The Hidden Alpha Queen | Read Free Preview
Read chapters 1–3 of The Hidden Alpha Queen free. Unlock the full ebook when you are ready to keep going.
Chapter 1
Pacifica’s POV
Positive.
I froze.
It couldn’t be. This was nonsense. Something so absurd and impossible.
I jerked upright on the medical bed, staring face-to-face with Mikhail, the second royal physician — a quiet, sharp-eyed man in his late thirties who had attended to me since I first arrived in the Dragon Kingdom. One of the most very few i will trust with my body in this very kingdom.
He bowed deeply, but I caught the unmistakable curl of excitement at the corner of his lips.
“My Princess,” he said, voice warm with congratulations, “you are carrying Lord Flames’ pup.”
Upon hearing this, my heart slammed against my ribs. For several long seconds, I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe.
A pregnancy. After seven long, lonely years of this cold marriage… on the very night the Dragon Kingdom had been plunged into mourning. The great Dragon Lord, Flames’ father and the formidable ruler who had conquered and enslaved so many, had died overnight from a cause no one could yet explain.
“Are you… sure, Mikhail?” My voice came out barely above a whisper, my eyes wide. “I only fainted after hearing about my father-in-law’s death. Perhaps the shock—”
Mikhail met my gaze with a gentle but certain smile. “The shock played its part, my Princess. But the true reason you collapsed is the pup. Congratulations once again.”
The room spun slowly. A dark day of death had somehow birthed new life. Fragile, terrifying hope bloomed in my chest like the first light after endless winter.
Tonight, I would tell Flames. On the day he lost his father, I would give him a child. Surely this would change everything. Surely the man I had loved so desperately for seven years would finally look at me with warmth.
I rose quickly, gathering the folds of my gown.
“No one else must know about this Mikhail.” I told him as I head out. “ I will tell my husband myself.”
In the hallway, Nyx Lune — my personal maid and closest companion since childhood, a loyal werewolf with sharp features and an even sharper tongue — was pacing anxiously, her cheeks streaked with tears. Beside her stood Yazi, my personal driver, a stoic man who rarely spoke but always watched over me like a silent guardian.
The moment Nyx saw me, she rushed forward and pulled me into a tight hug, forgetting all protocol before pulling back.
“I was so worried about you, my lady. Are you alright? What did the physician say happened? What is—”
“I am fine,” I said softly, gently cutting her off.
She immediately fell silent, a slight shiver running through her as though she feared she had spoken too much. I gave her a moment to steady herself before my gaze wandered around the room. None of the dragon royals were there. Not one of them had come to see me after I collapsed.
Bitterness coated my tongue, but I swallowed it down.
So this was truly how little I meant to them. Not even the princess who had crossed kingdoms and spent seven years as their prince’s wife deserved a visit. Still… somewhere deep inside me, I had hoped they would at least pretend to care.
“My husband…” I murmured after finding my voice again. “Where is Flames?”
“He left shortly after you were brought here, my lady,” Yazi answered carefully.
Nyx sighed quietly before adding, her irritation barely concealed, “I went to tell him you had passed out, but he didn’t even stay. He went straight to his office at the Shai Suites.”
My chest tightened painfully at her words, but I forced myself to nod.
I had to tell him about the pregnancy.
Perhaps… maybe after hearing the news, he would finally see me as the wife I had tried so hard to be for the past seven years.
“My lady, where are you heading?” Nyx quickly followed after me as I head towards the exit.
Without looking back, I spoke to Yazi over my shoulder.
“Bring the car around. I’m going to the Shai Suites.”
“Yes, my lady.”
He immediately turned to obey while I continued toward the exit, my heart heavy with fear, hope, and the desperate longing to finally matter to the man I loved.
The ride through the mourning Dragon Kingdom was deathly silent. My heart kept swelling with desperate, foolish hope. Maybe this child would be the key that finally unlocked Flames’ heart. Maybe he would finally see me as more than the werewolf princess forced upon him by his father’s decree.
When we arrived at Shai Suites, I ignored the stairs and took the elevator instead. My heart unable to thudding at what lay ahead.
Laughter greeted me before I reached the door. Flames’ laughter — deep, rich, and carefree. The kind he has never given me. Then came a woman’s voice, soft and intimate.
I froze, hand hovering over the doorknob.
“Please, Flames… you promised. Now that your father is dead, you’ll make me your queen, won’t you?”
Flames chuckled, low and amused.
“Of course. I’ve waited long enough. I only married that dense princess from the werewolf kingdom because my father forced me to. The old man’s decree is finally gone.”
Cold dread sank deep into my bones and I totally went still.
“But you slept with her for seven years,” Sheila Veyra — his childhood sweetheart, a beautiful and ambitious dragoness with sharp eyes and sharper ambition — said bitterly. I know her from the rumors. So it was all true? “You even pretended to love her.”
“I did what I had to do,” Flames replied, voice calm and cruel. “Penetrating the Werewolf Kingdom was never going to be easy. I had to gain their trust… even if it meant setting the trap that killed the Luna Queen and then playing hero by ‘saving’ Pacifica. It worked perfectly. The Alpha King practically handed her to me.”
My knees nearly buckled. The hallway tilted.
“Pacifica was only ever a tool, Sheila. A bridge to the werewolf throne. Once I control their kingdom, I’ll dispose of her. You are the one I’ve always wanted. You will be my queen.”
The world fractured around me.
I stood there in the dimly lit hallway, one hand pressed tightly over my stomach where our child grew, silent tears burning hot trails down my cheeks. Every gentle touch, every soft word, every night I had given myself to him — it had all been calculated. Every smile. Every kiss.
I had loved him with my entire soul.
And he had only ever seen me as a pawn.
Chapter 2
Pacifica’s POV
Going back to the Dragon Kingdom felt like stepping into my own execution.
Yet here I was, standing before the grand door of our matrimonial quarters — the only place in this cold empire that had ever felt remotely like home.
The conversation I had overheard at Shai Suites still sat in my chest like a stone, heavy and suffocating.
Ignoring Nyx’s gaze behind me, I pushed the door open and stepped in. A familiar breeze greeted me, carrying memories I no longer wanted.
I was only four when I first learned that the Dragon Lord had subjugated the Fox Kingdom and turned the once-proud vampires into slaves. My father, Alpha King Vortigan, strengthened the Werewolf Kingdom’s defenses while my mother, Luna Queen Josephine, stood as his unwavering mate and pillar of strength.
The dragons never attacked outright — until I turned seven.
That day, the old Dragon King visited my father to ask for my hand in marriage to his son, Flames Shai. My mother refused immediately. My father always listened to her. The Dragon King left without another word only for him to returned after the tragedy.
I had accompanied my mother to a meeting. On our way home, our carriage was set ablaze. I remembered the heat, the screams, the terror. Then strong arms pulled me from the flames. When I opened my eyes, Flames Shai — the tall, hazel-eyed heir to the Dragon throne — was holding me. In that moment, the mate bond snapped into place. I was fated to him.
My mother, the Luna Queen, died in that fire. My father never recovered. He blamed me for her death and called me bad luck. When the Dragon King returned with the same proposal, my father gave me away without hesitation and for the next ten years I grew up as Flames’ promised bride.
At seventeen, my bride price was paid in full, and I was sent here. For seven years I had loved him with everything I possessed. He had received me with a bright smile. He allowed me to run our home. I warmed his bed. I gave him every piece of my heart.
And now i realized it had all been a calculated lie.
My knees buckled. I collapsed into the wooden chair, heart slamming against my ribs as overwhelming heartbreak consumed me.
The man I loved had murdered my mother just to get closer to me. He had used me as a tool to infiltrate my father’s kingdom. And now I carried his child while he planned to crown another woman as queen.
Silent tears slipped down my cheeks, scalding hot. According to the Dragon royals and everyone else, I was nothing but a foolish, lovesick wife.
Perhaps they were right.
Who could be more pathetic than a woman who had spent years loving a man who only saw her as a disposable pawn?
***
The next morning, bright sunlight streamed through the parted curtains when I heard familiar footsteps approaching.
Even before the door opened, I knew it was him.
Flames Shai stepped inside — tall, powerfully built, with an aura of dominance that made most people want to bow. His hazel eyes, the same ones I had fallen in love with years ago, now only brought me pain.
“You stayed up all night?” His husky voice filled the room.
I couldn’t bring myself to answer.
He studied me quietly, then frowned. Walking closer, he tilted my chin up with his finger, forcing me to meet his gaze, then his eyes widen in surprise.
“You’ve been crying?”
Before I could respond, he leaned down and kissed me — soft and almost tender. Then he straightened and headed toward the bedroom.
“You should stop mourning my father,” he said casually. “He lived a full life. He definitely gave no regret. Now we prepare for the coronation—”
“Where were you last night?” The question escaped before I could stop it.
Flames paused mid-step. Slowly, he turned around. The air between us grew thick and cold.
“I was in meetings with the elders,” he replied smoothly. “Discussing the coronation. It ran late.”
I stared at him, heart pounding, stunned at how easy the false words rolls out from his tongue.
“Are you sure it was with the elders… and not a woman?”
Something dangerous flickered in his eyes immediately I sad that. For what seem like an eternity his hazel eyes settled on mine and I swayed a response with determined curiosity but before he could answer, a knock sounded at the door.
“Flames?” came the sharp voice of Queen Mother Drusilla, his mother.
Flames stared at me a moment longer, jaw tight, then turned and walked out, slamming the door behind him.
Seconds later, I heard the fading footsteps of him and his mother disappear down the hallway while I remained rooted in place, struggling to gather my scattered thoughts and understand what had just happened.
He reacted the moment I mentioned another woman.
Which meant he had lied.
He had not been with the elders.
The realization struck me so hard my chest tightened painfully.
Flames was cheating on me.
My fingers trembled as I spun toward the door and yanked it open, rushing after him without a second thought. But just as I stepped into the hallway, a sharp whisper suddenly reached my ears.
“You think the Alpha King will simply sit by while you demote his daughter to a consort and crown your childhood lover as Queen?” Queen Mother Drusilla hissed.
“The Alpha King never cared about Pacifica,” Flames replied coldly. “Which sane father gives his daughter to a man who doesn’t love her? As for her twin brother, Prince Paladin… if he causes trouble, he won’t leave this kingdom alive. With both him and the Alpha King gone, I will rule the werewolf kingdom through Pacifica. She loves me too much to resist. That dense woman will do whatever I want.”
I stood frozen in the hallway, one hand pressed over my mouth, the other instinctively cradling my stomach.
Everything I thought I knew about my life, my marriage, and my worth had been built on cruel, calculated lies.
And now, the man I once loved planned to destroy what little I had left.
Chapter 3
Pacifica’s POV
I watched the sun rise this morning. Now I watched it set, bleeding across the sky like an open wound.
A cold, unshakable determination had settled in my chest — one that wasn’t there when the day began. After overhearing Flames’ cruel confession, I had made my decision.
I would ask for a divorce.
The distant thunder of sacred drums rolled across the Dragon Kingdom as the royal attendants prepared to send the old Dragon Lord to his final rest.
Quietly, I rose from the chair I had occupied the entire day and walked toward the window, stopping there as I stared into the distance.
Silence descended over the entire kingdom the moment the thunderous drum echoed once through the air.
A cold chill crawled down my spine, but it was not because of the sacred rite.
It was because of the man standing solemnly in the quiet garden below, his crimson eyes fixed on the empty space before him.
A vampire.
He had served the Dragon King from the very moment Flames’ father ascended the throne — a cruel tradition that had never sat well with me.
Centuries ago, when history was first written, vampires were said to be the most prosperous and powerful race across the Four Kingdoms. Falcon Farrow, the first Vampire King, had given his people everything they needed before breathing his last. He sacrificed not only his life but also the woman he loved to ensure his kingdom would thrive long after him.
Yet all his sacrifices had turned to ashes the day the dragons invaded the Vampire Kingdom under the guise of a friendly alliance.
They enslaved them all.
Since then, it became tradition that every Dragon King would be gifted an able-bodied vampire servant — a living tribute bound to serve until the dragon ruler’s death. And because vampires were immortal, when a Dragon King died, his vampire servant would be buried alive alongside him.
That was why dread coiled tightly inside me.
Because I knew the silent guard standing below would soon be buried alive with Flames’ father. And once Flames ascended the throne, another vampire would be handed over to serve him next.
The thought made my stomach twist.
After last night… and after this morning… I had finally made my decision.
I would no longer be part of this kingdom.
For years, I believed the Dragon Kingdom had spared the Werewolf Kingdom because of the oath forged through my marriage to Flames. But now, I finally understood the truth.
Flames Shai had never wanted peace.
He only married me so he could claim my homeland… and destroy my family.
Before he succeeded, I would return home, tell my father everything, and demand a divorce.
Flames had mentioned Paladin — my twin brother — and while he was wrong about many things, there was one truth he had unknowingly spoken.
Paladin and I loved each other beyond words and my twin brother would storm here if he heard I have been disrespected.
But what Flames did not know, what no one in this kingdom knew, was that Paladin could never appear as they expected, nor was he capable of ruling the Werewolf Kingdom after my father.
Because the one who had secretly acted as the next Alpha King all these years, the one whispered about across kingdoms as fierce in battle, devastatingly handsome, and the true heir of the werewolves—
was me.
⸻
The massive gates parted the moment I stood before them, as though the kingdom itself recognized its hidden heir. The wind here felt different — wilder, freer. The proud banner of our pack flew high, the sigil of a magnificent alpha captured mid-howl staring back at me.
I moved through the large pack grounds, ignoring the curious stares and whispers, and headed straight for the royal quarters.
“Why are you here?”
The cold voice stopped me cold.
I would recognize my father’s voice anywhere.
Alpha King Vortigan — a towering, broad-shouldered man with steel-gray eyes and an aura that commanded fear and respect — stood behind me. His presence still sent a familiar chill down my spine.
“I told you never to come back here,” he said harshly. “So why have you returned?”
I slowly turned to face him. Nothing had changed. The disgust in his eyes was the same as it had been for years.
I had sinned against him the moment I was born.
After years of waiting for an heir, my mother, Luna Queen Josephine, finally gave birth to twins — Prince Paladin Imperial and me, Pacifica Roselynn. But my brother was born with a devastating curse: leprosy. My father immediately blamed me for not taking the affliction instead. He ordered a small circle of trusted people to keep the truth hidden.
While Paladin was kept in intense secret care, I was forced to live a dual life. By day I trained as the fierce prince — combat, leadership, strategy. By night I learned to be the quiet, delicate princess. When the kingdom needed its prince to appear, I wore my brother’s clothes and played the role perfectly. When they needed the weak princess, I became the quiet, demure girl everyone pitied.
No one knew the “dense, useless princess” could slit a throat without blinking.
“The old Dragon King is dead, Father,” I said quietly.
“And that is not enough reason for you to be here.”
“Flames is planning to take our kingdom.”
My father’s jaw tightened. He took a step closer, each movement making my heart sink further.
“I gave you to him seven years ago as a peace offering,” he said coldly. “Stay as his consort. Endure. That is how you will finally serve a purpose and bring good fortune to this family for the first time in your worthless life.”
His words landed like blows.
He had known. He had always known.
Tears burned my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. The father who was supposed to protect me had sold me to a monster and expected me to remain a willing sacrifice.
I stood there, the hidden Prince and the discarded Princess, realizing I was truly alone.
Finished the preview?
Unlock the full ebook now and continue the story right away. Get instant access after purchase — no shipping, no waiting. Delivered as PDF and EPUB for reading on phone, tablet, or desktop.