“Heavy is the head that wears the crown.” William Shakespeare


    My mother spent close to the next hour in the bedroom suite with me, catching me up on the intricacies of her life and


    demanding to know mine. Oddly enough, hearing about how Uncle Steve had restored his old motorcycle or taken her to


    that new restaurant kept my mind off my


    own anxiety.)Property ? of N?velDrama.Org.


    “a grown man challenged you to a fight?” she asked, her eyes widening. “and now he’s teaching you self-defense?”


    “Tt sounds weird, I know,” I said, “But turns out, he’s a pretty okay guy. He just had to get over his prejudice against


    humans.” She didn’t look convinced, but she didn’tment on it further.


    Unfortunately, the alone time with my mom ended far too quickly for my liking. Just as she’d begun to tell me about the


    flowers she was nting in her yard, there was another knock at the door ~ this time, it was Mary.


    “Your Majesty,” Mary called, “I’vee to collect your mother and take her to the throne room. Your coronation will


    begin shortly.” Chapter 77


    My anxiety spiked. Had time really flown that quickly?


    My mom seemed to pick up on my nervousness. “It’ll be okay, rk,” she said, “I’m not entirely sure how these things work, but this is your moment. That’s all that matters.” She squeezed my hand and then stood up from the b*d,


    smoothing down her dress. “I’ll be waiting in here for you, sweetheart,” she continued, “And if you get nervous, just look


    over at Steve and I.”


    I nodded, and I managed to stand up halfway without bunching up my dress to give her a hug. “I will,” I replied, “I love


    you, mom.”


    “T love you too, rk.”


    She gave me a final reassuring smile before she sl*pped out of the room, leaving me to my thoughts. There was a Jump in


    my throat, and as much as I tried to swallow or hack it up, it wouldn’t budge.


    Can I really do this? Can I really stand in front of an entire room full of werewolves from around the room and pledge to


    rule them?


    They know I’m human. What if they don’t ept me?


    Deep down, I knew that Griffin wouldn’t allow anyone to disrespect me at the coronation ~ nor would most wolves


    probably be stupid enough to do so. Still, it didn’t stop me from worrying about what they’d think. They knew I wasn’t


    one of them. I had nevermanded respect from werewolves before. They respected me now because they had to,


    because they knew that they might face Griffin’s wrath if they didn’t. Chapter 77 But respect from obligation was very


    different from eared respect.


    Thaven’t earned their respect yet, but I can. With enough time, I think I can.


    That’s what I told myself as I took a deep breath, smoothing down invisible wrinkles on the dress.


    Mary’s knock came again.


    “My Queen,” she said, cracking open the door, “It’s time for you to be escorted to the throne room.”


    I did my best to swallow down the anxiety and hold my head high. As nervous as | felt on the inside, I didn’t want it to


    show. I didn’t want the first impression that I gave to these Alphas to be one of doubt or insecurity.


    What’s that phrase people always say? Fake it till you make it? I suppose Tl just need to fake the confidence until I really


    feel it.


    With another deep breath, I stood up from the b*d with Mary’s help. She led me out of the room, situating my dress and


    my train so that it trailed behind me like it should. There were no guards standing outside anymore, so I waited for Mary


    to escort me but she didn’t move.


    Just as I was about to ask, a Russian ent spoke from behind me.


    “My Queen, are you ready?” Chapter 77


    I whipped my head around to find Ivan there, dressed in a fancy military uniform adorned with metals and pins. There was no smile on his face, but his eyes looked soft. |”)


    “Ivan,” I said, “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in the throne room like everyone else?”


    “The Queen should not be escorted by a couple of low-ranking guards to her own coronation,” he said stiffly, “I bribed


    Nadia into letting me walk you to the throne room.”


    I couldn’t stop the amused smile from breaking onto my face. Ivan looked so ufortable at having to exin he’d


    made voluntarily


    made a sweet gesture, but that’s exactly what it was. A sweet gesture. )


    “Thank you, Ivan,” I said sincerely, “A familiar face is nice.”


    He gave me another stiff nod, holding out his elbow for me to grab. I did and we began walking slowly so as not to mess


    up my dress.


    “see they’ve cleaned you up nice,” hemented as we made our way down the empty hallways. When I say empty, I


    meant it. There wasn’t a stray guard, castle staff or guest in sight.


    “Is that your way of saying I look pretty?”


    “It’s certainly a change from the sweaty, frizzy look you have after


    training,” he rolled his eyes. Chapter 77


    “Well, you’re not wrong,” I said, “Hey, why aren’t there any guards in the halls? I thought the coronation increased


    security.”


    “It does,” he said, “But the guards go where the guests are — to the throne room, andter on, the reception hall. They’ll


    have their hands full at night, just waiting to break up any brawls or pissing contests between Alphas that have had one


    too many sses of wine.”


    “T see.”


    Nadia had told me that the reception after my coronation was the real celebration — the party to celebrate the rise of a


    new Queen.


    A bunch of drunken possessive Alphas in the same room? My family drama will be the least of my worries.


    The further we walked, I could tell we were getting closer to the throne room. I could already hear the excited murmuring


    of the guests waiting for me.


    You got this, rk. You can do this. You’ll be okay.


    You know that feeling you get right before public speaking? How your stomach twists into knots and your heart jumps


    into your throat? That’s what I was beginning to feel, the emotions only heightening with each step.


    “There is no need to be anxious,” Ivan said quietly, “You will do fine. These wolves are just excited to see the first Queen


    they’ve had in Chapter 77


    decades. You could be a vegetable and they’d still find you fascinating.” )


    “Even though I’m human?”


    “You’re not just human, you know,” Ivan said, “You may not have a wolf, but you do have Alpha blood. That means


    something.” *


    Before I could ponder more on that sentence, we’d arrived at therge wooden doors that led to the throne room. I could


    hear quiet chatter inside, people shuffling around – this was it.


    “Are you ready?” he asked. Another deep breath. I squared my shoulders, letting go of Ivan and nodding.


    His eyes zed over, and a momentter, the guards on the other side of the door swung it open, revealing the crowded


    throne room.


    Author’s Note: Things are about to majorly HEAT up, guys! I know the past ten or so chapters have probably felt a little


    slow, but a lot of those small interactions and details are about to be very important. Thank you for reading and


    supporting this story!