The Bloodied King's Mate

There are four main races that shaped everything: vampires, werewolves, witches, and humans. Each one has its own lands, its own rules, and they all keep a close, careful eye on each other.

The vampires rule a place called Valtherion. Their whole society is built around blood and who has the purest. At the top are the Primordials, called the Bloodied. They weren't turned, they were born that way.

Their blood is perfect, their power is almost godlike. They can walk in sunlight, control parts of nature, and what they say goes.

Below them are the True Blooded, the fancy noble families that came from the Primordials. They run the courts and cities. Then come the Turned, regular humans who got bitten and changed, stuck serving whoever made them. Half-Bloods are kids from mixed unions, stronger than people but never fully welcome among vampires.

At the bottom are the Feral, the ones who lost control to the hunger. Everyone hunts them down.

In Valtherion, magic is the worst thing possible. If they smell even a hint of witchcraft, it's death. No questions asked. That's the law, and they enforce it hard.

Up north is Raelthorn, the werewolf kingdom. It's split between three big packs. The Lunaria Pack lives in the snowy mountains and they're known for staying disciplined and sticking together. The Ashenfang Pack rules the thick forests and they're proud and fierce. The Bloodvale Pack wanders the southern plains and they're the ones you don't want to fight. Different lands, but they're all tied by the same old moon laws and connections.

Humans are everywhere else. Their kingdoms come and go with time. They build towns, trade goods, and fight their own wars. But deep down, they all fear the things that come out at night, the stuff they can't control.

And then there's Elaris, the lost kingdom of the witches. Most people think the vampires wiped it off the map long ago. Some whisper the witches are still out there, hiding, blending in, waiting until everyone forgets about them. Being a witch anywhere means death. So the ones who survived hide it, even from family.

The whole world is divided up like this, held together by blood, old rules, and a lot of mistrust. Everyone has their place. Everything has its order.

But that order never lasts forever when fate decides to step in.

I'm Danika Morren, the oldest daughter of Beta Kolls from the Lunaria Pack. I was supposed to be somebody in the pack, but instead they turned me into a maid. Scrubbing floors, fetching things, taking orders from people who used to call me family. None of this big world stuff was supposed to touch me.

Until it did.

⚠️ Warning: This story contains dark fantasy themes, explicit sexual content, violence, and morally gray characters. It is written raw and unfiltered, exactly as intended. Reader discretion advised.

“Danika!”

Liora screamed my name as if I were not even in the house. I was still at the sink, scrubbing the last of the dishes after the long day the visitors had finally left.

Liora was to marry King Kael soon, and every corner of the house had been chaos. Preparations were everywhere, and somehow, every task found its way to me. The other maids managed to rest sometimes, but I was called for everything.

“Danika, if I get you there, you better pray to the Moon Goddess for your safety this afternoon!”

I dropped everything, washed my hands, and ran as if my life depended on it, only to stumble straight into her in the hallway.

She did not let me speak.

Twack!

The sound snapped through the corridor, whipping my head to the side.

“How dare you ignore me? Do you have a death wish?” Liora spat.

I dropped low to the floor instantly. “I apologize, Liora. I was...”

“You have no excuse!” She pointed her long nails at my face, her eyes burning with irritation. Then she paused. “I will not waste my energy on you today. Where is the dress I asked for?”

I lifted my head just barely. “I took it to your dresser.”

But if that was why she slapped me, I prayed to the gods to keep me from cursing her out, at least in my mind.

“Oh. Already?”

She did not bother to check. The hallway door opened and Lyra, her twin sister, stepped out wearing the exact same dress.

Liora’s face darkened instantly.

“Do not tell me it is exactly what I am thinking,” she hissed before storming into her room.

I started praying in my mind. I begged the gods to help me in this situation and not to let it be what I thought it was.

“Danika.”

Her voice sliced through the air before she rushed back out and pounced on me.

She would never lay a hand on her sister. She never would. I was the one who would get blamed for everything.

There were more kicks and more slaps. They were werewolves, so every hit hurt twice as much. My body throbbed, pain pulsing through me as I whimpered low under my breath.

Then a voice came, cold. It was not to save me, but to stop the noise. It was Fyina, their mother.

“Danika. Come.”

She turned and walked away without a second glance.

I hated how they treated me like something less than human.

I forced myself up and followed her, limping down the hall while Liora and Lyra shouted behind me, still tugging at the ruined dress. The Beta’s house was chaos, a disgrace to his name. And yet, no one dared say a thing.

When I stepped into Beta Kolls’s office, the air was still. My father sat behind his desk, the faint scent of parchment and old wood heavy in the air. Without a word, he slid a wrapped bundle across the table toward me. It looked like a dagger, thin and long, wrapped in a piece of dark cloth.

“Alpha Dan requests you bring this to him,” he said, his eyes fixed on the scroll in front of him.

My heart stopped. It was not because of the dagger, but because he, Alpha Dan, had asked for me. He was the same Alpha who always looked at me with that glint in his eye. The one who once leaned close and whispered, ‘One day, I will have you to myself.’ And he nearly had. Not long ago, in this very house, in a dim hallway where no one could see.

“Danika!” My father’s voice cut through my thoughts.

I blinked. “Is it safe to say I would not do this, Father?”

He lifted his head, finally meeting my eyes. “Why?”

“Because…” My voice broke. I could not say it. Accusing an Alpha was punishable by death, and the odds were never in my favor.

Silently, he folded his hands. “You must obey the Alpha, Danika. Whatever happens beyond that is no longer in my power.”

My stomach twisted, but I stepped forward and took the bundle. I was right. It was a dagger.

“Be careful with that,” he said quietly. “Do not give it to anyone. Do not misplace it. That dagger is dangerous in powerful hands. Though,” his gaze hardened, “I doubt it would work with you, since you are human. Which is probably why he asked for you to bring it yourself.”

He did not know the real reason.

But I did.

.

.

I arrived at the Alpha’s house.

The guards let me in without a search. As I entered, I watched the servants working in the packhouse. I stopped one and asked quietly, “Please, where can I find the Alpha?”

The servant looked me over, probably wondering why someone dressed so plainly would ask for the Alpha himself.

No one here truly knew me. Most assumed I was a maid from some forgotten corner of the Beta’s house. Only a few of my father’s old friends knew the truth.

“Danika?”

I turned. It was the madam of the house, an older woman with sharp eyes and a commanding presence.

“Yes,” I answered.

“Follow me.”

I followed her up the stairs toward the Alpha’s private chambers.

She opened the door wide, and I froze.

Gods, not his room. Please, not his room.

“I only want to deliver the…”

She cut me off sharply. “He instructed you to hand it to him personally. Are you disobeying the Alpha?”

Her tone stabbed through me.

“No,” I whispered.

I stepped inside, glancing around. The room was large and lavish. Alpha Dan was not a young man. He had no mate and no legitimate heirs, but rumors spoke of his children, six sons and three daughters born from his countless indulgences. Few ever came here, but he ensured they all lived in luxury.

I was still taking in the room when I heard movement behind me.

The bathroom door opened.

Alpha Dan stepped out, completely naked.

I whipped my head away instantly, my knees nearly buckling.

“Turn around.” His voice was deep and commanding.

What?

“Turn around. Now.”

I had no choice. I did as I was told, my eyes squeezed shut.

“Look at me. Fully.”

“Alpha…” I started, but he moved closer.

Gods, what have I gotten myself into?

“Look at me.”

A few seconds passed before I forced my eyes open.

From his head to his… gods. Why was that tiny thing looking at me?

I swallowed hard.

“Do you like what you see?”

Like what? my mind screamed. Is this how small all males are?

“Touch it.”

This time, I knew I had to run.

The dagger slipped from my hand and thudded onto the thick bedding. I bolted for the door, but his arm snaked around my waist with shocking speed, throwing me back onto the mattress. I scrambled backward across the silken sheets, my hand frantically finding the hilt of the dagger again. I pointed it at him, my whole arm shaking violently.

“Don’t come closer! Don’t!”

He laughed, stepping forward. “Humans cannot wield such power. It is wasted on you. Now, stop this foolishness and give yourself to me.”

I waved the blade in the air, a feeble threat, my back pressed hard against the carved headboard.

He grinned, a predator savoring the chase, and crawled toward me.

As his hand reached for my leg, I screamed. I shut my eyes and drove the dagger forward with all my strength.

Silence.

When I opened my eyes, the blade was buried deep in his chest. A strange, ethereal blue light pulsed from the wound, illuminating his shocked face.

Oh, gods.

He stared at me, his expression shifting from arrogance to sheer disbelief, and then to pain. His eyelids fluttered. “Who are you?” he rasped, the words a wet, gurgling whisper.

Then he fell still.

“Alpha?” I cried, panic seizing my lungs.

He did not move.

My heart slammed against my ribs like a trapped bird as I crawled closer. I pressed my trembling fingers beneath his nose.

Nothing. No breath.

Gods.

Did I just kill someone?

My gaze fixed on the dagger. The strange blue glow was fading, leaving only the stark reality of the metal buried in his flesh.

No. No, no, no.

Did I just kill Alpha Dan?

His blood, warm and dark, smeared across my dress as I stumbled from the bed. My legs were weak, barely supporting me.

I ran.

I did not look back.

But outside, I crashed into a servant girl carrying a tray. China shattered across the floor. Her eyes widened, taking in the blood on my clothes and the dagger still clutched in my hand. She screamed.

And so I did the only thing left to do.

I ran.

This was not where I was supposed to be. I should have been running through the forest in a bid to escape but the deep winter was a death sentence of its own, and crossing the frozen border into the Bloodvale Pack, the territory of the Alpha King, meant facing death itself.

My only choice was to hide and plan my next move.

Yet hiding in Liora’s room was a special kind of madness. Desperation and the sheer, gut-wrenching fear of being seen near the Beta's house had forced me into the nearest refuge. It just had to be hers.

Now, curled into a tight ball inside her oversized dresser, I sent a silent, fervent prayer to any god who might be listening to make me invisible.

The door creaked open. My heart slammed against my ribs. I froze, one hand pressed to my chest, as the sound of soft, intimate laughter drifted into the room.

It was unmistakably Liora, intertwined with a male voice I did not recognize.

Then