Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 35428 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 177(@200wpm)___ 142(@250wpm)___ 118(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35428 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 177(@200wpm)___ 142(@250wpm)___ 118(@300wpm)
“Yes, Father,” I say as I nod my head. “I will accept.”
Lucan spins on his heels and storms off. He shoves the doors open and disappears down the stairs.
“He’ll get over it eventually,” my father says, leaning on his desk. “I did.”
My stomach turns all quivery as the reality of what just happened sinks in. I’m going to be the next Wolf King. I’ll be in charge of everything.
I drop into the chair as my head spins.
“Are you okay, son?”
I swallow hard, my mind racing with terrible thoughts.
“Do you think I can do it, Father? Am I good enough?”
He lowers onto one knee in front of me, but he’s so large that his kind eyes are still level with mine. He takes my hand in his, swallowing it in his large palms.
“Like the Wolf Kings before you,” he says in a soft growly voice. “You will give your people everything you have. The crown will test you like nothing else. It will require you to become the best version of yourself. It will take everything you have to give without mercy, without restraint, without gratitude. Now, are you good enough for this insatiable responsibility? That, my son, will be entirely up to you.”
I swallow hard as I look at the crown sitting on his desk. It’s way too big for me, literally and metaphorically. I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to bear it.
“But Kieran,” he says, smiling softly. “When your time comes, I will be watching from Ulissa. And I will be rooting for you.”
I lunge onto him and wrap my arms around his solid muscular body, hugging him as tears run down my cheeks.
He exhales as he hugs me back, not as my king but as my father.
“Your mother would be so proud of you,” he whispers, and the tears come out harder. “Just as I am. You will make an excellent Wolf King.”
I lift my head, peeking over his shoulder at the giant crown that will one day rest on my head.
You will make an excellent Wolf King.
Gods, I hope he’s right.
Chapter One
Kieran
I’m grateful for the rain.
It hides my tears as I watch them lower my father’s body onto the wooden raft.
I don’t want my pack to see me crying. They need to see the next king standing strong. They need to see a secure future, not a grief-stricken boy who would trade his entire kingdom for one more hug from his father.
I stand tall, the traditional Wolf Prince cloak hanging from my shoulders, getting heavier with every drop of rain that falls. I fight back the tears and try to be the man my father was always certain I’d become.
I whisper my father's words spoken to me all those years ago. “The crown will require you to become the best version of yourself.”
I’m not there yet. I’m only twenty-six. I thought my father would rule for another two decades at least. I thought I’d have more time to get myself together, but tragedy struck. My father passed away peacefully, yet unexpectedly, in his sleep. It was his time, and now, ready or not, it’s my time to become every bit of the great Wolf King he knew I could be.
I’m not sure I’ve become that version of myself yet. I'm not sure I'm even close.
But I have three weeks before the full moon arrives and the crown is placed on my head, and I intend to spend every second until then preparing.
These people, my people, all of them stretched out into the horizon to watch and pay their respects as my father is sent to Ulissa, will need me to be everything I can be. I look amongst the endless gutted crowd—heads lowered, tears streaming down cheeks, women sobbing. My father was much loved amongst the Stormfur pack. I hope I can fill his big paws.
On my flanks, at the edge of the raging river, are nobles and mighty warriors, some of them traveled for days to be here. And on my right is my cousin Lucan. He puts a hand on my shoulder as the great torch is lit.
The high priest carries it over to me and offers it.
My whole body aches as I take it from him, wrapping my hand around the wooden torch, the fire warming the side of my face.
Every eye is on me, assessing their new king as I walk down to the raft where my father’s body lies amongst the dry kindling.
I take a deep breath as I see his familiar form wrapped in his royal cloak. Those big broad shoulders that carried me as a child, those strong arms that hugged me and made everything feel better, those powerful legs that made him stand so tall and made him seem so formidable. I never thought anything could take this giant of a wolf shifter down.