Chapter 5: The Dowager Queen

"My King, Xavier has reached the palace,"

Conan didn’t look up from the parchment he was reading, but he gave a slight nod of acknowledgement to the Delta who had delivered the information to him.

That’s good.

After his bride and his Beta had left, Conan had walked right back into Tideclaw and torn out Lucian’s heart right from where it sat in his ribcage.

The disrespect had been too much.

And they needed to know, nobody touched what was his.

Nobody.

The pathetic wailing of the Luna had irked him badly, and he had been just a little tempted to end her life too. But he chose not to.

Now, he sat behind the desk of his ancestral castle, the former home of the Bloodmoon pack centuries ago, before the world had become what it was. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Why?

Curiousity.

A mundane curiosity about the woman he had been tricked into marrying.

And perhaps he was to blame for his susceptibility to trickery. He hadn’t conducted enough research before taking Lucian’s word for it, all because it was the turn of Gemini to provide a bride for the Scorpio Alpha.

Conan’s eyes traced the words written on the dusty old parchment, slowly taking them in.

Markless. Blemished Lycans with no marks on either left or right wrist. No wolves, no better than the average human.

Hm, he already knew that.

What he didn’t know nor understand, was how the daughter of an Alpha turned out markless. Because in truth, he had never heard of a markless Alpha descendant.

An Omega.

Markless were mostly children of Gammas and Deltas, almost never Alphas. And it was the curiousity of why she was different that had prevented him from rejecting her outright. Well, that and the fact that the Scorpio pack would very likely suffer if they didn’t keep to the Moon’s revolution.

Fuck.

There was nothing here he didn’t already know.

Meaning his journey here had been a waste.

He leaned against his back against the comfy chair, his mind ruminating over the Gemini girl. She had looked like a servant, or rather, she was a servant, kept in the dark about the true purpose of his visit.

Long and dark wavy hair. Grey eyes. Fair, but scarred skin. Soft to touch. Cracked lips.

His mind could not begin to fathom just how much abuse she would have undergone, for the sole mistake of being markless, talkless of being a single child.

Hazel.

That was her name.

Hmm.

"Maddox!" Conan called out. The delta from before appeared again, his eyes focused on Conan. "My king?"

"Prepare my vehicle."

~

Aurora stared down at the woman who was to be her son’s wife and queen, not bothering to hide the disdain she felt.

Xavier immediately scrambled to greet her.

"Your grace, it is good to see you. I—"

"You, girl. What is your name?" Aurora ignored Xavier, stepping closer to the strange woman. She looked like she had been through hell and back, with bloodied clothes, and cracked lips.

Hazel swallowed before lowering herself into a curtsy.

"My name is Hazel Lockwood, your grace."

Aurora Black was the fearsome dowager Queen of the Bloodmoon pack, formerly a member of Emberfang pack of the Ares Celestial Line, before her union with the late king. She had long black hair, and the same eye shape as her son, although her face was littered with wrinkles.

The consequence of constant frowning no doubt.

Aurora’s almond eyes widened. "Lockwood? You’re the daughter of the Tideclaw Alpha?"

Hazel kept her head lowered. "Yes, your grace."

"I thought the Gemini line always has twins?"

Hazel offered nothing in response. What was there to say? ’I am a failed Markless descendant, and also came out without a twin.’

Tch.

"I can’t believe this," Aurora scoffed, turning her head around. "Rosie would have been a better option, but thanks to that cursed moon’s revolution, my son ignored her."

Hazel gritted her teeth, slowly looking up. She forced a smile onto her face, putting on her most amicable expression.

"I look forward to becoming closer to you and your son, your grace."

Xavier’s eyes briefly darted to Hazel, who he had thought would shrivel up and stay quiet out of fear. Aurora had probably expected the same because a wave of surprise washed over her.

"Don’t bother," she snapped, smoothening out the surprise. "Give my son one or two strong and marked children, and then leave. I would rather die, than get to know you."

Hazel strangely felt nothing towards the dowager queen’s words. Rosie had told her a washed down version of the same thing, and she had heard it all her life.

If these two spoilt women thought they could break her with insults, they were dead wrong.

Hazel smiled even more, stretching out both of her hands to grab Aurora’s left arm.

"Haha, I’ll give your son multiple strong pups, don’t worry."

Aurora pulled her hand away immediately, her face twisted in repulsion. This markless had dared touch her?!

"You’re sick in the head," she said quietly before walking away, scratching at the arm Hazel had touched like it had suddenly sprouted spores.

Xavier looked like he was going to faint on the spot.

"Oh goddess, that was scary. I didn’t think she was still here." He turned to look at Hazel. "You’re even more brazen than I could have imagined, miss Hazel. I think you’ll survive just fine here."

Hazel huffed, feeling a little shaken despite her best attempts to cover it up. "I hope I do."

Just then, the door snapped open, and a woman with a pair of warm looking eyes and gaze popped her head out.

"Hello, Xavier. Do come in."