The Queen of Wolves

Back to claim her lover's kiss….and her Revenge (sequel to The King of Wolves)

Lightning flashed unforgivably around me, illuminating the shadows that the dying fire dared not to reach. Thunder shook and rattled the old stones that barely held my rotting castle together, loosening several pieces of rubble which bounced mindlessly across the concrete floor. Dead. 

My head flopped lifelessly in my hands, refusing to support itself. None of me had the strength to carry on. I sat in my throne for…what was it? Eternity? That's what it seemed like. My life was gone. Over. Dead.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her. I saw her twirling around in the forest in autumn, saw her picking flowers by the paths in the spring…I saw her dancing beneath the falling snow and laughing at droplets that landed upon the noses and muzzles of smaller creatures. I saw her bolting through the dark woods, terror gripping her lovely face and destroying her usually giddy attitude…Yes. I saw her. Dead.

"You're majesty…" A voice broke through the darkness. I didn't bother turning to look. I knew who it was. 

"Leave me, Adolpho," I commanded. I could hear how empty my voice was…just like my life…empty…dead.

  "But…you're majesty…you might want to see this."

"What is it, Adolpho?" I sighed irritably. I just wanted him to leave. I wanted to be alone in the cold, dark room. Alone. Forever. Dead.

"Her."

That one word…it was all it took. It was all I needed to spring forward from the spot I had sat in for so long…three years, was it? More, perhaps. I didn't know. Didn't care. Her. Not Dead. was it true? Was it even possible?

I followed the scurrying wolf down the dreary corridors. It wasn't exactly the story book palace, the kind decorated with lavish tapestries embroidered in gold and emeralds. There were no shining suits of armor sat upon small marble pedestals lining the halls. No kind hearted king. No queen…

I bursted through the wooden doors, causing them to creak and strain against the stone hinges. I would fix it later. Right now, I had to know. Where was it? Ah! There! My old friend…A dirty brown tarp was draped over it, protecting my treasure from dust and mold. Even after all those years, it was still beautiful. 

The crystal ball was clear and dust free, sitting atop a perimeter of four wolf heads, mouths open and teeth snarling. This was where my Shadow Mages rested. When I didn't need them, they remained inside their home. Now wasn't the time for explaining the ways of the Shadow Mages. No…now…her…alive? NOT dead? 

I placed my hand upon the ice cold glass, shuddering at the sharp icy texture. So smooth yet so frozen, like a ball of ice. That was the only way to truly describe it. I thought. And thought. And thought. I focused my mind on her and her alone. 

"Le cristal de foi de glace et éternelle, prêtez-moi vos yeux, montrez-moi la fille," I muttered. 

For a moment, the crystal remained clear. Finally, it began to haze into a series of grey and black clouds. Lightning suddenly flashed from the clouds. Rain quickly followed the lightning, pouring so fast it appeared as if the clouds themselves were melting. Then an image of my castle appeared. It was the front gates. An old woman wrapped tightly in a cloak was hunched over, knocking desperately.

What few pieces of my heart had regenerated evaporated, blowing away in the silence of the night. It wasn't her. She really was dead.

"You're majesty…I…I could have sworn…" Adolpho stammered beside me. He bowed his head in a submissive gesture.

"I clenched my fist. Striking him would be wrong…but God only knew how bad I wanted to…I fought back the urge and dismissed him.

"Yes, you're majesty, but…what of the old woman?"

The words "kill her" stopped in my throat. It didn't seem like the appropriate choice anymore…what would she have done? Invite the old woman in…take care of her…nourish her until she could leave. "Bring her in."

Adolpho merely paused in the doorway, staring at me as if my mind had left me. And, perhaps it had. But it didn’t really matter. Not anymore. Dead.

            “Just go!” I bellowed, devastated and enraged by the false hopes I had unknowingly been fed. I know Adolpho meant no harm, but I couldn’t help but feel almost…well, betrayed.

            “Yes…you’re majesty,” he said clearly yet unsurely. He knew better than to question my orders. I cared for my pack…enough to eliminate anyone who questioned my authority and dared try to gain position as Alpha. I just simply couldn’t allow such doubt to destroy my pack.

            I waited in the cold, dusty room as Adolpho escorted the woman in. She was hunched over, her gray hair covering her eyes and cheeks. She was certainly quite a sight.

            “What is it that you intend upon approaching my castle at such an hour?” I questioned. It was rather odd for any old person to be wandering by themselves, especially during such a fierce storm.  

            “Are you the lord of this castle?” she croaked dryly. Her hair and matted green cloak poured and dripped water from her long journey, but her voice sounded as if it hadn’t tasted water in days.

            “Aye. And who are you?”

            She smiled with a snaggle-toothed grin. Several teeth were missing and her gums appeared infected. Surely she didn’t have the plague? If so, I would be forced to through her back into the jaws of the raging night.

            “Aye. You are indeed,” she chuckled. “Indeed.”

            “And you?” I asked once more, my patience running very thin.

            “Oye, Rosie, so I’m called. Off to visit mi’ grandchildren o’r the next kingdom, I is. Got caught in quite a nasty storm, I do reckon. Saw yer castle, thought you’d help. Thought right, I did, aye?”

            “You have quite an interesting accent,” I mentioned, amused at the old woman’s uncanny cheeriness. She grinned wider.

            “Aye, ye be sayin I tawlk funny, what for ye be so proper, ay, sonny? Ain’t no dutches, I ain’t!”

            “You mean duchess?”

            “Aye.”

            I shook my head and extended my arm to the woman. “Come. This room is not fit for an old woman.”

She stared at me curiously, then linked her arm with my own. “Aye. Gettin’ rather drafty in hure, ain’t it?”

            I led her down the hall and into the room I had spent so long in solitary in. The slowly fading embers of the fire would provide the woman with little warmth. If she didn’t dry off soon, she would surly die of the cold. Unless the plague got her first.

            I went ahead and through some logs in the fire. Seconds later, the greedy flames wrapped themselves desperately around the dry wood, engulfing it in a blanket of orange and yellow. I threw in a few more logs, forcing the fire to rise higher and higher until it filled the room with light.

            “You may warm yourself by the fire. I’ll fetch you some food and water,” I said to her, heading towards the door.

            “Thank ya deary.” She settled herself near the fire, curling up like a tiny child.

            I exited the room and closed the door behind me, allowing her privacy. The old woman was entertaining, at the most. She had me feel better than I had in the past few years. Perhaps I wouldn’t kill her before the storm had settled. Perhaps.

            “S**t!” I cried, suddenly realizing my mistake. I had forgot to ask Rosie-I believe that’s what she said her name was-if she wanted a warm blanket. I turned on my heels and walked quickly back to the room.

            “Rosie, I forgot to ask if you wanted-” I stopped dead in my tracks. I couldn’t believe what was before me. “Adolpho…?”

            The massive wolf had curled next to the woman, resting his head in her lap. I had never seen him so affectionate. The very creature who had slaughtered more men than Queen Bathory did virgins was now cuddled up like a lap dog.

            “Looks like he’s quite taken with you,” I called. My voice remained lighthearted and cheery, but I could a feel the black cloud of suspicion forming in my chest.

            “Aye. He’s a good dog, isn’t he?” Rosie called. Only, it wasn’t Rosie’s voice. It was young and feminine, yet firm and powerful. She had pulled the cloak back over her head, making herself appear as noting but a green lump in the middle of the dreary room.

            “Rosie?”

            The hunched figure stood, leaving the sleeping mutt to lie where he was. As she stood, she through the hood back, revealing dark brown hair. Her back still turned to me, she extended her arms, the cloak falling to the ground. The woman who stood before me now was anyone but Rosie. She was young, her face full of life and affection. Her body was curved and hugged tightly by a form-fitting ivory dress. Perfection.

My heart broken heart wove itself back into a tedious version of the way it once was. Though it had been brutalized and hideously disfigured after losing the battle of love…it was stepping up to win the war. 

"How are you…"

"Alive?" She purred, staring at me those big green eyes. Only their original innocence and frailty was gone. No, this wasn't the stare of the girl I fell so hard in love with…it was the look of a woman. A woman who knew what she wanted and wasn't afraid to get it. Her lips…they pouted, alright. But not in that help-me-I'm-so-scared way. Now they pouted in a wanting way, using their red fullness to draw in prey. I liked this change.

I nodded. She simply grinned then said, almost as if the word amused her, "Magic."

"Aye…magic…"I awed. Did I care how she was alive? Of course not! All I cared about now was her. I had to have her, to hold her, to engulf myself in her. Hold her. Become one with her. 

"You wish to touch me?" she purred. 

I couldn't hold back the truth. Even if I had told her no, I was sure she would be able to read through my lies. If Magic had truly breathed life back into her, it was possible for her to have obtained certain…powers.

Without further hesitation, I bolted forward, preparing to attack her with the affection I'd contained for years. It had all built up inside me…all the love, the sorrow, the desire…the need! The pain that held me from all my duties in the past three years flashed before me, shaking their fists at me, cursing me for finding happiness. I just laughed at them. Fools. They would never burden my heart again…not as long as she lived. Damn Adolpho and the pack and the other wolves of the world. Damn them all. I didn't need them. But her…I more than needed her. My very being in life was not whole without her. To love her and worship her was the very reason in which I had been born.

I'd given up so much for my pack. I'd slaughtered countless families, burned thousands of villages, teared loved ones apart…I'd even murdered newborn infants with my bare hands, never once feeling an once of guilt. Protect the pack. Protect my family. That was all I had known…all I had ever lived for. But now…as she stood before, I knew there was something more. Her. 

I wrapped my arms around her, swallowing her whole within my touch. It was a moment of true bliss…to feel her skin against my own, to cradle her close to me, like I had longed to do for so many years. My body screamed and thrashed in delight as I felt her arms wrap around my torso, pulling me closer. There was not a more perfect moment that could come to my mind.

A throbbing pain pulsed through my back. Something was buried between my shoulder blades, forcing my life to drain from me. But did I even care? I was being held by the most incredible being alive. What did a little pain matter? Suddenly, the object that had caused the hurt vanished, but the pain still remained. I reached around and rubbed the sticky liquid that was now pouring from my seeping wound. I stumbled backwards, trying not to distance myself too far from my love. My hands…they were covered in something red and warm.

I looked up at my beautiful girl, searching for the answers in her eyes. She just glared back, her beautiful irises full of ice and hate. That's when I noticed the dripping dagger clenched tightly in her hands. My god….this is how she felt…the tears in her eyes…I could see it all. The vulneriabilty…the pain…the betrayl….the fear. This was how she felt when I ended her life…now, she was repaying the favor. 

"I…I understand…" I choked, slumping to the floor. She just stared back at me, tears bubbling desperately down her face. God…the pain I had caused her…I deserved this. I deserved all of this. And more.

"I…I'm so so sorry!" she blurted out, dropping the knife. 

"Shhh…" I placed my bloodied index finger upon her trembling lips. "I understand. I have one final request, though…" she nodded, ready to do what it took to make up for what she was doing. I cradled her cheek in my palm, wiping away the tears with my fingers. With my dying breath, I managed to vocalize my final wish…

 "Be the Alpha I never was."