The Queen of Alphas

2. When Dreams come true

Victoria

I breathed deeply as the silver light surrounded me, in less than a minute I would arrive at the Realm of the Werewolves. I just have to go there, introduce myself, and claim my throne. My father’s family and supporters, and by extension my friends and supporters, will welcome me, I will feel at home. Soon.

Soon I will feel surrounded by my father’s presence, his legacy.

I’ll live all the adventures that before I could only watch from above, like a Queen.

Surely the wolves in the Realm would love me like they loved my mom, reverence me. Even though I wanted to feel like one of them, I would find a way to show them sooner than later that they shouldn’t treat me with the ceremony and veneration they treat a Goddess, but only as Victoria, as their Queen.

When the silver light faded away, all the airiness surrounding me became tangible and I could feel the floor under my boots.

I was here. I arrived at the Werewolf Realm, at their castle to be precise.

I had only a moment to look around its stone walls and mundane architecture before I was halted by a group of three guards. They were partially shifted to their wolves and were pointing their sharp claws in my direction.

“Don’t move! Who are you and what are you doing in the Royal Castle?” A very tall male asked, his voice angry and severe, startled my heart and made me start to wonder if coming here was a good idea. It must be a misunderstanding.

“I am Victoria Lupin, the daughter of the Goddess and the late King, and I am here to take my place among you all,” I said, swallowing back the insecurity that was pounding in my heart and trying to mimic my mom’s serenity.

The guards let out a humorless laugh, washing me over with shock. I couldn’t understand.

I moved my numb head to all sides, looking at each of the three of them as I felt a couple of tears well up in my eyes.

How could that even happen? I wasn’t sad, nor angry. There was no space in my mind for anything besides shock.

Maybe watching everything from above didn’t really help me to understand their werewolves and their ways.

“To the Dungeon with the invader,” the taller one told the others, without even looking at me. The two other males surrounded me, each of them grabbing one of my arms forcefully and dragging me away.

My legs tried to resist, as I firmly tried to fix my place on the floor, but here I was no semi-Goddess, I was only Victoria.

“No, wait! …You don’t understand! I am Princess Victoria; I have just come from Olympus…” I tried to explain as my desperate yells filled the room, so much for trying to be soft-spoken like my mom. Even though I was much louder than I wished, the guards didn’t even listen, only kept dragging me away.

In a desperate attempt that I knew was fated to fail, I closed my eyes and tried to gather my energy to open a portal away from this mess. After a few minutes, I was washed over with frustration as the first tears started to actually flow down my cheeks.

I wanted to be strong and try. I wanted to do it right. But my mother was right, I didn’t even have my powers here. I didn’t know what to do.

Here in this new world, where I always dreamed of being. I was only met with my nightmares.

I was weak, alone, and hopeless.

My mom was right, being down in the realms means putting one’s heart at risk, being vulnerable and fragile. That was exactly how I was feeling.

“Please…listen…” I tried again, calmer this time. But these men knew no words, only brute force.

I had to try to abide by their rules, act by their rules if I wanted to be listened to, at least now.

“Sir,” I called, looking at the tall male who had ordered the other two to take me. “You don’t know me; you think I am an invader. But I am just someone from another land. You can see with your own eyes that, considering my vestments, I am not from here,” I tried to reason, as I looked down at my light blue dress that flowed with the density of the clouds. He followed my eyes as he motioned to the other man to stop for a moment, “Please let me have an audience with your prince. I will explain to him who I am and what I am here for. I am only a female by myself. How could I even harm your powerful people and great Realm?” I asked softly.

His eyes lingered on me, he was visibly considering his options, thinking about my words.

I knew that my brother the prince would help me to solve this misunderstanding and then things would be in the way they were supposed to be since my arrival. This thought brought a little smile of relief to my tense lips.

“Fine, you will wait in the dungeon until someone has time to see you,” he replied with a sharp exhale. My eyes grew wide with another jolt of shock, I was trying to push some words past my throat when the male spoke again, “Who did you say you were again?” he asked with a mocking smile.

It was so frustrating! But I just had to hold one and swallow back my tears, things would get better soon.

“Victoria Lupin, the daughter of King Magnus,” I said patiently, already expecting them to further mock me, which happened before I could blink. The two wolves that had their firm hands wrapping around me softened their touch as they bent down laughing.

No one had ever laughed at my expense before. I was there, a statue of shock, not knowing what to do or even what to feel.

“Rogues are getting more creative and bolder by the day. But I must confess, this one is new. Well done little rogue!” he said again.

“Thank you… oh, no, wait! I am not a rogue,” I said in my defense.

A rogue, that was how low they thought I was?

Even I knew from my window times that rogues weren’t liked. Rogues were wolves without a pack, an Alpha and King or Queen to guide them. Most of the time, they came to this condition after being banished, which was the punishment for some sort of crime. Wolves need a pack and a firm structure to function well, to keep their guttural instincts at bay.

“You don’t smell like a member of any pack and you are obviously a wolf. Hence, you are a Rogue,” he told me, as if he was stating the obvious to a very simple-minded child.

I frowned in annoyance, knowing that nothing that I would say would be really listened to or considered.

I felt insignificant.

~ * ~

Henrik

I was fencing with my childhood friend and the closest one I had, Alpha Philip, when I was surprised by some alarming news.

“One moment, Philip,” I asked, trying to concentrate on the words being said through the mind-link.

“General Rainer just mind-linked me, saying that a girl claiming to be Victoria, the bastard of my father, had just arrived at the Castle. The general believes the young female is only an imaginative rogue that was lying in an attempt to escape being sent to the dungeon.” I told Philip with a sharp exhale.

Philip’s expression was contorted with something between shock and anger. We also share the feeling towards that Goddess.

Loath, disgust, aversion.

“Victoria is here,” I muttered half absently.

It couldn’t be possible. Except I was quite sure it was. It was indeed her.

She came here after my father’s death; she wants his throne. Little does she know that there is no empty throne for her to lay her claim upon. This land already has its new king, and it will come into effect officially on the day of my upcoming coronation, once I am 18 years old, in a bit less than two months.

The bastard will be shown her way back to wherever the dissolute Olympians hold their vulgar and frivolous eternal lives.

“Maybe it isn’t her. Not even the Goddess would have the nerve to send her daughter here just after your father passed away…it is a great disrespect, where was she while he was alive?” Philip questioned, voicing out the same thoughts I had.

The Goddess wasn’t content with only having unlimited power and even certain influence within our Realms, she had to play with us and infiltrate her bastard in our Realm, having her daring to claim my crown.

It was outrageous.

I breathed deeply, trying to settle my nerves. My wolf was also very edgy to know that someone was trying to steal our Realm, our pack, our birthright.

“Something tells me that this girl is indeed Victoria. We know very well that the Goddess and her selfish ways know no limits. However, I will make sure of it immediately,” I stated.

“I could go with you, tell her that I and the other Alphas also don’t want her or her mother’s influence here,” Philip offered.

“It’s fine, I want to have a one-to-one talk with my half-sister,” I replied with a tight grin.

He was the Alpha of the Phoenix Pack, one of the thirteen Packs within the Werewolf Realm.

Philip took over his pack a few months ago, on his eighteenth birthday, we were almost the same age and, since our mothers were second cousins and best friends, we grew up together.

I knew that Philip was the most loyal and honored wolf of this Realm and he would always have my back.

***

T. R. Durant / Dreame/ Ringdom/ Innovel / Stary - All Rights Reserved.