Page 60 of Forgotten Queen

Someone grabbed my wrist.

I spun, ready to jerk out of their grip, but it was just Daphne.

“You look like you could use a drink,” she said with a grin.

I glanced at Cole. He dipped his head in answer. It wasn’t that I was seeking permission, but I felt a little bad for abandoning him.

Not bad enough to decline, though.

The crowd was overwhelming. Cole was better suited to handle all of that. Daphne cleared a path for us across the ballroom. Unlike when I was with Cole, people didn’t feel compelled to move out of my way. On the contrary, several courtiers kept stopping us on the way over. The compliments fell like smooth wine off their tongues, but they were meaningless. Everyone was judging me. Was I enough?

But enough for what?I wanted to ask as yet another tight-faced citizen gave me the same polite speech that only covered the most surface-level topics. How was I enjoying the kingdom? Did I care for the weather? What was my preferred type of stallion to ride?

Disentangling myself from conversation after conversation had me craving the wine Daphne set in my hand when we finally reached the refreshments table.

“Let’s go over there.” I tilted my glass towards a less occupied corner of the room. “I need a break from all the staring and small talk.”

Daphne snorted. “We’ll need to hide you in a closet or something for that because they’re nowhere near done with you.”

She was right, but I hoped with another glass or two of wine I might forget it.

“This is even better than the mating ceremony,” she said, her eyes sparkling as she surveyed the crowd.

“Definitely,” I agreed. I knew what she meant. The mating ceremony was the biggest event every year, even more so on a wolf’s first year attending. Shifters in Moon-Ghost customarily dressed up like it was prom, wearing dresses and suits, picked out months in advance. You could meet your mate any year, but the first time going you had the biggest chance. Most looked forward to it for years, with parents going all out taking pictures and friends riding together.

But for me, the mating ceremony had never been anything but a beacon of freedom. For years, I’d hoped I’d find my mate and be set free of my pack.

In a way, that had come to pass.

“Sabine would lose her shit if she saw you wearing that necklace. She was so proud of that eighteen-karat necklace Jett gave her to wear to the ceremony. She bragged about it for weeks, remember?”

She’d been wearing that same golden necklace when she’d torn my intestines out, but there was no point mentioning it. Instead, I grinned at my friend, relishing how Sabine would lose her mind with jealousy. Although Daphne was the daughter of the pack Beta, Sabine had always styled herself as the pack princess and future Alpha female.

Yet now, I saw just how small the world we’d inhabited had been. There were no parties like this, no magic, nothing but dickish Alphas in power who liked to lord it over the others.

I survived her. The thought made me stand straighter.

“Who’s that?” I asked, discreetly following Daphne’s gaze. She kept stealing looks at one of the guards.

She blushed. “Hector. He’s a guard I’ve run into a few times.”

“Oh?” I knew my friend had been entertaining different males in her free time, but none had rated a name before.

“He’s funny. You should meet him.”

I smiled. “Some other time. Right now, it looks like he’s dying to dance with you. You should go over there.”

She glanced across the room and then back at me again. “You sure? I don’t want to abandon you.”

“I can fend for myself for a little while. Besides, I think I’m going to get some air anyway.”

Needing no further encouragement, Daphne set off to her new beau and I went the other way to find a place that wasn’t swarming with people.

The balcony I came across was blessedly empty. It wasn’t large, which was probably why, maybe five feet across. It faced towards the back of the castle. In the distance was the wall that encircled the capital. I cast my gaze upward, thinking about the stars back home. In Hell, there were no stars. No sun. Just a lightening and darkening of the red sky throughout the day to signal the passage of time.

“Enjoying the view?”

Chapter XXX

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