Chapter 6 - Alice Entered the Forest Where the First Moonblood Queen Had Died
The old forest began twenty miles north of the palace.
No roads.
No villages.
Only ancient trees and frozen streams.
Alice felt watched the moment they entered.
Kalin walked beside her.
Victor followed.
Three royal wolves moved ahead.
The forest seemed unnaturally quiet.
Then they found the ruins.
A stone circle.
Moon symbols carved into the ground.
Alice stopped.
“This is where my mother died.”
Kalin looked around.
“How do you know?”
“I can feel her.”
Her wolf surged.
The symbols glowed.
A hidden path opened beneath the stones.
They descended.
At the bottom was a chamber.
On the wall were paintings.
The first Moonblood queen.
Her daughter.
Then another generation.
And finally—
Alice.
Not as a baby.
As a grown woman.
Standing beside Kalin.
She stared.
“This is impossible.”
Kalin looked at the painting.
“It's prophecy.”
A voice echoed from the darkness.
“No.”
Theron stepped forward.
“It's manipulation.”
Behind him stood Rafael.
Alice's heart tightened.
Rafael smiled.
“You finally know who you are.”
Kalin moved in front of Alice.
Rafael laughed.
“You still think this is about her?”
“What do you want?”
“The throne.”
“You already have an army.”
“I want legitimacy.”
Rafael looked at Alice.
“Her blood.”
Alice's stomach turned.
“You want me to crown you.”
“Yes.”
“And if I refuse?”
“You don't understand.”
He pointed toward the wall.
“The Moonblood queen has power over every pack descended from the northern line.”
Alice stared.
“If I accept you, every Alpha must obey?”
“Yes.”
Kalin's voice hardened.
“And if she chooses me?”
“Then you become the consort.”
Rafael smiled.
“But neither of you understands what happens next.”
Theron stepped forward.
“The old blood law requires the queen to bond with the chosen king.”
Alice looked at Kalin.
“Chosen king?”
Rafael smiled.
“This is not a love story.”
He told them the truth.
The Moonblood line had been created to unify wolf territories.
But it carried another gift.
The queen could amplify a king's power.
If the queen bonded willingly with a ruler, that ruler could command every wolf beneath the old bloodline.
Rafael wanted that power.
Kalin didn't.
“I don't want control over them.”
Rafael laughed.
“Then you don't deserve the throne.”
Alice looked at Kalin.
“What do you want?”
He looked at her.
“You.”
Nothing else.
She felt the bond deepen.
Rafael's face hardened.
“You'll regret choosing him.”
Alice stepped forward.
“No.”
Her eyes turned gold.
“I regret choosing fear for ten years.”
The chamber shook.
The Moonblood symbols ignited.
Kalin's wolf roared.
Rafael attacked.
The fight was brutal.
Theron tried to reach Alice.
Victor intercepted him.
Steel clashed.
Wolves roared.
Alice ran toward the center of the circle.
Her mother's voice seemed to echo inside her mind.
Power is not domination.
Power is the ability to choose without fear.
Alice placed her hand on the central stone.
Light exploded.
Rafael was thrown backward.
Kalin caught Alice.
The stone cracked.
A golden mark appeared on her palm.
Rafael stared.
“You activated the crown.”
Alice looked at her hand.
“What does it mean?”
Theron whispered:
“She has accepted her inheritance.”
Kalin looked at Alice.
“You don't have to accept the throne.”
She smiled.
“I know.”
“Then why?”
“Because I don't want anyone else to be forced into chains.”
Her voice shook.
“But I don't want to rule people.”
“What do you want?”
“A realm where nobody can own another wolf.”
Kalin smiled.
“Then let's build it.”
Rafael fled.
Theron disappeared into the forest.
The prophecy had changed.
But the war was not over.
Back at the palace, the council was divided.
Some elders wanted Alice crowned immediately.
Others feared her.
One Alpha demanded she be tested in combat.
Alice accepted.
The challenge would happen at dawn.
If she won, she would be recognized as Queen of the North.
If she lost, she would remain legally unclaimed.
Kalin wanted to stop it.
Alice refused.
“No more men deciding whether I belong.”
He looked at her.
Then nodded.
“Win.”
“I intend to.”
At dawn, the arena filled.
Hundreds watched.
Alice stood alone.
Her opponent was a massive Alpha named Corvin.
He sneered.
“You're an Omega.”
Alice said nothing.
“You lived as a servant.”
Alice smiled.
“That's why I know what your strength looks like from below.”
Corvin attacked.
The fight lasted less than three minutes.
Alice did not overpower him.
She outmaneuvered him.
She used speed.
Balance.
Training learned from years of carrying heavy buckets and surviving beatings.
At the end, Corvin was on his knees.
Alice placed her hand against his shoulder.
“Yield.”
He stared.
Then bowed.
“I yield, my queen.”
The arena erupted.
Kalin smiled.
Alice looked at him.
May you like
For the first time, the title didn't feel like a prison.
It felt like a weapon she could use to destroy the prison.
