The First King

While Prew continued on to the next kingdom, Lorelei sat on the edge of a wagon. Her body and the supplies behind her jostled as they rode down the road. In her hands were the reins that were connected to the two horses that pulled her. In front of her were two warrior wolves and Nero. They were on their way to their first pack, the Wildfangs.

Unlike Prew, Konrad had not brought as many people with him, and for good reason. He wanted to bring Lorelei, to spend time with her away from the eyes of the humans. The two wolves that he brought with him were commanded not to speak of anything they saw or heard while traveling. This made Lorelei happy. Even though she was driving the horses, a task she had never done before, this trip was a chance for her and Konrad to be mates in public. It filled her heart with excitement and joy as she thought about it.

For several days, they had traveled East from Sella through a pass in the Gantawa Range. Now, they were in the woods, heading near Lucent Depths. This lake was in the northern part of the continent, and the Wildfang pack sat between two large vampire keeps. Konrad was confident that they would quickly accept the charter and him as their King of Kings. As they neared where the pack was camped, several of their warriors intercepted him and his group. Konrad shifted so he could greet them.

“Evening warriors,” he started as everyone else shifted. “I am Konrad, Alpha of the Wild Haer pack. I need to speak with your Alpha and Luna.”

“Then it is I that you seek,” a middle-aged man said as he stepped forward. He reached out, shaking Konrad’s hand. “I am Alpha Callum. I heard a tale that your pack relocated from Plaman Lake to the kingdom of Guilford.”

“Indeed we did,” Konrad nodded with a smile. Lorelei approached the two men and offered a piece of rolled parchment. “With the destruction caused by the witches and vampires, several Alphas and Kings gathered together and named me as their King of Kings. I’d like to speak with you about the contents of this charter. I think it would benefit both your pack and our main objective.”

“An interesting title,” Callum remarked as he took the letter from Lorelei. He looked at it, curious of its contents. “Why don’t you come into my camp? We can talk over what is in this charter around the fire.”

Callum turned around and led the way back toward his pack. After half an hour of walking, they arrived at a large camp. It was loud as women were cooking and children were running about. Konrad mind linked to his warriors to unload the supplies as he and Lorelei took a seat around the central fire. Callum sat beside a younger woman as he handed her the parchment.

“This is my mate, Selena,” he introduced. “Selena, this is Alpha Konrad and…”

“This is my mate, Lorelei,” Konrad interjected as he wrapped an arm around her. The two of them exchanged a brief kiss before looking back at Callum and his mate.

“Welcome,” Selena said with a smile. She unrolled the letter and began to read it. Though most wolves did not know how to read, she did. She was raised just outside a small human village near the Rosstona Sea. As a child, she had been allowed to attend school along with the human children.

“Apparently, this young Alpha here has been named a King of Kings,” Callum added as he glanced at the paper. Though he could not read, he was still intrigued nonetheless.

“So it seems,” Selena murmured as she read.

“Who named you such a thing?” Callum inquired.

“Five human kings and four Alphas,” Konrad explained. “They wanted someone to lead their conjoined armies. Someone who stood above them, but at the same time, relied on them for resources and help in making decisions.”

“Why did they choose you?” Selena questioned as she continued reading. The section that she was at caused her face to scrunch up.

“I wish I could answer that,” he chuckled in response. “From what I was told, the decision was between Alpha Alder and me.”

“Well, we aren’t familiar with you, but we know Alder all too well,” Callum scowled as he rolled his eyes. “If they had put that man in charge of anything, he would run it to the ground if it amused him.”

“And what is your goal? What is it that you and this Leader Council are trying to accomplish?” Selena said as she continued her interrogation.

“Our goal is to push the dark witches back into their volcano,” Konrad answered with a low growl. “They have terrorized the entire Eastern part of the continent, and it is only a matter of time before they head west. Not only that, but we aim to subdue the vampires that are siding alongside them.”

“The vampires have been more bold and daring in their attacks,” Callum added with a frown. “We barely get a night's rest because of it.”

“We would like to help you with that,” Konrad asserted. “I could gather some of the men from the combined army, and we can help attack the two vampire keeps. The vampires won’t be able to handle their homes being attacked from multiple sides.”

“What is it that we need to do in return for your help?”

“Bend the knee and accept me as your King of Kings. But don’t worry, it does not mean that I control you and your pack. I would be more a mediator for you or the final say should disputes arise,” Konrad answered. “Lastly, you can have a seat on the Leader Council, should you want it. These men are who I report to, and should I need anything, they are the ones who I must ask.”

“Intriguing,” Callum uttered as he nodded his head. He looked over as Selena nudged him.

“You and I need to go talk in private,” she mind linked to him.

“Excuse my mate and I for a few minutes. We want to discuss it amongst ourselves first.” Callum said as he stood to his feet. He and Selena walked away from the fire and went into their tent.

“What do you think?” Callum questioned. It did not take much persuasion on Konrad’s part to get him to agree. But he was curious what his Luna was thinking.

“Something is off,” Selena divulged as she held out the parchment. “In this charter, it states that the King of Kings would be someone of mixed race. Except for the first rulers: Konrad and Prew. This charter states that Prew, who is named the Queen of Queens, is a human. That woman out there is neither human nor the Queen of Queens.”

“So, you’re telling me that Konrad is married to a human and has a wolf for a mate?”

“I can only tell you what the charter says, and nothing mentions Lorelei. I’m worried that others don’t know about her,” Selena expressed with a frown.

“You think he is hiding the fact that he has a mate?”

“Do you think four Alphas would have approved for him to be married to a human if they knew he was mated?”

Callum scratched his beard as he thought to himself. No wolf would have purposefully separated two mates. But now it made him think to himself. Konrad introduced her as his mate, but were they truly mated? Had they marked one another? Was his human wife marked? If Konrad was lying to him about this, what else could he be lying about? As he continued to think about it, it only made him furious. After a few more seconds of stewing in his anger, he took the parchment and stormed from the tent.

“I know you lied to me!” He bellowed as he approached the fire.

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” Konrad insisted as he stood to his feet. “Everything about me and the Leader Council is all factual.”

“You lied to me about her!” Callum stated as he pointed at Lorelei. “Who is Prew?”

“Prew?” Konrad questioned as he stood there confused. He had not realized that they could read. He had hoped that he could hide Prew's existence. After all, it was not as if she wanted to be his wife.

“Yes, who is she? Because the charter names her as the Queen of Queens, as your lawful wife!”

“Yes,” Konrad sighed as he looked down at the ground. “She is my lawful wife.”

“And who is Lorelei?!” Callum demanded with a growl. “Why do you claim to have a mate when you have a wife?!”

“Well… She… I…”

“No, you know what? We are done here,” Callum spat as he pushed the parchment into Konrad’s hands. “You walked into my camp, and the first words from your mouth were a lie. I cannot follow a man who I cannot trust to tell me the truth. You and your people should leave. Now.”

Konrad looked back up at Callum. He wanted to argue, to make the man see reason, but it wouldn't be of any use. His mind was made up; the decision had been made. The Wildfang pack would not join him, and it was all his fault. Konrad should not have brought Lorelei. He was a fool to think that they could be with one another in public, all the while hoping no one would find out their secret. Konrad mind linked to his warriors to quickly pack the wagon. Without saying another word, he walked away, quickly leaving the camp.

Lorelei stood there, frozen in fear and worry, as she looked at Callum. Her face burned as he glared at her. She turned around slowly as she began to walk away.

“Whatever you are to that man, it needs to stop,” Callum told her before she got far. “The idea behind the charter is smart. It can work, but it won’t if he keeps lying.”

Lorelei was silent as she continued walking. She had to fight back the tears that brimmed the edges of her eyes. All of the excitement that she felt earlier in the day was gone. And she could not help but feel guilty for what had happened. Konrad agreed to bring her after she kept begging him. All of this was her idea, and it put Konrad in an awkward situation. After several minutes of walking, she found him leaning against a tree.

“Konrad,” she whispered as she approached him.

He remained silent and even refused to turn and face her. He was torn, conflicted in his feelings. There was guilt that sickened his stomach. Then there was the regret. Konrad wished he could do things over, but he did not know where he would go even if he could turn back time. Would he go back to reject Lorelei, or perhaps, would he have turned down the offer to be named the King of Kings? But now, all of his choices were compounding on him, weighing heavily upon his soul. He was beginning to hate the man that he was slowly becoming.

“Konrad,” Lorelei repeated as she walked in front of him, forcing him to look at her. “Speak to me, please.”

“You should go back home,” he mumbled as he closed his eyes.

“We can fix this,” she insisted as she took his hand in hers. “At the next pack, I won’t stand by your side. We can go back to hiding it as we do in Guilford.”

“Go home,” Konrad growled as he yanked his hand back. “That is a command, not a request.”

“I see,” she murmured as she stepped away from him. He was using his Alpha voice on her, the one thing that would compel her to obey without question. “Werelia Inttum.”

Without so much as a goodbye, Lorelei shifted into her wolf. She glanced up at him, but when she noticed that he didn’t look at her, she sprinted into the woods. It hurt Konrad to send her away, but this was all that he could have with her: pain and suffering. Their relationship would not be one of love and adoration. As he exhaled the breath that he held, his body shook—so much regret.