The Lycan Queen's Ruthless Beta

The first person to knock me flat before my eighteenth birthday was my father.

 I lay there for a second, staring at the sky, before I let out a groan. "Seriously?"

 He lowered his practice sword and held out his hand. "You dropped your guard."

 "I was distracted."

 "You were showing off."

 I grabbed his hand and let him pull me up, brushing the dirt off my sleeve. "I wasn't."

 His eyebrow went up. I sighed. "Fine. Maybe a little."

 A smile tugged at his mouth. That was my father. He always saw through me. I picked my sword back up, and that's when I noticed how quiet the training yard had gone.

 I looked toward the balcony. A few guards were pretending not to watch us. Luca wasn't even bothering to pretend. He stood against one of the stone pillars, arms crossed, grinning like he was enjoying every second of it.

 "You're enjoying this," I called up to him.

 "Immensely."

 I pointed my sword at him. "Come down here."

 "No."

 "Coward."

 "Princess."

 "Luca."

 "Evelyn."

 My father cleared his throat. "Are you two finished?"

 "She's not," Luca said. I glared at him. He grinned wider. And I couldn't help smiling either, because that was Luca. My brother. My absolute nightmare.

 He'd been there for as long as I could remember. We fought, we argued, we competed over the dumbest things, and sometimes we actually acted like normal siblings. We didn't share blood. It never mattered. He was just Luca. My brother. Anyone who said otherwise would've gotten laughed at.

 My father sheathed his sword. "Training is over."

 "Finally." I tossed my practice sword aside and turned to go.

 "Evelyn."

 Something in his voice made me stop. When I turned back, the amusement was gone from his face.

 "Wear the white dress tonight."

 I frowned. "Why?"

 "Because I asked you to."

 "That isn't an answer."

 "It is when I'm your father." He smiled, just a little. "Go."

 I didn't like that answer. But I knew better than to push, so I went.

 ---

 By sunset, the palace was packed. Nobles. Warriors. Alphas from neighboring territories. Even families I hadn't seen in years suddenly remembered how much they loved the royal family. Funny how that happens.

 I stood in front of the mirror while Aria fought with the back of my dress.

 "Stop moving."

 "I've been standing here forever."

 "Five minutes."

 "Feels like forever."

 She got the last clasp in place and stepped back. The white dress fell to my ankles, clean and simple, nothing like what I wore in the training yard. I turned to face her.

 "How do I look?"

 "Like trouble."

 "Perfect."

 She laughed, but it faded fast. "Are you nervous?"

 I hesitated. "A little."

 "About tonight?"

 "About everything."

 She knew what I meant. My eighteenth birthday. My first shift. My mate. The future everyone had been talking about for months. Who would I find? A warrior? A noble? An alpha? Whoever he was, his life was about to change. So was mine. He'd become part of the royal family. One day he'd stand beside me as king.

 I wanted that. Just not with a stranger who happened to share my fate. I wanted to actually love him.

 Aria squeezed my hand. "You'll be fine."

 "You don't know that."

 "I know you." She said it like that was enough.

 The door opened before I could answer. Luca leaned against the frame, dressed in black. His eyes moved over my dress, and for once, no joke followed.

 "You look beautiful."

 "Careful," I said. "People might think you actually like me."

 "I tolerate you."

 "Liar."

 He rolled his eyes and held out his arm instead. "Come on. Father wants everyone in the great hall."

 I looped my arm through his, and we walked down the corridor together. Then I noticed the guards weren't standing where they usually did. There were more of them. The doors to the great hall had twice as many warriors outside as normal.

 "What's happening?" I asked.

 Luca glanced at them. "I don't know."

 That worried me more than anything. Luca always knew everything.

 We walked into the great hall, and hundreds of eyes turned toward me. My mother stood beside my father on the raised platform. The royal council was there. So were the heads of the noble families. My stomach tightened.

 My father stepped forward, and the hall went silent.

 "Tonight, my daughter turns eighteen."

 Applause broke out. I smiled. Then he kept talking.

 "And tonight, the future of this kingdom will be decided."

 The applause died. I looked at him. My mother was smiling. Beside me, Luca's arm slipped out of mine.

 My father turned to me. "Evelyn Faye. Step forward."

 My heart started pounding. I walked toward him, one step, then another, and it felt like the whole kingdom was watching me do it. He lifted the crown off the table beside him.

 "From this day forward, Evelyn Faye is the official heir to the Lycan throne."

 Silence. Complete silence.

 Then the hall broke apart. Some people cheered. Others just stood there, frozen. And somewhere behind me, someone muttered, "But she's a woman."

 I turned to look at Luca. He wasn't smiling anymore. I couldn't tell what he was thinking.

 I had just become the heir.

 I didn't know yet that someone would kill for that crown. And I definitely didn't know that before the night was over, I'd meet the man who was supposed to become my mate. The man who would one day stand beside me as king. The man I would lose before I ever understood how much that loss would cost me.