “I need to know

everything that has happened and how exactly you found both Mai and Adira. The rest of you, it is

time to have a small look at the castle on the way to your rooms, and then we will see each other at a

celebration meal and afterparty.”

She pauses and clicks her fingers. Alpha Soren is already walking away, taking Trey with him.

“Trey is being shown to the children’s section of the castle, where he will be protected at all times.

We take our children’s safety very seriously here,” Alpha Reine announces. “And the poor boy needs

a bath and a haircut.”

“I’m sure he will love the pampering,” I say.

“I have no doubt. But any private talk you want, including knowledge, can be said in front of our

beta and Mai,” Silas replies.

“And me,” Adira grumbles.

“Boy, you might be older than you were when you left, but I am alpha female, and when I demand

to speak with you alone, I will not be questioned,” Alpha Reine growls out. “I have commanded you to tell me everything, and you will. There will be no discussion on who is present. Especially not

wolves I don’t know or trust.”

Both Silas and Valentine look ready to fight when I step forward, placing my hands on both their

arms.

“I’ll be fine on my own, and I could do with resting,” I tell them both. “It’s safe here. It’s our

home.”

Even if I’m not sure it feels like home right at this moment. I feel unwanted, especially by Alpha

Reine, but like she said, she doesn’t know who I am or anything about my story. In her mind, I could

have been hiding all this time, knowing who I am, and choosing not to find our people. She knows

who I was as a child, nothing more than that.

“Fine,” Silas tensely replies, and Valentine nods, placing his hand over mine on his arm before I

let go.

Alpha Reine doesn’t look impressed, and I suspect they are in for an earful only a mother could

give when we aren’t here.

“I will protect Mai in your absence.” Phim steps up to my side. “As your beta, it is my honour to

do so.”

Alpha Reine stares at Phim for a long time, her eyes widening slightly.

“I know who you are. Why did you not say?” she questions.

“Some things should be kept in the past,” Phim tightly replies.

“I did not get to meet you more than once as a young one. You screamed and cried all of the time,

from the moment you were born. Like you wanted the world to know how angry you were,” Alpha

Reine tells Phim with a sad smile. “Seraphim, I knew I remembered the name. At least your terrible

father gave you the name when he stole you away.”

“Stole?”

“Yes, stole.” Alpha Reine nods. “Why do you think he took you to Ravensword? It was the only

place we couldn’t get you back.”

“I-I thought I was given away,” Phim whispers. “How old was I when I was taken?” she asks.

Stolen... She was stolen away. Our mum never wanted to give her away.

“You were only a few days old. The story is long and complicated...but I know my dear friend

wished she could have brought you up alongside Mairin, and prayed for you every single day,” Alpha

Reine says, turning to me. “I’m sure Mai has many stories about—”

“We have much to discuss,” Valentine interrupts, and I give him a nod of thanks as I gently place

my hand on Phim’s back. She straightens up, wiping away some tears.

Two blonde women in dark red silk dresses with thin silver cloaks falling from clips off their

shoulders walk over to us, their heads bowed. The one on the left is slightly taller and has a chunk of

her ear missing, visible with her hair tied up in a bun. The other woman’s hair is down, falling to her

waist, and she looks up at Silas and Valentine, her cheeks turning red.

I can’t blame her. They are alluring and tempting to even the purest soul.

But a spark of jealousy makes me gulp.

“We shall see you shortly,” Alpha Reine states and turns away. Silas nods to me before leaving,

Valentine looking into my eyes before turning and following after him.

“Please, follow me. Feel free to ask any questions, and I will answer them as best I can,” the

taller one says, her head still bowed. “It is an honour to be in your presence.”

“It’s nice to meet you both,” I reply as they start walking away, across the courtyard. Hidden

within the courtyard walls is a door, and the shorter one holds it open for us to follow the other in The door leads to a winding staircase, and I count two hundred steps before we hit the bottom, which

is lit up with modern electrical lights lining the ceiling. I barely get a chance to look at the large

framed paintings on the wall before we turn to the left, moving aside to let four guards walk past.

The path leads to another, much larger staircase, and on every third step, there is a gold statue of a

goddess or god holding various weapons. I pause at the one on the ninth step, recognizing her

immediately, even in stone. She has a veil over the top part of her face, her long hair falling around

her and the flowing dress she wears. In her hands is a bowl of pomegranates and one viper curled

around them all. My eyes flicker to my arm hidden under my shirt.

Persephone.

“Is this Persephone?” Phim asks me.

“Yes,” I answer, looking away. The women and Adira have gone ahead, and we walk quickly

down the steps to catch up, finding Adira looking up at one of the statues. The goddess is completely

naked, her body twisting to the side, and her hands are bound with rope. Her long hair is braided, and

a crown rests on top of her head.

“Let me guess, this is Peitho?” I question.

Adira turns to me and smiles. “Peitho was the only other female in the worlds Hades loved. They

were lovers, did you know that?”

My stomach drops like a stone, a sickness rising in my throat as a growl snaps out of me. I feel my

wolf pushing me to shift, and it takes every bit of strength I have to not let her.

“And then Persephone, the love of his life, came along,” Phim adds in, making me feel a little

better.

Adira smiles, a seductive smile. “The rite will decide who is their true love.”

“Do you really think winning the rite will ever make them love you?”

She tilts her head to the side, her eyes flashing with blue power for just a second. “I can

be...persuasive.”

“Is everything okay?” one of our tour guides questions from the bottom step.

“Yes,” Adira answers and walks away as my hand shakes, my body itching to punch her.

“She isn’t worth it, and she is not their lover,” Phim reminds me. “Rise above it.”

“I intend to try,” I bite out. “But she really pisses me off.”

We carry on after them, down another forty steps until we come to a corridor that is filled with

books, rows and rows of bookshelves towering up to high ceilings that are at least twenty feet tall.

There are books of all shapes and sizes in every nook and cranny, the old book smell filling the space

and making me feel at home already. Hanging chandeliers float down from the ceiling, tops of them

unseen in the cosy darkness.

“Wow, it’s dusty in here,” Adira says, sniffing. “Books should be burnt outside to make space in

here.”

I ignore her ranting, disgusted by it, and I’m quickly fascinated by all the books, the amount of

knowledge that must be held in these corridors.

“Excuse me,” I say to our guides. “I never caught your names.”

“My name is Erin,” the taller one says. “And this is Helle.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Mai,” I tell her. “How many corridors of bookcases are there?”

Her eyes widen in excitement. “We had them recently counted, well, the ones we can find. The

rooms in this place tend to disappear now and then,” she explains.

“The rooms disappear?” Phim seriously questions. “Isn’t that dangerous?”

“Oh, no one has ever gone missing. The house has its own magic and protects itself. The rooms usually clean themselves as well,” she explains.

“I’d really like to stay somewhere else,” Adira pipes in, and everyone ignores her.

“Anyway, it has four thousand bookshelves—that we counted—and it doesn’t include what is in

the five libraries,” Erin explains.

“I think I’m in love with this house,” I sigh.

“Do they have any books on sparring?” Phim questions. “Perhaps some new techniques.”

“I’m sure there is a section!” Erin says with a grin. “The library keeper will help you. I can show

you the way whenever you like, but perhaps we should get to your rooms first.”

We carry on down the book-shelved corridors for a long while, passing a few windows that

overlook the waterfall.

“Do you think they have books on riddles?” I ponder out loud.

“We can ask together,” Phim suggests, and I nod with a smile. “For Valentine, I’m guessing?”

“Yes! I want to find a riddle or make up one with ideas,” I say. “Something that will make him

pause and struggle to get the answer. The riddles he gives me get harder each time.”

“He has an old riddle book under his bed,” Phim tells me. “I asked him about it once, and he told

me to piss off before getting drunk. Maybe you’d have more luck now.”

We go down two more staircases before coming to a corridor that is painted white, with beautiful

alcove ceilings and paintings of dragons all the way across the middle of the ceiling. The dragons are

water dragons, dancing between symbols and flowers. It really is beautiful.

Erin answers my question before I’ve even asked. Even Adira is staring upward, not a bad word

from her mouth. “Who painted these, we are unsure. These are original paintings, like many of the

paintings throughout the castle. Aren’t they something else?”

“Are there other painted ceilings around the castle?” Adira asks.

“Yes. The throne room is personally my favourite,” she replies.

“I can’t wait to see that,” I answer as we come to a row of doors at the end of a corridor. Erin

goes to say something when a black wolf runs down the corridor and walks up to her, dropping a

letter from its mouth into Erin’s hands.

“It’s for you,” Erin says, handing me the slightly wet note. The wolf runs off, and I place the letter

at my side, knowing I’m not opening it in front of Adira.

“This is your room, Adira,” Erin says, her companion silent still. I hardly even remember her

name. “If you need anything at all, there’s a phone in your room, simply just pick it up to speak to us.”

“Brilliant. I want food, clothing and a warm bath,” she demands, opening the door. “Immediately.”

She slams the door before Erin can reply, and I sigh.

“I’m sorry about her,” Phim tells Erin. “She is a bitch.”

Erin chuckles before covering her mouth, her cheeks burning red. She heads slightly down the

corridor, past one door. “Your two rooms are next to each other. I thought you might like that.”

“Thank you, Erin,” I say, opening the dark oak door. She bows her head and walks away, leaving

Phim to follow me into the room.

The room is impressive and huge in comparison to the train bed I’ve slept on for weeks. A large

king-sized bed takes up most of the room, and three windows look over the waterfall in the pit, letting

light into the dim and cosy bedroom. There is a wardrobe in a similar sleigh shape as the bed, and an

open door to a small shower room.

“I hope my bedroom is this nice, or I’m swapping,” Phim comments, sitting on the bed. I sit next

to her and open the letter.

Come alone to my private rooms before the celebration meal this evening.

We must talk,

Alpha Reine.

Phim reads the letter over my shoulder, and we look at each other. “Be careful.”

“I will,” I answer. “How do you feel being here?”

“Like something is wrong. Really wrong,” Phim tells me, standing up. “The alphas won’t let

anything bad happen to us, and they think this is their home. I just can’t shake the feeling...like...”

“Like something bad is going to happen?” I ask. “I mean, I did just enter The Rite of Wolves to

fight for them and to be alpha female.”

“The alphas won’t—”

I stand up. “They gave up this city, left it, to find me. I will fight for them and prove my worth. Not

only to them, but to the city and, most importantly, to myself. Respected leaders aren’t given

everything and hidden from the world. They are the ones who stand up for what they love and protect

everything good. I think this pack, Fall Mountain Pack, is good. The people are.”

“I hope so,” she replies. “And watch your back in there. I can’t watch it for you without entering

myself, and obviously I won’t do that.”

“I know,” I softly tell her.

She sighs and steps back. “Get some rest. You look tired and stressed. I’m napping for five

thousand years, if you need me.”

“Bye, sister,” I say, the word foreign on my lips even now. She looks back at me as she walks

away, a small smile on her face before she leaves me alone. I sit down on the bed and lie back,

looking up at the red bird painted across the ceiling.

I’m still a bird in a cage. This time, I’m fighting my way to the top and the freedom it promises.

I won’t be controlled and used by anyone ever again.