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  Triumph

  The Last Alpha Queen: Book 3

  A. L. Fogerty

  Copyright © 2019 by A. L. Fogerty

  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

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  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  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

  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

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  Also by A. L. Fogerty

  About the Author

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  In the heat of the desert sun, the feline Sho’kin toil as garbage pickers under the watchful eye of the Landlords and their goons. When Mango Mew begins to hear the whispers of an unknown voice in her mind telling her she is a dragon summoner, she thinks she’s suffering from sun exposure.

  All Mango wants is to win a hoverbike race for the prize money she needs to fix her pappi's eyes and take him home to Sho’kin forest. Despite the lack of support from those around her, Mango won’t give up on herself, her people, or her pappi.

  In the midst of chaos in the junkyard, a man steps out of a portal and tells her to come with him if she wants to save her father. Mango hopes curiosity doesn’t, in fact, kill the cat when she takes his hand and follows him into her destiny.

  Chapter 1

  The triumph of the shifter army resounded through the rebel witches’ fortress, and Kayla felt the elation of her people vibrating in her heart. It was truly a day of reckoning. They had defeated the witch Veronica and dispersed the demonic legion she’d raised. More importantly, they’d rescued their child.

  She dismounted Lightning and walked between the columns of cheering soldiers, her head held high. Inside the fortress, the high ceiling stretched above her as the light of fresh white snow glowed through the wall of windows. There was still so much to be done, so much to reconcile. But they’d won the battle, and they would win the war.

  In the dining hall, Riddick strummed a tune on his mandolin. Shifters and rebel witches sang and danced to the music. Riddick’s broad smile had finally returned to his face. He caught Kayla’s eye and walked toward her, singing and strumming his instrument. His song shifted into an anthem dedicated to her, the alpha queen.

  Sid offered her a tankard of beer, and Jagger slapped her on the back. She caught Quinn’s eye at the back of the room, and he lifted his mug in honor of her. She returned the gesture.

  The fight was far from over, and knowing that, she found it difficult to celebrate. The rift was yet to be closed. But the army deserved their festivities, and she wasn’t going to disappoint them. She took a long swig of beer and smiled, lifting her glass to the assembly.

  “Speech! Speech! Speech!” they called.

  Speaking to a crowd was still challenging, but Kayla wouldn’t disappoint her army—not after everything they had done for her. Their loyalty made her breathless. She dug deep and found something to say.

  “My friends, my pack, my family. Your bravery has won the day. The world owes you a debt of gratitude for your commitment to this fight.”

  “We fight for you, Kayla.” The words rang out through the banquet hall.

  She blushed. Even with the vast power awakened inside her, Kayla was still the same humble huntress she had always been.

  “Your faith in me is what keeps me going. Without you, I would not have found the strength to win this battle.”

  “Three cheers for our alpha queen.”

  “Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray!”

  Kayla took another sip of her beer. “Please enjoy the festivities. A much-deserved celebration is in order.”

  She nodded to Riddick, and he began to play again. Kayla turned from the noise of the hall. She needed the solitude and quiet of her private rooms, but more than anything, she needed to see her baby.

  “Where is Oksana?” she asked Sid as he followed her out of the banquet hall.

  “She’s sleeping.” He walked with her upstairs. “They’ve made a nursery in the small room by your bedroom.”

  Kayla found the bedroom and opened the adjoining door. A crib had been placed there. She crept inside and stood over her sleeping baby. Her heart bled with love for her child and guilt for having left her.

  Veronica’s words rang in her ears. You never loved her. She belongs to us.

  Kayla had asked herself a million times if she could love a child who was filled with evil. Oksana was an innocent babe less than a year old, too young for evil to have consumed her heart. But Kayla knew it had. She knew what it was like to be devoured by that darkness. All those months, she’d had the mind of a psychopath, with no love or light inside her. Not a single spark. She’d seen that same darkness in the child’s eyes since the day of her birth. There was no denying it, no matter how much she wanted to pretend it wasn’t there.

  Kayla placed her hand on the child’s stomach, feeling the rise and fall of her breath. A tear slid down her cheek, and her heart burst. She did love her child.

  Piercing wails broke Kayla from her heavy sleep. She swung her legs over the bed and placed her feet on the cold ground. Oksana’s cries were like a balm to her soul. Kayla pushed open the nursery door, the light of her candle casting long shadows across the small room. She crept closer and placed the candle on a table, peering into the crib at her child.

  "Come here, my darling.” She picked up the baby and held her.

  Oksana had grown so much since Kayla and the troops had left six months before. The conquest had taken so much from her. Kayla breathed in the scent of her baby’s head. The sulfur of the demonic camp still clung to the child. Kayla took a shuddering breath, trying to contain the guilt and despair that raged in her chest. She had to make this right. She had to save her child’s soul.

  She crept from the bedroom and down the stairs to find some milk. In the kitchen, she opened the refrigerator powered by the witches’ magic and found a glass bottle of cow's milk on the top shelf. She then proceeded to open the cabinets, looking for a bottle or a cup suitable for her baby.

  Oksana cried, grabbing and pulling at Kayla's hair. It was as if she didn't remember her mother. A surge of grief shot through Kayla like an arrow to the heart. Finally, she found a cup with a lid and filled it with milk.

  She took Oksana to
a small library where a fire still glowed in the hearth. She threw a few more logs on the coals, found a comfortable seat, and held her daughter in her lap, carefully offering her the cup. The baby drank greedily, slurping down the thick white liquid. Droplets of milk slid down her cheeks and chin and dropped onto her makeshift nightgown.

  Kayla thought of all the baby things they'd left behind in Mist Valley. She longed to return home, to leave the war to someone else and pretend as if the darkness had not infected the most sacred parts of her life. She took a deep breath and let it out, thinking of what lay ahead.

  Dark thoughts roiled in her mind as she carefully fed her child. But she felt a smile creep onto her face as she gazed into Oksana’s bright eyes. The child looked so much like her father with her black hair and almond-shaped eyes.

  Thinking of her mate filled Kayla with a love so profound that the angelic being inside her stirred. She held her daughter close and basked in the radiance of the familial bonds between her, her mates, and her child. They all loved her, and they loved Oksana no matter whose seed had been planted in her womb.

  "It's so good to have you home, my darling. I'm never going to let anything happen to you again.”

  Kayla placed her lips on Oksana's forehead, angel wings sprouting from her back. She held her babe in that magical moment with the glow of peace and love swirling around them, radiating beauty, and closed her eyes. A small croak vibrated from Oksana. Kayla opened her eyes, thinking Oksana had burped.

  Instead of finding a beautiful baby girl in her lap, she found a green-skinned goblin with big black eyes, horns on its head, and warts all over. It croaked again, revealing a mouth full of sharp teeth.

  Kayla screamed and stood. The goblin tumbled from her lap and onto the floor.

  "Where's my child? Tell me what you've done with her."

  “Your baby is in hell,” the demon croaked. “My lord says to come get her.” The creature scurried out of the library with inhuman speed. Bane gave chase, barking and snarling at the creature.

  Kayla ran after the beast, skidding into the main hall as it charged to the front door. It crashed through a window and disappeared into the dark snowy night. Bane jumped through the window after it. Kayla flung open the front door and braced herself against the wind. She wore nothing but a nightgown, and her feet were bare. The driving snow felt like daggers on her face.

  "Oksana!" she screamed into the night.

  Falling to her knees, she wept. Her tears froze on her cheeks as they fell, and the thin gray light of dawn crept over the eastern mountains.

  “I can take no more," she wailed.

  "Kayla?" a deep voice said behind her. Strong hands touched her back and helped her to her feet. She threw herself into Sid's arms, feeling the warmth of his tender embrace. His grounded strength gave her purpose when all the world seemed to have turned to dust.

  "What is it? What's wrong?"

  She clung to his shirt, tears streaming from her eyes. She was supposed to be the strong one, the savior of the world, and she felt nothing but despair.

  "I can't take it anymore, Sid. I can't. I just want to go home. I want my family. I want my life. Why? Why was I chosen for this?"

  "Tell me what happened, Kayla." He stepped back and looked into her wet face.

  "Oksana," she whispered.

  "What about her? Is she ill?"

  "It was never her, Sid. It was never her." She shuddered with grief, so close to losing her grip with reality.

  "You must have been dreaming. Come inside out of the cold," Sid said as Bane returned to the opened door, whimpering in the cold.

  "I wish to all the gods that it was a dream,” she whispered through chattering teeth.

  He helped her walk on frozen feet back inside and up the stairs to her room. Once she had been placed under the covers in bed, he crept into the nursery and looked in the crib. Sid turned back to her, his eyes dark and questioning. "Where is she?"

  "It's gone. It ran away."

  "How can a ten-month-old baby run away?"

  "It was never her, Sid. I told you, it was never her."

  Chapter 2

  "What's wrong?" Riddick asked, walking into the room. Sid looked up at him with a grim feeling in his heart as Kayla cried quietly behind her hands. Bane had curled up beside her mistress. Riddick’s face was full of confusion. "What did you do, Sid?"

  "I'm trying to comfort her." He didn't know how else to respond. He looked at Kayla, hoping she would come out of her despair long enough to explain what had happened.

  "Why is she crying?"

  "How could you not have known, Riddick? How could you not have known?” she wailed.

  "What is she talking about?" Riddick asked.

  Kayla was still sobbing into her palms, nearly hysterical.

  "Tell me what's going on!” Riddick demanded.

  "Kayla, please try to explain,” Sid implored, growing increasingly concerned for both mother and child.

  Riddick peeked into the nursery. "Where is Oksana?"

  "Kayla, please tell us what happened," Sid said, trying to stay calm.

  "It was never her, Riddick. The baby that you took from Veronica's camp. It wasn't her."

  "I know my own daughter when I see her. Where is she? What have you done with my child?"

  "Please try to explain, Kayla.” Sid hated to see her cry more than he hated arguments.

  "The child you brought back from the demon camp was not our daughter. It was a demon." Kayla enunciated each work with punctuated ferocity, as if speaking to an idiotic rival.

  "How is that possible?” Riddick’s face was tight with anger.

  "You tell me. She just turned into a demon.”

  “You must have been dreaming," Riddick said.

  "It wasn't a dream. I was feeding her a cup of milk in the downstairs library, and as soon as I felt my angelic wings emerge from my back, the creature morphed into a demon, jumped out of my arms, and ran away."

  "What kind of sorcery is this?" Riddick asked.

  "It was a demonic illusion,” Kayla muttered, looking away.

  "But where's my daughter?"

  "That's a good question, Riddick," Kayla said in an accusatory tone.

  "This isn’t my fault any more than her kidnapping was my fault,” Riddick said. “Or you getting scratched by that ghost, for that matter. You should have taken it more seriously, Kayla. You allowed that evil to grow inside you and let it fester there for months and months while our daughter grew in your womb."

  "Don't you think I know that? There isn't a day that goes by that I don't hate myself for what I allowed to happen. I thought we’d found her, but it was all lies. All of it."

  Riddick turned, and he slipped into the dark hallway, almost running into Quinn.

  "What's wrong? Why is Kayla crying?" Quinn gave Sid a hard look.

  Sid decided to take control of the situation. “Oksana is gone. The child that we believed was Oksana was really a demon. It changed form and ran away. Kayla is understandably distraught."

  Quinn fell to his knees beside Kayla, looking up into her eyes. He took her hand, and Kayla wrapped her arms around his neck. Quinn had always been the one she turned to in times like these. Sid wished that she would turn to him that way.

  He had loved her from the moment he'd met her. He’d been as strong and as true as any of his brothers—perhaps even more so. Reluctant to share his feelings, he’d waited patiently and quietly for her to notice his strength and calm. Perhaps it was his own fault that she’d taken so long to pay attention to him.

  Now that she was his, he intended to change all of that and become the mate that she relied on. He would be her strength when she was weak and her support when she was strong. He did not know what else he could do. Loving a woman like Kayla, who was so powerful yet so vulnerable, was not an easy road.

  "Kayla needs to rest, Quinn. We’ll meet in the kitchen for breakfast after she's had time to rest.”

  Quinn nodded, seeming to unde
rstand the wisdom of Sid’s words. He kissed Kayla on the forehead and slid out the door. Kayla climbed into bed and pulled the covers over her shoulders. Sid sat like a quiet sentinel by the bed. He would not ask her to be well, and he would not ask her to be strong. He would simply sit with her and allow her to be exactly what she needed to be in that moment. That was all he had to offer, and he hoped it would be enough.

  Chapter 3

  Kayla descended the stairs with Bane by her side. She couldn't remember ever feeling so drained. The smell of bacon and coffee filled the air, and she found her way into the kitchen. When she entered, the eyes of her mates focused on her. She took a deep, shuddering breath, her heart empty. She shivered in the warmth.

  Sid stood and helped her find a place at the table beside him. He had been a rock for her, stepping up when she needed him most. He’d sat with her while she cried and hadn’t asked anything from her. She couldn't express how much she appreciated his solid strength. He was an unwavering friend and companion whose selflessness and courage were the backbone of the entire family.

  "Let me get you some food.” Sid grabbed a plate from the stack then stood and dished up eggs, bacon, and toast. He then poured her a large cup of coffee.