Chapter 4_You put on my Queen's crown

~~Isolde~~

Riven stood in the doorway of his own bedroom, covered in blood, breathing hard, sword still glowing blue in his hand, and he was staring at me like he had never seen me before.

Or like he was seeing me for the first time as I really was.

I was sitting on his bed. His huge bed made of black furs. Wearing his cape that was three sizes too big. My silver hair down, no hood, glowing faintly. And on my head, a crown. A small, delicate crown made of moonlight and blue diamonds that I had found in a silver box on his nightstand.

A crown that fit perfectly. Like it was made for me.

The white wolf that had been guarding me was now sitting next to Riven, looking up at him like: I tried to stop her, but she looked sad, so I let her.

"Isolde," Riven said again, voice low, rough, like he had been roaring for hours. Which he had. Fighting. "What have you done?"

"I found it," I said, quickly taking the crown off. "It was in a box. It said 'For Isolde.' I thought—"

"You thought what?" He stepped into the room, kicked the door shut behind him with his foot, locked it with magic without even looking. "That you could just put on the crown of the last Moon Queen? A crown that has killed three wolves who tried to touch it?"

It killed three wolves?

I looked down at the crown in my hands. It was still warm. It wasn't burning me. It liked me.

"It didn't kill me," I whispered.

"No," he said. "It didn't."

He walked closer. Slowly. Like a predator. His boots left bloody footprints on his black stone floor, but he didn't care. His eyes were fixed on me. On the crown. On my hair.

He stopped right in front of me. I had to crane my neck to look up at him. He smelled like blood and snow and battle. And underneath, that pine scent that was just him.

"Do you know what that crown is?" he asked.

"The Forbidden Queen's crown?"

"The crown of Lunaria Nocturne. My great-great-grandmother. The last true Moon Priestess. The only Queen who could command both wolves—light and dark. She died protecting this castle. Her crown was thought lost. My father searched for it for twenty years. My grandfather died looking for it."

And I found it on his nightstand.

"Why was it on your nightstand?" I asked.

He was quiet. Then he reached out, took the crown from my hands. His fingers brushed mine. Sparks. Literally. Blue sparks, like tiny lightning, where we touched.

He hissed, but didn't pull away.

"I found it three days ago," he said. "In the old crypt. Beneath the temple. It was in a box that said 'For Isolde.' I thought it was a joke. A trap. I brought it to my room to study it. I was going to destroy it."

"Why didn't you?"

"Because," he said, looking down at the crown, then at me, "every time I tried to throw it away, my wolves brought it back. White would carry it in his mouth and drop it on my bed. Grey would sit on it and growl if I came close."

His wolves wanted me to have it.

"Isolde," he said, and his voice was softer now. Tired. He sat down on the bed next to me. The bed dipped under his weight. Close. Too close. Our thighs touching. "Do you know what it means that it didn't kill you?"

I shook my head.

"It means the bloodline accepted you. The crown chose you. The Goddess chose you."

He lifted the crown again, looked at it, then at me.

"May I?"

May he what?

"May I put it on you? Properly?"

My heart hammered. This was... this was like a proposal in wolf culture, wasn't it? Crowning? I had heard stories. When a Moon King crowns his Queen, it is forever. No divorce. No escape. Mated for life.

"I... I don't know," I said. Honest. "We just met. You tried to kill me. Now you want to crown me?"

"I never tried to kill you," he said, frowning. "I came to judge you. There is a difference."

"Very small difference when the judge has a sword!"

He almost laughed. Almost. "Fair."

He held the crown over my head, not putting it on yet. Asking with his eyes.

"Isolde Nocturne," he whispered. "If I crown you, you will be Queen of all wolves. You will be mine. And I will be yours. No other wolf will ever touch you. No other King will ever claim you. You will live in this castle. Sleep in this bed. And I will burn the world before I let anyone hurt you. Do you understand?"

Possessive. Intense. Terrifying. And... something else. Something that made my stomach flip.

"What if I say no?" I asked, voice tiny.

"Then I will take the crown, put it back in its box, lock it in the crypt, and you will sleep in the guest room and I will still protect you because you are my mate and I cannot do otherwise."

Guest room? He had a guest room? He brought me to his bedroom and he had a guest room all along?

"You jerk!" I said, hitting his arm. It was like hitting stone. "You have a guest room!"

"It has no moonsteel walls," he said, as if that was a perfectly logical reason to bring a girl you just met to your bed.

I stared at him. He stared at me. The crown hovered between us, glowing.

Outside, the battle sounds had stopped. The Northern Pack must have retreated. Or been killed.

It was just us. In his bedroom. With a crown.

"Put it on," I whispered, before I could change my mind. "If it wants me, put it on."

His eyes darkened. He carefully, slowly, placed the crown on my head.

The moment it touched my silver hair, light exploded.

Not blue this time. Silver. Bright silver, like a thousand moons.

I gasped. My back arched. The mark on my forehead burned bright.

Riven caught me, his arms around me, holding me as power surged through me.

Visions. Fast. A woman with silver hair like mine, fighting wolves. A castle burning. A baby with silver hair being hidden in a village. A boy with silver hair dreaming of silver hair.

And then... a future. Me. On a throne next to Riven. Wearing the crown. Pregnant. His hand on my belly. Both wolves at our feet. And behind us, a shadow with red eyes, coming.

I screamed.

The light vanished.

I was shaking, in Riven's arms, crown still on my head, perfectly in place.

He held me tight. Too tight. Like he was afraid I would disappear.

"What did you see?" he demanded.

"I... I saw..." I couldn't speak. Pregnant? Me? With his child?

His hand, without thinking, went to my belly. Flat now. But his eyes... his eyes knew.

"Isolde," he said, voice hoarse. "What did you see?"

I pushed him away, gently. Stood up. The crown felt heavy now. Real.

"I saw the future," I said. "And I saw something coming. Something with red eyes. Something that wants me dead even more than the Northern Pack."

Riven stood too. Towering. He touched the crown on my head, adjusting it. Possessive.

"Then it will have to go through me," he said simply.

He leaned down. His forehead touched mine, crown to crown—he wasn't wearing a crown, but his silver hair brushed my silver hair.

"My Queen," he whispered.

And for the first time, I didn't correct him.

Because somewhere deep down, a part of me that I didn't know existed whispered back: My King.

The door banged. Loud. Urgent.

"My King! My King! The prisoner! The Northern Pack Alpha! He says he knows who Isolde's father is!"

My father? I don't have a father. My father died.

Riven's arms tightened around me.

"Tell him," Riven said to the door, not looking away from me, "that if he lies about my Queen's bloodline, I will rip his tongue out."

The guard swallowed. "He says... he says her father is not human. He says her father is... the God of Shadows."

The God of Shadows. The enemy of the Moon Goddess. The one who was supposed to be locked away.

The crown on my head turned cold.

TO BE CONTINUED...