The Lost Alpha Queen

Chapter 3: Mateo

As I walk through the training grounds, I see a kingdom that was never meant to be mine. I feel like an impostor in my own skin, but I know it’s necessary. I need him to believe that I am on his side because otherwise my sister is in danger. As I grew older and started to rebel from the way my father wanted me to act, he started threatening Maliah. She’s seven years younger than me and I’m all she has. Our father has never been able to look at her. Our mother died giving birth to her and he blames her for that.

After our mother died, he was never the same. Some say losing your mate causes you to lose your mind. I cannot imagine losing half of your soul, but I also cannot imagine doing what he has done. He was always so loving when I was a child. He was the best father but something changed. He became cold and calculated. He believed that the king, Uncle Jackson, could have healed my mother. That the royals have some kind of powers but my uncle chose not to. He wanted to steal these powers. He killed his best friend without a second thought. Of course, he did not get any magical powers because they do not exist. He is delusional but he is still the alpha, so everyone stays in line. I do not know how he got so many men to follow him, but I do not believe it was out of loyalty. From what I can gather, he paid the men that followed him. He is still paying them and they still make sure everyone else falls in line. He has raised taxes to pay for his lavish lifestyle and army. People are desperate and one of the highest paying jobs is warrior, so though they are not loyal, they join the army.

As I walk through the training grounds with my best friend, Rafe, I see men and women beaten down and broken. I see desperation and I see eyes filled with hate directed at me. I am ashamed, I need to do something and I will.

When Rafe looked at me, I nodded. It was time to go. We headed toward Rafe’s house, where he and his mate, Lexa, had recently moved into. She is not home currently, but I know I can talk freely around her anyway.

“We need to do something. He needs to be stopped. I just don’t know how we are going to do that.”

Rafe looked thoughtful for a second, like he was debating whether to tell me something or not. “ I might have an idea…”

“Well, spit it out already man! Don’t think you can’t tell me because he is my father. Literally, that is all he is, the sperm that created me. He has not been an actual father since I was seven years old,” I practically yelled.

Rafe nods and holds his hands up, “Woah buddy, I know! Remember I was there for it all, probably the closest person you had. Well, besides… you know. I have been hearing rumblings of a rebellion. Apparently there are still royals alive. They survived the attack. I know your father said no one survived, but do you believe that?”

At the mention of Bella, I instantly was tense. “Please don’t bring her up, makes me want to kill him right now. I don’t know if my father lied, but I doubt it. He had me walk the palace with him after the attack and the royal residences were in rubble. There were bodies everywhere. I was terrified to look. Fearing I’d see her, so I didn’t look at the faces. The only two bodies he made me look at were King Jackson and Queen Zara. So there is a chance that someone survived and made it to safety, but it's hard to believe. Maybe it's worth looking into though. Could you do that? I feel like they won’t question you as much as me.”

“Yeah, no problem man, I’ll get right on it. I cannot believe your psychotic father made you do that when you were only eight. You know all of them. They were like family to you.” Shaking his head, he gets up and walks over to the fridge to grab us both a water.

Trying to collect my thoughts, I took a drink before I decided to speak. “I lost everything that day. That was the end of my childhood and the beginning of hell. I want this hell to end, but before we do anything, I need to get Maliah out of the palace.”

“I actually also have an idea about that as well. Lexa has to go back to her pack city on the east coast. Maybe you could suggest that your sister travels with her to see how the other cities are run. Honestly, I think your father would be happy she is gone. Though that is sad to say.”

I sigh, Lexa is from the pack city in the territory, known to the human world as Maine. Her father is the alpha of the city. She traveled here last month with her father. She had just turned eighteen and her father decided she could accompany him on the journey. It was a shock that she ended up meeting her mate here. She needs to go back and see her family, while also packing up her belongings to move out here. “That could work, do you think Lexa would mind? Also, maybe she can convince her father to help.”

Rafe laughs “way ahead of you on that. This was her idea and that's why she is going in person instead of just having them ship everything over. She has her father wrapped around her finger, so I think the odds are likely she can convince him. They will fly out and if her father agrees, they will be returning with his warriors in tow.”

Now that we have a plan, I’m hopeful for the first time in almost a decade.