Marked

Prelude

Marked

Alpha Male Series

Book #4

i. epigraph

i lost

my way

all the way

to you

and in you

i found

all the way

b a c k

to me.

        —atticus

ii. introduction

Through the realm of the wolves, power is everything.

Everyone had always wanted to sit on the throne of the King, ruling every Alpha that ever was under his command. It had been a tradition that no royalty lineage would succeed unless they had won the competition themselves. Therefore, all males who had Alpha blood were allowed to compete for the throne and never had a single-family rule the kingdom in succeeding years.  

“Do you really want to fight for this, Blayze? We do not require you to. I, for one, know how strong you are. You do not need to prove anything.” Queen Bea carefully treaded the words to her son, who is currently stripping his formal attire into ones that would be allowed in the brawl. Without question asked, all that had trained their son knew that Blayze is the perfect fit in the role of the King. For some reason, she does admit that Blayze is stronger than her husband.

And the child is only ten years old. 

Unknown to the panic set in his Mother's mind, Blayze looked at her in the eyes and showed his confidence about the current fight that he will soon befall him. “Yes, Mother. I will not let us lose our home. You can count on me. I will be up in history!”

“Sweetheart…” she sighed, unknown how to answer her son.

How can someone in his age be worried about something as small as that? While it was automatic that they would lose the palace, her husband already has a place to live if they were cast out of these walls. King Jace is a good man, someone who had prepared if anything ever happened to them. She was not willing to hand her son to the power that resides in sitting on the King's throne. 

“I will never let you suffer outside these high walls again.” He said, clearly confident and seemingly determined to make sure his mother remained in the palace walls.

Queen Bea had lived a terrible life when she was young, and for her son to learn the value of money and the privilege that he has, she does tell him stories of how she had suffered through those years. Never did the woman think that her son would be the King, so she wanted him to understand that all that they have were nothing but temporary. The caste was never their home, and he needed to stand on his own feet. However, she had never seen it as his reason as to why he wanted more than anyone to fight back and not lose their home. 

She had won the title of being a Queen due to her desperation to be with the young boy she had fallen in love with when she was nothing but a child. Never did Bea wanted the throne for power- she wanted Jace, nothing more. The current King of the wolves has always been someone she was fond of when she was young; her first playmate. People had claimed that they were mates, only he had been accepted to rule the throne, which changed their fate.

There was a curse in being the King of the Wolves.

Due to the overwhelming power that a wolf had when he accepted the throne, any Alpha who would be sitting on that throne would lose his mate, garnering them to have reaping when the man turned 21. Thus, it is a competition for the King of the wolves to pick a suitable wife. While Bea had trained hard and long years to be in the position that she was now—she does not know if she wanted her son to suffer a fate where he would marry for power.

“Blayze.” She called, kneeling to her son as she looked at him right in the eyes. She never wanted to say such things to her son, but she feels like she needed to. “Have I not told you what comes in being the King of the wolves?”

He frowned, muttering the concept that he does not understand. “I will lose my mate.”

“Yes.” She nodded, now realizing that there tales that he had forgotten to tell stories to his son. But, unfortunately, they are the stories that hold the stories of mates. “You will be losing your mate. Mates are very important to wolves; it’s something that felt unique and special to the bones. I am lucky that I had found my mate before he was stripped out of that responsibility. We can still feel the link, but others who had sat on the throne were not very lucky.”

Bea felt nothing but glad that she could feel sparks whenever she touched her husband and did not need more time to be familiar with the wolves. The usual people who had run the kingdom did not suffer in the same fate, and she was sure that her child would suffer in that context—only to be married in terms of power and not the idea of love itself.

In response to her words, her son only offered a confused look. “Then, I will not sit on the throne.”

She chuckled, kissing her son the cheeks. Even if he bears the strongest power in the realm, he was still a ten-year-old boy, that was for sure. Having to decide on things like this should not be imposed on young children. 

“Baby. If you won in that arena, it would be automatic. You will be stripped out of a mate.”

Blayze grimaced. He did not understand nor was willing to understand the importance of having a mate at such a young age. From the second he heard that it would soon bear no interest to him, he had disregarded any interest in it. His young mind did not know why his mother was fretting on such a small inane thing. All he knew now is that if he chooses not to fight, he would abdicate the throne and lose their home.

“I will be fine, mother.” He answered, smiling at her. The gentle hands that he had offered her were sincere. At the age of 10, he already wanted to take care of his family. Blayze was aware of just how many people wanted to take his father's place, but he can't let that happen. “As long as I have you and all that is important to me, I am sure that I will be fine.”

Bea did not like how he had glazed over the fact that he will lose his mate. “Blayze, you needed to understand this. A mate is something-”

There was no more time needing her to explain more about it as the siren had ensued, having the child kiss his mother goodbye while he walked into the arena. Blayze was excited, confident that he will win this combat. He needs to fight one more kid who had reached the same score and compatibility on the throne as him.

“Is everything okay with you, my love?” King Jace asked his clearly worried wife.

She frowned, shaking her head. “No. I am worried about him.”

“You shouldn’t be. He will rise victory to the amount of power that he has.” He whispered before looking through the pad as his advisor had signified the fight to ensue.

Even the King himself was worried about their son. While Blaze is powerful for someone his age, everyone is sure that they are worried about it. Through all the marriages on the throne, nothing had been healthy. Even Queen Sophia had a marked red as his King and was tortured all her life. Jace was lucky that he knew the woman that he had married, but he was the first person who had experienced such luck. 

The throne has its own menace lurking around.

It is a weakness to any King. 

Queen Bea fights the urge to show her distaste for what is to happen. “With his strength, I know that he will win, and that is what scared me most.”

Blayze did not even flinch as the child standing before him had shifted into his wolf. The Prince had only lunged towards the child and grabbed it by the neck. With little to no effort, Blayze managed to tackle the wolf down. Bea had closed her eyes, fearing for the call that will soon ensue. The Prince never seemed threatened enough to shift into his beast, which is why she knows that her son would become King if he wanted to. 

“We will never let him get tangled in the dark business on the throne. Trust our son. He is a good kid, and I know that he will treat the Kingdom right.” King Jace whispered to his wife as he felt her struggling in his hold. “Our son will be fine, Bea. He is stronger than me and everyone else. No one will be able to f**k around him.”

She holds her smile, being careful not to show sadness as people could be watching them through this all. “His mate, Jace. What about his mate? That poor child will suffer from being alone her whole life.”

“We’ll figure it out.” He says, soothing the shaking woman.

As the buzzer had ensued and the flag was raised, both of them looked over the pad with their ten-year-old prince bowing at everyone who cheered for him. He had won over the competition, pronouncing him as the new succession of the King. For the first time, someone had done the impossible. 

“I am proud to announce the future king of the wolves.” King Jace announced as he had walked over to his son. Blayze has a proud emotion on his face as he had climbed to his father. Jace only smiled and wiped the blood off the side of his face. “My son, Prince Blayze Hawthrone.”

As everyone cheered on the young child, both of his parents were nothing but worried about how his life in the palace would ensue. They can only hope that he still has a shot at the happiness that he deserved. For they know better that even if he was not aware of what he had sacrificed, the child was still willing to bet on it as long as their family would not lose their home.

Blayze beamed at his father. His expression shinned, and Bea knew full well that such happiness would not last. Since he is young, he is not aware of the responsibility that he had thrust into himself. “I did well, Father! We will not lose our home! We can continue serving the people!”

“I know, son,” Jace commented as he patted the young boy in the head, showing how proud he was for him. “I am very proud of you, Blayze. You are very capable. I am sure that you will be a great King.”

“I will be just like you! I will not disappoint you, dad!” He grinned, proud as he could be.  

For everyone’s sake—Jace does wish that his son would be like him. Happy and contented on the throne, all his problems will only come from the people and never from his wife. For his safety, he wished. By the mercy of the moon, may his soon find his mate. 

“Blayze, I wish you well in your reign.”