The Alpha Queen and Her Rogue Kingdom

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

ELINA

After a couple of days since I had that horrible nightmare I have not been able to find the answer to that question, I have been so busy since Zane left, attending to royal commitments on his behalf, replacing him in the meeting with the alphas of the kingdom, who despite of their reluctance at first to my marriage with Zane, they have started to accept me little by little, and it is that as a result of the declaration of war against the Varkolak kingdom, several important kingdoms have declared their support for Crimson Woods, and with we have been receiving not only envoys from all over the continent, but supplies and new lines of trade have been opened, which has more than pleased the alphas of this kingdom.

And that is because everyone is perfectly clear that the power of my name has been the main reason why these kingdoms decided to offer us their support, and although I still do not feel entirely comfortable with the fame that I have been acquiring, since I have heard firsthand the rumors about my supposed special powers, or those that say that I am a Lycan who can still speak in my wolf form, which is ridiculous, the only rumors that come a little closer to reality are the ones that talk about the size and strength of my wolf, for even when I know that my wolf is much larger than most, in rumors they make me seem like a monstrosity the size of the Lycan kings of yore.

Even the news of the birth of my babies has been an inexhaustible source of rumors and myths created around them, and is that the last time the birth of twins was known was seven decades ago, when the alpha kings of the Blackshadows kingdom were born, from which my mother, Princess Maia, came from, she was the great niece of the alpha twin kings, and that was the main reason why my grandfather agreed with my father marrying her, as he considered them of such a pure and powerful lineage like the Bloodmoon’s, though they all say that grandfather's approval was a mere formality for my father, who was planning to marry my mother, his fated mate, whether grandfather wanted it or not.

So while it came as a surprise when the announcement of Aiden and Alissa's birth was made, and it was even believed by many to be Zane's inventions to fool the other realms, once people made the connection to my distant relatives in Blackshadows, they accepted the news as true even if many of them have never seen the babies; The first to offer their support were of course the twin kings, who were quick to send their congratulations and apologize for not having attended the wedding, as well as requesting a visit to Crimson Woods to meet the twins, to which I accepted almost immediately, since they are basically the only people with whom I share part of my bloodline.

And the long-awaited visit came while Zane was still away, for although I would have wanted him to be here to greet them, as I am not yet completely familiar with the protocols that go into hosting a royal visit; however, when the twin kings, Edric and Elric Black arrived, they seemed somewhat pleased with the absence of my brand new husband, which made me wonder why they reacted that way.

“Don't take it the wrong way, we were not very close friends with the late king, your husband's father,” Edric explains.

“That is why we didn't attend the wedding, even if we wanted to see our beloved great-niece's daughter walk down the aisle,” Elric tells me with a kind smile, and I smile back at him.

“We want you to know that the death of our beloved Maia has been one of the most painful things we have experienced, we loved her as if she were our own daughter, she was the kindest and most generous person that could exist, the light that she radiated was enough to illuminate our kingdom of shadows,” Edric tells me sadly as his brother nods in agreement.

"Losing our little Maia was as painful as losing my own son, and this is the main reason we are offering you our support in the war against that awful people," Elric adds.

“I am very sorry to hear that, how did your son die? If you don't mind me asking,” I tell him, and they both exchange glances.

“It was an accident in a competition that took place about five years ago, he was in a race through the forest with other princes of the continent, including your husband, when he fell off a cliff and landed on sharp rocks, nobody noticed his absence until the other competitors reached the finish line and he didn't, so we started the search for him, but we got to him too late,” Edric tells me as Elric shakes his head.

"It wasn't an accident, I am sure it wasn't, there is no way that a wolf as powerful as my Darius could have simply fallen off a cliff, it doesn't make sense," Elric responds.

"So, what do you think happened?" I ask him.

"I think someone pushed him off the cliff," he replies simply.

"Who?" I insist, but Edric seems to be looking at his brother intently, almost as if he wants to prevent him from speaking.

“We don't know yet, but the last person who was seen with him was your husband, Zane Crimson, although he denies he was there when it all happened, and then his father threatened to cut off business relations with our kingdom if we kept hinting that his son had something to do with it,” Elric responds, and I frown.

"We do not want you to think badly of your husband, dear girl, but it would be good if you were on high alert while you are here, his father was a sadistic and cruel king, and you already know the saying, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree," Edric tells me.

"I do want you to think badly of your husband, I am sure that he had something to do with the death of my son, because of him today my grandson is an orphan, because his poor mother could not bear the pain of the loss of his beloved husband and she committed suicide shortly after… don't trust him, or anyone in this kingdom,” Elric tells me taking my hand and squeezing hard.

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