The Wolf Queen (The Queen's Slave, Book 2)

Three: Misery

"Misery is a heart that can never be content with what it has and, by always craving something more, brings about its own destruction. And desolation is a heart so fearful of losing what it hoards that it never knows the richness that comes from being able to give."

-Anne Bishop

With You By: Kygo (ft. Wrabel)

The elk grazed calmly as I crouched through the brush, my shoulders rolling with pent-up tension. As the elk grazed and roamed, the soil vibrated through my paws, flooding my body with adrenaline. It was a thrilling thing, to hunt and provide for my pack. Being the Queen Alpha wasn't just council meetings, fancy balls and ceremonies. It was the love of a mated pair expecting their first litter, it was the beaming smiles and love struck wonder of a newly mated couple. It was one bond spread through thousands, all connected in strength, power, and a fierce loyalty to their own. The king and queen Alpha did not sit idly by on their thrones and let their wolves battle for them. No, we were right in the thick of it, matting our fur with the blood of our enemies and any who'd dare cross us. We fought, bathed, healed, and cried out in pain, together. As a whole.

It was war.

Bloody, merciless war.

This was the way of my world, and it was for this very reason that I chose to ignore the stumbling vampires at my back. Their footfalls were loud as they crashed through the brush. I huffed under my breath as many of the elk grew restless, their noses quivering as they scented out the danger. Muscles coiled with tension, I slunk through the grass, my grey fur stained in brown. Dried mud caked me from head to toe, hiding my identity. You'd think they'd be smart enough to look past it, but not quite. I was a brilliantly colored wolf, so a dark brown wild wolf hunting elk shouldn't catch their interest.

However, my eyes remained the same.

Wrinkling my nose up into a wolfish grin, I pricked my ears forward and leapt from my hiding space, my powerful jaws latching around the limping gait of the cow elk a moment later. The human side of me wanted to flinch or feel guilty as the poor animal bellowed and screeched when I clawed my way to her neck, feeling her salty life-blood flood my mouth. But the instincts of the wolf would not allow for anything other than the power flooding my veins or the bloodlust that plagued me as I tore through muscle and sinew. I did not turn as they breached the edge of the forest, focusing on my hunger and thinking of my pack and the meat that this would bring them. As I looked up, I could hear their strange voices and the acidic scent they carried, burning my nostrils.

"Wild." Vain mused, his ghoulish features scanning me from snout to tail, his expression twisting into disgust. My heart pounded wildly inside my ribcage, praying that he didn't think anything of my distinctly yellow gaze. I wrinkled my nose up, snarling a warning. Even having rolled in mud and stained in blood from my kill, nothing could take away from my size. "Should we kill it? It's clearly not the one we're looking for. In fact I think this one is sickly. Look how it has rolled in the mud, likely due to some sort of skin abnormality or discomfort." A guard nearest to him pondered, shifting from foot to foot as I tore at my kill whilst eavesdropping on their conversation. I had managed to lead my family away and circle back, running in zigzag and marking trees here and there as to throw off their scent, I was curious to see where they might go.

"No. This one means us no harm. It is simply wild and I agree, sickly." I crushed through bone, somewhat surprised that he would spare a wild animal. I flattened my ears, scenting the air as he watched me, my head snapping to the side when a guard suddenly yelled. "Your highness, I found something!" Vain's gaze watched me cooly, narrowing slightly before he turned towards the direction of the guard's shout. I blew out a low breath as he passed, relief rushing through me in a brief moment of humanity. I had just turned back to drag my kill away when a twig snapped, and it registered to me that the guard had called out "your highness." The human in me felt as though she had been doused in freezing water as a scent I knew all too well hit my face. In a desperate attempt to not give anything away, I threw all control to my wolf. Immediately, all my human emotion crumbled into ancient instinct. My fur stood on end as he carefully approached, my teeth bit air as I snapped and snarled, crouching over my kill.