Chapter 13 The King on His Knees

The moon was a big, cold eye. It looked down from the black sky and saw everything.

I stood on the stone porch and gripped the rail. The air was sharp. It felt like tiny needles on my skin.

Inside the glass doors, the music was a loud thumping. It felt like a heartbeat that was not mine. I needed the dark. I needed the quiet.

A heavy boot hit the stone behind me. Thud. Thud.

I did not have to turn my head. I knew that smell. It was cedar wood and old fire.

It was the man who broke my soul five years ago. He was right there.

"You hide in the dark like a thief," he whispered.

Valerius walked to the rail. He stood too close. He was like a hot stove in a cold room.

I did not look at him. I looked at the dead trees in the garden.

"I am looking at the stars. Your palace is too loud, King," I told him.

He did not look at the stars. He looked at my face behind the black veil.

His eyes were like blue fire. He looked like a man who had been lost in the woods for a long time.

He leaned in. He put his nose near my neck and took a big breath.

I felt my skin crawl. It felt like a bug was walking on me.

"Why do you have that smell?" he asked.

He moved even closer. "You smell like wildflowers. You smell like the girl I see every night when I close my eyes."

I gripped the stone until my knuckles were white. "I smell like the Dead Lands. You see what you want to see, Valerius."

"No. I know that scent. It is hers," he groaned.

He stepped in front of me. He blocked the door. I was trapped between him and the long drop to the ground.

"Who are you? Tell me who you are," he demanded.

"I am the Queen of Shadows. Let go of my arm," I snapped.

He did not let go. His hand was like a ring of hot iron.

"You have her eyes. You have her smell. But she was a weak girl. She was an Omega," he muttered.

He looked mad. He looked like his brain was breaking.

"I saw her die. I sent her to the mist. Why are you here?" he yelled.

"I am here for my people. I am not a ghost," I replied.

He grew very angry. His face turned red. He stood up tall.

He looked like a giant from a scary story. He opened his mouth wide.

"TELL ME THE TRUTH!" he roared.

He used his big King voice. He used the Alpha Command.

The air on the porch turned heavy. It felt like I was being pushed under a big pile of rocks.

It was a power that made all wolves drop to the dirt. It was a voice that made people do what they were told.

My heart gave a big, painful pull. The old bond in my chest tried to wake up.

It wanted me to bow. It wanted me to be a good girl and say my name.

I felt my knees shake for a second. The weight was so big.

He stepped closer. He thought he won. He thought I was breaking like a dry stick.

"Tell me you are Elena," he commanded.

I looked at him through the veil. I saw his hope. I saw his pain.

I hated him for it. I hated that he thought he could still own me with a word.

"I am the Queen of Shadows," I lied.

I pushed the words out through my teeth. I would not give him what he wanted.

I let my own power out.

I did not shift. I did not yell. I just opened the door to the White Wolf in my head.

A cold, white light came off my skin. It was not a glow. It was a feeling.

The air on the porch turned to ice. Valerius gasped.

His big voice died in his throat. He tried to breathe, but the air was gone.

My aura was sitting on his chest like a mountain. It was bigger than his. It was older.

"You think your voice can make me do anything?" I asked.

My voice was deep now. It sounded like a storm coming over the hills.

It made the glass in the doors rattle. Chirrup. Chirrup.

"I am a Goddess. You are just a man with a piece of gold on his head," I told him.

I took a step toward him. The stone floor under my feet made a loud crack.

He staggered back. He was shaking. He had never felt power like this.

It was a white wall of force that hit him in the face. It was the power of the Rogue Queen.

"Elena... what is this?" he choked out.

"My name is not Elena. I am the end of your world," I replied.

I pushed my power even harder. I sent all my years of pain into the air.

Valerius groaned. He grabbed his head. His legs looked like they were made of water.

"Down," I commanded.

I used his own trick. I put all my wolf's power into that one word.

His knees hit the stone hard. Bang.

The Alpha King was on his knees. He was looking at the floor at my feet.

He was gasping for air. Sweat ran down his nose and hit the stone. Drip. Drip.

He tried to stand up, but his body would not let him.

My power was pushing him down like a giant hand from the sky.

"Please," he whispered.

He looked so small. He looked like the girl I used to be.

"You wanted to see my power. Now you see it," I said.

I leaned down. I put my veiled face close to his.

I wanted him to feel the cold. I wanted him to smell the ozone and the freesia.

"The woman you mourn is dead. Do not look for her in me," I lied to his face.

I pulled my power back. I tucked the White Wolf away.

The heavy air went away. The cold vanished.

Valerius slumped forward. He put his hands on the stone. He looked like a small child who was lost.

"The meeting is tomorrow. Do not be late, Alpha," I said.

I turned around. I walked toward the glass doors.

I did not look back at the man on the floor.

My heart was beating fast. My wolf was happy.

She liked seeing him small. She liked seeing him on the ground.

I went back into the ballroom. Silas was waiting in the dark corner.

He saw my face and nodded once. He knew what happened.

"Is he still out there?" Silas asked.

"He is on his knees. He will stay there for a while," I told him.

I walked past the nobles. They all moved out of my way.

They could smell the ice on me. They were afraid of the Queen of Shadows.

I went to the guest wing. I wanted to see Leo.

I wanted to see the boy who had the King's face but my soul.

Valerius was still out there on the porch. I knew it.

He was probably still looking at the stone. He was obsessed.

He thought he knew me. He thought he could find the girl he killed.

But I was a good liar. And I was just getting started.

I went to the guest wing. Leo was asleep in his small bed. I kissed his forehead and locked the door. Click.

The next morning, I woke up to a silent room.

My hand reached for Leo’s bed.

The sheets were cold. He was gone.

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