The Northern Fortress
1042 Words
The intense electric shock from our joined hands lingered long after Orion pulled away. He hadn't let go because he wanted to. I could see the strain it took for him to force himself to create distance. His jaw was clenched, and something dark flickered in his silver eyes.
“I will have food brought up,” Orion said softly. “You have been unconscious for three days, Elara. Your body used a catastrophic amount of energy during your first shift. You are running on empty.”
Three days.
I had slept in the bed of the Lycan King while my old pack probably believed I was dead in the Dark Woods.
“I... I can't stay here,” I whispered.
My wolf immediately growled in protest at the thought of leaving our mate.
But the human part of me was terrified.
Orion stopped at the heavy oak door and looked back at me.
“You are not a prisoner in my home,” he said. “You are its Queen. You have the freedom to walk through those gates whenever you choose.”
He tilted his head slightly, his gaze piercing straight through my defenses.
“But ask yourself... where would you go? Back to the pack that treated you like dirt? Back to the boy who threw you away because he was too weak to handle your power?”
His words struck harder than any blow.
Because they were true.
I had nowhere to go.
No family.
No pack.
No home.
Except for the terrifying man standing before me, looking at me as though I were the center of his entire world.
Orion gave a brief nod before stepping through the doorway.
I sat alone in the enormous bedroom.
Eventually, I forced myself to move.
The silk sheets slipped from my shoulders as I swung my legs over the edge of the mattress. My bare feet touched the cold stone floor.
A sharp wave of dizziness crashed over me.
I immediately grabbed the heavy wooden bedpost to keep myself upright.
Orion hadn't been exaggerating.
I was incredibly weak.
Yet beneath the exhaustion, a strange current of power pulsed through my veins.
My hearing had become unbelievably sharp.
I could hear the crackling fire.
The howling wind outside.
And, beyond the bedroom, the disciplined footsteps of guards moving through the stone corridors.
This was the gift of the White Wolf.
Slowly, I steadied myself and walked toward the floor-to-ceiling window.
I pushed the velvet curtains aside.
My breath caught.
The view was breathtaking.
And terrifying.
My bedroom was high inside an ancient stone fortress carved directly into the side of a jagged mountain. Far below, an enormous territory stretched beneath a blanket of snow.
Dense pine forests covered the landscape as far as I could see.
Beyond them stood massive training grounds.
Hundreds of Lycan warriors moved across the snow, their enormous bodies and powerful movements making ordinary wolves seem almost helpless.
This wasn't a pack house.
It was a fortress.
A military empire.
And Orion ruled every part of it.
“He is not a normal Alpha.”
A soft feminine voice came from behind me.
I spun around.
An older woman stood near the doorway, carrying a large silver tray piled with steaming food.
“My name is Elara,” I whispered automatically, lowering my eyes.
Years of abuse had taught me that looking directly at authority was dangerous.
The woman smiled gently.
“I know exactly who you are, child.”
She crossed the room and placed the tray on a small wooden table.
“I am Cora, the head housekeeper of the Northern Fortress.”
Then she looked directly at me.
“And you don't need to lower your eyes to anyone here. Least of all me.”
I slowly raised my gaze.
“But I don't have a rank,” I said. “I'm an Omega.”
Cora gave a soft, almost amused chuckle.
“Rank?”
She shook her head.
“Sweetheart, the moment King Orion carried your broken body through those iron gates and ordered his healers to save you, your place here was decided.”
“He didn't leave your bedside for three days.”
My eyes widened.
“He barely ate. Barely slept. He simply sat beside you, holding your hand and growling at anyone who came too close.”
I stared at her.
“Why?”
Cora's expression softened.
“Because he was terrified you wouldn't wake up.”
“He was ready to burn the world down if you didn't.”
I didn't know what to say.
No one had ever been afraid of losing me before.
People had feared what I might break or what punishment I deserved. Never losing me.
“You are his fated mate,” Cora continued gently. “You are the Lycan Queen.”
She gestured toward the enormous room around us.
“And this entire empire is now your home.”
A Lycan Queen.
Me.
The wolf-less Omega who had spent years scrubbing dirty floors until her knees bled.
I only knew how to survive.
Then my stomach growled loudly.
I froze.
Cora burst into warm laughter.
She gestured toward the food.
“Eat, my Queen. You need your strength.”
I slowly sat at the table.
As I picked up the silver fork, Cora continued.
“Tomorrow, King Orion wishes to formally introduce you to his inner circle and his generals.”
I looked up.
“Tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
She smiled.
“In the Lycan world, survival requires much more than a pretty face.”
Her eyes gleamed with quiet amusement.
“It requires incredibly sharp teeth.”
I looked down at my hands.
Sharp teeth.
Power.
A Queen.
I took my first bite.
Then I turned toward the massive window.
The sprawling Lycan empire stretched beneath the moonlit snow, vast and powerful.
For years, I had only known how to endure.
How to keep my head down.
How to survive another day.
But something had changed.
I was no longer the powerless girl Kael had rejected.
I was a Royal White Wolf.
The mate of a King.
And perhaps...
I was finally done surviving.
Perhaps it was time to rule.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD