The Eternal Queen Complete Series Boxset

Chapter 1

Chapter

One

My first mistake was thinking dreams were only dreams.

My second mistake was believing I was safe.

Growing up, Dad, the werewolf King, said dream walking was a gift—only a few lucky werewolves could discover the access point to their dream realm.

Asleep but fully conscious, I strode with eager steps through the California forest that surrounded the werewolf kingdom where I used to play as a child.

The itchiness under my skin told me I was close to finding the access point to my dream realm—something I had never done while living among the supernaturals.

Then why was I here, now that I was living among my kind, the humans?

A heavy weight sank into my gut as I darted my gaze around the woods.

The tall, skeletal trees rising from the damp earth reached for the dark, stormy sky.

Moss snaked around thick trunks, and pinecones mottled the ground.

Everything was more unnerving than I remembered it to be seven years ago when I escaped the supernatural world and made a new home on a different continent among humans.

I was not safe, and I was not lucky. As a human-born princess to the royal werewolf family, how could I ever allow myself to think otherwise?

I blinked back the tears stinging my eyes, wishing to wake up in my London apartment and abandon the fantasy that would never be my reality. My mind shouldn’t have transported me here.

At the crunching of twigs, my heart skipped a beat. A dark figure emerged among the trees, and a strange flutter in my chest pulled me toward him. His broad and muscular back disappeared and reappeared behind the brushwood.

“Hey, stop,” I shouted.

But he didn’t turn around.

The space between the trees expanded as the distance between the man and me widened. A field of dewy grass and spongy moss stretched before the intruder of my dreams. In front of him, a black hole the size of a street drain opened.

I gasped. “Watch out!”

But the stranger jumped into the dark opening as if that was his intention.

I dashed after him, my pulse speeding.

Dad’s words echoed in my mind while staring at the black, endless hole. “Every werewolf has a unique access point to their dream realm, Anna,” he’d said. “You’ll know when you find yours.”

This must be mine: a similar rabbit hole as the one Alice from my favorite childhood tale fell into.

But why had my consciousness chosen a rabbit hole as the entrance?

I needed to be careful. The supernatural dream realm was nothing like human dreams. Anything that happened here would manifest in reality upon waking.

If I were to fall to my death down this rabbit hole, my heart would stop beating. And if I survived the fall, what awaited me on the other end of the abyss?

For all I knew, this man could lead me into a deadly trap, but my legs still took me to him.

“Careful what you choose,” a female voice whispered, and a shiver sliced down my spine.

I searched for the second intruder of my dream realm, but no one was around.

“What’s the right choice, then?” I asked.

But I was met with silence, as if the voice had only been taunting me.

And yet, what choice was there to make? Someone, or something, moved the strings of my body to follow that man. Forced me closer to the black hole until it sucked me into darkness.

As I fell into the abyss, everything my dad taught me came rushing back.

Werewolves with powerful minds could control and evoke the images and locations in their dream realm, but to me, this felt like I was an unwilling puppet.

My body slowed as if gravity wasn’t working anymore, and somehow, I landed on my feet in the middle of a dim hallway with two closed doors on each side.

Shadowy movement caught my attention, and I rushed after the figure.

“Hey.” My voice ricocheted against the dark hallway walls until it died out.

The man opened one of the doors and slammed it behind him. Then the click of a lock boomed in the hallway–loud and clear, even for my less sensitive human ears.

When I got to the door, I pushed down the handle, but it wouldn’t budge. Yet I was still drawn to follow him. Why?

The voice of my father haunted my memories. “One day, Anna, you will find your fated mate. If you find him in the dream realm, count yourself lucky, as that would be the only fail-proof path to know for sure who he is. And once you find him, you will inherit the throne.”

I’d never known my father to lie to me. Could this man really be my fated mate? The idea struck me so hard that it was almost enough to stop me in my tracks.

Almost.

But the relentless outside force pressing me forward couldn’t be ignored.

Dark laughter echoed all around me. “Wouldn’t that be too easy, child?”

I whipped my head around, looking for the source of the woman’s voice again, but still, nobody was nearby.

She had a point, though. My father had said finding the access point would be difficult, and I’d practically fallen into this one without trying.

He’d also said that mates had to be actively searching for their other half to be together in the dream realm, and yet, whoever this man was, he was on the run from me.

So, who was he, really?

“Be careful,” the female voice warned. “Don’t pursue things you have no business with, human.”

She emphasized the word “human” as if she knew. Knew that I wasn’t a werewolf. Knew that I couldn’t possibly have a fated mate to begin with.

Only werewolves had fated mates and dream realms, but here I was in mine. So, maybe I was also blessed with a fated mate.

My father had planted that seed of hope in me anyway, though.

He told me sometimes magic worked in mysterious ways.

I couldn’t stop the urge to get a glimpse of this man’s face, so wasn’t it possible that the invisible force pushing me forward was a mate bond?

I couldn’t resist finding out, even though I feared what might happen.

He wouldn’t reject me like the last man did five years ago, right? I had to believe that.

The unseen voice, however, seemed to feel differently, and I wasn’t sure if she was looking out for me or trying to stop something that was meant to be.

“Just trying to warn you,” the voice said, as if plucking the unspoken question from my mind. “Forget not what happens if this man takes your life in this place.”

Right. Dream-realm death meant real death. Was I wrong not to fear this man?

I massaged my temples and let out a heavy sigh. “If he wanted to kill me, surely he would have done so already.”

The disembodied female voice chuckled low. “For your sake, I hope you’re right.”

I marched up to the opposite door, swung it open, and walked into another forest.

Unlike the one at the werewolf kingdom, this woodland released a magical ambiance. Sunrays glinted off rustling leaves, and green exploded at the tree crowns with bright little sparks. I couldn’t tell if the flickering tiny dots around the branches were part of the magic or if they were fireflies.

I followed the meandering walkway of stepping stones hidden in the grass and moss. The hum of bees and the skittering of small animals surrounded me.

I inhaled and filled my lungs with the flowery aroma of roses, lilacs, and daisies. Distinctly daisies. I could recognize their citrusy and sweet fragrance anywhere.

If only I had my calligraphy pens and brushes, I would capture the magic of the forest on a canvas the way I used to when I was a child playing in the kingdom’s forest.

I halted next to a tree on the side of the path with a carved star dug deep into the wood.

Frowning, I touched the rough bark. Who had carved this here? It was my dream realm, and no one other than me, my mate, and, in rare cases, a powerful witch could access it.

And witches who knew the opening spell to enter someone’s dream were mostly extinct.

The female voice…

That explained it. She must be a witch.

But why would a witch enter my dream realm? Based on what my father said, there were two kinds of witches: the protectors and the dark ones he only alluded to with vague references to the horrors they’d done.

She could be either, and at that moment, I realized just how much trouble I was in.

Because either the woman was right and this man could hurt me…

Or the woman was the one I was in danger of.

One way or another, someone in this dream could get me killed.

You’re human, Breanna. Maybe none of this is real.

I brushed my fingertip over the star’s five points, wishing for that to be true, as dusty pollen and sap stuck to my skin. I was about to wipe my fingers on my pants, but when I looked down, I was barefoot and wearing my usual PJs—shorts and a tank top.

The PJs I put on before I went to bed in my London apartment.

Strange. My fingers could stay dirty until I figured out why I was here.

Only a few feet away, the next tree had another symbol carved on it: a burning flame showcased by a light-orange shade.

Thinking I must be on a nonsense adventure like Alice in Wonderland, I inspected the branches of the trees. Did I really expect to find a grinning cat there?

I shook my head. I’m losing it.

Only ten feet away, another tree displayed a yin and yang, but when I leaned in closer, the carving looked more like a tornado seen from the sky.

The next symbol was a capital E, the short lines wavy and carved in the opposite direction like the number three.

“What are these symbols?” My voice came out higher than intended. “What do they all mean?”

If the woman who accessed my dream realm was a witch, she could have some answers.

“I’d like to find out, too,” she said. “And don’t miss the last one. It’s hiding.”

I whirled around, trying to locate her. “So are you,” I said. “Show yourself.”

An eerie silence descended, and a cold chill ran down my spine in the absence of birds chirping or creatures scurrying.