All The Queen's Monsters (The Queen's Slave, Book 3)

Nineteen: The Journey Home

"A Dream for the Weaker"

By: Nomy

"No need to seize the last word, Lord Baelish. I'll assume it was something clever."

-Sansa Stark (Game of Thrones)

A Z A L E A

I felt as if my feet drifted across the ground, the desert passing us by mile by mile, a determined pace to my step that I had long felt was gone. I looked at the clouds as they floated by and my canines bit into my lower lip as a grin stole across my mouth, watching Kore spiral through the sky above us, only occasionally breaking the sound barrier. I glanced behind me, a slight breeze filling my nose with the scent of sweat and dry air, the Arizona air though hot and cloying, brought a sense of determination to the women behind me. We were dirty, tired, yet still got along fairly well. Traveling with thirty women, fifteen hundred wolves, and a constantly irritated witch wasn't exactly the highlight of being a queen, but I'd take it over being as miserable as I had been a few weeks prior. Each step closer to Nevada, where Emilee and Elizabeth were hiding out with my children and the rest of our army was enough to keep me going. The women plowed on, their eyes wide and eager excitement in their steps. Many of them had been captive for so long, they never had a chance to look at the world. I was pleased to be able to give it to them. Cara caught my gaze, a crooked smile on her chapped lips. Camille nudged me, shooting an irritated gaze at the blonde wolf, who rolled her eyes.

"Your wife is an attention whore." Camille snorted, and together we watched said wife spiral so cleanly and tightly that the air sang and rocks momentarily lifted from the earth. I shot her a look.

"Says the woman who answered the door naked when her second mate came knocking." She poked me in the side and I skirted away, laughing.

"That wasn't for attention, that was just fun." She snarked. "Anyway, how are you doing?"

"I am well, truly." She smiled.

The weeks of Camille working on me had paid off exponentially, and Hades curse was all but gone. I had enough of my own strength back now that my body was able to adequately fight it, like a cancer of sorts. I could shift at will again, well, almost. One hour a day I was forced to be a wolf, but I'd endure it happily because she has given me my life back. And my mates' lives as well. I could feel Kore's happiness and joy at our return spread through me like wildfire, and Elizabeth's nervous impatience at our return, even though she was hundreds of miles away still. I opened my mouth to say something else when a black speck on the horizon caught my gaze. I stopped immediately, and in a blink everyone was on the defensive. Camille was cloaking us as we traveled, but the yellow eyes of the scarred alpha met mine easily.

"Azalea." Kore rumbled and I glanced up, finding her immediately.

"I see him, stay with the pack. He is here for me." She circled above us like a giant hawk, but I felt her eyes on me as I broke away, shedding my human skin. I felt calm as I loped up to him, slowing to a trot and stopping a few feet away.

He lowered his head, nostrils working, his tinted-grey lips pulling back from his teeth. A voice as pure and powerful as evening thunder rippled through my mind, bypassing my walls as easily as if they were a light fog. I could almost feel the rain dripping from my fur when he spoke. "Azalea, Queen of Wolves." Came his strange greeting. I bowed my head in respect, keeping silent because he had never mentioned his name. My fur prickled when he stepped up to me, tall enough that he looked down on me. "You have chosen your path."