A Queen of Ruin (Deliciously Dark Fairytales 4)

You’re going to make me miss her rising to her mantle and being a kickass fucking queen, you gibbering fuck puppet, I thought-yelled at my animal, my heart still breaking. I don’t want to leave her. I don’t want to go with that alpha.

Being with our own kind is what is best for us, and you know it, he replied. Our father was a beta. Our mother was just as powerful. There is more to you than a mediocre butler or a stable boy. We should be in a pack so we can pull out our true potential.

I gritted my teeth, my eyes prickling with heat. I hated being torn in the middle—because he was both right and wrong. If we left, we’d be missing the opportunities she could give us. She’d always tested my mettle, and in the demon dungeons she’d trusted Leala and me to help in the best way we knew how. She’d worked with us to create a solid team that had gone on to save the fucking day. She had led, not Weston.

“Yes, of course,” Weston said, cutting through my thoughts, and the tangling power of the two alphas subsided. “They want to stay connected to the pack, but I will step aside as alpha—as their commander—so you can see to your affairs. Please let me know how I can help.”

Finley breathed out a smile. “Thanks. Get some rest. We’ll chat soon.”

Weston visibly relaxed, as did the wolves around him.

“We need to grab the faeries and the demons before any of the villagers find them,” Finley murmured to the prince, running her hand down his stomach.

“The demons?” he growled.

“Yes. A small group of demons helped us get out of the dungeon. They want to overthrow their ruling party and are offering us inside information so we can help them do it. I’ll explain everything, but first we need to secure them before someone gets the wrong idea and kills them.”

He nodded, looking out at the members of his court she’d returned from the dungeon. “Take a team of dragons,” he told her. “I’ll work on getting everyone settled here. See me when you get back. We haven’t finished imprinting.”

She shivered, her eyes going starry for a moment.

“Okay,” she said in a breathy whisper before she seemed to get a hold of herself. “But also…” She turned and pointed at Weston. “Wolves are better on the ground. Can you spare me an escort, Weston?”

The prince stiffened momentarily. Finley didn’t know how things were done here. All official business was typically handled by the court, and positions of power had always been held by dragons.

Finley was breaking protocol by asking for Weston’s help, even for something as simple as guard duty. She was essentially asking a wolf to do a dragon’s job, or at least that was how it would be perceived.

But the prince didn’t correct her. He didn’t call her down, like the mad king certainly would’ve. He was allowing her to make the faux pas without comment to ensure she saved face in front of their subjects. And honestly…he probably realized Finley was right. Wolves were better on the ground. It made sense to bring them to help, especially since any problems would come from the villagers who were ground-bound shifters.

Weston glanced at the prince, obviously wondering if the dragon alpha would have a problem, before stepping forward. “Of course.”

“Great,” Finley said. “Tamara, grab a couple of people, and let’s go.”

Tamara didn’t move. She looked at the queen, technically her commander, waiting for the go-ahead.

Fear gripped me. How would this go for Finley? Would anyone support a commoner when they had the real thing back in the flesh?

I should’ve known the prince wouldn’t stand for that.

“Until we know how she escaped the curse,” he barked, looking over his mother’s head, “my mother will not retain any power. And as most of you are aware, queens are not afforded the capacity to independently rule. With my father gone, the crown and its duties have passed to me. I am its steward until the coronation. Finley, as my mate, is acting princess, soon to be crowned queen. At such a time, I will amend the laws to give her equal power and authority, and to grant any female offspring the same rights to the crown as their male counterparts. You will treat any command given by Finley with the same weight as you would if it came from me. You will not obey any commands by the former queen until I say otherwise.”

His words blasted through the day, and if the queen felt their power, she gave no sign. She stood up straight, her expression stoic, seemingly undaunted by his sentiments. I’d never seen her so cool to him in my life. Her chief lady-in-waiting, however, standing behind her, scowled like a motherfucker. I did not forget that she’d also escaped the curse. The two of them had gotten out in the nick of time. And then, because of the queen’s supposed death, the prince had been trapped in the kingdom.