My head snaps up at the click of boots approaching from down the hall. The hour is late enough that anyone not on duty should be in bed. Cratos jumps to his paws, ready for anything.
Then the person turns the corner and comes into view. I groan internally as her face comes into focus—the Sovereign Alpha.Siegrid.
My mother.
Their traveling party must have just arrived.
She’s as immaculately turned out as always, her graying brown hair pulled back tightly into a knot at the top of her neck that’s both elegant and practical. She wears her formal uniform, and her ornate leathers are polished and gleaming from the pads at her shoulders down to the tips of her boots.
Siegrid’s skin is nearly the same shade of brown as mine, a light chestnut color, and only the slightest touch of worry lines creases her forehead despite her many years in command, as if she can order even her own skin to stay in fine form.
Her eyes light in recognition as she approaches. “Alpha,” she says coolly, setting her bags down in the hall. Her towering, sleek black direwolf, Genicos, approaches Cratos, and the two of them sniff each other in greeting.
I nod back. “Sovereign Alpha.”
“Careful now, all this tenderness is going to make you soft,” quips Cratos, and I try not to scowl.
“Get out of my head, and shut the fuck up,” I retort irritably, and I hear the wolf version of a snickering laugh.
Siegrid lifts a hand to gesture at the door behind me. “Is there a reason you’re camped out in front of my rooms at this hour? Something you needed to tell me in person?”
Of course—she’s only just arrived and doesn’t know about the change in sleeping arrangements.
“Queen Meryn sleeps in this suite now,” I say shortly, then grudgingly add some explanation: “She was uncomfortable taking over King Cyril’s quarters, given all that passed between her and his family. I’m sure you understand.”
“Hmm,” Siegrid replies, her neutral tone as good as a loud condemnation. “The queen should be in chambers fit for a queen. It sends a message for her toassume her rightful place. But no matter. If Meryn doesn’t want those rooms, I’ll take them.”
Siegrid grabs her bags and spins on her heel, heading toward the king’s old suite with Genicos at her heel before I have a chance to reply.
Watching her walk away, there’s a tightness in my chest. She might be right. It may have been a better move for Meryn to take over the king’s rooms, comfort or no.
Either way, I immediately wish we’d thought of another place for Siegrid to go, rather than installing the Sovereign Alpha in such a powerful position.
She’s powerful enough as it is.
Before she rounds the corner, Siegrid turns back and looks at me expectantly. “Alpha? You may as well come along. I’ll hear your report on the events of the past week. Since you’re here anyway.”
She’s higher ranked than I am. She’s always been higher ranked than I am. It still sets my teeth on edge the way she expects immediate obedience from everyone around her—but especially from me.
“Is there anything more heartwarming than a mother’s love?”Cratos’s amusement tips my annoyance over into resigned acceptance. He settles back down in front of the door.
“No, I should stay on guard with you here.”
“I think I can handle a rogue baby bloodsucker on my own. Go.”
Sighing, I stand and take off down the hall after Siegrid.
Thanks for the backup, Cratos.
Siegrid paces around the king’s lush chambers as I give her the rundown on events since Cyril’s death. She’s pulling portraits off the walls and piling them in a heap on the floor, rearranging the furniture to her liking.
It’s typical, Siegrid acting like she owns the place, and a familiar old resentment toward her starts to build in my chest. The world is nothersto control.
“Servants can deal with that in the morning,” she notes about the pile of dead king paintings as I wrap up my report.
She’s clearly assuming I’ll make the necessary arrangements. My teeth start to grind.
“What is your personal perspective on our new queen, since you’ve spent time training her?” Siegrid settles into a deep red armchair by the fireplace, finally coming to rest. She set one of her traveling bags on the chair directly across from her and makes no motion to move it so I can sit down, too.
