Continue the Story
The Alpha Queen Returns – Episode 08
Caroline lay beneath a thin blanket in the Russo storage room, barely aware of the voices above her. A pack doctor had slowed the bleeding and lowered her fever, but the mysterious drug still pulsed through her veins. Even breathing demanded strength she no longer possessed. The doctor had left behind no written diagnosis, only a warning that another dose might stop her heart.
Melissa paced between the bed and the locked door. Reva’s confession had transformed a cruel family scheme into something far more dangerous. “Killian Darkmoon leads the rogue wolves,” she said, keeping her voice low. “Why would a man like that care what happens to Caroline? She’s a wolfless omega.”
Rex sat beside the window, watching sunset stain the estate grounds red. Caroline’s condition appeared to concern him less than a delayed meal. “I don’t know why he noticed her, and I don’t care. Darkmoon gave us an opportunity. I intend to use it.”
Melissa stopped pacing. “You’ve already gone too far. Trading favors is one thing. Joining the wolf responsible for the border attacks is treason.”
“Only if our side loses.” Rex rose and looked toward the darkening horizon. Ambition brightened his face with an almost feverish intensity. “Imagine the power Darkmoon will control when the border packs fall—the territory, the wealth, the Council seats. I’ll do whatever it takes to stand beside him.”
“The rumors say he’s ruthless,” Melissa whispered. “They say he murdered our king.” The old crime still haunted the kingdom. Killian was no longer merely an exile commanding scattered rogues; he had become a conqueror who used fear as both weapon and crown.
Rex laughed at her caution. “Ruthlessness is why he’ll win. The Council debates while he takes territory. Soon every Alpha in this kingdom will kneel to him, and when they do, our family will be rewarded for choosing correctly.” To him, burned settlements and murdered guards were not tragedies. They were proof that Darkmoon possessed the courage Rex admired.
His certainty unsettled Melissa. “If anyone discovers you betrayed the pack, we’ll be stripped of everything before Darkmoon comes close to power.”
“No one will discover it.” Rex turned from the window, utterly convinced of his own cleverness. “By the time they understand what’s happening, resistance won’t matter. I’ll be Darkmoon’s right-hand man, and the Russos will be richer than any Alpha family alive.”
Melissa glanced at Caroline, who seemed unconscious. “Why would Killian choose you for that? He has commanders and spies already. Wouldn’t he rather recruit someone with real authority—Ambassador Ansel, for example?”
The suggestion drew a contemptuous sound from Rex. “Ansel is too loyal to the Council and too devoted to the memory of a dead king. He clings to laws as if laws can stop an army. Darkmoon has no use for men who mistake honor for strength.”
“And he has a use for you?” Melissa asked.
Rex’s smile broadened. “Unlike Ansel, I understand that loyalty belongs to the victor.”
Melissa studied her son’s excitement. “What exactly did Darkmoon promise?”
Rex let the question hang, savoring the reveal. “If I present Caroline to Alpha Hunter at Sarabeth’s banquet and win Hunter’s support, Darkmoon will make me Ambassador when he takes the kingdom.”
For a moment, Melissa simply stared. Then fear gave way to pride and greed. “My son, the Ambassador.” She imagined the estates, servants, and influence attached to the title and laughed. “You truly are a genius.”
Their laughter filled the cramped room. Beneath the blanket, Caroline’s fingers trembled. The drug blurred much of their conversation, but several words cut through: Darkmoon, Hunter, gift, Ambassador. They did not speak of her as a child. She was a key to a locked door, useful only until Rex walked through it. She tried to memorize what she heard, clinging to the faint hope that one day she might be able to warn her mother.
Melissa’s phone chimed. She glanced down and gasped with pleasure. “It cleared.”
Rex crossed the room in two strides. The screen showed a successful deposit of one billion dollars into Melissa Russo’s account, authorized through Ambassador Ansel. For several seconds, mother and son stared at the balance without speaking.
Then Melissa laughed so hard she had to grip the bedpost. “Jessica convinced Ansel to send all of it. Whatever she does for him must be extraordinary.” Her gaze slid toward Caroline. “Your mother has that man wrapped around her finger.”
