Princess of Wolves: A Reverse Harem Romance

by Starling, Bree

  I looked down at my hands. They seemed too small to be the hands of a ruler, a strong leader of a werewolf Pack. I couldn’t do this alone. But then it dawned on me: I wouldn’t have to. I had my mates. They believed in me. They always would. And Gram had believed in me too. I wouldn’t let them down. Even if it cost me everything.

  Ruby had been watching me in silence as I thought, but now her eyes narrowed as I looked up to meet her gaze.

  “I can’t leave, Ruby. I’m going to be Queen.”

  She slammed her fist on the counter so hard a crack appeared in the stone. “You stupid bitch,” she hissed. “I’m trying to give you an out and you won’t take it. I see I’m going to have to finish this my way.”

  Before I could react, she leaped at me faster than I could believe, and her hands were on my throat, squeezing cruelly. Her grip was like iron.

  “Stop me,” she taunted me, as I clawed uselessly at her face and arms. “Go ahead. You can’t even save yourself! And when I finish with you, I’m going to take the rest of that silver powder and finish off your grandmother for good.”

  I felt prickles break out across my skin as a cold rage swept over me. I had to stop her. I had to protect Gram. I opened my mouth to yell at her, but to my shock, a bestial snarl came out. My teeth were suddenly too big for my mouth, and they were long and sharp. What was happening to me?

  Ruby dropped me like a hot pan and stared down at me, her eyes widening in horror. “No,” she said. “No, it’s not possible. You can’t. They said you can’t.”

  I tried to reach for her, but a sharp pain hit me in the gut, and I doubled over. I heard the sound of fabric tearing, but the pain was all over me, building and building. My knees inverted, and I screamed, but the scream turned into a howl. The world went black.

  * * *

  I must have only been out for half a second because the darkness cleared almost instantly. Ruby backed away, staring at me in horror, as I got to my feet. My four feet. I was a wolf at last. The ritual had worked.

  “How?” she hissed.

  I couldn’t speak, but I stared at her, feeling my lip curl up into a silent snarl. I could feel the power in my wolf-form. The dark room had come alive with scents and sounds. I could hear the too-fast beating of Ruby’s heart and the sound of running feet from outside. Someone must have heard my scream. My muscles felt like springs, coiled and ready to strike. I would keep her here until help came.

  She made a move to the door, but I leaped at her, catching her ankle between my teeth. Ruby screamed in rage, and from above me I saw a flash of something silver bright.

  I realized it was a dagger half a second before she plunged it into my shoulder.

  26

  Allie

  Chaos. An assault on all my senses. The searing pain as she yanked the blade free, the clatter of metal hitting the floor as she threw it, the pounding feet as Ruby raced toward the door. I staggered after her, but when I tried to put weight on my front paw the pain was so bad it made me gasp. I staggered and fell, the world swimming dizzily. The dagger that lay on the floor covered with my blood was too bright to be iron: it had to be silver. Was I going to die?

  The door burst open, and suddenly their scents surrounded me. My mates. Jasper took one look at the scene and seized Ruby, pressing his own silver blade to her throat. “What have you done? Where is Allie?”

  Mal and Beau were hot on his heels, but they both slammed to a halt when they caught sight of me.

  “Who are you?” Mal barked at me. “Identify yourself.”

  He didn’t know me, I realized, with an inner bit of hysterical laughter. He’d never seen me as a wolf, how would he?

  But Beau inhaled sharply, and his eyes flew open with recognition as he caught my scent. “Allie? ALLIE?”

  I nodded weakly as he fell to his knees beside me. My coat was wet and sticky with blood, and it was getting harder to keep my eyes open.

  “Get a healer!” someone was yelling, but I could barely hear them. Suddenly everything seemed peaceful. I could see Cassie waiting in the doorway of the cabin, her long hair shining in the moonlight, but she looked worried. I tried to tell her it was all right, but the quiet dark closed in on me once more.

  * * *

  When I woke up, I was lying on my side in human form, and my head was pillowed on something firm. I realized groggily that it was Beau’s thighs. Someone had covered me with a blanket, but I couldn’t seem to stop shivering. I could see Sage from the corner of my eye as he knelt behind me, swabbing something on my shoulder that burned like fire. I gritted my teeth.

  “Sorry, my lady,” Sage said, wincing as he dabbed at the wound. “I’m almost done. You’ll be ok. She stabbed you with a silver blade, but she didn’t hit anything big, thank Goddess. And the silver… you’re not reacting to it hardly at all.” He sounded shocked.

  “Our Princess is half-human,” Mal said, a strange note of pride in his voice. “She can’t be brought down by a little silver from some traitor bitch.” He smiled down at me.

  It all came back to me. Silver. Ruby’s powder. I had to tell them. “The tea,” I gasped, my voice coming out a hoarse rasp from when Ruby had choked me. “Help Gram, please, we have to stop her.” I struggled to sit up, but Beau’s gentle touch stopped me.

  “It’s all right,” he said, stroking my hair. “Ruby confessed to everything. Jasper’s taking care of her now. But Sage thinks the Priestess will recover.”

  “That’s right,” Sage chimed in. “The small amount of silver in the drink was enough to weaken the Priestess, but not enough to kill her outright. Once she stopped drinking it she started to heal. She’s still unconscious, but she’s looking better already.”

  I could have cried with relief, but I was so weak. The combination of adrenaline from the fight and the blood loss had left me shaking and spent.

  Sage placed a cotton square across the wound and taped it in place. “There we go. I know you don’t heal as fast as a pure wolf, but you do heal faster, right?”

  I nodded, trying to save my throat some pain.

  Sage hesitated, and he looked a little nervous. I hoped he wasn’t gearing up to tell me I was dying, but then he blurted, “I’m sorry for being so rude to you before, my lady. Ruby, she…” he trailed off, looking nervous.

  “It’s ok,” I managed to croak, reaching out to pat his hand.

  “No, she told all of us that you were spoiled and selfish and you would make our lives hell if you became Queen,” he said, looking embarrassed.

  Mal snorted in disgust. “Sounds like Ruby was doing a little projecting.”

  “But you were so different when you came to see me,” Sage went on. “And I knew Ruby wanted to be Queen so bad that I wouldn’t put it past her to lie about things. I started to wonder if you would be an ok Queen after all.”

  Well, that explained everyone’s weird behavior when I went around to speak to them. Ruby had been spreading rumors about me. No wonder they all seemed surprised when I wasn’t some kind of monster. Was she ever really my friend? The thought made my heart ache.

  “Allie needs to rest,” Beau said firmly. “Is it safe to move her?”

  “Yes, the bleeding’s stopped,” Sage said. “Heal well, my lady.”

  Mal bent down and gently lifted me, but I had to clench my teeth to keep from gasping in pain. “Sorry, Princess,” he said, bending to kiss my forehead. “But you can’t lay on Beau’s thighs forever.”

  “Well, you can,” Beau chimed in, grinning mischievously as he tucked the blanket around me. “But you have to wait until you get better first.”

  I had to smile weakly at that. My mates were always so good to me.

  “We’re going to take you to the Priestess’ place so Sage can watch over you both,” Mal explained as he carried me out the front door. “Jasper is securing Ruby so she doesn’t get away before you can deal with her, but he’ll be there soon.”

  I nodded, swallowing experimentally. The pain in my throat was starting to fa
de.

  Beau grinned. “I still can’t believe you shifted, Allie. I knew you could do it. It figures you wouldn’t do it for yourself but you would shift to save someone else.”

  I blushed, making both the men chuckle. Beau ran ahead to open the door, and Mal carried me to the back bedroom. Someone had set up a cot there, and I looked anxiously to Gram as Mal carefully laid me down. She was still silent, but her color looked a little better.

  “She’s strong,” Beau murmured. “Just like you. She’ll get better, you’ll see.”

  Before I could respond, Jasper entered. I had been expecting a smile and kisses, but he was scowling so fiercely it startled me.

  “How could you do it, Allie?” he demanded. His voice was quiet, probably not to disturb Gram, but I could tell how angry he was. “Why would you face Ruby alone?”

  “I had to prove I could,” I managed.

  He bent down, carefully avoiding my wound as he pulled me into a gentle hug. To my shock, I felt a single teardrop fall onto my cheek. “When I woke up and you were gone, we were all frantic,” he murmured. “If I had lost you, I don’t know what I would have done. We would all be lost. You don’t have to do anything alone anymore, Allie. We are yours and you are ours. Please.”

  Tears stung my eyes, and as he pulled back to look at me I nodded.

  Mal smiled. “Yeah, Allie. You may be the biggest badass in town, but please think of your poor mates before you charge off and do something heroic, ok?”

  I laughed through my tears. “I’m sorry. I won’t ever do it again.”

  Beau started to say something, but he froze.

  I was going to ask what was wrong, but then I heard it too. The sweetest sound in the world. “Allie?” I sat up, my heart thudding, to look at the other bed, hoping I hadn’t imagined it. “Allie?” Gram said, her eyes fluttering open. “Is that you?”

  My pain disappeared as I threw off the covers and crossed the room. When she saw me, her eyes lit up and she opened her arms. I threw myself into them, both of us laughing and crying as she held me. “My Allie,” she murmured, over and over again. “Home at last.”

  “Home to stay,” I whispered.

  * * *

  I hadn’t meant to sleep so long, but I discovered later that Jasper had given orders not to wake me until it was necessary. The clock on the nightstand read 3 pm when I finally climbed out of bed. The bed next to me was empty, which meant Gram was up and about. I swallowed experimentally, but my throat felt better. There was still a slight ache in my shoulder, but that was to be expected. Silver wounds took longer to heal, even for me.

  I was distracted from my injury inventory by a delicious scent wafting in the air, one familiar from my childhood. Gram’s famous beef stew. I followed my nose to the kitchen.

  When I came around the corner, the sight that greeted me almost made me burst into tears. Gram was at the stove, stirring her huge iron pot, a place I had seen her so often in my memories. But instead of being alone in the kitchen, she had pressed my mates into an assembly line. Jasper was chopping a huge slab of meat, while Beau peeled potatoes and Mal diced an onion. When they saw me, they all grinned. The sight melted my heart.

  “There she is,” Mal drawled, with the wonderful warm smile I loved so much.

  Beau grinned. “The Priestess said if we were going to sit around her house we were going to learn to make her famous beef stew so you could get better.”

  “They’re doing a pretty good job, too,” Gram said, winking at me. I had to laugh, especially when I noticed that they were all wearing frilly aprons from Gram’s collection. I went to her, still not believing she was real.

  She pulled me into a hug, and I was shocked to find I was taller than her now. I still felt safe in her arms, just as I had when I was small. I leaned down so she could stand on tiptoe and kiss my forehead. “It’s your big day, sweetie. Are you ready?”

  “I am,” I said, not missing the smiles that passed between my mates. “But I need to deal with Ruby first.”

  The smiles faded. Jasper nodded. “I have her chained in the old equipment shed,” he said. “Silver chains. She’s not going anywhere until you’re ready to deal with her. By all rights, her life belongs to you. She forfeited it when she harmed the Priestess and attacked you. Execution would be justice for your family.”

  Was that really what I wanted? I slipped into a seat at Gram’s kitchen table, thinking. I was still furious about what she had tried to do to Gram, of course. But was killing her the answer?

  I felt eyes on me and glanced up. My mates were all watching me quietly. Did they expect me to kill Ruby? Would they think I was weak if I didn’t?

  “We can… take care of it for you if you want,” Mal said, echoing my unspoken question.

  “No,” I said, shaking my head. “If I’m going to be Queen, I need to do things like this myself. And if she has to die, it has to be my doing.”

  Jasper didn’t speak, but I could see a glimmer of approval in his eyes as he nodded.

  “Spoken like a true Queen,” Gram said, smiling at me. She stirred the huge iron pot and eyed the contents critically before throwing in another hearty pinch of spices.

  My instinct was to keep my thoughts to myself, but then I remembered that this was my family. I didn’t have to hide who I was or what I was thinking anymore. It had been so long since I had one, I would have to get used to sharing again. “I don’t want to kill Ruby,” I said finally. “But I want to keep everyone safe from her. And I want peace for our Pack.”

  “I think we all want that,” Beau said. “But how?”

  I knew, then, what I had to do.

  * * *

  The shed was a rickety old corrugated metal building behind the Common. The Pack used it to store seasonal stuff, spare parts, and random junk, like Ruby. When I swung the door open with a screech of rusted metal, she squinted and scowled against the late afternoon sunshine that poured into the dusty space.

  She was chained against one of the support posts with a silver-coated chain, and I could see where the metal had burned into her skin from her attempts to wiggle free. But despite the chains, her filthy clothes, and tangled hair, she glared at me as haughtily as ever. “What the fuck do you want?” Ruby growled. “Come to have your pets kill me?”

  “Bring her,” I said quietly to Jasper. He nodded, pulling on thick gloves before reaching for the chain. Once he had released the lock, he tugged her out into the open air. Ruby didn’t resist, but she glared at me the whole time.

  I had gathered the Pack to the Common, and they stood in a half-circle around us, watching quietly. I took a deep breath, looking to my mates for support. Jasper nodded, Beau smiled, and Mal winked. Gram stood beside Beau, leaning on him for support, but there was pride in her eyes as she looked at me. It was enough. I turned to face the rest of my Pack.

  “I’ve gathered you all here to witness the fate of those who would harm us,” I said, my eyes roaming over the little crowd. “If anyone would try to hurt one of us, they hurt us all.” I could hear murmurs of agreement as I spoke, and that encouraged me.

  “Ruby has proven that she does not hold this belief, and thus can no longer be a trusted member of the Pack.” I turned to her, and she stared at me, angry and defiant. For a split-second, my heart ached for the lost friendship that I’d thought we’d had. But I reminded myself that I had something real now, and it gave me all the resolve I needed. “Ruby, you once told me to run away. You pretended to be my friend so I would listen as you claimed how much better I would have it on the outside. Well, I know where I belong now. And I know where you belong too.”

  I nodded to Jasper, and he let the chains fall, freeing her. “Ruby, I banish you from the Pack,” I said, loud enough for everyone to hear. “I condemn you to know how I felt all those years, alone, without the support of a family.” I dropped my voice so only she could hear. “But I swear by all that I hold dear, if I ever see your face again, I will end you,” I said softly.

  Sh
e stood frozen, and for a moment I thought she was going to attack me. I locked eyes with her, tense, waiting. This was one last challenge. The whole Pack seemed to hold its breath.

  And then her eyes dropped. Her shoulders slumped. And Ruby turned and walked away into the woods. She didn’t pause or look back. And when she finally vanished from sight a few minutes later, I knew that I had won.

  27

  Allie

  The moon rose high and full over the trees, painting the woods with silver light. I swore I could feel the moonlight on my skin like a tingle of magic spilling from the skies.

  I stood on the outskirts of the grove, surrounded by my mates. Beau and Mal stood on either side, and Jasper stood behind me. They didn’t speak, but I could see the pride and love in their eyes every time they looked at me. We were one, the four of us, and we would never be parted.

  The magnolia grove was full of the Pack. My Pack. My family at last. Some were wolf-formed and some human as they stood in a circle surrounding the stone altar, but my eyes found those of the white-haired woman who stood behind it. She smiled, beckoning me to join her.

  I took a deep breath, looking up to the moon. Goddess, make me brave, I prayed silently. Make me strong. Make me a good Queen.

  I stepped forward and entered the circle. The Pack parted to let me though, and in the moonlight I could see their smiles, hear whispers of encouragement. As I went to stand in front of the altar, Gram’s smile was brightest of them all.

  With her white hair and white ceremonial robe, she looked part of the moon herself. On the altar was a crown of magnolia flowers and branches, magically preserved. Wolves didn’t bother with metal crowns or precious jewels. Our treasures were of the forest, like us.

  “Tonight we gather to crown a Queen,” Gram began, her voice ringing out over the silent woods. “She stands before us, one of us, to lead us and defend us.”