The Gold Queen (Prequel)

Mid December 1999

***Emiliano***

Karina never did tell me what happened that day I found her in the woods, but I knew one thing for sure; Karina wasn’t safe with her father anymore and I had to get her out of that situation fast. It didn’t take much convincing for me to get Mateo to strip the General of his title and force him to hand over custody of Karina to the Royal family.

He was furious but the General could not disobey a direct order from his King and Queen. Karina moved into the Hacienda shortly thereafter and the once strong General broke into a million pieces. He was put into a mental hospital as he could not cope with losing his power.

I thought she would be excited, happy even, to be free of the overbearing abusive piece of s**t of a father she had, but Karina was unresponsive, almost numb. She didn’t speak much to me about her thoughts or her feelings, instead throwing herself into her training. Before long, she was finally given the Lieutenant General rank in the Royal Army and given her high skill, was quickly sent to other packs to hold training sessions and oversee military operations against the vampires.

Weeks turned to months and before I knew it, Karina was hardly ever at the Hacienda. She wasn’t there for my birthday, still working hard at the war front. It wasn’t a great day anyways. I didn’t sense my mate and after nearly four months of searching, I had yet to find her.

I saw Karina once a few weeks ago but from a distance. My own busy schedule with the Queen kept me from pursuing her and catching up.

Christmas was around the corner but my dearest friend was still struggling with a part of herself. I hated that she wouldn’t talk to me. I hated that she felt alone.

“Emi?” Sofia called out, waving her hand in front of me. “You okay?”

Concern was swimming in her pools of gold and I knew I must have spaced out again. I have been doing that a lot lately.

“Yeah,” I blink, looking at the delicious sope she had made for me and smiling at her work. “It looks good.”

She frowns at me, reaching over and placing a hand on my forehead.

“I’m fine,” I say, sternly, pushing her arm away and taking a bite of my sope.

“No,” she sighs. “No, you miss her. You miss her like I miss my Teo.” She plops down on my lap and sighs, nuzzling up to my chest.

I wrap my arms around her and squeeze, letting my gamma aura soothe her.

About a week ago, there were reports from our southern borders about some witch sightings. We’ve never dealt with witches before. Mateo went off to see for himself and if necessary, lead our troops into battle. Sofia had wanted to go but after some serious arguing and a little convincing from me, she agreed to stay back and handle the Kingdom’s affairs with the vampires here in the west.

“He’ll come back, Sofia,” I murmur as we both stare at my food. “Mateo is too stubborn to die,” I chuckle, rubbing her back. “Besides, he likes you too much to leave you alone.”

She doesn’t say anything, sitting quietly with her head against my chest. She was scared and deep in my heart, I was too. Witches, like vampires, were our natural enemies and powerful masters of the elements. A war with witches would be catastrophic. Mateo was powerful but most of his troops were your average wolves with no special gift to aid them against magic, wolves like Karina were at a disadvantage.

The thought of Karina up against some evil witches makes me uneasy. She was a gifted fighter but she would be no match for a witch.

The sound of footsteps racing down the stairs pulls me from my thoughts, Valentina squealing with excitement.

“They’re home! They’re home!” She shouts from the halls. “Danny is home!”

A valued soldier, Danny stationed at the southern front to help investigate the witch situation. Valentina had been worried sick all week. They had only been married one month before he was deployed to the South.

“What!” Sofia gasps, scrambling to feet. Both she and Valentina race for the door, eager to see their mates return home. Sofia gets to the door first, swinging it open and running head first into Mateo’s chest.

“Woah!” Mateo g****s, wrapping his arms around his Queen. “Slow down chaparrita… {Shorty}.”

Sofia stands on her tippy toes, hooking her arms around his neck and pulling him down for a k**s. He laughs against her lips, lifting her up by the thighs so that she wraps her short little legs around his waist. The world around them seems to disappear as they melt into each other.

Danny pushes past the royal couple, racing down the hallway to tackle his own mate. It seems both my brother and sister were eager to remind me of just how mate-less I was.

Why don’t you just swallow each other?” I mutter under my breath, making them all burst into laughter.

Karina appears at the doorway, a deep frown on her face and a small suitcase in her hands. Her furious green eyes don’t even spare me a glance as she pushes past Mateo and my sister, bumping into Valentina on her way up the stairs. Moments later, we hear a door slam shut, presumably Karina’s.

Something must have set her off…

“Stupid b***h,” Valentina snarls, Danny kissing her cheeks to calm her down.

To my surprise, my wolf almost goes feral at the insult.

“Don’t call her that,” I warn, fighting hard to keep my canines from elongating. “You don’t get to do that.”

Valentina gives me an amused look. “Why? She’s a b***h,” she shrugs unapologetically. “But of course, you don’t see that. You only see the good in people, but guess what, Emi? Some people just suck!”

“She watched her family die!” I snap, infuriated she couldn’t even afford one ounce of compassion to Karina. “Can you imagine that? Just think about it!”

She pinches the bridge of her nose and takes a deep breath. “Look, okay? I get that she lost her family but that doesn’t give her the right to be a b***h to everyone and treat us like her own personal garbage can!”

“It’s so easy for you to judge her when you’ve never even taken the time to get to know her! To feel her pain!” I snarl, panting with rage. “You grew up in a home where your parents loved you. Where you knew you were loved. No one ever beat or made you feel insignificant so of course you wouldn’t get it!”

Valentina’s eyes widen as she stares at me.

“Imagine that, Valentina. Imagine growing up having to calculate every move you make with precision because the slightest mistake was grounds for punishment. Imagine growing up never being shown an ounce of kindness from your family or your peers. Imagine having absolutely no one but yourself!” Angry tears spill onto my cheeks as I fight to catch my breath. “Karina is the way she is because she doesn’t know how else to be.”

“People have bad childhoods,” Valentina sighs. “But that’s no excuse for treating people poorly. You’ve gone out of your way to help her and make her feel safe but you can’t help someone who doesn’t want help, Emi! It will destroy you.”

“Whatever,” I snarl, walking past them all to the bottom of the stairs. “Everyone gives up on her… but I won’t.”

Valentina calls after me but I didn’t care. I needed to speak to Karina. I needed her to know that I was on her side, even if she thought I was working against her.

I stand outside her door for what seems like an eternity, trying to work up the nerve to knock on her door.

Just knock! Estevan exasperates. What’s the worst that could happen?

She could murder me… I mutter in response.

I take a big breath, raising my fist to the door.

One knock… No response.

Two knocks… Silence.

I’m about to knock again when I hear a growl behind the door, freezing me in place. The door swings open, Karina panting in anger just behind it.

“What do you want?” She snarls, the anger in her eyes intensifying by the second.

My throat feels dry and I swallow hard, buying myself some time to find the right words. “I-I just want to talk.”

“We’ll I don’t,” she replies dryly, already pushing the door to close it.

I place my palm at the top of the door, forcing it to stay open. Mustering up some courage, I take a few steps forward into the room, Karina gasping and taking the same number of steps back. The backs of her legs hit the foot of her bed and she collapses onto the bed, her green eyes glaring daggers at me.

“Get out,” she warns, puffing up her chest at me.

Normally, I would have bolted out the door at her request, but this was important. I needed her to know I only had her best interests at heart.

“No, not until you listen to me first,” I huff back, closing the door to make sure she didn’t escape.

“I said ‘Get out!’” She screams, grabbing a pillow and aiming it my way.

I duck just in time, avoiding getting socked by it. Seeing that she missed, reaches for her alarm clock, unplugging it from the wall and throwing it at me. My eyes widen to saucers as she grabs everything from her nightstand and chucks them at me, screaming at me to leave.

“S-top… Stop!” I cry, lunging forward.

I wrap my hands around her wrists, climbing on top of her and pinning her flat against her bed. She wails, furious tears spilling down her cheeks as she screams.

“Leave me alone…. Just leave me alone!” she whimpers, losing the strength to fight against me.

But I would never leave her alone. Ever. From this moment forward, I would always be by her side. Because at this precise moment, as I stared into the green storm of her eyes, her ragged breaths mixing with my own, something amazing was happening.

My wolf purrs uncontrollably, the warm skin of her wrists sending pulsating sparks up my arms and down my spine. She felt amazing, smelt amazing, like fresh rosemary and I resist the urge to bury my face in her neck.

She begins to cry beneath me, my heart clenching at the sight. Even in her complete sadness, she was still the most beautiful girl my eyes had ever seen.

Karina was only 17 so I knew she could not feel the incredible sparks that tingled across my body because of her. She could not sense that I loved her. Because I did love her. I had loved her long before today and I knew now that I always would. I would always love my broken mate.

I lean my forehead against hers and breathe in her scent, a state of calm washing over me as our noses touch. She stops crying, confused by my gesture.

“What are you…“

My lips brush up against hers, her body freezing beneath mine.

“Emi…” she whispers, staring at me in bewilderment. “Emi what…“

I k**s her again, this time pressing my lips a little harder against hers so she knew this wasn’t an accident. I move my mouth slowly and carefully, feeling her body finally start to relax as I release her wrists.

Her warm hands cup my cheeks as I deepen the k**s, sparks igniting beneath her touch. I smile against her lips, happy she was no longer pushing me away.

“Mine,” I murmur, my lips close enough to brush up against hers with every word I say. “You’re all mine, Karina Cortez… and I am all yours.”