The Gold Queen (Prequel)

***Sofia***

My mind is on the verge of exploding. I had scoured several books over the past week in search of some possible explanation to the mysterious Lake, the two wolves, and Baby Salvador, but I could not find anything that made sense to me.

Across the room, Emiliano and Chava play with wooden blocks and I watch the green-eyed baby carefully, hoping for any clues as to how he pulled me out of the Lake. Sensing my eyes on him, Chava looks up at me, a cheeky grin spreading across his lips. He extends his arms out and bounces on his butt excitedly.

“Aba ba ba,” he squeals, his father raising an eyebrow in amusement.

I climb out of my chair and lift Chava in my arms, assaulting his cheeks with plenty of k****s and farting noises. We sit together on the couches and I place Chavita on my lap. He bounces some more before reaching his hand on the collar of my blouse and pulling it down, exposing my bare breast. He suckles on my n****e before I have a chance to scream.

Completely mortified, Emiliano races over to us, tearing Chava off my breast and scolding the confused baby for trying to feed on me.

“Sorry,” Emi mutters, turning to look away as I tuck my boob back into my blouse. “H-he uh… he’s been doing that a lot lately. Karina is weaning him off breast milk so any time he sees boobs now, he wants milk. He’s already tried it with me a few times,” he says.

I struggle to hold back my chuckle as I imagine Chava trying to suck milk out of his father’s nipples.

“It’s okay,” I laugh. “I’m just glad his teeth are small.”

Emi finally turns to look at me and places Chava back on my lap. I make it clear that my boobs are off limits and he whines, reaching once more for my blouse. I use a stern voice, causing Chavita to burst into tears. Emiliano brings him a bottle and Chavita finally calms down enough to lay against my chest and drink from his bottle.

Emiliano watches as I caress Chava’s hair, humming a lullaby to him as he drinks.

“Have you and Teo thought about your own?” Emi asks, nodding at the sleepy baby in my arms.

I brush my fingers against Chava’s cheeks before I answer. “W-we were planning too… we had decided it was time to stop waiting,” I murmur, stroking Chava’s hair continuously. “But then our parents died… and w-we stopped talking about it. With Julian still out there, I just don’t think I should be worrying about having babies right now.”

Emiliano looks pensively at me as I rub Chava’s back, gently lulling him to sleep.

“Don’t let Julian win,” Emiliano says after a long pause. “Don’t let him be the reason you put your life on hold. You and Mateo deserve to be happy … to start your own family.” A large grin stretches across his lips. “I can just imagine Teo being the happiest Dad in the world. He’d spend all day spoiling your babies rotten. And you? You’d smoother those babies with so much love. Imagine how lucky those babies would be to have two parents so eager to give them the world!”

I stare down at my flat stomach, imagining it swelling with life. Would my babies look like Teo or would they look like me?

Goddess, I hope they have his eyes. I love his eyes.

Images of Teo running around two little toddlers in his wolf form or that of two smiling faces waking us up in the morning asking to have ice cream for breakfast flash in my mind.

Before I know it, I’m smiling like a fool to myself, excited at the possibility of forming a family with the man I loved.

“You can already see it, can’t you?” he chuckles.

Tears spring to my eyes as I nod at him. I didn’t realize how much I truly wanted this; how much I craved to start my own family with Teo.

Chava suddenly stirs, his bright green eyes looking up at me. We stare at each other curiously and for a brief moment, the world goes dead silent, neither one of us moving. Solana’s voice whispers in my head.

The boy is special, she murmurs.

“Who are you?” I blurt out, Chava tilting his head innocently.

“What do you mean?” Emiliano asks, taking his son from my lap.

“His eyes… I saw them at the lake…” I mutter absentmindedly, completely mesmerized by Chava’s never ending pools of green swirls.

“What lake?” Emi asks, completely confused.

I decide to explain my experience from when I was asleep, telling him of the Lake, the unknown wolves, and Chava’s eyes in the sky.

“It was surreal, Emi. I can’t even begin to explain it. It was like I was home. I didn’t want to come back .. And those wolves,” I add, shaking my head in disbelief. “Those wolves … I don’t know how, but it felt like I knew them. Like we were connected somehow. I don’t know… I-I think Chava is the key to everything. He pulled me out. I know he did.”

Emi thinks for a moment before finally speaking. “I don’t know, Sof. Chava is just a baby. He doesn’t even have powers. There’s no guarantee he’s even a silver wolf! He could be a normal wolf like Karina for all we know. Perhaps this was all just a strange dream your mind created while you healed?”

It wasn’t a dream! Solana snarls. We weren’t dreaming!

“No,” I shake my head. “It wasn’t a dream and I’m determined to find out exactly what it all means.”

I walk over to the desk I had been working on and grab several books from my bookshelves to go over again in search for some clues. Emi strolls over and sits across from me, staring at the sea of books and papers I had sprawled across my desk.

“Well, have you tried looking through one of the Sacred Book of Myths?” he asks, bouncing Chava on his knee.

“The what now?” I ask, stopping my work to stare at him.

“Your Mom never read you stories out of the Book of Myths?” he smiles cheekily at me.

I furrow my eyebrows at him. “My mother read Pack laws to me as a kid. She had no time for myths and silly stories,” I frown.

Emiliano smiles sheepishly at me. “Oh…” he laughs uncomfortably. “Well it’s this large Black book of Silver and Gold wolf secrets,” he explains. “Legend has it that the Faes enchanted these books to lock away the myths and stories of our kind so no one could use the knowledge against us. Only Gold and Silver wolves can access the sacred texts now.”

“Where can I find a copy of this ‘myth’ book?” I ask, searching through my pile for the mysterious black book.

“I’m surprised you don’t have a copy,” Emi replies, scratching his head as he looks at my pile of books. “My mom gifted her copy to Valentina, I think. Let me ask.”

Before I can utter a word, Emi’s eyes fog over. Within minutes, Valentina comes waddling in, baby in one arm, book in the other.

“Can someone explain to me why they needed a book of myths this urgently,” she grumbles as she places the large book on the desk, a clunking sound echoing off the walls as it hits the wooden surface of the desk. “I was just about to put Diego down for a nap.”

“I’m trying to figure something out about Salvador,” I smile sheepishly.

She raises an eyebrow, intrigued by my quest and grabs a seat on the couch. I proceed to explain my experience at the strange lake, Valentina’s eyes going wide.

“Did these white wolves have strange colored eyes?” Valentina asks, suddenly getting on her feet.

She can’t contain her excitement when I nod.

“Check the first page!” She shrieks, Diego waking up and bursting into tears.

She looks apologetically down at her son and rocks him back and forth until he calms down. Chava watches baby Diego, seemingly annoyed by all the ruckus he’s causing.

Once quiet, Valentina points to the book. “First page,” she hisses.

The book had a beautifully designed black cover and a gold lock sitting in the center. There is a tree carved in the center of the lock, thick vines extending out of it like roots and wrapping around the pages, sealing it shut.

How do I open it?

Emi seems to understand my hesitation and places his fingers around the edges of the lock. The vines receded into the lock, the pages popping open. On the very first page, there are two white wolves sitting side by side, their eyes glowing pink and purple like the wolves from the lake.

“Are those the wolves you saw?” Valentina hisses excitedly.

“Yes,” I whisper, completely mesmerized by the image. “Although they didn’t have these medallions on their necks,” I add.

“Perhaps there’s something in the book about the medallions?” Emiliano suggests, pointing at the page.

Valentina and Emiliano gather around me as I flip the pages, finding stories of creation, the war between the creatures of the Gods and some historical texts of silver and gold wolves. As I skim through the pages, I come across the chapter titled, The Keeper of the Ivory Court.

I had heard of the Ivory Court; every werewolf lived by their laws. It was these very laws that allowed me to escape a doomed fate with Julian. The Guardians of the Ivory Court was just another name for the Ivory Twins, which Mateo and I were expected to conceive. I, however, had never heard of the Keeper of the Ivory Court.

Intrigued, I begin to read the legend aloud:

While it is the job of The Ivory Court to establish the laws over the Children of the Moon and Sun, it is the responsibility of the Ivory Army to enforce these laws. Without the Keeper of the Ivory Court or the power of the Guardians of the Ivory Court, however, the Ivory Army cannot act.

The Keeper of the Court is a wolf born of Silver b***d on a night that repeats only once every four years. The birth of the Keeper is typically the marker that the Ivory Twins are soon to be delivered.

My eyes dart to Chava sitting cheerfully in Emi’s lap, poking his father’s face and giggling.

“Oh my Goddess, you don’t think…?” Valentina gasps, looking over at her nephew.

It wasn’t a dream! Solana snarls. We weren’t dreaming!

I continue reading.

The Keeper will bear the gift of manifestation, as he or she will birth the Ivory Army from their mind.

Again, we stare at the small infant who suddenly farts and giggles to himself, the stench of his aroma filling the room.

“He’s the Keeper?” Valentina snorts, Emiliano getting up to check Chava’s diaper.

Gifted with powers of the Mind, the Keeper will safeguard the portals to the Realm of the Moon Goddess and be the vessel through which the Fated Pair will meet with the Creator before the birth of the Ivory Twins.

“So he did pull me out of the Lake I was in…” I mumble to myself. “And he’ll bring Teo and I to Moon Goddess herself when the time comes…”

The Keeper will be the one to manifest the Medallions of the Ivory Twins when the time is right. The Medallions must be worn by the Fated Pair while they conceive the Ivory Twins and upon their birth, the Medallions must be handed to the Twins for protection. These Medallions hold the power to hide the Twins in plain sight, but also command the Ivory Army once they are manifested by the Keeper.

Emi g****s as he discovers Chava’s diaper is full.

“Se esta pudriendo este chamaco! {This kid is rotting!}” he gags, carrying Chava over to the couch to change him.

“Emi, are you even listening?” Valentina snaps. “Your son is special!”

“Of course he is,” Emi grins. “He’s my son.”

Valentina rolls her eyes at him as I continue to read.

Some gifts may manifest earlier in preparation for the arrival of the Ivory Twins but most will be unlocked on the night of the Keeper’s first shift. The Keeper’s power will peak, however, once they are mated.

Emiliano chuckles to himself as he lifts his freshly cleaned son in the air. “You hear that, Chamaco? Once you find yourself a good woman, you’ll be unstoppable!” He laughs. “So lesson number one, find a girl who makes you stronger… who makes you want to be better,” he smiles, Chava swinging his legs happily. “Be a good man, Chavita, and she’ll come to you.”

“Emi, stop playing around. This is serious!” Valentina snaps. “Your son is the key to Sofia and Mateo conceiving.”

“Exactly,” Emi hums. “And so we must wait for the Moon Goddess to decide when that should be. There’s no point in stressing about Chava’s gifts,” Emi shrugs. “He’ll do what he is meant to do when the time is right.”

I read ahead as the twins bicker and I involuntarily gasp at the next line.

“Many will try to harm the Keeper so It is best to keep their Identity a secret, for without the Keeper, the Ivory Twins will be unable to command the Ivory Army when the time comes for war.”

A dark thought enters my mind. The day of Chava’s birth, he and his mother were attacked by Karina’s father… and I was attacked by a witch. Could the witches have known who Chava was meant to be?

I express this thought to Emiliano and he clutches his son to his chest.

“No one is touching my son,” he snarls protectively.

“And why would they?” Karina asks as she waltzes into the room towards her husband and child. She crosses her arms over her chest as she looks around the room, finding us hovering over the black book. “What’s going on here?”

I see no harm in Karina knowing the truth about her son and his abilities and she shakes her head in disbelief.

“No! Absolutely not!” She snarls. “My son will have no role in your nonsense!”

I stare at her in confusion. “Nonsense?”

“Yes, nonsense,” she growls, taking her son from Emiliano. “You want to doom this kingdom and wage war over a pair of twins. Fine by me. But don’t you dare try to drag my son into your bullshit. Chava will have no role in bringing destruction to this kingdom and that’s final!”

She storms out of the room, nostrils flaring in indignation as she leaves. Emiliano rushes after her and I hear them argue in the hallway about my decision to marry Mateo.

Tears spring to my eyes as I hear her blame me for the death of her mother and sister. I had never known she felt this way about me.

“She’s a b***h,” Valentina murmurs, sitting beside me and laying her head on my shoulder. “You are not to blame for Penelope and her mother’s death. It was a tragedy… nothing more. Don’t you dare let her make you think it was your fault.”

I hear her words, but deep inside I can’t help but wonder what life would be like had I chosen Julian instead.

The fighting in the hallway fades away as Emi and Karina lock themselves away to argue some more in the privacy of their bedroom. I slam the book shut and tuck it away in one of my desk drawers. The smell of Raspberries and Pine fills the room and I look up to find my handsome mate staring at me by the door. I’m in his arms in an instant, his k****s melting away my doubts.

I belonged with Mateo and nothing and no one would tell me otherwise.