The Gold Queen (Prequel)

***Sofia***

My mother has been sobbing non stop since last night when Mateo defeated Julian. She begged and pleaded with me to give him up all throughout dinner and then breakfast this morning. We now find ourselves gathered in the boardroom, my mother arguing with my father about the results of the challenge. Julian and his father were surprisingly quiet during this entire ordeal. In fact, Julian hasn’t said a word since he lost. It was rather refreshing seeing him so silent, no cruel joke, no wicked smile, no possessive demands. Just silence.

I loved it.

“Juan, I don’t think you understand the severity of this situation,” my mother begs. “If Mateo and Sofia mate, Goddess knows what kind of chaos will ensue!”

More chaos will ensue if you keep insisting we marry that a*****e! Solana huffs.

“I will not discuss this issue any further until the Altamiranos arrive,” my father snaps. “This is no longer our decision. It is up to Mateo and Sofia to decide what they want to do. “

“But…”

“For Goddess sake, Mother! BE QUIET!” I growl, finally reaching my breaking point. “For just this once, let me make my own decision!”

Stunned into silence, my mother retreats back into her seat, her displeasure clear across her face. We wait in awkward silence before Gamma Roberto opens the door to let the Altamiranos inside. The entire room seems to fade away as my eyes meet Mateo’s silver pools and I rush into his arms, melting into his k****s. I wrap my arms around his neck and squeal when I feel myself being lifted off my feet and spun around.

“How are you this morning, Princess?” he murmurs in my ear as he sets me back down and pulls me into his body.

“I’m fine,” I smile, leaning forward for another k**s when my father clears their throat, reminding us that we were not alone.

“Mr. Altamirano, Alpha and Luna. Please. Have a seat,” my father gestures to the chairs. “We have much to discuss.”

The Altamiranos shuffle into their seats and as I walk past Mateo towards my own chair, I feel a set of arms wrap around my waist and pull me into their lap. I giggle as Mateo k****s my cheeks and rests his chin on my shoulder.

“Sit with me,” he whispers seductively, our position making me blush.

I steal a peak at my parents. My mother was glaring daggers at Mateo and my father’s face was unreadable.

“I should go to my seat,” I reply back, attempting to lift Mateo’s arms off my waist.

His grip seems to tighten the more I wriggle so I give up, my cheeks redder than a fire engine. My father clears his throat once more and pulls out the contract Mateo and Julian had signed the day before.

“Mateo, you were the clear winner of the challenge and according to the contract signed by both yourself and Prince Julian, you are entitled to your mate and eventually my crown,” my father says, pulling out a pen to follow along on the page. “Estrella del Monte is also bound by law to be an ally according to this document. My only question is, do you still wish to fulfill the actions of this contract given what you know about your match with my daughter?”

Mateo k****s my shoulder, sending warm sparks across my body.

“Someone told me ‘what shall be shall be’. There is no point in trying to stop something we’re not even sure will happen,” he sighs. “I love your daughter, your Majesty. I love her more than I ever thought I could love someone else. Moon Goddess chose us to be the Fated Pair and I do not intend to intervene with her plan. And while I cannot guarantee the outcome of this decision, I can guarantee this: I will fight with my dying breath to protect your daughter from any harm. Always. I choose Sofia, your majesty. I choose to lead by her side for as long as I live. And I choose to let her decide if she wants to share this life with me.”

I hang onto his every word, memorizing them so I could relive this glorious moment over and over again.

He wanted me…. And I wanted him.

All eyes settle on me and as I open my mouth to speak, my mother’s eyes fill with tears.

“Sofia, I am begging you … Please reject him. Please,” she whimpers. “You have to think of your kingdom first. It is your duty as. . .”

“No,” I shake my head, nuzzling into Mateo’s chest and enjoying his calming scent. “All my life, I have put my Kingdom before myself… because that is what you taught me to do. I’ve studied and trained harder than any other teenager I know and I have gone the extra mile to make sure I know everything I can to lead this Kingdom to the best of my ability. And I have never complained.” Tears fill my eyes as I look at my stunned mother. “I have never complained… but this is the one thing I want to do for myself and no one will take this from me. I accept Mateo as my mate and future King and I hope one day you will too.”

“Well isn’t this just lovely,” Julian chirps, clapping his hands together slowly. “This mutt and my fiancé get to live out the rest of their happily ever after and my kingdom gets f****d over in the name of love,” he smiles sarcastically.

Queen Victoria glares at her son. “Julian…”

“And to top it all off, you’re asking me to bow down to this mutt’s demands?” He scoffs, getting up to his feet. “I bow to no one.”

“JULIAN!” Queen Victoria snarls. “SIT. DOWN. NOW!” she demands through gritted teeth.

Julian looks defiantly at his mother. “No.”

“Your mother said sit down,” his father intervenes. “SO YOU WILL SIT DOWN!”

Julian slowly drops into his seat, the anger in his eyes never faltering.

“You lost this battle,” the king continues. “So be a man and own up to your shortcomings. You’ve already embarrassed this kingdom by losing to that…that boy,” he sneers. “Don’t embarrass me any further by throwing a tantrum!” the angry King snarls before turning to look at Mateo and I. “And you two… you better pray to Moon Goddess no vampires and witches ever find you because Estrella del Monte will not aid you in that fight. As your new allies, we will help you against the fight with the cartels and Luna Mayor but we draw the line at non-werewolf affairs.”

My father frowns at this. “Allies don’t draw lines. They help no matter what the situation and you are bound by the contract to…”

“Pues me vale madre tu pinche contrato! (Well I don’t care about your stupid contract!)” King Jose snarls. “I put my own Kingdom first! You don’t rub the terms of a contract in my face when you and this entire Kingdom have blatantly disrespected our first agreement. So I repeat, Estrella del Monte will not get involved with any wars to protect the Fated Pair. That is our one demand for the bullshit you’ve thrown on us!”

My father’s eyes switch to red, his wolf surfacing. Mama reacts quickly, embracing him in her arms and whispering calming words to him.

“Eduardo, look at me. Give me back Juan,” she murmurs as my father shakes violently with anger.

She takes his face in her hands and k****s him, stroking his cheeks until he finally calms down.

“That’s it, mi amor. Come back,” she coos.

Eduardo, my father’s wolf, is still in control when he looks up at the Rival King and snarls.

“The law required the first contract to be terminated. That is not our fault. My daughter had every intention to see it through,” he pants angrily. “All your son had to do was win a challenge. He didn’t and that’s on him. So I suggest you take your own advice. Be a man and fulfill your end of the deal… WITHOUT COMPLAINTS!”

“Why you pompous son of a b***h!” King Jose growls.

In the blink of an eye, both men are at each other’s throats, their wolves on the verge of shifting as they punch and kick each other. The Queens try to calm their respective Kings but it seems their words fall on deaf ears as the fighting intensifies. Mateo lifts me off his lap and stands before the two snarling Kings. With a flick of his wrists, my father and King Jose fly to opposite sides of the room, an invisible force holding them up against the wall. They struggle, eager to resume their fighting, but Mateo continues to hold them apart, his eyebrows furrowing in concentration.

The Kings finally calm down, panting furiously to regain their composure.

“Put me down you mutt!” King Jose growls. “Put me down this inst-“

He suddenly grabs at his throat mid sentence, straining to speak and it takes a few seconds for me to realize Mateo was crushing his windpipe. Realizing this too, Julian attempts to charge at Mateo only to be slammed against the wall by an unseen force. Mateo was now single-handedly holding up two Kings and a prince up against the wall.

“Now that I have your undivided attention, here’s what we’re going to do,” He says, his voice calm but stern as he releases the King’s throat. “Enough with the debates and the threats. I won and as such, Estrella del Monte is obligated to uphold their end of the bargain. Should there ever be trouble, we fight together,”

“Why you little prick!”

“Need I remind you, your Majesty, that your life is quite literally in my hands. All I have to do is squeeze,” Mateo warns, his eyes narrowed to slits on Julian’s neck. Julian suddenly starts to gasp. “Now do we have an agreement or should I finish what I started?”

A part of me is frightened by Mateo’s display of raw power but an even sicker part is aroused by how he had taken control of the room.

Maybe he could take control of us… Solana purrs excitedly.

The King’s eyes sweep across the room, assessing his dire situation as his son quite literally chokes beside him.

“Fine! Fine!” he snaps. “Just put us down!”

Mateo gives him a little smirk and drops both the King and his a*****e for a son to the ground like a newborn giraffe, while setting my father down gently.

“Glad we could come to an understanding,” Mateo chortles as the King and Julian collect themselves off the ground.

Queen Victoria fusses over her son who growls at her and pushes past Mateo, slamming the door on his way out. The King straightens the collar of his shirt and smooths his clothes before taking his wife by the arm and storming out, muttering obscenities under his breath as he exits.

“My apologies, your majesty,” Mateo says to my father once the Royal family leave the room, bowing in reverence before him. “Things were getting out of control and I wanted to make sure Sofia wouldn’t get hurt. It was the only way I could think of to stop the situation from escalating. I meant no disrespect…”

My father stops him by placing a hand on his shoulder. “Never apologize for protecting your mate.” There’s a hint of pride in my father’s eyes. “I can rest easy now knowing my daughter will have someone looking out for her best interests.”

“All I want is to protect her,” Mateo replies, pulling me to his side and kissing the top of my forehead.

My mother is oddly quiet and Mateo seems to notice too.

“Your majesty, I…”

Mateo doesn’t get another word out before my mother marches out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

“Welp…” Mateo mutters. “That could have gone better…”

Mateo’s parents exit the room, leaving just the two of us. We’re in each other’s arms in an instant, eagerly devouring each other’s lips.

Months of pain and anxiety melt away as his lips move against mine. We had almost lost each other but now there was nothing stopping us from being together and it made my heart soar. I could be with my mate. K**s him. Hold him. Love him.

As our tongues explore one another, something cold slips onto my finger. I pull away from Mateo’s lips to look and find a beautiful diamond ring glistening on my hand, the question sparkling on its surface. Tears fill my eyes instantly, Mateo leaning his forehead against mine.

His hot breath brushes up against my skin and his voice is a bit ragged and husky.

“Please say yes,” he pants, kissing my forehead gently. “Please say you’ll marry me.”

—

SOMEWHERE IN THE COUNTRY OF JORDAN

***UNKNOWN POV***

“No, please! Have mercy!” the pathetic gold mutt pleads at my feet as I hold my dagger against his mate’s bare neck.

“Awww… well since you asked so nicely,” I smile, lowering my dagger, much to the mutts’ relief.

But just as the woman in my hand relaxes, I raise the dagger back up to her throat, slicing it open with one clean swoop.

“NOOOO!” The mutt cries as his mate’s lifeless body crashes to the ground. “You f*****g…”

My sister tears a cut through his chest with her own dagger and chants a few words as he gasps for air. His white essence pours out like a stream of pure ecstasy and I suck in his soul into the fibers of my being with pleasure, his spirit rejuvenating my energy. It was the most thrilling part of this quest.

One of my minions rushes to my side as the King’s lifeless body collapses on the ground.

“M-master, we found no sign of a fated pair ever existing in this kingdom…” he says meekly. “It looks like the werewolves were telling the truth.”

My sister impatiently growls, but I was still pleased. There was now one less werewolf kingdom to worry about.

“That’s alright,” I smirk, wiping the b***d off my dagger with the skirt of my dress. “We still have eight years before the Ivory twins are delivered.”