The Alpha and Her Match

i n t e r l u d e

It was raining, the water pelting down on the glass window relentlessly. It had been like this for hours— several long hours as I waited for the verdict. The weather is ominous and if I were smarter, I would have seen the weather as a sign that things were about to go the worst way it could.

Orion Vitalis— not Basco is the name. Adopted children aren’t allowed to carry the name of royalty, of power, but I never minded it. At least not until today. The King, Eros Basco, and his Queen, Astrea Vitalis, have always treated me like their own son and that’s all I ever wanted. No name could ever change that.

The people in the castle were a whole different problem because the name Basco is in the blood, the blood of the strong and true. Everything I wanted to be but was not unless born to it.

For I was no one before I was found twenty years ago and the entire castle was put in a state of crisis because of it. The King adopting a homeless child was seen as a scandal.

The biggest scandal in years.

First, because the King and the Queen could not have children to continue the bloodline. Second, because they decided to adopt a random boy from wherever they found me. Third, because they wanted me to be legally their child with their name. Last, there is no need for me since there is already a child with Basco blood somewhere in the north. The bloodline was secure. A child off the streets was out of the question.

Everyone refused, I could hear it. I could hear all of it. They told the King I could only stay if I had the name of his wife, not his.

Never Basco.

I wasn’t like them.

So I strived, I trained until bruised, I studied well and worked harder than anyone else so as to not disappoint the King… not that I think he ever will. He’s a good man, a great man, the type of man I can only hope to be.

To let that kind of man down would absolutely kill me.

Now a General under his reign, an accomplished… everything, dedicating my entire life to being even a fraction close to what the King is, yet people still do not see me as worthy. The castle does not see me as one of them.

Through all of this, I kept a straight face, hardening my exterior— one needed that in this castle. I didn’t allow any of their words to get to me because none of them mattered.

I hear Eros Basco shouting now through the double doors of the throne room. He’s angry. He’s slamming his fist down something wooden and breaks it.

My chest deflates.

I know the verdict… I know my future. I think I knew even before it began.

The door opens, the King of the Werewolves appears, his face red and his lips pressed tightly together. One of his hands was bleeding but it was already healing. He’s wearing his formal clothes— the ones he only wears during important council gatherings, a cape and bejeweled uniform, embellished with the brightest gems and the best awards. He has aged a lot during his reign, the skin under his eyes dark and his complexion pale from the lack of sun as he has been hauled up all day in his office.

The King, my father, places a large hand on my shoulder and squeezes it tight. “You are my son, no matter what they say.”

I want to tell him that’s enough, but his dark, angry eyes stop the words from coming out.

He runs a hand down his face, the exhaustion clear. “They have spoken. You will not be the Crown Prince. You will not be the Heir Apparent.”

Something inside me breaks. I was not enough. After twenty years of proving my worth, it was not enough. “Who is?”

My father hesitates, his eyes glancing at an ancient vase, at a thick embroidered curtain, at an old painting of one of the old royals before finally meeting with mine. “Anna Volkov.”

I clenched my jaw tightly. Of course. She is a Basco. The last of them. Of course, of course, of course! It didn’t make it any easier to accept. “And if she doesn’t want it?”

Another squeeze of my shoulder. “Then it will be you.”

“They’ll allow that?” I asked, surprised that I even got that much.

He rubs at his furrowed eyebrows again. He is so tried. When was the last time he had slept? “I made sure of it.”

Long after the King went back to his office, I stayed, watching the rain fall and the skies gloom. A few times, a bright light would flash— lightning striking the ground, showing the beautiful capital lands before shrouding everything in darkness once more.

My thoughts ran free, thinking, contemplating and cursing when I realized who my mind had settled on.

Anna Volkov.

The daughter of the infamous Alexandra Volkov, the Alpha of the North. A Basco. The direct bloodline of heroes.

I remember very little about her. We were children. It’s been quite a long time. Years and years, but I still remember the dark hair, the blue eyes that they all have and that irritating smirk. Anna Volkov spoke casually to everyone, unmoved by everything and was irritatingly loved by all. She laughed loudly, wildly like this unkept thing, and ran like crazy in the snow— without shoes. The entire time I saw her all those years ago, she had a booger out of her nose, a tear in her coat and a long cut in her cheek. She will never fit in the life of the castle, yet they still choose her.

I didn’t understand it.

The council was still on going. I could hear their low murmurs. They are planning. They are excited.

A Basco. They whispered. A Basco completely raised by another Basco and supported by an old Basco Queen.

Beautiful. Very beautiful. Strong and brave.

I continued to stare out of the window. Another lighting strike came and another and another.

They spoke of her accomplishments next. An exceptional warrior. Trained by the fearsome Alek Volkov. Wonderfully educated. Well traveled like her mother. A high ranking official in the Russian pack and a beloved one, a respected one.

“She would make an excellent Queen.”

Any moment now, the world will know that Eros Basco is stepping down from his throne and any moment now, the council will come to her, announcing her claim… her right to be the next Queen.

Will she accept?

I certainly hope not.