Betrayed

☾Chapter Forty-Five☽

Vladimira's P.O.V

Winters in Russia were beyond cold. The day of my coronation had to be the coldest day of the year.

My slim figure shivered despite the multiple layers of my dress and the royal cloak resting atop my shoulders. The sleeves of my dress don't help alleviate any of my shivering.

Beyond the large, wooden double doors I could hear the chatter of werewolves who are exited to see their king finally fill the empty space that's supposed to hold a queen.

"I'm nervous," I admit to Nadia. "What if I mess up my lines?" I ask fearfully.

Nadia laughs softly as she spreads out the bottom of my dress. Her short hair swishes in front of her face, but she doesn't seem to care. "You'll be fine, Your Majesty. The kingdom has loved you ever since your birth. Your father knows you can do this," She soothes me.

Taking in a deep breath, I close my eyes and remind myself that's she's right. When I open my eyes, Nadia's holding the chalice that will hold my father and I's blood.

"It's time, Princess Vladimira," One of the two guards informed me.

I nod before turning towards the two double doors. My heartbeat speeds up rapidly when the guards open the doors slowly to reveal a room full of people and my father standing in front of the two thrones.

A long red carpet is what lies between my father and I. All I have to do is walk without tripping.

Gripping the chalice, I straighten my back and begin to take long, slow strides towards my father. The guards that had opened the doors for me are now flanking me.

Not once during my walk do I take my eyes away from my father's. Love and pride shines in his bright, blue eyes.

He should be proud. I've trained for 40 years so I can be the queen of the werewolf kingdom. I've learned concepts that seem unimportant to being a queen. I've learned concepts that are important to being a queen.

At the end of today, there's going to be one concept that everyone understands: I've worked hard for this, and I deserve this.

The sound of a frustrated scream jolts me out of my mid-day doze. I look to my right to see my mother glaring at a soldier with her arms locked tightly around my father.

"I'm not leaving them! Wherever they go, I go," She yells at him angrily.

If it weren't for the murderous look in my father's eyes, I'm sure the guard would have laughed and continued on with his previous task, but the guard pulls a walkie-talkie out of his back pocket.

"Nikolai, she refuses to leave him," He says stiffly.

Confusion fills me when an animalistic sound comes through the walkie-talkie, and Nikolai's voice growls, "Can you follow orders? I said take them all to the same room. Do I need to hold your hand through this simple process?"

The guard swallows harshly. "No sir," He says before motioning to two other guards.

A man comes up behind me and cuts my restraints. I contemplate attacking him until I remember my baby. He's somewhere in this building being used against us.

Another man unlocks the chains around my father's legs just to use those same chains to rebound his arms behind his back.

"We're taking you to a room. Nikolai will let you stay together as long as you three don't cause any problems," The man says.