The Alpha's Wanted Queen

Prologue

Annabella POV 

I hurry down the hall to the nursery listening to the wails of my infant boy. Gently, I slide the door open to bask the room in the light from the hallway and allow his cries to carry from his crib. I walk in and scoop up the little bundle to cradle him into my arms, nuzzling my nose into my son’s soft neck. 

“You hungry, baby boy?” I whisper into his skin. His tears slow down at my touch as he whimpers hungrily in my hold and I adjust my shirt so he can eat. His mouth latches onto my n****e as he suckles the milk from my body. I hold him as still as I can while I drift slowly down the hall back to mine and Eli’s bedroom. I wince when Zander sinks his fangs into the sensitive flesh on my breast. 

He started doing this about four days after he started feeding. He was eating and then all of the sudden, he bit me and started sucking out blood right along with his milk. It stings but Zeke told me it's normal for a newborn vampire to want blood just like it wants regular food. I haven’t told Eli because he’s still not used to all the ways of vampires. He loves our son but he would try to find another solution that doesn’t hurt me even though I know this is the easiest way for Zander to feed. 

I start to step into my room but freeze in the doorway. The smell of ash lingers in the air like a storm cloud covering the sky. A folded piece of paper is laying on the bed next to a large, red rose. I scan the room and hesitantly move towards the bed while clutching Zander tightly to my chest. He must pick up on my discomfort because he pulls his fangs from my skin and detaches his mouth from my boob. 

“It's okay, Zander baby,” I mumble and shift an arm around him so I can have one free. I consider linking Eli but I know he’s busy. If it's something serious, I'll tell him. I carefully pick up the rose and letter and scan the perfect script. 

Little Flame,

It is quite a shame that I cannot deliver this message to you in person but, apparently, it is not the correct time for our first official meeting. 

Pity. 

At any rate, I’ve been watching you very carefully these last few years. You’ve gotten yourself quite the life haven’t you? Leader of two top species, a husband. And let’s not forget about those precious pups of yours. 

How are they, by the way? The twins old enough to defend themselves yet? Old enough to defend your little girl? 

The man I am working with has quite the plans for your young family. A little overtly harsh if I must say. He only wants one simple thing, however, and you can easily fix that problem without bloodshed. 

Turn yourself over and he won’t touch your family or your wolves. Come with me and you can end a war before it begins. You can even bring your infant vampire still hanging from your breast. 

I can help tame your fire, little flame. You’ll live in prosperity with me. If not, it doesn’t matter much to me. My end goal is the same: you. That was the deal. 

Enjoy your pups while you have them. They should be receiving a visitor anytime now. 

See you soon. 

-E

I clutch the rose in my fist and press my son tighter to my chest. Who is this person? Who the hell thinks it's okay to threaten my children? 

“ELI! Where are the kids?!” I yell through mind-link. 

“They're training with Jake. Why?” he asks but I ignore him. Instead I sprint from the bedroom heading towards the training field. Towards my family. I swear if something happens to them—

London growls loudly, cutting off any other thoughts I have while I speed towards my kids. Making it to the clearing, the sun shines brightly on the wide open grassy field. A few warriors train at the far end field while Jake instructs four young boys in my usual training circle. Laney and Hannah are sitting in the grass with Natalia and Samuel playing together in front of them while Laney nurses Joshua. They all sense my unease as ten heads shift so that they're all looking in my direction.

“Kids!” I frantically yell across the field.

“Momma!” Natalia squeals and runs to me on her little legs with her arms outstretched. I sweep her up into my available arm and continue moving forward towards my sons. I drop the crumpled note and rose and fall to my knees inside of the circle and let my two four-year-old’s circle their arms around me and their younger siblings. 

“Bella, what's wrong?” Jake asks me. 

“Bella, who gave you this?” I glance up and see my note unfolded in Hannah’s hand. My body trembles against my children and I can't find the words to explain. 

“Momma?” Alex murmurs questioningly. 

“It's okay, baby. You're okay. You're all safe.” I mutter these words over and over like a broken record. A breeze in the air brings an unknown scent and my whole body tenses up. 

“Kids, go to Hannah and Laney,” I order. “Han, come take Zander.” Without question, she comes and grabs him from my arm and steps back with the kids in tow right as two men show up at the edge of the clearing. 

“Who are you? What do you want?” Jake demands, positioning his body protectively in front of mine. 

“We’re not here for you mutt. We’re here for the false queen.” The bigger man booms out and my blood runs cold. I place a hand on Jake’s shoulder and step in front of him. 

“You're trespassing on this land. Leave or you will be dealt with accordingly.” I know my eyes are glowing red and fire burns beneath my skin. They both ignore me. 

“Jedediah sends his regards but, unfortunately, he could not be here for this meeting.” He smirks as his eyes turn their own murky shade of red. They're clearly not strong-blooded vampires.

“What does that traitor want?” I spit out. They hiss through their teeth and speed closer to us until only around ten feet separates us from them while my family stands only a few feet behind me. 

“The only traitor is you, half breed!” The smaller man hisses. 

“We’re here to warn you. War is coming. It might not be soon, but it is coming for you and anyone you love. But, if you do as you are asked, lives can be spared.” I stay silent thinking about the letter I received today. 

Turn myself over. 

Go with him. 

Save my family. 

My body shakes and power surges through my veins. Wind whips around my body and cocoons everyone behind me. Feeling my distress, the boys shift and push through the wind to stand at my feet. Both men’s eyes shift to the small wolves at my feet. 

“They won't survive this war, Queen. We will wipe out any existence of your breeding. Your entire insulting bloodline will be ended.” His lips curl up into a grotesque grin by the end of his sentence. A growl rips from my throat. 

“Don’t you dare threaten my children!” Two twin growls sound from below me and I watch my boys stalk forward threateningly. Aaron stops after a few steps but Alex continues to advance towards the men. Before I can think, the smaller man runs forward, snatches Alex by the scruff of his neck, and holds him in front of his body while his small body continues to fight and struggle. 

The dam inside of me bursts as the ground grumbles beneath our feet and fire encases the trees. Nothing around me exists except for my son and the soon to be dead man holding him. 

ELIJAH POV 

Me and Nick have been working in my office all morning. He's catching me up on everything I've missed since Zander was born. It was a shock to learn that we were having a vampire pup but everyone loves him all the same and Bella is glad she has a vampire heir for the clan. 

“ELI! Where are the kids?!” She suddenly yells through mind-link.  

“They're training with Jake. Why?” I respond but she doesn’t answer. 

“What?” Nick asks me. 

“Bella linked and asked about the kids. She seems worried,” I tell him. 

“Han hasn’t said anything is going on.” He shrugs. “Maybe she just misses them for some reason.” I sigh but reluctantly agree. She would have told me if something was truly going on. We continue to work until an influx of emotion rolls through my body and I nearly double over. 

“Something’s wrong with Bella. I haven’t felt her emotions this strongly since she was with Zachariah.” I grit out. 

“You need to get to the training field now,” Jake links us. Me and Nick share a look before we sprint from the office nearly tearing the door down in the process. We make it to the edge of the clearing and the sight nearly brings me to my knees. Hannah and Laney are huddled around all of the kids except for two. Aaron’s wolf is growling about a foot in front of his mother who is shaking profusely, anger and power radiating from her form. But the sight that sends ice water through my veins is the stranger holding Alex by his scruff with a taunting smirk on his face showing off his protruding fangs. 

An unknown sound comes from Bella and the ground rumbles slightly beneath us. The trees light on fire along the whole perimeter blocking any escape the two vampires could make. Me and Nick don’t move, frozen to the spot concerned that any sudden movement could be detrimental to my son’s life. Bella doesn’t seem to have the same worry, however. 

She shoots from her stance beside Jake like a bullet from a gun and rams into the man so hard that Alex goes flying into the air. She wastes no time in making sure the vamps are taken care of and rushes in the direction our son is flying. Alex is back in his skin by the time he lands in his mother’s arms. 

In the blink of an eye, she is back by the others and gingerly places Alex back behind his brother before rushing to the man that has yet to move and delivers a blow to the side of his head before he gets a chance to defend himself.  He falls to the grass and she turns in time to meet the man that threatened our son. I watch, frozen, as she thrusts her hand into his chest, twists her wrist, and rips it back out with the man’s vital organ dripping from her fingers. His body drops with a dull thud and she turns her sights back to the second man. 

Me and Nick finally find our own footing and move quickly and silently to our kids. He wraps his arm around Hannah and Joshua. Max has a protective arm around Natalia who has a tight hold on Zander. Laney is crouched low with her sons’ faces buried in each shoulder. Jake keeps his rigid stance in front of them, refusing to leave my boys unattended. I walk to them and scoop one boy into each arm. Bella stalks towards the man still laying on the ground. 

“You thought you could come to my home and threaten my family?” She chuckles a humorless laugh. “No. No, Jedediah sent you to my home to threaten my family. Because your boss is too much of a coward to threaten me himself. No, instead he send two newly turned vampires to do his dirty work for him.” She stands overtop of him, powerful like the Queen she is. “I don’t know what hole you're all hiding in right now but I have a message for good ole Jed.” 

In one quick motion, she steps a bare foot on his shoulder and reaches down to grab his ankle and tears the arm right from his body, throwing it across the field. A scream rips from the man’s throat as he writhes on the grass. 

“Let's see if you can make it back before you bleed out.” She takes a step back allowing the man to rise from the ground and spring shakily back into the trees. But, instead of coming back to us, she continues standing in the same position, her whole body vibrating so vividly that we can see it from ten feet away. Fire nips at her ankles and the wind funnels around her. 

Alex shifts back and both boys make a noise that I can only describe as a mix between a whimper and a growl. Natalia’s eyes glow gold and small torrents of wind blow her hair around her head and Zander cries in her arms. All four of the kids have a special bond with their mom and they react almost as strongly as she does when she feels intense emotion. 

“Daddy, what's wrong with momma?” My daughter’s little voice rings out from behind me. I turn and crouch down to her level. 

“She’s just worried about you kids, that’s all.” The boys wiggle out of my arms but their eyes flicker between their sister and their mother who is still standing away from us. Zander cries louder and Natalia screams when the dead vampire’s body loudly bursts into flames but I don’t take my eyes from my wife who slowly drops down to her knees. 

“Look at the letter she dropped when she came out here,” I hear Hannah whisper behind me. 

“I’m more concerned about the rose that came with it,” comes Nick’s quiet reply. 

“What note?” I ask but receive only blank stares. Apollo whines at me before I can respond. He wants to comfort our mate. I kiss my daughter on the forehead and walk towards Bella. I step right against her body so her back rests against my legs, the fire that flickers around her licks at my ankles. I squat behind her and gently place my hands on her shoulders rubbing my fingers against her skin. 

“Eli,” she murmurs breathily. 

“Hey flower, how about you turn down the heat around here?” I whisper placing a lingering kiss on the soft skin below her ear. After a moment, the fires all fall to a simmer and the wind slows to a gentler breeze. “There's my girl.” I continue peppering her neck with kisses until she relaxes into my chest. I entwine my fingers into hers and pull her to her feet and back to the others. 

“Momma!” Natalia yells as she breaks out of Max’s hold and runs to Bella who drops to the grass and welcomes her daughter with open arms. The boys stay in their wolf forms and go curl up next to Bella’s legs. 

“I'm not sure how you even tell those two apart,” Nick jokes motioning to the two small black wolves. Bella cracks a small smile.. 

“Aaron has my eyes so his wolf’s are like the color of sapphire.” She rubs Aaron between his ears before shifting her gaze to Alex. “Alex’s eyes are the same royal blue color of Apollo’s so his wolf’s eyes are a very, very dark blue, nearly black color.” She puts her other hand lovingly on his side and he whimpers against her thigh. 

“I hate to break up this moment,” Laney says after a moment of silence, “but we should really talk about this letter.” She holds it up. I go to take it from her when Bella starts talking. 

“It showed up in our bedroom wrapped around the rose. No idea where it came from, it was just there after I came back from getting Zander. Whoever it is threatened the kids.” 

“This isn’t a red rose either.” Hannah says, “it's white but it's covered in blood.”

“I didn’t even notice that. I was too focused on the letter but now that I'm calmed down more I can smell the blood over the flowery scent.” 

“What does the note say?” Jake asks. 

“This says if you give yourself over to him then the war won't happen.” I sum up quietly. 

“Maybe I should,” she mutters. 

“No way in hell are you doing that. You’ve already been taken from me once, it's not f*****g happening again,” I growl. 

“I have to agree, Bella. No one in this pack will be okay with simply just giving you up to whoever this ‘E’ is.” Jake adds and the others nod in agreement. 

“Then we’re going to have to start training. Way more than we already do.” Bella says and starts pacing. “Doubled patrols and longer training times. I'll have to implement something at the clan too. I need a couple more people from there to join the link so I can stay in the loop all around. I still only have Zeke and Jeremy and they stay here, I need more. Our warriors need to start training with vampires so they know how to fight them.” She keeps pointing at her fingers, ticking off what we need done as she mutters them. 

“We’ll be ready, Bella. This isn’t a war we will lose.” I tell her. 

“How do you know?” 

“We have more to fight for than Jedediah does.”