The Alpha's Unwanted Bride

Chapter 681: AWAY

I looked back down at my emerald necklace.

I had it my entire life.

It had burned me when I had stepped into the royal pack, but it had never once glowed.

This was beyond me.

I looked at the emerald on the throne as it illuminated together, like a rise and fall.

At the same time.

I was fascinated.

I was in utter disbelief.

I looked up at the man.

"What is happening?" I asked him, further confused about what I was experiencing.

He smiled at me coyly. "There is so much about yourself you do not know, your majesty. If you shift, you shall experience a taste of your power at its full potential."

I gave a wry smile. "About that. I’m an unshifted wolf."

His face fell.

He was no longer smiling.

"I beg your pardon?" He asked me, trying to grasp the gravity of what I was saying.

I sighed heavily. "That’s what I was trying to tell you. I’m not your majesty or who you have mistaken me to be. I have never shifted in my entire life."

He looked at me, appalled, and soon there were whispers amongst everyone.

Was it the turning point where they were going to kill me?

The man looked at me, his face written in complete confusion.

"Well." He began his soft smile returning.

The moment he had spoken, the hall went hush.

"I’m sure we would find our way around this."

I swallowed and turned back to him.

"Why is my necklace glowing with that?" I asked, nodding at the throne.

"Because my dear." He said, coming to my side and placing his hand on my shoulder. "Your necklace is a piece of one."

He examined my necklace expertly, his hands rubbing against the glowing jewel. "And this very piece is the doorway to your many answers."

I was so lost.

At this point, I had had enough.

"Look." I cleared my throat as I pushed his hands away. "The only reason why I came here is to find my uncle Aiden. His brother was Bale, and I believe he was last seen and heard of in the distant lands."

They looked at each other.

I pointed at the painting of the blonde man above the throne room.

"I believe that’s him." I declared. "I just want to know where he is. He can help me find my family."

The strange man watched me.

Then he held my hands and led me to the throne.

"You shall understand it all very soon, your majesty." He said to me. "We have been waiting for your arrival for years now."

I was further confused.

He motioned to the throne for me.

"No one has sat there ever since..." his voice trailed off before finally saying. "Sit."

I found myself being compelled to sit.

I sat on the throne.

At that very moment, I felt a sudden burst of connection.

The weather suddenly turned dark.

The beams of afternoon sunlight disappeared very rapidly from view until they were gone completely.

The entire atmosphere was dark as though night had fallen in.

I heard a sound above me, and I slowly looked up ahead.

A round hole revealed itself, and the moon shone directly on me.

All the wolves standing there at that very moment began to howl.

My necklace wasn’t just glowing anymore; I was.

I looked at my hands and saw that they were glowing green.

Just like my necklace.

A sudden surge of power hit me at that very moment.

I was overwhelmed, and my entire being began to shake.

I held onto my tummy to protect my baby.

The howling continued while I experienced the passage of power through my soul.

There was a bright light, and I closed my eyes, my stomach being held by hands.

And then quiet.

Not a single sound was made.

I paused, trying to catch my breath, still very much refusing to hold my breath.

I could no longer feel the surge of power, nor could I feel the bright light that had initially enveloped me.

I opened one eye slowly.

I was in an entirely different room.

I opened the other one to be sure what I was looking at.

Truth be told, I was in an entirely different room

It was ancient, older than any pack I had ever known.

The air was cool and still, carrying the faint scent of stone, incense, and something wild and untouched.

Tall arched windows lined both sides of the chamber, stretching from the polished stone floor to a ceiling so high it disappeared into shadow.

Light poured through them in long golden ribbons, dust motes drifting like slow-falling stars.

Beyond the glass, the lands stretched endlessly. Rolling hills, forests kissed by dawn, mountains standing like silent guardians, and birds singing

Between the windows hung great swathes of a flag

White.

Not the pale white of weakness or surrender, but a strong, luminous white woven thick and heavy, edged with silver thread that caught the light when the air shifted.

At the center of each cloth was the same crest.

A white wolf.

Its head lifted in a silent howl, eyes carved sharp and intelligent, fur detailed down to each etched strand.

My breath caught painfully in my chest.

This was the same crest that I had seen on the wolves in the distant lands.

The floor beneath my feet was smooth marble veined with silver and black.

Columns rose along the walls, carved with runes and scenes of wolves shifting, crowns being placed, a woman standing beneath a full moon with her hands pressed to her stomach. I couldn’t look at that carving for long.

I stood up from the throne I was on and looked at it.

It was nothing like the one I had sat on, all except for the emerald embedded into it at the center.

The chair itself was stone massive, raw, carved from a single slab of ancient rock.

The back curved high like the spine of a mountain, etched with the same white wolf crest, larger here, more imposing.

Silver veins ran naturally through the stone, glowing faintly, pulsing as if the throne itself had a heartbeat.

Power radiated from it.

Not loud.

Not violent.

But it was power.

I looked around frantically, wondering how the hell I had gotten here.

This was most certainly not the distant lands.

Or had I gone mad?

Or worse, was I dead?

And then I heard footsteps.

Before I could turn around, the doors swung open.

A man walked in, and the closer he got to me, the more I squinted to see who it was.

And it occurred to me.

It was none other than the man in the painting.

It was Aiden.

My mouth dropped until he stood before me.

I wasn’t wrong.

From the painting, when I had said he seemed to have an energy that drew you to him, I thought how handsome he looked.

He was stunning.

He smiled at me. "Jasmine. My daughter."

And then he enveloped me in his arms.

What the hell?