Chapter 20 The Regent’s Crown

I kicked a piece of broken glass off the white stone. It fell down the side of the hill and hit the dirt with a tiny snap. The sun was just starting to come up. The sky was a pale, cold pink.

This was the place. The Moonlight Altar.

Five years ago, I stood here in a silk dress that felt like a trap. I stood here while the man I loved burned a mark into my skin. Now, the stone felt cold under my heavy boots. I didn't wear silk anymore. I wore leather and iron.

I looked at the valley below. My Rogue army was a sea of black fur and scarred faces. They stood still. They didn't make a sound. Across from them, the Moonlight Pack looked thin and tired. Their silver armor was dull. They were shaking.

Valerius stood in the middle of it all. He looked at me, then he looked at the ground. He looked like a man who was already dead.

"The sun is up, Valerius!" I shouted. My voice was loud. It carried over the hills. "Five years ago, you told me I was nothing. You told me I had no name and no place in this world."

I took a step to the edge of the stone. I reached down and took Leo’s hand. He stood tall beside me. His golden eyes shined in the morning light.

"Look at me now," I said. "I am the Queen of the Shadows. And I am not here to talk. I am here to take what is mine."

Valerius stepped forward. His boots crunched on the dry grass. "Elena, please. The pack is hungry. They are weak. If we fight, they will all die."

"Then do not fight," I told him. "I am annexing this kingdom. From this moment, your borders belong to the Rogue Empire. Your laws are gone. Your people are my people."

A loud murmur went through the Moonlight Pack. I saw the Council members in the front. They looked mad. Their faces were red. One of them pointed a finger at me.

"We will not bow to an Omega!" he yelled. "We will not be ruled by a girl from the dirt!"

Silas stepped out from behind me. He drew his big black sword. The sound of the metal was long and sharp. Shhh-tink.

"Then you will die in the dirt," Silas growled.

The Rogue warriors let out a roar. They tapped their axes against their shields. Bang. Bang. Bang. The sound was like thunder. The Moonlight warriors stepped back. They looked at their King. They were waiting for him to tell them to fight.

Valerius looked at Silas. He looked at the axes. Then he looked at Leo.

Leo didn't look away. He looked at his father with those bright, gold eyes. He didn't look like a boy. He looked like a King who was waiting for a crown.

"Valerius, choose!" I barked. "War or surrender. Right now."

Valerius took a long, slow breath. He reached up and touched the gold crown on his head. He looked at the carvings of the moon and the stars. Then he looked at the starving wolves in the valley.

"I won't lead them to their graves," Valerius said. His voice was low, but I heard him.

He reached up and took the crown off his head.

"Valerius, no!" Seraphina screamed. She was standing with the guards, her face a mess of dirt and tears. "You are the King! You cannot give up to her!"

"I am not the King they need," Valerius said.

He walked up the steps of the Altar. He stopped three feet away from me. He didn't look at me with anger. He looked at me with a pain that was so deep it made his hands shake.

He slowly went down on one knee. Then the other.

The Alpha King was kneeling in the dirt at my feet.

"I abdicate," Valerius said. He held the gold crown out in his hands. "I surrender the Moonlight Pack. I surrender the lands. I surrender it all to my son. To Leo, the True King."

The silence that followed was heavy. No one moved. Even the wind seemed to stop.

Valerius looked at Leo. He held the crown toward the boy. "You are the blood of the moon, Leo. You are the one the land is waiting for."

Leo looked at me. I nodded my head once. My heart was thumping in my ears. This was it. The end of the old world.

Leo reached out his small hands and took the heavy gold crown. The moment his fingers touched it, a warm light flashed. It was not white or silver. It was gold. It wrapped around his arms like a hug.

The dry grass at the base of the Altar suddenly turned green. A tiny flower pushed up through the dirt. The land was drinking the boy’s power.

"He is too young to rule," Valerius said. He looked up at me. His eyes were wet. "Until he is a man, Elena will be the Regent Queen. Her word is the only law. Her command is the only truth."

He reached into his robe and pulled out a gold medallion. It was the mark of the pack’s soul. He held it up to me.

I took the gold. It felt hot in my palm.

"Long live King Leo!" Silas shouted.

"LONG LIVE THE REGENT QUEEN!" the Rogue army roared.

One by one, the Moonlight warriors dropped their spears. They fell to their knees. The nobles followed them. Even the Council members bowed their heads. They had no choice. The land had already chosen.

Valerius stayed on his knees. He looked at my boots. He didn't try to stand up.

"I have no crown," Valerius whispered. He looked up at me. "I have no name. I am nothing but a man who made a very big mistake."

"You are a man who has a lot of work to do," I said.

"I will spend the rest of my life earning the right to even speak your name, Elena," he said. "I will be your shadow. I will be your guard. I will do whatever you ask."

"I ask you to get up," I said. "We are going to the palace. We have a kingdom to feed."

I turned my back on the Altar. I didn't look at the site of my pain. I took Leo’s hand and began to walk down the hill.

Silas walked on my left. Valerius walked three steps behind me on my right. He didn't walk like a King. He walked like a man who was carrying a heavy weight.

We reached the gates of the palace. The guards there opened the doors wide. They didn't look at Valerius. They looked at me.

I walked into the Grand Hall. The floor was dusty. The air was cold. I saw the big throne at the end of the room. It was made of white stone and gold.

I didn't sit on it. Not yet.

I looked at Silas. "Lock the Council in the guest rooms. I want their books. I want to know where the food is."

"Yes, My Queen," Silas said.

I turned to Valerius. He was standing by the door, his head down.

"Go to the barracks," I told him. "Tell the men they eat tonight. But tell them they work tomorrow."

"I will," Valerius said. He looked like he wanted to stay. He looked like he wanted to say more. But he just bowed and walked away.

I stood in the empty hall with Leo. He was still holding the crown. He looked at the big chair.

"Is this our house now, Mama?" he asked.

"It is, Leo," I said. I picked him up and held him close. "And no one is ever going to throw us out again."

I looked at the big doors. Tomorrow, the nobles would come. Tomorrow, the fight for the government would begin. I knew they would hate me. I knew they would try to stop me.

But I wasn't an Omega anymore.

I was the Regent Queen. And I was ready for war.

A loud knock hit the front doors of the palace. It wasn't a guard. It was a heavy, slow thud.

I looked at Silas. He put his hand on his sword.

The doors swung open. A man in a dark gray robe stood there. He didn't look like a wolf. He looked like something else.

"The High Council is here," he said. His voice was like dry paper. "We heard there is a new King. We are here to see if he is pure."