A Queen of Ruin (Deliciously Dark Fairytales Book 4) Read online

  A QUEEN OF RUIN

  K.F. BREENE

  Copyright © 2022 by K.F. Breene

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  CONTENTS

  Part I

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Part II

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Part III

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Epilogue

  Also by K.F. Breene

  About the Author

  PART 1

  ONE

  Hadriel

  What in the absolute fuck? I thought as silence descended on the after-battle crowd. The prince stood at the top of the steps in jeans and no shirt, in front of the castle, staring down at his mother, the queen.

  The fucking queen!

  How the hell was she alive?

  Well, obviously I knew how—she’d somehow escaped before the curse and hidden in the collection of dragon villages in the Flamma Kingdom, safely tucked away.

  I didn’t know her story, and already I wasn’t sure I could forgive her. She hadn’t aged. In all this time, she looked exactly the same as the last time I’d seen her in the castle. So did her chief lady-in-waiting. The magic affecting us had obviously impacted them, too, but they’d gotten the fun antiaging side effect without having to pay the price. She’d hung out in that cute little village while her people were slowly dying or being indoctrinated into some pretty fucking weird sexual kinks.

  Like…what the fuck?

  Had the king known? Probably not. He’d never been much of an actor, and he’d convinced Nyfain his mother was dead.

  It took Leala’s wide-eyed glance for me to realize I’d said that last bit out loud.

  Almost like he’d been slapped, the prince jerked. Soon after, his body bristled and he unleashed a thick wave of stinging power. It washed over me and threatened to pull me under its tide. My wolf curled up inside of me and did the equivalent of a whimper. The queen flinched, along with almost everyone else in the room. Not Finley, though. Her eyes blazed as she stood beside the ferocious dragon prince. She was the only person in the whole fucking world who liked to bathe in his dominating power, the nutcase.

  As if in response, a different sort of power suffused me. A calming magic full of steadfast strength, utterly unbreakable. It was a message of unity. Of pack. Of protection. Power in numbers.

  Weston, the alpha wolf, was responding to the dragon’s fury. This was why strong wolf shifters and dragon shifters never really got along. Dragons liked to swing their dicks or tits around, and wolves linked arms and said, “Come at me, fucker!” Too much ego all around.

  And now I was stuck right in the fucking middle of it, because my goddess-cursed wolf had connected with that alpha wolf and did not plan to let go. He wanted to join Weston’s pack. To belong. To bask in that sense of unity and try to muscle our strength to its full potential rather than remain a lone wolf curled up at the feet of dragons.

  And while I got where the fuzzy bastard was coming from, I needed him to understand that Finley created unity just like that alpha wolf did, only she didn’t have to use wolfsong to do it. My loyalty to her had been earned by her actions alone, no magic involved. She would protect us just the same or better. She’d let us flower within her care.

  He was not listening, the horrible cumgoblin.

  Within Weston’s magic, my wolf slowly uncoiled. Adrenaline seeped through my blood and my back straightened. For the first time ever, I didn’t have idle thoughts of shitting myself within the prince’s hostile golden stare.

  At least that was a nice change.

  “Please,” the queen said, a small quiver in her voice. “Give me a chance to speak with you.” She must have felt all the eyes on her, and a lesser woman would’ve looked around at the spectators. But she’d learned mastery of her emotions after living with the late king. She’d had to. She’d had to be the people’s rock within the storm.

  Right up until she left us.

  She lifted her chin. “Let me explain, and then I will respect your decision about my fate,” she continued in a strong, even voice.

  The prince clenched and unclenched his fists, his expression stony and his body straight and tall. Finley, though, let unease crease her expression. Her eyes darted between the prince and the queen, full of concern for one, anger for the other. The prince might not be showing his emotions, but she’d feel them through their bond. He probably didn’t want to hear his mother’s explanation for fear it would damn her, destroying his opinion of the woman who’d been everything to him. The woman he’d put above all the other people in his life.

  I took a deep breath, my heart breaking for him. For all of us. The king had been a horrible bastard. I didn’t know if I could handle it if it turned out the queen had been just as bad. It would tarnish all my good memories of this place. Because she was the one who’d made it livable.

  Fuck. I couldn’t believe this was happening!

  The prince’s nod was minimal before he looked away, not sparing her any more of his attention. It was a slight to her position, both as the crowned queen and as his mother. It must’ve killed him to do it.

  “I will send for you,” he said indifferently. He panned his gaze over the crowd gathered before him. “You’ve all fought and won a hard battle. Those of you joining us from outside my kingdom, welcome. I apologize that we don’t have more to offer you, but we will at least organize warm beds and offer you what food we have. Those of you who have returned after imprisonment in the demon kingdom, I will hear your stories, one and all. You will be avenged, that I promise. And lastly, those of you who rose up against the demons, congratulations! It was a battle well fought. You clinched our victory today. Be proud of yourselves. We’ve taken our kingdom back!”

  A cheer went up from the periphery of those gathered, those mediocre fuckers feeling the glow of our win.

  “Hadriel,” the prince said, wiping the smile off my face immediately. I hated when he zeroed in on me. “Get everyone settled. We’ll all take a rest to get our bearings, and then we have much to do. We’re still weak as a kingdom,
but I mean to rectify that issue as quickly as possible. After you get everyone settled, see me for a list of those I need to meet with and when.”

  Power rode the prince’s rapid-fire commands. My wolf thrashed within me, not wanting me to bend to the dragon. My wolf only wanted to recognize commands that came from his alpha.

  I grimaced, hesitating, not able to stop from glancing back at Weston. If this were a normal situation, he’d take grave offense to an outsider telling his pack wolf what to do. It would be seen as a challenge. Then again, the prince probably wouldn’t take kindly to Weston snagging the loyalty of his people. What a clusterfuck.

  I opened my mouth to speak, still not really sure what I planned to say, when understanding dawned in the prince’s eyes. His gaze turned hard as it flicked to Weston.

  “I can sever the connection at any time,” Weston said, his tone as hard as the look the prince was giving him. “His wolf doesn’t wish it. None of them do.”

  A wave of power washed over us again, the prince not liking what he’d just heard. My wolf clearly wasn’t the only one who’d responded to Weston. Other villagers had been drawn to him too. After such turbulent times, the feeling of safety and unity offered by a pack led by a powerful, balanced wolf alpha was beyond enticing.

  The prince and Weston stared at each other for a long beat, the dragon power pounding around us and the wolf power throbbing in our middles. Weston held steady. It felt like the two alphas were gearing up for an explosion, and we’d all be slammed in the process.

  That wasn’t what was tearing me apart, though.

  Finley was looking at me with sudden understanding. Sorrow lined her features.

  “Your wolf wants to join his pack, is that it?” she asked me quietly. Each word was like a nail hammered into my heart. I’d wanted to do this differently. I’d wanted to explain.

  Everyone waited quietly for me to answer.

  I nodded mutely. “I tried to resist, but I saw the queen fly overhead, freaked out a little, and accidentally let down my defenses. My wolf…took over.”

  A breath left her parted lips. She reached out and hooked her hand around Nyfain’s scarred forearm, seeking support.

  He shifted his attention to her.

  “We’ll talk about this later,” she told him, her gaze still on me. When she finally ripped it away, it came to rest on Weston. “We’ll need to talk this through. I want to better understand how wolf shifters work. But this isn’t the time. We have a lot of tired people that are due a rest. We need to get everything organized, as Nyfain said, and to do that, we need our people. All of them. Can you…release them or whatever you do for long enough for that to happen? It’ll help all of us in the long run. After that…we’ll figure out what happens next. Is that a good enough compromise?”

  Nyfain wrapped his arm around her waist possessively, hooking it on her hip. He didn’t comment, just watched Weston quietly. Despite being his mate, she wasn’t technically the princess yet, and in this kingdom the queen had never shared the full weight of the throne’s power. That was the way it had always been. It was clear the prince didn’t care, though. He clearly intended to treat her as his equal in all things, including leading his kingdom. He had always made way for Finley, respected her, even when he wanted to throttle her.

  If he wasn’t so fucking terrifying, I’d pat him on the back for being better than the king before him, even now, on the doorstep of hell. I’d praise him for putting his faith in Finley.

  You’re going to make me miss her rising to her mantle and being a kickass fucking queen, you gibbering fuck puppet, I thought-yelled at my animal, my heart still breaking. I don’t want to leave her. I don’t want to go with that alpha.

  Being with our own kind is what is best for us, and you know it, he replied. Our father was a beta. Our mother was just as powerful. There is more to you than a mediocre butler or a stable boy. We should be in a pack so we can pull out our true potential.

  I gritted my teeth, my eyes prickling with heat. I hated being torn in the middle—because he was both right and wrong. If we left, we’d be missing the opportunities she could give us. She’d always tested my mettle, and in the demon dungeons she’d trusted Leala and me to help in the best way we knew how. She’d worked with us to create a solid team that had gone on to save the fucking day. She had led, not Weston.

  “Yes, of course,” Weston said, cutting through my thoughts, and the tangling power of the two alphas subsided. “They want to stay connected to the pack, but I will step aside as alpha—as their commander—so you can see to your affairs. Please let me know how I can help.”

  Finley breathed out a smile. “Thanks. Get some rest. We’ll chat soon.”

  Weston visibly relaxed, as did the wolves around him.

  “We need to grab the faeries and the demons before any of the villagers find them,” Finley murmured to the prince, running her hand down his stomach.

  “The demons?” he growled.

  “Yes. A small group of demons helped us get out of the dungeon. They want to overthrow their ruling party and are offering us inside information so we can help them do it. I’ll explain everything, but first we need to secure them before someone gets the wrong idea and kills them.”

  He nodded, looking out at the members of his court she’d returned from the dungeon. “Take a team of dragons,” he told her. “I’ll work on getting everyone settled here. See me when you get back. We haven’t finished imprinting.”

  She shivered, her eyes going starry for a moment.

  “Okay,” she said in a breathy whisper before she seemed to get a hold of herself. “But also…” She turned and pointed at Weston. “Wolves are better on the ground. Can you spare me an escort, Weston?”

  The prince stiffened momentarily. Finley didn’t know how things were done here. All official business was typically handled by the court, and positions of power had always been held by dragons.

  Finley was breaking protocol by asking for Weston’s help, even for something as simple as guard duty. She was essentially asking a wolf to do a dragon’s job, or at least that was how it would be perceived.

  But the prince didn’t correct her. He didn’t call her down, like the mad king certainly would’ve. He was allowing her to make the faux pas without comment to ensure she saved face in front of their subjects. And honestly…he probably realized Finley was right. Wolves were better on the ground. It made sense to bring them to help, especially since any problems would come from the villagers who were ground-bound shifters.

  Weston glanced at the prince, obviously wondering if the dragon alpha would have a problem, before stepping forward. “Of course.”

  “Great,” Finley said. “Tamara, grab a couple of people, and let’s go.”

  Tamara didn’t move. She looked at the queen, technically her commander, waiting for the go-ahead.

  Fear gripped me. How would this go for Finley? Would anyone support a commoner when they had the real thing back in the flesh?

  I should’ve known the prince wouldn’t stand for that.

  “Until we know how she escaped the curse,” he barked, looking over his mother’s head, “my mother will not retain any power. And as most of you are aware, queens are not afforded the capacity to independently rule. With my father gone, the crown and its duties have passed to me. I am its steward until the coronation. Finley, as my mate, is acting princess, soon to be crowned queen. At such a time, I will amend the laws to give her equal power and authority, and to grant any female offspring the same rights to the crown as their male counterparts. You will treat any command given by Finley with the same weight as you would if it came from me. You will not obey any commands by the former queen until I say otherwise.”

  His words blasted through the day, and if the queen felt their power, she gave no sign. She stood up straight, her expression stoic, seemingly undaunted by his sentiments. I’d never seen her so cool to him in my life. Her chief lady-in-waiting, however, standing behind her, scowled li
ke a motherfucker. I did not forget that she’d also escaped the curse. The two of them had gotten out in the nick of time. And then, because of the queen’s supposed death, the prince had been trapped in the kingdom.

  I noticed a slight tremor in the prince’s hand as he reached for Finley’s cheek and ran a thumb along her jaw.

  “Hurry back,” he told her softly before giving her a lingering kiss. “We have many things to discuss, and we will do so…after we’ve exhausted our efforts with the imprinting.”

  Her gaze turned eager as he glanced at me and then turned away, heading back into the castle. Finley gasped, reaching for him, and I saw what she was responding to.

  The prince’s back, scarred and covered in tattoos, had two strips of gleaming golden scales carved down each side. Hours ago, they’d been nothing but scars. Neither strip was complete, however—there were patches that showed only old scar tissue. It was like someone had scratched away sections. He hadn’t completely healed with the release of the curse. The other scarring on his body hadn’t gone away at all.

  He shivered as she traced parts of the mended scales.

  He turned back to her, his eyes intense. “I thought they felt different but…other matters stole my focus.”