Crowned Queen of the Blood Alphas

Chapter 1

Chapter One

Vaela

“Vaela!” Garrick shouts from across the valley.

I grin when I turn and see him atop his massive black stallion with three of the royal guards beside him.

“Princess!” he hollers over the sound of all of those big, powerful hooves thundering while they close the distance between us. “It’s time to return to the castle grounds. This area is not safe.”

Not safe. Please. If it were up to Garrick, my sworn personal protector, I would be locked in the royal tower until the day I became queen. And that would not suit me at all.

“What do you think, Lark?” I whisper to my horse. “In the mood to show off a little?”

He knickers and does his happy little dance, bouncing on his hooves.

This horse was born to run. He’s the fastest horse in the kingdom, by far.

Perhaps in all nine kingdoms. Silver with brown spots, a golden mane, and the sweetest disposition of any animal I’ve ever met, he may not be the largest or strongest, but this horse can run like the wind in a summer storm.

My parents gave him to me on my fifteenth birthday and he’s been my best friend ever since.

I glance over my shoulder at Garrick’s stern face as he approaches with the royal guard.

My heart starts thumping as I turn back, a grin on my lips, and see all of that open valley in front of me with the bees peacefully roaming amongst the colorful summer flowers in full bloom with no idea what’s about to hit them. Time to raise a little hell.

“Go,” I shout as I squeeze Lark with my thighs. “Run like the wind.”

I grip the reins and an excited thrill surges through me as he takes off, sprinting across the peaceful valley. The breeze, which was barely noticeable a few seconds ago, takes my hair for a ride and cools off my hot skin.

I look back and laugh when I see the distance separating me from the royal guard. Garrick is shaking his head and cursing under his breath as he forces his horse forward. There’s no way he’ll catch up to me. Not with Lark leading the way.

Lark makes quick work of the valley, and since he’s just getting started and I don’t have the heart to stop him now, I let him continue through the sparse forest and then onto the rolling hills. We fly up one hill and then down another, sprinting across them as I throw my head back and laugh.

The great Wilderwall comes into view in the distance—thick, solid, and as high as ten of the tallest spryce trees stacked on top of each other. The Wilderwall has protected Aurevale for thousands of years.

It’s the only thing protecting the civilized world from the Hollowborn.

Papa says our ancestors would have been turned into soil generations ago without the Wilderwall here to protect us.

I’ve never been too sure about that. The guards in our small kingdom are mighty fierce, but even Garrick lowers his voice to a whisper the few times he speaks of the Hollowborn, and he’s not afraid of anything, so maybe Papa is right.

Lark leaps over a digging Nibblemole and we keep going, running parallel to the ancient wall as Garrick and his guards fall further and further behind.

“You’re going to have to move faster than that to ca—”

A deafening BOOM fills the valley like a sudden burst of thunder, nearly stopping my heart. Lark skids to a stop, nearly throwing me completely as he jerks his head from side to side in panic. I squeeze my thighs and cling to the reins, barely holding on as the deafening sound rumbles through me.

“What was that?” I whisper, my eyes darting to the wall. A massive cloud of smoke is rising into the air on the other side of the old impenetrable wall.

A rock the size of a horse carriage wobbles on the very top. I stare at it in shock, awe, and disbelief as it slowly moves and then suddenly disappears completely, falling onto the other side. The wall looks like a row of teeth with one tooth missing. I stare at the hole with my stomach sinking.

The Wilderwall is supposed to be impenetrable. It’s protected by our ancestors’ unbreakable magic. It has never failed to keep us safe.

“Princess,” Garrick shouts, racing up to me. I’m still staring up at the hole—in disbelief at what I’m seeing—as the rest of the guardsmen finally catch up.

Garrick grabs Lark’s reins in an iron grip. His giant black stallion and the horses of his men are shiny and slick with sweat. Meanwhile, Lark is as dry as a quilt in front of a fireplace on a cold winter day.

“I told you not to come this far,” Garrick snaps, his face tight and full of unease. I’ve never seen him like this before. He’s usually playful and fun, teasing me like a protective older brother would. He’s been guarding me for ten years and is the closest thing to a sibling I’ve ever had.

“What was that noise?” I ask as I watch the cloud of smoke dissipating into the blue sky. “The Wilderwall broke. How is that possible?”

Garrick looks tired and weary as he looks up at the wall in the distance.

“We have to get you back to the castle, Princess.”

“Why?” I ask, looking at each man. Their eyes drop whenever I look at them. “What is happening? Why did the wall break?”

“Princess,” Garrick says with a heavy sigh. “Please…”

“Does my father know about this?”

He doesn’t answer. He doesn’t say anything.

So, I yank the reins out of his hand, look up at the wall one last time, and then race home to tell him.

“Princess!” Garrick shouts as I burst across the rolling hills, leaving them no chance of catching up. “Vaela! Please!”

I ignore his pleas until I can no longer hear them on the wind. I race through the sparse forest, through the valley, past small villages, over the stone bridge arching over Thistle River, and into the castle grounds.

By the time I get home, Lark is in a full sweat. I head into the stables and hand him over to Asha, who always takes extra good care of him.

“Please give him some extra oats,” I say as I pet his neck and hurry away. “He’s earned it.”

“Where is your guard, Princess?” Asha asks. “You should have an armed escort accompanying you with all the wolves in the castle.”

“Wolves?” I ask, my blood going cold. “What wolves?”

“From Varkhar,” she says. “Emissaries of the Blood Kings. They arrived this morning.”

“For what?”

She shrugs. “I was hoping you knew.”

This can’t be good. The Kingdom of Varkhar is our neighbor to the east, although we humans have not dealt with the wolf shifters for decades.

The Wilderwall continues from our northern border along our eastern flank, separating us from those barbarous wolves. I have no idea why they would be here.

But I’m going to find out.

I march through the courtyard and into the royal tower. The guard doesn’t want to let me up without an escort, but I quickly put him in his place.

“You have no authority over me,” I snap when he actually puts his arm up, blocking the entrance. “I am Princess Vaela of the Kingdom of Aurevale. Move that arm or I shall have it removed!”

His cheeks turn red under that metal helmet, and he hesitates for just a second, but eventually drops his arm.

“As you wish, Princess.”

I raise my head and march past him, heading straight to my father’s quarters at the top of the royal tower.

My father is King Corwin, and my mother is Queen Elowen.

I am the only heir to them both, so one day, I’ll be in charge of all this, including that insolent guard who thinks he can tell me where I can and can’t go.

My heart is still pounding with shock from the damaged wall, adrenaline from the ride, and anger from dealing with the guard as I march up the spiraling stone steps.

But all of that suddenly fades as I come face to face with two giant wolf shifters. My stomach drops, my heart slowing to a lethargic beat as I turn the bend in the staircase as they’re coming down.

There are two of them, both larger than any human man I’ve ever seen. They have dark features—long, messy black hair, thick beards, and eyes that are both alert and deadly as they size me up. I know instantly that they are not from my kingdom.

Aurevale is also known as the Jewel Kingdom.

We are the smallest of the nine kingdoms, but we are the richest by far.

It seems you can’t swing a hammer in the mountains without hitting a jewel the size of a man’s fist. My father has a distinguished appreciation for the finer things in life—paintings, sculptures, clothes, and exotic fabrics.

He has scoured the nine kingdoms for the most talented artists and craftsmen, tempting them with large sums of gold to live in the Aurevale capital.

Even the lower caste merchants and farmers of Aurevale wear clothing that would make a royal in the Moonborne Kingdom blush with jealousy.

So, these two wolf shifters with their boorish, unrefined outfits lazily patched together from the dried hides and gnarled furs of wild animals do not fit in.

What shocks me the most is that they do not carry weapons.

No longswords are hanging from their belts.

No daggers strapped to their chests. No crossbows secured to their backs.

And then I realize… They do not need weapons.

They are weapons. They have the most deadly weapon hiding inside them, ready to strike at will.

I flatten my back against the cold stone wall as they walk past me, looking me up and down with their uncultured, wolfish eyes. I keep my chin raised, staring right back at them as they pass without a word.

They smell like campfire smoke and fresh soil. I hold my breath, wondering when they last had a bath. Maybe never.

Once they’re out of sight, I race up the rest of the spiraling stone staircase, desperate to find out what is happening. The large bang, the crumbling wall, Garrick’s apparent unease, and now the sudden appearance of these wolf shifters—I’m wondering if it’s all connected.