The Alpha's Wanted Queen

Chapter 4 - Queen

Annabella POV 

The rest of the afternoon was uneventful. Eli and I went and trained with Jake and Jeremy then he left to do business with Nick while I stayed with Jake through other training sessions. I went to bed early. He came to bed late. I woke up with our legs tangled together and his arms wrapped around my torso with a vise grip squeezing me like I'm his lifeline. I know he's on edge about going to the clan and reliving everything I went through; everything we went through. 

Now, he's in his office going over their duties for the day and I am staring at myself in the mirror. I scan my body, just like I did the morning I officially became Queen. The morning I killed Zachariah. The King. My mate. I shiver at the memory. 

I have on a floor-length, sleek black dress. The inside layer is made of thin, stretchy velvet that falls straight to my feet and is covered by a layer of smooth satin that flows down my body and flutters around my legs. The straps come around my neck in a halter leaving my upper back bare. I slide my feet into my black stiletto pumps. The same heels I was given by Zachariah on his last day. I wear them every time I visit the clan in remembrance of my right to rule. 

I was coronated in them.

I took my place beside him in them.

I ended his rule in them. 

So I continue to wear them to honor that day. 

I grab the box with my crown and glance at the rings on my fingers. My mom’s and Eli’s wedding band are in their rightful spot on my left ring finger while my Queen’s ring from Zachariah remains on my right ring finger and will remain there until Zander finds his Queen. 

I make my way stiffly to the garden, feeling Eli close behind. A hand comes to rest on my lower back once I make it to the door and some of my unease melts away in the presence of my mate. We swing the door open to be met with our beautiful garden in the midst of fall: leaves are turning colors and falling to the grass in clusters, some flowers are withering while others are blooming for the season, and animals are hoarding food in the ground. 

Nat is sitting on a bench between her older brothers and Zander is laying in the grass with Conner. He usually goes with me and Zander when we visit the clan so he can visit his parents who still live there. 

The moon still shines brightly down in the darkness that surrounds us like a cold blanket. I look at my kids bathed and dressed up, relaxing in the moonlight, whispering quietly together. How will they see me after I tell them everything that happened? Alex’s eyes search mine out, probably feeling the turmoil raging inside of me. My gaze meets my son’s and we stare for a moment until Eli’s grip slides around my waist and his lips press against the back of my head. 

“Relax, my flower, they’ll be okay,” he whispers in my ear. I melt into him. 

“Let’s go!” Zander pops up in front of me. I press both hands to his cheeks and look into the light blue of his eyes that so closely resemble mine. “Ma,” he whines. 

“Yeah, angel, sorry. Let's go.” I smile at him. 

“Okay, kids, we’ll travel in our wolves so it should take about five hours to get there. Put your clothes in a bag and carry it in your teeth.” Eli says, tossing some bags to the grass. Aaron and Alex immediately begin stripping causing Nat to whirl around and face away from us. I chuckle and step away from Eli to wrap an arm around her shoulders. I lead her to a big tree for us to undress and shift behind so the guys can't see.

“You need to shift more often, it's been too long,” London complains. I snort and look at Nat’s wolf, Artemis. She's white, of course, a little smaller than London because she's still growing. Her eyes are as gold in her wolf form as in her human form. She nuzzles under my neck then lopes back to the others. Two black wolves move quickly to surround her, moving her smaller body between theirs. Aaron and Alex’s wolves resemble Apollo like two little clones, the only difference is their eyes. Aaron’s light blue eyes turn into a shining sapphire color when he shifts while Alex’s already dark eyes turn nearly black as his wolf. 

London purrs when Apollo comes and stands snugly against our side and his tongue scrapes against my neck where my mark is. London picks up the bag of my folded clothes and the kids follow suit. London circles the five of them and then we shoot off towards the woods. They take off immediately after with Eli taking the rear to watch our backs. Zander and Conner run together next to me. 

We don’t stop running the whole way there. I try to focus on the wind flowing through my fur and the dead leaves and branches under my paws. I'm trying not to focus on the anticipation causing my blood thump in my ears or the way my heart is beating erratically in my ribcage in fear of what's coming. Apollo and Eli are pushing into my head trying to link but I throw up a block. I don’t want to think about what I'm going to tell the kids or how they’ll react, and I know Eli telling me it's going to be fine just isn’t going to help me right now. 

So I run on. 

I run until we start nearing the border to the clan and will London to slow and finally stop, shifting on the spot. I quickly slip into the black dress while the faint sounds of bones snapping fills the air behind me. 

“William, me, Eli, and the kids are outside of the border. Is everything prepared?” I link my second. We added him to the pack so I could easily link with him. Vampires don’t have the same linking ability that wolves do, they just have a, kind of, extra sense that keeps them alert to other vampires, especially the royals. 

“Yes, Queen, the meetings are all set up and I am on my way to meet you all.”

“Give us a warning to turn around next time you shift, ma.” Alex’s voice says from behind me. I turn to look at my half-dressed family.

“I was okay with it,” Eli says smirking at me, buttoning up his white dress shirt. 

“Gross, dad.” The kids chorus out. He just chuckles and presses a kiss to my cheek. Everyone continues getting dressed in silence; the boys in black suits, white shirts, and red ties while Nat is in a tight red and black dress that falls to her knees. 

“Do I look okay?” She asks. 

“Natalia!” Aaron yells when he looks at her. Alex growls and shoves his suit coat over her shoulders. She rolls her eyes but keeps his jacket on anyway. 

“Ignore them, you look beautiful, princess,” another voice chimes in. “Any guy in this whole clan would be lucky to have you as a date.” Nat blushes at William’s compliment. Eli starts growling lowly but stops when I swat him in the chest. 

“We ready to go?” I ask, receiving multiple nods. William and I lead the way and start going through the plans for the long day ahead. 

“Are you sure you want to do all of these meetings today? Some can wait until you come again.” he tells me. 

“No, I don’t come as often as I probably should be here so I want to make sure I get to everything important today. Plus, I want my other pups to see how things are going right now.” 

“You are here enough. Everyone knows your family is at the pack, but you still lead us better than our late King ever did.” William assures. I nod and smile at him appreciatively. He is the best second I could have asked for. 

“It's already ten, are the kids in the great hall?” 

“Yes, they're there and anxiously awaiting your presence.” 

“Kids?” Nat asks. 

“Every time the Queen visits, she spends her first morning breakfast in the great hall with all the kids of the clan.” William explains. 

“It’s the first meeting of the day,” I add. 

“And the rest?” Aaron asks.

“After breakfast, we will have a meeting for war defense and strategizing with my warriors. Then, we’ll go have a small lunch with the higher ups in the clan. The announcement for your mating ball will be after that, then we’ll end with a small meeting with the crew doing renovations. We’ll have some free time to roam and do whatever we want.” I explain. 

“Then we’ll talk?” Alex asks. I give a short, quick nod. 

Walking into the great hall, we are met with running and screaming and food flying through the air. Once kids start to notice we’re here, ‘hellos’ are yelled throughout the room until I am bombarded by young children clinging to my legs and climbing into my arms. Zander is already mingling with some of the older kids there. Many of the young girls tend to go to Eli when he visits but now, several of them are also string in awe at my twins, looking between them and Eli. Some of the older girls are standing in a circle ogling the three of them. 

We have a loaded breakfast full of sausage, bacon, eggs, and waffles. A young vampire hangs on my back while a human toddler stays on my lap for the duration of breakfast. Aaron and Alex each have their own blonde-haired angel refusing to leave their laps. The rest of the girls continue playing musical chairs with Eli while the boys roughhouse with each other, attempting to jump on his back. 

The kids were the easiest to win over after I took power. I made an effort to know them the first time I came back, instantly winning the young ones over and it only took a couple more visits and following through on promises to bring the teens over to my side. That’s why I see them every time I come. I told them I would always be here for them and I intend to continue with that promise. I enjoy my time with them and I want Zander to understand the importance of it as well. 

“What should we be expecting for the next meeting?” Aaron asks as we leave the room full of screaming children. 

“It’ll be similar to the meeting we had at the pack before we came. Mostly just talking about preparations for the upcoming war and if anything has happened.” I tell him. I let Zander lead us all from the great hall to the grand meeting hall – which is incredibly similar to the pack’s war room. Upon our arrival, two guards open the tall double doors, presenting us with a simple room decorated with one long table packed with elders and top ranking warriors. 

I take my seat at the head of the table, Zander beside me instead of Eli since he is next in line to be King. 

“Queen,” they all say respectfully, sitting in their chairs after me. 

“Thank you all for being here today. William has kept me in the loop since the last time I was over. What are the reports?” I ask. 

“There have been no questionable happenings here or at the building site but it should be noted that there has been an influx in the population of the human town we’re by,” one warrior informs me. I nudge Zander. 

“Okay, let's have a scouting mission to find out if there is a reason for it and then we can have a shorter meeting about what is found.” He looks over to me and I nod with a small smile.

“Yes, Prince. I will get that together right away,” the warrior replies. 

“Although nothing has happened yet, it can't be long until Jedediah finally retaliates. It's been years. He has to have some kind of plan by now.” My top warrior says. 

“I can't help but agree. It's been eighteen years, I don’t think he’ll wait that much longer.” William agrees. 

“Do you have a plan prepared if and when an attack is launched here?” Aaron asks. 

“As the houses stand right now, we have a safe room in the mansion for all of those who cannot fight. Defensively, if we are attacked, all warriors are to report to fight. A small group is tasked with guarding the safe room.” 

“That doesn’t sound very extensive,” Alex murmurs. 

“Vampires fight quite differently than you wolves do,” one warrior snaps. Alex puts his hands up palms out. Relations between the two species have become much stronger but, clearly, there are still some tensions at times. 

“I didn’t mean offense.”  

“It's okay, Alex.” I turn to the warriors. “There are still many aspects of life here is still unknown to the wolves. That’s definitely something that can be rectified easily through schooling,” I say. “While wolves fight in teams and groups, vampires simply just fight. If attacked, they will band together to fight.” I explain. 

“May we ask what your pack’s plan is if attacked?” The same warrior asks now. 

“Me and my brothers can lay out our plan for the pack here if you’d like. If you think it could help anything here.” Zander tells him diplomatically. 

They all do just that. My three boys told them the whole plan for the pack. The warriors then, in turn, discussed the idea of working in pairs. It was both fascinating and frustrating to watch them plan for war. The thought of my children planning to go into war is terrifying, yet watching them behave as the princes they are fills me with more pride than I can contain. The planning and discussing fills the remaining time in the meeting. 

“Okay, thank you all for being here. I would like everyone to leave except for William, the Elders, and my top warrior.”

“Queen, Alpha, Princes, Princess.” Everyone says with a respectful bow as they pass out of the room. 

Lunch is delivered just after noon. The next two hours are spent with significantly less talk of war. I take the time to observe my kids. The elders take the time to tell them stories from older times. Alex spends time talking to my warrior in hushed tones, keeping in mind to stay quiet enough that I can't hear whatever he's discussing. Zander talks to William about Conner becoming his second. Natalia jumps through conversations but she doesn’t seem particularly into any of them; she's very distracted. 

I've never totally understood the whole ‘time flies when you're having fun’ saying. Granted, I didn’t have a lot of fun as a kid so that didn’t help my understanding. Since I've known who I am, I don’t think I've experienced the time flying thing. What I came to find out, is that time seems to fly when I watch my kids. Hours can go by and then years. Sometimes, it still shocks me to look at my kids and see how grown they are; to see that they're not the same small, dependent children they once were.

I mull this over as I watch them interacting with the others in this room. I can guess a lot by how they are acting but knowing everything requires them opening up to me which, I'm sure, they will do in time. 

But how can they when I've never fully opened up to them, either? The thought of baring my soul, of revealing to them the horrors that I've faced in my life, terrifies me almost as much as the prospect of losing them completely. 

“Queen?” the whispered question bring me from my musings. I glance at Eli who raises a questioning brow at my lack of attention then turn my gaze to William who’s voice I heard. “It is time for the announcement. I have sent others to gather the people.” 

“Thank you, William.” I stand, effectively ending all conversation. 

“My Queen,” Elder Harrick says as everyone also stands. “Are we not privy to the announcement prior to the rest of the subjects?” His eyes narrow just slightly as he asks. Although he chose to stay and not leave with Jed, his presence continues to make me uneasy. His family is one of the oldest lineages, second only to the royal blood. I always have this feeling that he wasn’t happy about my taking over, yet he has never voiced said opinion and, in turn, I have never voiced my concerns. 

“You know the Queen likes to deliver news to all her people at once,” William defends with equally narrowed eyes. I interrupt Harrick’s retort with my own. 

“The announcement, although important, has no life threatening or dangerous information that needs to be discussed beforehand and, therefore, should be shared with everyone together as a people.” I tell him in a placating but firm tone, leaving no room for argument. He sucks his lips into a tight line and gives me a clipped nod. Happy enough with that, I lead Eli and the kids from the room and towards the balcony where I deliver news. 

We all walk together silently, myself in front with Eli to my right and Zander to my left. The announcement for the ball should be quick and easy, it's what remains to be done after that, that has my stomach twisted into knots. Eli grips my hand and squeezes it, giving me strength and sending calming feelings through our bond. Lifting my head high, I step confidently onto the balcony to face the people I lead; their faces turned towards me with more admiration and pride than I feel is deserving. 

“Thank you all for being here,” I start. I flex my toes in the heels then continue in a firm and proper tone. “It always fills me with great pride and honor to stand before you all as your Queen. I am here today with an invitation.” I pause, turning to motion my oldest boys forward. Eli lifts my hand to his lips before slipping back to let our boys stand in his place. 

“My oldest two sons have recently turned eighteen. For wolves, that is the age we can find our destined mates. A ball has been prepared in that honor in two days’ time and we are inviting anyone who is single and between the ages of eighteen and twenty to come to the pack and attend.” A few gasps sound from the crowd followed by excited whispers. I can't help the smile that slips onto my face. 

“Because of the impending war, offensive and defensive measures are being put into place at the pack for the day of the ball. That being said, no one is to travel alone. Groups of three is the minimum for traveling to the pack. Attendance is optional but we hope to see many of you there.” I finish with a slight bow of my head. 

I still remember the first time I bowed to them after an announcement. No one moved and no one spoke. I simply stared in confusion until William informed me that most royals won't bow to their people and while I understand that, it still feels right to give them the respect I wish for in return. It is critical that they respect me as their Queen or there could be more who choose to leave and join Jed. 

Now, I simply turn back and gracefully lead my family – William in tow – down, out, and away from the clan house. Silently, I lead them down the familiar stone path revealing the tall gazebo basking in the afternoon sun, still as white as the first day I saw it. The bitter smell of the river floats through the air. 

“The fiume di sangue,” Eli whispers. I nod. 

“Ma, why are we here?” Zander asks. He's the only one that’s been here. Eli knows about it but I've never brought him to this side of the clan house. 

“This is where I will begin my story.”