Queen Alpha (NYC Mecca #2)(43)

“Crap, that’s right. I’d forgotten she did that.”

Flickers of memory were coming back to me. I’d woken up with a massive hangover the next day and Selene had been the heir of honor for the rest of the festival; the Red Queen had refused to speak to me. I hadn’t thought about that for a year, but it was one of the many reasons I hated that redheaded harpy. She’d been a pain in my butt for too many years. I couldn’t believe she was the backup queen.

It took the masses of wolf shifters many minutes before they realized I walked among them. It was only as I started to send out waves of warm mecca energy that faces turned toward me. I took my time, smiling, waving, sharing the energy of our mecca with them all. Blaine and Monica remained on point, each to one side of me. The others were a little further back, which made it seem like I was almost without security. Which is what I wanted.

My shifters looked happy; their children ran and played with abandon. There were no bears on this side of the Island yet. That would come later.

“Greetings, Your Majesty.”

“Queen Arianna.”

“The Red Queen lives again.”

Shouts and choruses of words washed across the entire area. Then a boy of ten rushed over and grabbed my hand and silence descended throughout the tree-filled field. Faces drained of joy and I could feel urgency in the air. Everyone was waiting to see how I would deal with this child who had broken one of our golden rules and grabbed the queen without permission. I knew how the Red Queen would have dealt with him, but despite being from her line, I was happy to be nothing like her.

“Craig!” The frantic voice of a mother in distress reached me as she rushed forward. She fell to her knees beside her son, who was still clutching my hand. “I am so sorry, Your Majesty. He did not mean to break protocol.”

I glanced around the crowd once, before lowering my gaze to smile at the pair before me. I then surprised everyone by dropping to my knees so I could be on the same level as them. “You need not worry for your son,” I said. “I know the difference between harm and a happy little boy.” I then kissed both of them on the cheek, before pulling my hand back and getting to my feet.

“Go!” I shouted out to the crowd. “Go, have fun, and be merry. This is the summer festival, and we will know nothing but joy!”

Noises and laughter started again, and I felt the warmth and love that I had showered out being returned to me. A true leader knows that respect and love are not given freely. You must earn the respect and love of your people, and I was determined to be a queen worthy of both.





Chapter Ten


For just one moment, time stood still.


It was opening ceremony time. Calista had spent the last thirty minutes making sure I was versed in my duties. I was already perched on Finn’s back, his strength comforting as always. My hair and makeup had been touched up, dress adjusted, mecca crown now atop my head. I was a wolf shifter queen, dressed as a faerie queen, about to stand next to a bear king. This was like the start of a bad shifter joke.

I had no idea what Kade was dressed as, or if he would even honor the tradition by dressing up at all, but I couldn’t wait to see him. I stood off to the side of a recently erected stage, two throne chairs perched upon it. Not my mecca throne from back home, just one that was used during the summer festival. I could see the crowds out there waiting for us, a veritable sea of shifters spread out across a massive cleared hill in the center of the Island. Bear and wolf together … well, sort of. There was still a divide, but the mingling energy was strong. The mecca was loving the closeness of the five boroughs, and it danced with abandon beneath my skin. It was hard to tell under the glitter and body paint I wore, but my skin had a fine purple glow about it, which seemed to be happening more and more lately. The pull of mecca from the Otherworld to Earth might have slowed, but the imbalance remained, and it was clearly starting to affect those of us closest to the power.

An influence which should be over after tonight. I let my eyes linger on the bright beams of the full moon. It could just be seen in the setting sun. Our special fae ceremony, the one in the mecca room at the castle to call on the fae portal, would take place at midnight, the time of the fullest moon.

“Time for you to take your throne, Ari.” Violet leaned in and gently brushed her lips against my cheek, careful to not really touch me, for multiple reasons – my glittery makeup and her ability to read the essence of anyone she touched being two of the biggest. “If we lose each other during the night, I’ll meet you at the boat docks just before midnight. I won’t let you down.”

I blew her a kiss. “You’ve never let me down. Now go out and have fun. I’ll see you later.” I let my eyes linger on her costume. She was in Renaissance garb, of course, so it wasn’t really a costume, but she’d gone much more detailed than she usually wore. Tonight she was in a bright, vibrant pink, her hair elaborately up-styled with small ornaments woven into it. She had on some body paint that glowed against her white skin and hair. The glitter was sprinkling everywhere and mecca energy was oozing from her very pores. This was going to be one hell of a night, that was for sure.

When the music started Finn began to walk us into the massive crowd of thousands of gathered shifters. We were on Apple Hill, a breathtaking open field that was high enough to look out onto the ocean, almost directly in the center of the Island. Both bears and wolves were on this hill, and I was pleased to see a few talking to each other rather than standing with their own kind. At the base of the hill was a cherry tree grove, and beyond that grove a little empty cabin that few knew about. It was there that Kade and I had kissed over five years ago.