19: The Queen’s Gambit

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• CROWNED BY BLOOD   Chapter 24: The Next Generation

  It started with lightning.Not in the sky but in the nursery.Alexander giggled as tiny bolts danced between his fingertips, crackling with silver energy. Seraphina responded by summoning a gust of wind that sent their blankets fluttering like wings. I stared at them, stunned not out of fear, but awe. They weren’t even 2 years old, and already, the air bent to their will.No werewolf child had ever shown such abilities so early.I had expected strength. But this? This was something else entirely. And it wasn’t just happening in the palace.Reports flooded in from across the kingdom. Supernatural children near my twins were showing signs of accelerated power. One young witch said she heard Seraphina’s dreams echo through the stars. A fae child could speak to shadows after playing with Alexander for just an hour.Whatever resided in my children was awakening something in others.Celeste confirmed it with a hushed reverence: “Their aura amplifies the magic around them. They are not just

• CROWNED BY BLOOD   Chapter 23: Resurrection and Recognition

  The first thing I felt was warmth.It was not light or darkness that greeted me.It was silent.Weightless. Boundless. A world between life and death, suspended in pale gold mist.I floated, or maybe I drifted. There was no pain. No heartbeat. Only the fading memory of Kai’s final touch, the scent of blood and victory, and the last desperate surge of power I released to destroy Aldric.“Luna.”His voice. Impossible. But there it was warm, familiar, cutting through the fog like sunlight breaking through clouds.“Kai?” again?He stood before me, as whole as I remembered. No wounds, no blood, just the silver-eyed Alpha who had loved me beyond death.“You did it,” he said, stepping closer. “You saved them all.”“Am I… dead?” I asked, my voice fragile.“No.” He smiled, sadness in his eyes. “You’re not done yet.”Tears welled in my eyes. “But I want to stay. With you.”He touched my face. “You can’t. Not yet. Our children need you. Your people need you.”“I’m so tired,” I whispered.“I kno

• CROWNED BY BLOOD   Chapter 22: Ancient Evil

  The light from my children’s birth still lingered above, a divine flare that had momentarily frozen war. My army roared with new life. The illusion of Lord Aldric had shattered, and for a fleeting heartbeat, it felt like we had won something.But I knew better.That wasn’t the end. That was a test. That was bait.I could feel him even before he arrived.The magic in the air twisted. The sky darkened not with clouds, but with shadow. A slow cold crept through the earth beneath my feet, turning damp soil into brittle frost. Silence rolled across the Valley of Echoes, a hush not born of peace, but fear.And then the sky tore.A jagged line split the clouds. Blackness bled through like ink in water.He stepped through.Lord Aldric.Not an illusion.Not a phantom.Him. In the flesh.The air cracked around his presence. His cloak of living shadow slithered behind him, curling into shapes that hissed and screamed. His boots landed on scorched earth without a sound, but the ground shattered

• CROWNED BY BLOOD   Chapter 21: Born in Battle

  The first contraction struck like a lightning bolt cleaving through my spine.Outside, the war drums thundered across the Valley of Echoes. Our forces surged forward, their chants and roars shaking the ground. Magic clashed with steel. The sky wept fire. The final battle had begun.And I was in labor."Get her to the tent! Now!" a healer cried.Marcus was at my side instantly, one arm around my back, the other gripping my hand. Celeste flanked me on the other side, her magic crackling in the air, forming protective wards as we moved. My boots barely touched the ground as they half-dragged me into the command tent, its reinforced walls shimmering with protective glyphs."I can’t leave them," I gasped, sweat already slicking my brow. Another contraction ripped through me, stealing my breath. I really just want to be there."You didn’t," Celeste said, her voice steady despite the chaos. "You brought them here. They’ll fight for you"The tent smelled of bloodroot, silver herbs, and burnin

• CROWNED BY BLOOD   Chapter 20: Crown of Thorns

  The document was ancient, the parchment brittle and darkened with age, the ink faded but unmistakable. As my eyes scanned the names hidden within its folds, a sickness took root in my stomach, a cold, growing dread deeper than any grief I had known.Lord Aldric.The name echoed, repeated under aliases, masked beneath false identities and centuries of forged alliances. He had been orchestrating this war long before I was born. Long before my parents ruled. He had moved the pieces of this grand game like a master tactician, always in the shadows, always unseen until now.I sat in the war room, the cursed parchment spread before me, its seals broken, its truths revealed. Celeste stood silent to my right, her expression unreadable but taut with fury. Marcus hovered near the door, his fists clenched, jaw rigid. The room, once humming with strategy and urgency, had gone still."He was there," I whispered. "He helped plan the massacre. He empowered Victoria. And he’s the reason Kai is dead.

• CROWNED BY BLOOD   19: The Queen’s Gambit

  Grief isn’t a storm, it's a slow tide. It doesn't crash; it seeps. It winds its way through the cracks in your armor until you're hollow, until even your heartbeat feels borrowed. And yet, I stood at the center of war.We were days away from the Conclave, the long-awaited summit where every supernatural faction, once divided by history and blood, would gather to form a united front. Witches, fae, shifters, hybrids, and even a few ancient vampire clans who had turned their backs on the throne all would be there. If we succeeded, it would be the beginning of a new era. If we failed, it would all end in fire and ash.But Victoria wouldn’t let it happen. She was a predator who struck before words could be spoken, before treaties could take root. She would massacre the leaders and silence the hope they represented. I knew this because it was what I would do.And she had already taken everything from me.Kai.The name felt like shattered glass in my chest. I hadn’t said it aloud since the d