Chapter One: The Rogue Princess

 

Mia’s POV

“Get out of here you filthy runt,” one of the elders yelled at me. I glared at the elder before taking my leave. 

“I think she was staring daggers at you Jamal,” another of the elders said with a mocking tone. 

“The bitch hasn’t realized her situation,” Jamal replied. “Without her precious father, no one would listen to the return princess.”

My fist clenched at his words. I hated to admit it but he wasn’t wrong. I had been in isolation training for five years, of course nobody would trust me to lead them. 

The elders kept on drinking and laughing in the royal hall, in my dads hall and seat. 

I walked toward the garden to clear my head. A few maids looked up as I passed. One of them narrowed her eyes and muttered something under her breath. I didn’t care enough to listen.

But just as I stepped forward, one of them moved into my path. Her foot slid out at the last second, and I tripped. My hands scraped against the ground as I landed, dirt kicking up around me.

They started laughing.

“She fell,” one said with a snort. “The return princess really fell flat.”

“She probably forgot how to walk after all that isolation.”

They didn’t stop there. They threw dust on my face. They kept on humiliating me while I stayed where I was, trying not to breathe too hard.

Urgh this damn maids

I could have grabbed her by the ankle and slammed her head into the stones. I could’ve taught them all a lesson they wouldn’t forget. I had the skill, the training, and every reason to lash out.

But I didn’t.

Because the second I touched them, they’d run to the elders, spin the story, make it public. “Violent, unstable, unfit for leadership.” That’s all they needed to push me out for good.

So I got up and brushed the dirt from my clothes.

They quieted when I met their eyes, but none of them apologized. I didn’t expect them to.

I turned and walked into the garden, trying to keep my calm as my hands shook.

I just had to wait. My father would come back. And when he did, they’d all remember exactly who I was. 

My father, Varick Esbond, the Rogue Alpha King, used to uphold the order.

He didn’t rule with fear or flashy speeches. He earned loyalty through strength, strategy, and the kind of presence that made entire packs quiet when he entered the room. Even the elders who mocked me now once stood in line behind him. They obeyed him, respected him and feared him when they had to.

But it’s been over a year since he disappeared.

No one talks about it. They all act like it’s temporary. Like he’s out on some extended mission and will walk back through the gates any day now. But I’ve seen the way they’ve started claiming his position.

Even Regris, his dragon, vanished the same day he did.

That was the part that unsettled me the most. Regris was a higher dragon, violent, proud, nearly untamable. He only bowed to Varick. If anything had happened to my father, Regris should’ve returned. But he didn’t. No one’s seen or heard a single wingbeat since.

They told me Sylvie stayed behind. She was barely out of her juvenile years, still healing from an old wing injury. I hadn’t seen her yet since returning, but that was just more proof that things were off. If she’d sensed my presence, she would’ve come looking for me. She always did.

Everything felt wrong.

The pack didn’t feel like home. The halls were colder and filled with voices of people who shouldn’t even be here. People looked me in the eye without flinching now. That didn’t used to happen.

I used to be the Rogue Princess.

Now I was just another problem waiting to be handled.

I considered leaving, just quietly walking out and not coming back. No one would care. The elders would probably be relieved.

If my father was alive, I’d find him. I didn’t trust anyone else to do it. The pack was crumbling without him, and no one seemed to notice, or worse, they didn’t care.

I was still thinking through my options when I heard one of the guards shout from the east gate.

“Riders approaching!”

Another guard leaned over the balcony. “Silverfang banners!”

That snapped everyone to attention.

A few elders got up from the steps. The courtyard went quiet except for the sound of hooves hitting stone. I stepped away from the garden path and turned toward the entrance.

Three wolves rode in, two men and a woman, wearing the black and silver crest of the Silverfang Pack. Their dragons weren’t with them, which meant this wasn’t a war party. But it wasn’t a friendly visit either.

“Envoys from Silverfang?” I heard one of the healers whisper behind me. “What the hell are they doing here?”

“Probably here to finalize some alliance,” another muttered.

The last rider, a tall man with sharp features and brown curls, scanned the area as they passed. His eyes briefly landed on me and something in me jolted. It wasn’t recognition. Just an odd pull that I couldn’t explain.

I frowned and looked away.

They moved past and headed straight for the elder hall.

I didn’t wait for an invitation. I adjusted my coat and followed.

If Silverfang was here, something was happening and it wouldn’t be good. 

By the time I stepped into the elder hall, the Silverfang envoys were already standing at the center, flanked by two of our guards. The elders sat in their high-backed chairs like they were royalty. Not a single one of them acknowledged me.

I walked in anyway with my shoulders back and my chin up. If they wanted me to feel small, they’d have to try harder.

“Ah, Princess Mia,” one of the elders said with mock politeness. “You’re just in time.”

“For what?” I asked, folding my arms.

One of the envoys at the center stepped forward. He looked older up close, probably in his early forties, with steel-grey eyes and a diplomatic calm that put me on edge.

“I am Damaris, one of the current Warriors” he said. “Sent by Alpha King Kaiden Silver to deliver a message... and a formal request.”

My eyes narrowed. “Request for what?”

“A union,” he said. “Between the Rogue Princess and the Alpha King.”

The words didn’t register at first. A union?

Then I laughed. “You’re joking.”

“No,” he replied. “The terms were agreed upon five years ago by your father, Varick Esbond. In writing.”

I stared in shock. What?