Chapter 4 The Ruling

“Treason!” 

A sly smile crept on my lips as I watched my lovely sister Medea scream that word in front of the Lycan elite.  Her finger pointed at me, as if it were a crime that I stepped out to reclaim what was mine.  

“Treason? But the rules were clear, weren’t they?” I sarcastically asked as I turned around to look at the bystanders and the Lycan Council seated by the throne hall. “You haven’t started the ritual, Medea.  Anyone can still challenge you.”

Her eyes shot daggers at me as her head turned to Castiel, the High Priest, who remained silent throughout this entire time. “Castiel—”

“You should call me Your Eminence, Your Highness,” Castiel harshly corrected her.  The room was immediately filled with whispers, probably wondering why the High Priest, Castiel, was too hard on his childhood friend.  “Learn your place.”

My lips downturned as I heard him say that.  I did not know if Castiel wanted to say those words in front of my face.  After all, I was just another wolf who dreamed too high and got burned the moment she thought she had reached the sun.   He had warned me before he left to study.  Countless damn times.  He even asked me to run away with him to the neutral lands, where no one would ever know us.

I never listened.  Never accepted.  In my heart, I knew that Augustus occupied the biggest space, and I dedicated it to him.  Devoted my entire heart, soul, body…

Now I know why he never marked me.  

“I won the trials.   She dropped out of the competition as soon as she fell in love with my Vassal!” Medea reiterated.  “That was enough grounds to disqualify her from this competition.  This is my crown, Hestia.  I am the Queen!”

“The Lycan Codex did not state those as grounds for disqualification,” I argued.  “Besides, Alpha Augustus never claimed me.  We are nothing but strangers.”

I stared deep into Augustus’s eyes as those words escaped my lips, barely leaving my mouth.  Those jaded, green eyes that I have gotten used to.  I know I shouldn’t even be wondering about what he felt after he heard those words from me.  But for just a brief moment, my heart hoped that he at least regretted it. 

But who am I fooling, anyway?

It was clear he made his choice.  And that choice… almost cost my life.  

“Ha! So what? You needed a Vassal to compete, Hestia.  Augustus might have been your Vassal before, but he had pledged himself to me now.  Let's see who's foolish enough to accept—”

“Hestia Locke's Vassal is standing right before you, Your Highness.”

Horrified gasps escaped the people watching this little drama as Kieran stepped forward, letting the light from the grand chandelier fall across his distinctive White Wolf features.  He knelt in front of Castiel, with his right hand placed on the left side of his chest.  

Like Omegas, the Whites were often treated as impure.  Their blood carried traces of silver, making it poisonous to most Lycans weak enough to succumb. Due to this, they had been treated like monsters.  

And never once did a Queen contender, in the trial's centuries-old history, choose a White Wolf to become her Vassal.

“Are you aware of your duties as her Vassal?” Castiel asked.  He took out his scepter and pointed the sharp tip of it at Kieran's neck.

Castiel’s golden eyes… were burning hell.

“I do,” Kieran's rubied gaze met his.  “In fact, I am more than willing to become a Vassal to her.  If you permit, your Eminence, I want to ask Hestia to claim me as her mate.”

The whispers around the hall grew louder.  After all, Kieran was offering something only a fool would do.  If he chose to become my mate and Vassal, he would never be able to leave, even if he found his true mate…

Only a dead Lycan could stop serving the Queen he chose.  That was why Medea's first Vassal, Aaron, chose to drink wolfsbane. 

“Kieran—”

His voice smoothly cut through mine.  “I, Kieran White, tribute myself as Vassal to Hestia Locke, the contender of this trial.  Let Mother know I will offer my life to my Queen, and let Her know these feelings are true.  I will stay by my Queen’s  side, in sickness and in health, in danger and peace, in glory and defeat.”

Everything stood still.  Heat engulfed me as my wolf, Fluke, awakened, seeking the one who had declared to become my mate.  

“Our mate… where is our mate, Hestia? I can't find him… There are too many!”

Before I could reply to Fluke, Augustus suddenly cussed under his breath, his face red in anger. His knuckles were shaking as his fist tried to punch my Kieran on the jaw, but Castiel, with his divine powers, created an impenetrable barrier between them.  Augustus bumped into it, and the force sent him stumbling back a few steps. "You impure hound! Hestia is my wife!"

“Enough!” Castiel’s bark echoed throughout the hall.  “Alpha Augustus, do I need to remind you that you have already pledged to someone else as their Vassal?" Castiel turned to face me, with his smoldering gaze sending Fluke into a frenzy. They reeked of... danger.

And jealousy?

“If you accept his tribute, mark your Vassal now, Hestia.”

My body stiffened. That was not part of the plan! I---

“My Queen,” Kieran called as he bared his neck for me.  “Please mark this Vassal of yours.”

I gulped as I followed his suit. My teeth sank into his neck, blood flowing freely to my lips. I left a mark on his skin as electricity surged between our bodies.  Kieran caught me as my body swayed, still adjusting to the newly formed bond that bound us.  A bond... that hopefully neither of us would regret.

But the bond did not calm Fluke, nor did it satisfy her.  She kept on howling, and I could feel the heat inside me grow stronger.  

“Where's the other three? Where are our mates, Hestia?”

“Well?” I asked as I tried to keep my composure, ignoring Fluke once again, thinking she was just disoriented, as it had been a long time since we were around this many strong Lycans. Besides, with the Full Moon approaching, there are too many mating scents around…

My eyes landed on the Lycan Codex’s almost torn corners as Castiel placed them back on the podium.  He approached the Lycan Council, who had been silent the entire time.    

“Esteemed Elders of the Lycan Court, I introduce to you an aspiring contender for the crown of the Queen.  Would you allow her to prove herself worthy, or would this be considered an act of rebellion?”

My heart flailed wildly as I watched the Elders of the Council discuss among themselves, my father, Alpha Heron, in the middle of the men.  His eyes…

They were fixed on me as he swirled the wine in his cup, a smirk playing on his lips.  

“Hestia Cassandra Locke, by the powers vested in us by the Mother Goddess, we hereby declare your claim to the throne…”

Kieran’s grasp tightened around my hand.