The Gold Queen (Prequel)

January 10, 2001

***Sofia***

The sound of an loud explosion jolts me awake, Mateo wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me to his chest. We wait in silence for a moment, unsure if what we heard was actually an explosion or something else. A second explosion goes off in the distance, making it clear Sol de Oro was under attack. Mateo scrambles out of bed and rushes to the window to see if he could make out the attack. In the dead of night, the smoke blends in with the dark skies but the smell of sulfur is unmistakable.

Mind-links from the border soldiers come rushing in.

“Your Majesties, we don’t see any wolves but we can smell them. Maybe 20 by the northern borders. Permission to engage?” a soldier inquires.

Mateo is first to respond. “Permission granted. Alert the rest of the troops and send the signal to the other packs. I have a feeling this is about to get worse.”

“Yes sir. “

I climb out of bed and start getting dressed in my battle gear.

“What are you doing?” Mateo asks as he puts on his own gear.

“Getting dressed,” I shrug. He frowns at me and I frown back. “I’m not staying here. I’m going to the front lines with you. It’s not up for discussion.”

“Sofia, I can’t fight with you on the field. I’ll be worried for your safety the entire time,” he argues.

Before he can blink, I rush up to him, grabbing his wrists and flipping him onto the bed. He g****s as I climb on top of him, taking a small silver knife and pressing it against his throat.

“That’s why I’ve been training,” I pant, climbing off of him and pulling my hair into a messy bun. I turn to my mate, placing my hands on my h**s. “I’m not some damsel in distress, Teo. I’ve been a soldier a lot longer than you have and I do not need your permission to fight. I’m going and that’s final.”

He opens his mouth to argue when a third explosion goes off, the sound much louder this time. Whoever was attacking, they were getting too close for comfort.

Danny and Emiliano burst through the door, already dressed in their gear.

“Your Majesties,” Danny salutes. “We need to get moving soon.”

“Where’s Karina?” I ask, noticing that our General was nowhere to be seen.

“Oh ah….” Emiliano smiles sheepishly. “We played Rock, Paper, Scissors to decide who had to stay here with Chava,” he laughs. “I won. She’ll be staying back to protect Chava and Valentina should any wolf break into the house.”

I smirk at Mateo. “See? Emiliano and Karina share the battlefield.”

“Whatever,” he mutters back, taking my hand and kissing it. “Just promise you’ll be safe,” he murmurs.

“I always am,” I smile.

He interlocks our fingers, leading us downstairs.

Several guards are waiting for us at the training grounds where we collect the silver tipped spears, swords, and guns Mateo and Danny had acquired. Unfortunately, we were low on silver ammunition for the guns so only a handful of elite soldiers were allowed to carry. I opt for no gun, my fire the only weapon I needed.

As we gather inside a tent to discuss our plan of attack, Mom and Dad walk in, both dressed for battle. My father is the first to greet me with a hug and k**s, my mother offering only a small nod of acknowledgment. We had not spoken since Julian attacked me, Mateo explaining how she had prevented him from killing Julian and defended Julian even after knowing what he did to me.

I do not think I will ever be able to forgive her for choosing Julian over me and it seemed she was not ready to ask for forgiveness either way.

Like the woman I know her to be, Mom cuts right to the point. “So what’s the plan of action? You’ve angered our neighbors. How do we deal with it?”

Mateo ignores her last comment, pulling out a map of the territory and setting it on the table for all to see.

“We know the attacks are mostly coming from the Northern border,” Mateo begins, pointing at the northern part of the territory. “But it just seems like a distraction to me. We’ve heard explosions, our soldiers smell wolves but don’t see them… I don’t know. It’s just … too easy.”

“So what are you thinking?” I ask, looking over the map.

“If this is an attack from Julian, he would likely create a distraction, something to draw our attention…” he shrugs. “But my best bet is he’ll hit from behind.”

“The Southern border?” Danny asks. “Wouldn’t it make sense that he hit from the west? That’s where Luna Mayor is.”

“No,” Mateo shakes his head. “He might own those lands but he doesn’t know them well. He does, however, know the southern border. It’s where our territories meet. Julian is also a f*****g snake. He would stab us in the back if he had the chance and the southern borders would give him the advantage if we move to the north.”

“So we divert the soldiers to the South,” I nod, understanding his plan.

“Exactly,” Mateo replies. “We need to get in contact with the southern packs now and have them send their troops over immediately. They’ll be our greatest asset in this fight.”

Danny is quick to get his phone out to contact the Southern packs when yet another explosion goes off, this time within the training grounds. The scent of charred flesh fills the night, howls of agony calling out for help.

So much for a southern attack…

With Mateo’s plan out the window, we begin diverting all soldiers to the training grounds

“Emi, take Sofia. Danny, you’re with me,” Mateo snaps, tossing him a silver spear. “LET’S MOVE!”

We run out to find the middle of the training ground is set ablaze, the glowing flames illuminating the hundreds of wolves engaged in battle. Silver bullets begin to fly left and right, soldiers on both sides dropping like flies. Mateo and Danny shift, jumping straight into the action on the right side of the field. I send a silent prayer to Moon Goddess to protect my mate and run to the left to aid a she-wolf cornered by three wolves. Concentrating on the burning fire, I create two fire whips. I swing them, wrapping them around an enemy wolf’s neck. His fur becomes engulfed in flames as I pull him down. Emiliano jump shifts, landing on the second wolf and tearing out his throat. The she-wolf attacks the final wolf, rolling around with him in their fight for dominance.

Noticing my strength, several wolves come in for the attack, all of them wanting to take on a Gold wolf. I shift into my wolf form, Solana taking control. She smirks at the gathering wolves.

Idiots, she laughs.

She takes a deep breath, the pads of her paws growing hot. She charges at the swarm of wolves and blows, leaving a trail of fire in her wake and a stream of flames erupting from her snout. The wolves howl with agony as they become balls of glowing fire. From across the field, I hear more cries of agony as my father impales several wolves with icicles. Suddenly, the earth begins to tremble as roots burst through the soil and wrap around enemies wolves, flinging them through the air or crushing them in half.

Julian’s numbers were diminishing but just as victory seems within reach, a second wave of wolves arrive, this time carrying heavy weaponry. Tear gas canisters are flung towards us, the gas burning our eyes and throats with every inhale. I blink as hard as I can, searching for Emiliano through my tears.

In my search, I see a tall wolf standing at the top of a hill overlooking the battle field.

Julian, Solana snarls, forcing her irritated eyes open to glare at him.

No, he’s mine, I snap. He defiled me!

I take control of my wolf form and sprint towards the hill, dodging bullets and spears. Emiliano’s voice calls out to me, screaming at me to turn back but I had to get that son of b***h and make him pay for what he did. As I approach, I see a growing smirk on Julian’s lips and he leans down on his fore paws, preparing to launch himself at me. Anger burns within my veins, hatred feeding the fire of my being. I wanted him dead. I wanted to stain the earth with his b***d. I wanted to watch the life pour out of him.

My target in sight, I give a final push on my hind legs and lunge forward, colliding with his wolf. We tumble down the hill, both of us eager to gain dominance over the other. I land on top, my paws burning up with flames. I clamp my jaws on his shoulder, ready to tear out a chunk of his flesh, when his paw rams into my side, knocking the wind out of me.

I fall onto my side to catch my breath, Julian taking advantage to pin me under his weight. But I was not finished yet.

Focus, Sofia. Focus! Solana growls. Remember what he did to us. How he humiliated us in front of our mate. Make him pay!

I glare at Julian as I blow fire in his face. He ducks to avoid the flames but his movement was all I needed for my attack and I use his momentum against him to knock him off, shifting into my human form.

He had assaulted my human form and my human form would take his life.

Julian scrambles to his feet, heat radiating from every inch of my body as I stalk towards him. I form two fire daggers with my flames and charge, ready to lunge again when I feel a sudden pinch on the side of my neck.

The fire daggers extinguish in my hands, my body becoming inexplicably sluggish. My hand goes to my neck and I feel a cold metallic tube sticking out of my throat. I pull it out and realize it’s a dart, it’s contents emptied into my veins.

There’s a smirk lingering on Julian’s lips as he morphs into his human form.

“What did you …”

My body suddenly feels as though it were on fire and I collapse onto my knees, screaming in agony. I claw at my skin, desperate to make the pain go away.

“T-teo! Mateo!” I cry out, wanting my mate to comfort me.

“Mateo can’t hear you,” Julian chuckles, crouching down beside me as I writhe on the floor.

“W-what did you d-do to me?” I whimper, feeling a burning sensation pulsate through me with every word I utter.

“Flame lilies have quite the kick to them, don’t they?” he chuckles, taking the dart from my hands. “Beautiful but deadly …” he says, twirling the dark between his fingers. “Kind of like you,” he murmurs in my ear.

Solana?

I’m here, she replies, whining in pain.

“Of course, this little serum is missing one key ingredient,” he chuckles, placing a finger to his lips. “But we’ll keep that as our little secret for now.”

Julian grabs my wrists and pins me to the ground and in my weakened state, I find it impossible to fight him off. He buries his head in my neck and sniffs my hair as I continue to struggle against him.

“Goddess, you’ll be the death of me,” he sighs, licking my cheek as his c**k grows hard against my thigh.

Yes, we f*****g will be, Solana growls

I ram my knee into his crown jewels, Julian sucking in air as I wriggle free from his grip. I roll off to the side and scramble onto my feet, climbing on top of his back and wrapping my arms around his neck. Julian stands up on his feet, my own legs dangling as I hang onto him by his throat. He jams his elbow into my stomach, forcing me to release him and crash onto the ground.

“f*****g cunt,” he snaps, massaging his balls as he towers over me. “I wanted to do this the easy way,” he growls, raising his hand in the air. A dark shadow flies over us, beady red reds glowing back at me. The black owl hoots as it drops a silver revolver into Julian’s hand. He aims the gun at me, c*****g back the hammer. “But it looks like you want to do this the hard way.”

I hold my breath as I stare at the end of the barrel, bracing for its impact as the sound of the gun going off echoes in the surrounding forest. I expect pain, but it never arrives, a sudden blur blocking the silver bullet’s path, my own scream deafening me.