Forged in the Flames by Karima Sa'ad Usman

I returned to my room and found Aliana sitting on the bed, her eyes were swollen from tears, and she

was smiling. I knew that she knew what had happened.

She rushed towards me and hugged me. I relaxed the moment she wrapped her arms around me to

receive the joy she was giving willingly.

“The goddess smiled on you,” she said, and I wrapped my arms around her waist and buried my head

in her neck to breathe in her fruity scent.

She let me hold her. I needed it. Something that was supposed to be a celebration was a cause of

worry.

Here she was, happy that my mother was all right, but I knew my mother would never accept her, and I

could not let either of them go. Aliana was my future, and my mother was a past and a part of me.

I held on tight and k*issed her neck, then travelled with my k*iss to her l*ips to drink her in. She tasted

as sweet as always, and I was at complete peace in those moments.

I was calm and broke away.

“How is she?” Aliana asked me, and I nodded.

“She is fine,” I said, leading her to the couch so I could talk to her.

“Aliana,” I said, and she was attentive. I could also sense she was a bit worried, and I knew it was

because of my tone.

It wasn’t playful as usual, so it was bound to make her worry. Still, I couldn’t help it. The situation did

not call for a happy, playful tone.

“My mother isn’t open-minded, she does not like werewolves and halfbreeds. So, you and your friends

won’t be attending to her anymore. I would not want to do anything to aggravate her,” I said, afraid that

Aliana would take it wrongly.

She placed her hand over mine and looked at me.

“I wasn’t expecting she would be different. You and Beta Qusack are an exception. It is okay. I will stay

away from her if that is what it takes,” she said, and I felt my heart break in those moments.

I wish my mother would make my life easy, just like Aliana. I hope my mother will respect my decisions

and support me no matter what. Only time will tell.

“I need to tell you something,” Aliana said, and I frowned at her because it sounded serious.

“I should have told you when you returned, but we were too busy, and I didn’t want to spoil our

moment, but I believe I should tell you now. Especially now that your mother is all right and you have

decided to make Forest your home,” she said, and I wondered what she wanted to tell me.

“Please listen to what I have to say unbiased. I know you hate my kind, and my father, and you must

have your reasons. It may be based on what was said they did in Forest.

I will not try to manipulate or persuade you to do otherwise. If you ever forgive them and choose to be

kind, it should be of your own free will, but I need you to know this part of the story. Hopefully, that

would prepare you for what might come shortly,” She said, and I frowned at her. I hoped she wasn’t

trying to justify her father’s crimes.

“If it has to do with your father’s crimes, please do not tell me anything that would spoil our relationship,

Aliana,” I said quickly, and she shook her head.

“I am not here to defend what they said my father and his friends did to the late King. I have heard both

versions of the stories, and I am not here to talk about them, but I will tell you a part that might affect

you in the future. Please permit me to speak freely without consequence, Alpha,” She said, and Bane

growled because she was still walking on eggshells around us.

Why would she think there would be consequences? No matter what she does, there will be no

consequence. Had she not figured that out? From the onset, I chose to ignore her rudeness and snide

remarks.

No one had gotten away with what Aliana had gotten away with. I had found every bit of her

stubbornness enjoyable and amusing.

By now, she should know that I was a fool for her. As much as I wanted to tell her, I held my tongue and

listened.

“You may speak, but do not refer to me as Alpha again. How can you dare to be formal after everything

we shared?” I asked her, and she looked at me with misty eyes.

A look on her face let me know she was hanging on a thread where I was concerned. Did she figure

out who my mother was already?

“I am listening,” I said, and she exhaled. “My father told me that on the day of the battle after the death

of the late King, the werewolves brought out his pregnant Queen and forced her to kneel in front of the

palace.

They wanted to kill her. My father was once the late King’s beta and friend, so it didn’t sit well with him.

Things had gone bad, but he wasn’t willing to allow the King’s lineage to end. The King had already lost

his firstborn. A child he had with a woman called Olive. Rumours were that they might have been fated,

but she was a werewolf. For the late King to succeed his father as King, she pleaded with him to let her

remain his mistress so he could be King. That was why he married the sister of the Snow King.

Olive died giving birth to their child, and the child was stillborn. No one saw the corpse, not even the

King, because he was too distraught. His half-brother, Leon, was the one that helped with the funeral.”

She said and sighed.

“Knowing that the King had lost a child already, my father did not want his lineage to end, so he

disagreed with the werewolves and let the Queen leave with her trusted maids. He would have let her

stay to rule because the fight was a huge misunderstanding, but he knew some people were working

against the King and werewolves. He also knew the werewolves were too aggrieved to allow her to live,

so he had no choice but to send her to where she would be safe.

My father told her to go back to Snow and live with her brother. He promised her that he would keep

Forest intact and make sure it remains the way it is so that when her child is of age, the child can come

back and claim what is rightfully theirs,” She said, and I did not know what to say. I had to hold my

tongue so she could finish her words.

“If the child is a boy, he will show up in four years when he is thirty-three. My father no longer owns

Forest, so it isn’t his to give. It is now yours. If it is a daughter, she might show up soon. I just want you

to know that I just found out that the former King’s wife is alive, and she left while pregnant with his

child. She is living in Snow with the heir to the throne.

I do not know what is happening to your kingship application, but the Snow King will not support you

because his sister’s child is the rightful heir,” She said, and I pulled my hand from hers.

Everything she said was conflicting, but parts of the story were in tune with fragments I learned from

King Aleksander and even what Abraham, the former record keeper and now my gamma, said.

I did not know why my mother did not tell me Gabriel set her free and his promise to her. It was easy to

believe because the man never spent or did anything in Forest. He treated the place as a keeper and

not an owner. It didn’t change the fact that he killed my father.

Whatever the misunderstanding might be, he still killed my father. If people were working against my

father and the werewolves in Forest, it was understandable that they would rise against him. However, I

could not forgive their crimes still. There were other ways they could have resolved their differences

than mutiny.

My mother was all right now, I planned on confronting her with what I had just heard.

“So what do you think I should do if the heir should come?” I asked Aliana, realising she didn’t know my

true identity yet. It was understandable because she did not know my last name. They swore their

allegiance to me using m y first name only.

“I am in no position to tell you what to do,” she replied, and I shook my head.

“If we are going to spend the rest of our lives together, you should learn to suggest your opinions,” I

said, composing myself and processing what I had just heard.

“I love you and know you did all this for you and your mother. Now that you two have a home and

power, I wouldn’t ask you to give up what you have spent years trying to achieve, and now that your

mother is all right, it would be heart wrenching to lose it all.

Still, if an heir should show up, it is his right. My father has failed him by losing and surrendering to you.

So, he would be wrong to ask you to give up what you fought for,” She said.

“I do not like war and death, but it might lead to it. He can only get Forest back if he fights you because

it is no longer in his family.” She said, and that was the truth. “And you will support me if I choose to

fight him? Even if your father decides to side with him?” I asked, and she looked a t me and nodded.

“I will support my heart, and it lies with you, Nikolas,” She said with the utmost sincerity that almost

brought tears to my eyes.

“If the heir is a woman. You know the committee might want an alliance by marriage. What would you

do then? Would you still want peace?” I asked her, and she bowed her head.

“I know you will be a good King, and my people will be liberated because you are a man of your word,

but I will never put you in a difficult situation. I am willing to walk away so you can be happy and give

your mother and people the life you promised them,” She said with a crack in her voice, and I knew she

meant it. The tears I fought diligently finally came, and I blinked to stop them from falling.

I held her hands and asked her to look at me. I knew she was crying; She smelled of salt and tears.

“Aliana,” I said and searched her honey-coloured eyes.

“If what your father told you is true, then you have nothing to worry about because I am that heir, and

my mother, Isabelle Kowalski, is the queen of the late king,” I said, and she gasped. She covered her

m*outh, and her tears continued flowing.

“He said he sent her to Snow. Was he lying to me?” she asked, connecting the dots immediately.

If my mother were in the Snow, I wouldn’t grow up in the wilderness, and she would not have gone feral

because her brother would be her Alpha.

“I do not know, Aliana, but she is sane now. I am sure she would tell me her version,” I said, and she

shook her head.

“We can’ t be together,” she said with fear in her eyes, and I frowned at her.

“You hate my father for a good reason, and your mother hates my father and my kind…” She said, and

she became hysterical and afraid. I knew she feared losing me, so I held her to my chest to calm her

down.

“I have learned to separate my grudge from the matters of the heart. I have learned to separate you

from your father’s crimes. You are mine, Aliana Nowak, and I do not plan to let you go. No matter what

happens, I plan to keep you by my side.

I know it won’t be easy, and many people would kick against it, but we won’t let them win, Little Wolf,” I

said and broke the hug to look into her eyes.

“You need to keep calm while I try to figure things out,” I said, and she nodded.

I pulled her close to my chest and took several d*eep breaths because I knew things would be more

complicated than they were. My mother had kept many things from me, and I was worried I might not

like what I would find.