Queen Of The Forgotten WolvesChapter One
Chapter One
When Damien brought his sister in law Elara to the capital of the Nightfang Pack, he paraded her through the streets like a crowned queen, her two pups trailing behind her like precious trophies. He called it a new era. A fresh beginning.
But for Ayla and me, it marked our doom.
We were left behind in the forgotten bones of Frostmoor Ridge, where the wind never stopped screaming and the snow tasted like iron. The den was barely more than a hole in the mountain, its walls cracked from age and its hearth long dead. Ayla’s fingers were always cold. Some nights, I held them against my ribs and whispered stories just to keep the warmth from abandoning her.
Five moons.
Five moons of foraging through ice-choked earth for roots, trapping snow hares with bleeding hands, and bartering wolf pelts for half-rotted bread. I once carried Alpha blood. Now I gnawed on marrow like a starved mutt.
And then the scroll arrived.
Delivered by a crow with silver wax pressed over the seal. I held it with trembling fingers, my eyes scanning the elegant lettering.
Damien Nightfang, Alpha of Nightfang Pack.
No mention of us. No apology. Just an announcement.
The snowstorm that day was brutal. But I strapped Ayla to my back, tucked her frozen hands under my coat, and walked. One step at a time. One breath at a time. Toward a mate who had left us in the dirt.
By the time we reached the Black gates, my lips were split from the cold. My feet bled in my boots. Ayla barely stirred.
The guards looked at us like we were something foul left on their doorstep.
“You dare show your face here?” the Beta snarled, voice thick with contempt. “Alpha Damien doesn’t acknowledge rogues.”
I blinked, disoriented. “He’s my mate. I… I bore his daughter—”
“He has a Luna now,” the Beta spat. “And she doesn’t like strays.”
They dragged us. My knees scraped over stone and ice. My arms locked around Ayla’s tiny body as fists and claws rained down on me. I tasted blood, warm and thick.
And then I saw her.
Elara.
Wrapped in white furs stitched with silver. The Nightfang crest shimmered over her heart like a taunt. Her pups stood beside her, unflinching. Already marked as pack royalty.
She smiled when she saw me—serene, satisfied. Her eyes gleamed like a predator’s.
“Oh Selene,” she said sweetly. “You made it.”