AVA
I opened my mouth to reply, but immediately let it close again. How do you tell this kind of story?
That’s the question.
When my Kings and Alex all saw my expression, they all gained a worried look.
“Do you know who he is, Ava?” Callum asked.
“Yes.” I paused for a moment, biting my lip. “Unfortunately. Before I tell you this story, you’ve got to
understand that Lycan packs are a monarchy that is operated in a much more old fashioned way than
most wolf packs. There are a lot of things that I plan to change when I take over.”
I let my eyes fall closed, face tense. When I opened them again, I knew Artemis was forward. She
wasn’t looking forward to this conversation either. “Callum, can you pour me a drink for this
conversation, please.”
He nodded, grabbing a glass and a bottle of rum. He poured a generous glass for me, and put the
bottle next to me on the table. He knew me well enough to know that this wasn’t going to be good.
“I was betrothed to the Rogue King before I was even born. Of course, he wasn’t known as the Rogue
King then.”
All of their mouths fell open.
“My bloodline produces a lot of girls. Eclipse Mountain is one of the few packs in the world that
usually has a female heir and Alpha. Unfortunately… Those girls usually end up caught in an
arranged political marriage, and more often than not… the men aren’t good people, it’s all about
money and power. An unfortunate amount of those girls end up being puppets to their husbands to
protect themselves and their families, which is why these laws have never changed.”
I downed the rest of my drink, pouring another. “You all know my parents were murdered and that’s
how I came to be in this pack. It was expected that the first girl my parents had would be the next
Alpha Queen, so as soon as it was confirmed that my mum was pregnant with a girl… things started
going a little mad. They had countless offers, with the financial incentives getting constantly higher
and higher. Eventually… The incentives and threats to the realm got to the point that it was taken out
of my parents’ hands. The council intervened, and forced my parents to agree to the union between me
and the man now known as the Rogue King.”
I didn’t even realise I was squeezing my glass until it shattered in my hand. “He was sixteen when I
was born. The expectation had been that I’d marry him when I gained my Lycan form at 18. Of
course, I believe he knows I already have it. Between that and the fact I’ve already marked three of
my fated mates… well, you can see why he’s getting desperate.”
Oscar replaced my glass, whilst Noah checked my hand for cuts.
I gave them both a small smile, before carrying on my story.
“My parents started putting into place a plan that would get me out of that arranged marriage once
they worked out what kind of person both him and his family are. That plan is why they were
murdered. They made an agreement with a couple of the castle staff that if anything happened to
them, they would get me out of there and to a family that would be able to keep me safe. They had
three different families lined up as a possibility because no one could really tell what direction we’d
be able to escape in. We got out to the South West, so we came here.”
I looked down at my lap, twiddling my fingers. “It took us three days to get here. Two of my
companions didn’t make it. In the end, about five miles outside the border, my last companion linked
ahead to the family here, and told them that they had told me to just run in the direction of the Blood
Moon pack. I was found by the border guards not far out from the border, and the couple that raised
me reached us shortly after.”
I wiped my eyes, getting rid of the tears that threatened to burst free. “In the end, my parents were
murdered, as were the three people who got me out of the Eclipse Mountain pack. All because I was
betrothed to a psychopath.”
“Who was he before becoming the Rogue King?”
“His name is Elijah Madden. His parents, Ezekiel and Evelyn, have their fingers in a lot of pies. They
own a lot of the businesses that support Eclipse Mountain, and they have enough dirt on most of the
council members that they might as well control the council. The members they don’t have dirt on
have had their families threatened to keep them obedient.”
“How did he become the Rogue King?” Alex asked, voice quiet.
“After my parents were murdered, Michael took over the throne until I was old enough to take it
myself. He headed up a massive investigation that saw Elijah’s parents locked up for all manner of
crimes against both the people and the crown. Elijah was barely of age, so he was cast out to become
a rogue instead of being locked up with his parents.”
I downed another glass of rum.
“He disappeared for a while, before coming back into the public eye as the Rogue King. He started
building a following, declared himself king, and you know the rest from there.”
“So… he believes he’s entitled to you as a mate?” Callum asked, voice angry. I could hear Ares in his
voice.
I nodded. “Pretty much. He’s decided I am his because of a betrothal that was forced by his parents,
and that because I’m the Alpha Queen, I’m the key to building his empire.”