The Gold Queen (Prequel)

January 5, 1995

***Sofia***

“Teo… Yes! Just like that!” I m**n, arching my back as Mateo’s tongue brings me closer to the edge.

My first heat had sent Solana into a horny frenzy and luckily for me, Mateo was an eager student, willingly doing everything he could to please me. We had tried several positions and after quite a bit of stumbling and several mishaps involving holes (Don’t ask), Mateo was figuring out all my trigger spots; spots even I didn’t know about.

I grip his hair and push him further into me, rolling my h**s against him to the rhythm of his licks. Mateo switches up his tempo, alternating between fast and quick flicks of his tongue and long, slow strokes to prolong my state of euphoria. Another m**n ripples through me as his lips close in on my clit, my thighs beginning to tremble.

“f**k!” I whimper, feeling myself about to lose control.

He suckles on my bundle of nerves until I can hold back no longer and gush into his mouth. He growls in pleasure, his tongue lapping up and down to drink every drop of my nectar.

I breathe rigorously as I come down from my high, utterly exhausted by all of our activities. Three days. I had been in heat for three days, my body lighting up like a fuse in sinful agony; every inch of me craving Mateo’s touch, his lips, his glorious tongue.

We had agreed to wait until our wedding to mark each other but we hadn’t realized how absolutely exhausting and insatiable my wolf’s desires would be. We would go at it for hours until I felt satisfied and able to rest for a bit before the painful desire would start up again, awakening a carnal hunger in both of us. When we were too worn out to continue, our wolves would take over, caring very little about the well being of my bedroom furniture. As it was, my bedroom would need to be remodeled when my heat was over.

The first heat is always the longest and most difficult to control, with the only fool proof way to tame it being to mark each other. Afterwards, heat would occur once a month but be less intense and far more manageable.

I focus on my breathing as Mateo slumps over beside me, completely spent after having pleasured me for the past hour. He rolls over onto his back and stares at the ceiling while I listen to his ragged breath rapidly enter and exit his lungs.

“You okay?” I chuckle, rolling into him and kissing his shoulder.

“Yeah,” he pants, wrapping his arm around my waist. “But I’m going to need a moment before we…”

A hot surge of pain radiates from my mound across my body, and both his silver irises and the whites of his eyes turn jet black. He climbs on top of me in a blink of an eye, settling between my thighs while my legs prop up and grip him by his sides.

Mateo’s h**s begin to rock into me and I cry out, taking every inch of him greedily. He was on a mission, his strokes determined and precise, having learned exactly what my body needed to c*m. Within minutes, I reach my climax, digging my nails into his back as I m**n.

He lets his weight fall on me as he catches his breath and grins.

“T-that was g-good,” he pants, leaning his forehead against mine.

Despite my burning lungs, I bury my fingers in his hair and pull him in for a k**s. He eagerly responds, moving his lips slowly, as if savoring the moment. We were covered in sweat, bruises, scratches and little love bites, but regardless, these past seventy two hours had been some of the best of my life.

We lay in each other’s arms for a bit and when it becomes clear my heat was over, we shower and get dressed for dinner. As we walk down to the dining room, Mateo’s heart sky rockets and his hands suddenly feel clammy.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, concerned

“Umm…” he gulps, touching his neck nervously. “Your Dad…”

Still confused, I ask, “What about him?”

“Well….” his voice goes up an octave, trailing off at the end. “I-It’s just… I just spent the last three days defiling his daughter and I’m about to have dinner with him…”

I burst into laughter, his face burning bright red.

He’s too adorable!

“Teo, if anything I defiled you,” I giggle, standing on my tippy toes to k**s his nose. “Relax. He’s a wolf. He knows what heat is.”

Mateo doesn’t seem entirely convinced as I drag him to the dining room. His worries only seem to increase when everyone turns to look at us.

“Well are you two just going to stand there and stare at us like two deer in the headlights or are you going to sit down?” my father chuckles, gesturing to our seats.

I am the first to move and we silently settle down beside the twins, Cassandra rushing over to serve us. Chatter fills the room and Mateo finally feels at ease, striking up a conversation with his brother. My mother’s cold gaze settles on me but I do my best to ignore it. It’s been over a month since the challenge and she has hardly spoken to me, still angry I chose my fated mate over the Prince.

I understood her fears but we were going to be careful. My father was already planning a big trip to meet with other Kingdoms to forge possible alliances. We knew it was only a matter of time before we would receive the first strike and we had to be ready. Training hours had increased and security in the Hacienda had more than doubled. Mateo’s parents had even moved to Mante to be closer to us in case of an attack.

Glancing down at my ring, I remind myself that I loved my mate and nothing and nobody would stop me from being with him. Not even my mother.

***Emiliano’s POV***

“We have a birthday gift for your daughter, General.”

I stop listening to Mateo’s jabber when I hear the King mention Karina.

“Karina is an exceptionally talented fighter,” the King continues. “And with her wolf awakening in just a few hours, I feel it’s time she moved up in rank. So , starting tomorrow, First Lieutenant Cortez will be working under Captain Mateo’s supervision. Congratulations General. You should be proud. You have an extraordinarily gifted daughter.”

The General’s face seems emotionless as he gets up from his seat to bow to the King.

“Thank you, your Majesty.”

It’s Karina’s birthday tomorrow? Why had no one mentioned that earlier?

I steal a glance at her father. He didn’t seem very excited about her first shift or about the fact that this daughter had just become the youngest First Lieutenant in Sol de Oro’s history. He should be ballistic right now.

His reaction to such high praise of his daughter only made me like him even less. He was always belittling her and making her feel small whenever she made the slightest mistake. But Karina was great! She was the best warrior I had ever seen. I would kill to get a lesson from her.

Yeah, too bad she doesn’t know you exist, my wolf snorts. She won’t even give you the time of day, much less a lesson on hand to hand combat.

As we finish up dinner, I can’t help but think about Karina’s first shift. Apart from her sister, she spoke to no one at the training grounds and I knew no one would congratulate her on her first shift. Everyone was simply too afraid of her.

Everyone deserves a birthday cake, I think to myself.

Having made up my mind on what to do, I rush off to my room to lie in wait. I’ve lived in the Hacienda long enough now to know the general schedule of the house. For the most part, the King and Queen would not leave their floor after dinner, while Mateo and Sofia would do whatever newly engaged werewolves would do… I shudder at the thought…

Gross…

The omegas would go to bed around 10 pm after cleaning the kitchen and would return at 5 am sharp, meaning I had a seven hour window to do my work. At 11 pm, I slip out of my room and tiptoe down the hall when a mind-link stops me in my tracks.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Valentina asks.

Ever so slowly I turn on my heel and see Valentina staring back at me, her arms crossed over her chest and her eyes narrowed to slits.

“Nowhere…” I reply but she doesn’t seem to buy it and I finally give in. “O-okay… Fine. I’m going downstairs to bake a cake for Karina…”

“And why exactly are you doing that?” She inquires, placing her hands on her h**s.

“Because I get the feeling no one else in her family will,” I shrug.

Valentina taps her foot, mulling over my words. “Okay fine,” She mutters, rolling her eyes in annoyance. “I guess I’ll help too.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, now come on before I change my mind!”

We quietly make our way down to the kitchen, pulling out mixing bowls and ingredients in silence.

“Okay, you handle frosting while I get the cake ready,” Valentina instructs.

“Why do you get to make the cake? This was my idea!” I hiss, taking the whisk from her and raising my hand out of her reach.

“Because, idiota, you don’t know the first thing about baking!” She retorts, placing her hand on my shoulder and jumping in an attempt to reach the whisk. “Now give me the whisk!”

“No!” I growl, shoving her away with my arm.

She’s about to activate her gift when we hear a giggle coming from the doorway. We look up to see the Princess watching us in amusement, her lips curled up in a smile.

“What are you two up to at this late hour?” She chuckles, extending her hand out for the whisk.

Valentina and I both straighten up and bow to her before I hand over the whisk.

“We’ll I’m trying to bake a cake for Karina but some people…” I glare at Valentina. “…are being annoying…”

“You don’t know how to make a cake and frosting is easy!” Valentina argues.

“Quite a dilemma you have there,” the Princess says, tapping a finger against her chin. “I didn’t know you and Karina were so close…”

“He wishes they were,” Valentina mutters and I give her warning look to shut up.

Sofia raises an eyebrow at this. “Oh? So then why make her a cake?”

Why was I doing this?

Karina had been everything but nice to me since I first arrived and we hadn’t really exchanged words since our last encounter. But then again, from what I could see, Karina had very little experience with people being kind to her. I mean, her own father ridiculed her. How could I expect her to trust me enough to be my friend?

“Your first shift is important…” I reply quietly. “Karina doesn’t have any friends… I just want her to know someone cares about her, even a perfect stranger like me…”

The Princess’s smile widens. “That’s a beautiful sentiment.” She begins rummaging through the cupboards. “But might I suggest cupcakes instead? Karina doesn’t strike me as someone who likes attention, so a small treat might be better.”

“That’s a great idea!” Valentina chirps, batting her eyelashes in admiration of the Princess.

“Great,” The Princess clasps her hands. “So what do you say Vale handles the wet ingredients and you handle the dry ones. I’ll take care of the frosting and supervise.”

We agree with her plan and get to work, taking extra care to be as quiet and as clean as possible. By the time midnight rolls around, we have the cupcakes in the oven and Valentina goes off to bed, leaving just the Princess and I to wait for the cupcakes.

We sit in comfortable silence for a while, just enjoying each other’s company.

“You know it’s a very admirable thing you’re doing for Karina,” she finally says. “I’m sure she’ll appreciate it,” she murmurs as the oven dings.

She gives me a concerned look when I don’t responded.

“What’s wrong?” She asks.

I know it was none of my business, but I just didn’t understand how a father could despise his own daughter.

“How come Karina’s dad is so mean to her?” I ask, puzzled by his behavior. “H-he’s cold and heartless.”

The Princess frowns, clearly agreeing with my statement. “I heard he wanted a son… he got Karina and Penelope instead…”

I was unsatisfied with this answer but I knew Sofia could not possibly answer this question. Only the General could.

“I’m glad you’re here, Emi,” the Princess whispers. “Goddess knows Karina needs to be shown a bit of kindness and I can think of no one better to be her friend. This little cupcake will likely mean more to her than you think.”

I blush at her praise and help her remove the cupcakes from the oven. We let them cool for a bit before sticking in the fridge.

At the crack of dawn, I race downstairs to decorate the cupcakes, smearing pink frosting on the top and adding sprinkles for good measure. I was quite proud of my creation.

I stuff a cupcake in a small box Sofia had found, and grab a candle and a match to light it with before rushing to the training grounds.

I shift my feet nervously throughout roll call, going over my lines in my head.

“Happy birthday, Lieutenant Cortez. Make a wish!”

Simple. To the point. Effective. This should work, I tell myself.

After roll call, we disperse into our training groups. I finally catch a glimpse of her waiting by our group for her instructions. Mateo has yet to arrive so our group was setting up gear while they waited.

I was nervous but somehow force my legs to walk in her direction.

When I’m a few feet behind her, I clear my throat, hoping to catch her attention, but she doesn’t budge.

“Ummm… h-hello. Lieutenant Cortez?”

I hear an annoyed sigh escape her lips before she spins on her heel to face me.

“What is it Private?” She almost growls, crossing her arms over her chest and I take a few steps back as a precaution.

My mouth goes dry and I stare at her like an i***t, my mouth wide open but no words coming out.

Happy birthday! My wolf coaxes me.

Still I say nothing. She loses her patience.

“Well, what the hell is it?” She snaps, glaring at me.

Her voice finally pulls me out of my stupor and I scramble to pull the cupcake out of the box for her to see.

Unfortunately, as I pull it, someone rolling a tire bumps into me from behind, propelling me forward so that I smash the cupcake onto her face.

Uh oh…