I Survived My Father’s Test And Took His Throne Chapter 01
On my eighteenth birthday, my fiancé launched a coup.
My father, the Alpha King of the Kingdom of Wilton, died protecting me, cut down by my fiancé’s gunfire.
With his dying breath, he told me to take care of my only sister.
To keep her from being harmed, I surrendered my royal standing and became my fiancé’s prisoner.
For three full years, I ate kitchen scraps and slept in an abandoned stall at the Royal Equestrian Center.
By day, I worked in the industrial laundry at the royal castle. By night, I was taken to the guard training compound and raped by those men.
With my sister about to turn eighteen, I decided to beg my fiancé to grant her freedom and let her leave the castle.
Instead, I found my father, who was supposed to be dead.
“Your Majesty, Princess Laurel has spent three years living in the stables. I believe she has learned her lesson. Can the punishment end early?”
My father nodded.
“Almost. If Laurel hadn’t been so proud back then—if she hadn’t publicly exposed Evelyn for plagiarism at the Royal Academy literary gala and humiliated her—I wouldn’t have had to stage a coup and punish her by faking my own death.”
“Evelyn is about to turn eighteen. I’ve prepared a private estate for her outside the castle. She’s finally willing to forgive Laurel, too. On her birthday, I’ll reveal the truth, restore Laurel’s royal status, and reinstate her as first heir.”
My fiancé hesitated.
“Hasn’t three years been too long? This is too cruel.”
My father let out a cold snort.
“She was born into the royal family. She must endure cruel trials. I have no son. Laurel is the heir I chose. If she can’t handle this, how is she supposed to rule every pack in the kingdom?”
So the coup had been fake.
The death had been fake.
Only my suffering for the past three years had been real.
But my father had probably never imagined this:
I had survived his trial, but I no longer had the life left to wear the crown he had prepared for me.
…
My father sighed and patted Julian on the shoulder.
“These three years haven’t been easy on you, either. You’ve had to play the villain who betrayed her this whole time. When the truth comes out, I’ll explain everything to Laurel myself and tell her not to hate you.”
“If you’re still willing to marry her, I’ll have the Royal Council restore your engagement. The alliance between the royal family and the Ironcrest Pack will continue.”
Julian Mercer was the Alpha heir of the Ironcrest Pack and the young commander of the Royal Guard.
We had been engaged since childhood, and after coming of age, we had chosen each other freely. Once I passed the heir’s assessment, we were supposed to have our royal wedding.
We had never completed a claiming. He had never marked me. There was no mate bond to give away the lie.
At my father’s words, Julian’s eyes lit up. He dropped to one knee, his voice full of joy.
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
They began discussing the wedding we would have after I inherited the throne, and how many warriors the Ironcrest Pack would send to the ceremony.
Outside the door, my hands and feet went numb with cold. My vision tunneled.
I wanted to push the door open and walk in, but all strength suddenly left my legs, and I crashed hard to the floor.
The noise alerted the men inside the conference room.
Julian opened the door. The instant he saw me, panic flashed across his face, and he quickly blocked the doorway behind him.
“Laurel Jennings, what are you doing here?”
Three years of abuse had conditioned my body to react to his voice.
Even after hearing the truth, I still couldn’t stop myself from trembling when I faced him.
“I…”
Before I could finish, Greta Hale, the laundry supervisor, rushed over. She grabbed my hair and dragged me up from the floor.
“You unrepentant traitor! I give you a few extra loads of sheets, and you dare come to the royal conference wing to complain?”
She slapped me twice, hard, then turned to Julian and accused me of deliberately breaking equipment and assaulting an employee.
Julian’s face darkened.
He grabbed my chin and forced me to look at him.
“Laurel, do you still think you’re the crown princess?”
“Your royal access was revoked long ago. Your pack mind-link was severed. How much more suffering will it take before you learn to be obedient?”
Three years ago, Julian had entered the royal castle with a handpicked team under the pretense of celebrating my birthday.
The security system had suddenly shut down. The Royal Guard turned their guns. My father was shot in front of me, and Julian used an emergency authorization my father had signed in advance to become regent of the kingdom.
With his dying breath, my father told me Evelyn had fallen into Julian’s hands.
In turn, Julian promised me that if I obeyed, he would keep Evelyn alive until she turned eighteen.
So for the last three years, no matter how they tormented me, I never ran.
I had always believed my father’s death and Julian’s coup happened because I had misjudged the man I trusted.
I thought I was atoning.
Now I knew the truth. Everyone had been punishing me for one thing I did three years ago—proving at a public gala that Evelyn’s prize-winning poem was plagiarized.
And at last I understood why Julian had never reacted, no matter how badly I was hurt.
So long as Greta claimed I was putting on airs again, he flew into a rage.
For the first time in three years, I defended myself.
“Julian, I didn’t do any of that.”
“She’s afraid you’ll hold her accountable for mismanaging the laundry, so she’s blaming the broken equipment and the assault on me. You can check the logs. You can ask the people on shift.”
Greta’s face went white.
“Commander, don’t believe her! I’ve worked at the royal castle for more than twenty years. I’ve never framed anyone. She just refuses to accept that she’s lost her status!”
Julian looked at her, then at me.
I was about to tell him to pull the records when a flash of bright yellow rushed over and threw itself in front of me.
“Julian, please don’t punish my sister over some laundry, okay?”
Evelyn spread her arms to shield me, tears welling in her eyes.
“I already finished the work she left behind.”