Fight

ALASTAIR

Once she was deep in sleep, he slipped away from her, letting out a quiet sigh.

He should have been itching for a fight, fueled by rage because she had taken his kingdom. But all he wanted was his queen back. Even if she had betrayed him.

There was a feeling inside him. Something he couldn’t put into words. Something he’d never experienced before. It might have been regret.

He had pushed her to this point. He had driven her to the edge, where she embraced the darkness, where she gave up her soul. That wasn’t the woman he knew.

Some might say he didn’t know her at all. That she had been playing him the whole time, acting every moment.

He knew that wasn’t true. He had known when she was hiding something. He just hadn’t known what. When she was real with him, when they were together in honesty, he saw her.

He longed to touch her, but not like this. This wasn’t his mate. She wasn’t his mate. His mate was beautiful, filled with light and innocence.

Even with the power of ruling, she would never treat her people the way she was now. She would never slaughter wolves so savagely.

This wasn’t her. He was determined to bring her back. And that’s what he would do.

He visited the underworld again, passing through the gates, crossing the river, and meeting Hades himself. The man huffed when he saw the king and rolled his eyes.

“No,” Hades said, answering a question that hadn’t been asked yet. “I won’t give the queen her soul back. A deal was made, we both agreed. Now she’s ruling a kingdom.”

“You can make a new deal,” the king argued.

“No. I can’t. You have nothing else to trade and I have no deals I want to make with you. Your queen’s fate was your own doing. Only you can fight for her.”

“How can I fight for her when she’ll never be the same because of you? You took her soul.”

“I didn’t take. She gave it to me. But as they say, love conquers all,” he said with an eye roll.

“Love is the only way you could hope to get her back and I doubt you’ll ever understand what that means. Now go. I have nothing more to say to you.”

And with that, the king left, feeling hopeless and running out of options.

Love? The idea that love could save her seemed ridiculous. Hades was trying to trick him, he thought.

What could love possibly do to fix his problem? And who could he find that she did love? She had no one, except... her sister.

This was the last move he could make. To bring Olympia to the castle and use love to restore her to the woman she was. Assuming they both loved each other, and he wasn’t entirely sure of that.

She had begged him to release her sister, but maybe that was only out of duty, since her sister hadn’t told the king her secret.

She must have known. Olympia must have known what her sister was. Yet she hadn’t told the king. Defiance ran in the family.

The king then wondered what her sister really was. Were they half-sisters? Or were they both hybrids?

His hatred of the fae didn’t matter now. They were now part of the kingdom. Fae and wolves were forced to coexist by the queen’s order.

At first, no one obeyed the queen’s orders when they heard from the warrior wolves that they were hers. But now, after all the brutal consequences, no one dared to disobey.

The king set out immediately, with Vidarr joining him as an ally.

The queen wouldn’t stop him; she didn’t believe he could do anything against her. Maybe she was right. But he was going to try anyway.

Henri and Laurent were her personal slaves, punishment for their past treatment of her. The way they were treated was not just humiliating but degrading and objectifying.

They had been loyal to Alastair, but someone had to appease Aurelia.

He hadn’t visited a village under his rule for a long time, especially not a poor one on the outskirts. And he would actually have to convince Olympia to come with him.

That would be the only way to bring Aurelia back through love.

They reached the village as night fell. Shifting back into human form, Alastair looked around critically, taking in the simple place where his mate had grown up.

He kept his hood up to cover his face, though they could probably sense his presence, being such a powerful and dominant wolf.

“You,” Vidarr growled, pulling a young man forward. “Tell us where to find a woman named Olympia.”

“T-the stone house next to the w-woods and a well with the shed attached. Y-y-you—”

He was shoved away as easily as he was brought over. Both men stormed to the house described, on the edge of the village.

Alastair couldn’t help but picture his mate, a smaller version, running around here. This lifestyle didn’t suit her. She was clearly meant for bigger things.

He wondered how she had managed to stay here as long as she had without getting bored. Someone with her fierce power could... well, could become queen.

She didn’t even need to be the mate of the king. She just needed the desire for power.

The door to the house was open. So he walked right in, with Vidarr following behind.

A deep growl echoed through the kitchen where they stood. The king’s eyes met those of a young man and a familiar woman he had once questioned and locked in his cells.

“My king,” Olympia murmured, bowing her head and shivering. The man hugged her to him and glared, but didn’t say anything. After all, Alastair was the king.

“You need to come with us,” Vidarr said. So much for asking, persuading. The king shot him a look and his general sighed. “We have come seeking your help, Olympia.”

“M-my help?” she squeaked.

“Her help?!” the man hissed, narrowing his eyes at the former general of the wolf army. He pushed her behind him, protecting her at the risk of his own life.

The king was distracted by their interaction. They were mates. That was clear. But he had never been around functional ones.

He had heard of mates that loved each other unconditionally, that would sacrifice their lives for each other. All he and Aurelia seemed to do was... compete. And lie. And betray each other.

“You’re lucky I’m not taking your head for lying to me,” he rumbled, his eyes hidden beneath his hood. “Or are you going to try and convince me you had no clue?”

The couple was taken aback by his potent and commanding tone. It froze them in place. He was a king, an Alpha King. His voice held the power only leaders could wield.

“M-my king, I didn’t know s-she was a h-hybrid,” she stuttered.

“But you knew about her power,” he shot back, his voice sharp as he moved closer to them.

They trembled like the wavering flame of a candle. He could hear their heartbeats, a melody in the king’s mind.

He’d heard many heartbeats pound like the feet of his warrior wolves during training.

“Most people here could have told you, my king,” the man said. “Most of the women you’ve been with were in that room.”

“Room?” Vidarr questioned.

“The incident,” Olympia mumbled, shooting her mate a pointed look as if to scold him for bringing it up. “She wasn’t herself. And I stopped it.”

“The village should have cast her out," the man sneered, recalling the event.

A growl slipped from Alastair’s lips—one he couldn’t control. It seemed he had an automatic reaction to any insult about his queen.

“She’s his mate, Lochlan,” Olympia hissed at the man. “Why should we help you? To do what?”

“The king was told that only love could bring her back from the darkness. You stopped it once. You can stop it again,” Vidarr declared.

“She’s too far gone,” was her response.

A loud roar from the king did nothing to sway her. Because it was the truth.

“I’ve heard about what she’s done. Even if the smallest part of the light in her could fight and take control, she wouldn’t want to. Not after the people she’s killed. Again.

“My sister was always terrified of her power after that incident. She promised me she would never use it again. I knew she couldn’t control it. Now she’s given in to it.”

“The god Hades told the king himself that it was love that could save her. Your love for her. Her love for you.”

“Then you’re out of luck. I don’t love her. And she doesn’t love me. I cared for her. I was obligated to look after her. She felt the same duty to protect me and get me released.

“We’re sisters. But we never loved each other. Maybe it’s because we’re only half-sisters. But we never had that connection. I can’t save her.”

“It’s your duty to her now,” the king roared, silencing the entire room.

“She’s my mate and your sister. It’s your duty, as a sister and as my subject, to help her. So you will try. And you will do whatever it takes to bring her back. That’s also my command.”

A simple nod of the head satisfied the king.

“We return to the castle immediately,” he ordered.

They all followed him, including the man named Lochlan. Just as they were about to shift outside in the street, a silver-haired man caught the king’s attention.

“Her spy, now,” Vidarr sneered, baring his fangs. “I never thought you’d be so weak as to be her lackey, Cathan.”

“I’m not here on the queen’s orders,” Cathan stated, capturing the king’s full attention.

“I’m here to save her. I saw you leave. I also planned to find her sister, bring her back to the castle. It seems we have the same goal. A common goal can make enemies temporary allies.”

The king scoffed and snarled at him. This was another trick. After all, Cathan had taught Aurelia everything she knew about how to manipulate him, along with Ellathoria.

“You have everything you want,” Alastair said. “The fae are in my kingdom. You and the council are in power, by a hybrid’s side. My mate trusts you more than me. Why would you want to change that?”

Now it was Cathan’s turn to scoff as he stepped closer to the group.

“What are you fighting for, ~your highness~? Do you think anything will change if she comes out of the darkness? She didn’t choose us because of the darkness. She doesn’t trust me because of it.

“None of this is because of that. All of it was inevitable.

“The only thing that will change if we save her is that she’ll stop killing like it’s a game and she’ll rule as the queen she’s meant to be, fair and just.

“She’s a hybrid. She’ll unite both fae and wolves. I’ll still have everything I want and more. I’m her friend, truly. I care about her. And I know this isn’t her. She would never want this.”

“Why do you fight?”

“For my throne, of course. For my power back,” the king hissed, shaking his head and shifting. Vidarr looked to the king, seeking instruction on what to do about the silver-haired fae.

The king, surprisingly, nodded his head, allowing him to help. Because he had known Cathan when they were children. He was able to spot the lies back then. He still had the same tell today.

Which is why Alastair knew the fae was telling the truth.