Queen of the Lycan
Mackenzie Grey: The Crown #1
Karina Espinosa
Copyright © 2021 by Karina Espinosa
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.
Cover design by © Christian Bentulan
Edited by Stacy Sanford
Copyright 2021 by Karina Espinosa
ISBN-13: 9798712232031
ASIN: B08X3SH3R9
Mom,
I didn’t say Jesus was a Warlock.
Contents
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
About the Author
Also by Karina Espinosa
About the Author
1
Every little girl wanted to be a princess.
The fluffy pink dress, the tiara perched atop their head, and sparkling diamonds galore. Reigning over the masses and declaring their royal decree. To be the prettiest in the room where all want to be her and admire her. She was the definition of elegance, grace, and beauty. It was the dream.
Except it wasn’t mine.
Not every little girl dreamed of this, and while we might be the minority, I refused to fit the stereotype.
I stood on a circular stand where many lunas—female werewolves—were dressing me for an event tonight, and I was starting to lose my patience. I grabbed a fistful of the pink chiffon skirt and growled.
“I’m not wearing this!” I declared to the room of lunas who were just doing their job. They were some of the best seamstresses in Sheunta Village and I really shouldn’t have been taking my anger out on them.
“I’m sorry, Princess?” One of them approached me. She was an older woman, maybe mid-fifties. Her hair was reddish brown and tied back in a bun.
“What’s your name?” I asked as politely as possible.
“Ana,” she responded in her Scottish brogue.
“Please, Ana, call me Mackenzie.” I smiled broadly. “But for the love of God, Ana, get me out of this dress.” I looked like a chewed-up piece of bubble gum that someone spit out.
“Well, Princess … I mean Mackenzie, this is the dress the King has chosen,” she explained haltingly, as if her hands were tied in the situation.
I was going to kill Alexander. King Alexander was my biological father, though I only found out about him in recent years. During our time together I’d come to find him endearing … until this very moment. Who let a man choose a dress for a woman? The whole situation was ridiculous! I would rather attend the event butt-ass naked than in this pink monstrosity.
I took a couple deep breaths and pinched the bridge of my nose as I stared at my reflection in the floor-to-ceiling mirror across from me. The other seamstresses were standing ten feet away from me as if they were afraid I would explode at any moment. I hated that I seemed to be having a diva fit, because let’s be real, this was totally a diva fit, but I adamantly refused to wear this dress. Over my dead body.
“Ana,” I began again, smiling brightly as I stepped down from the platform, lifting the skirt so I wouldn’t step on the pastel nightmare train. “Friend,” I tried to sweeten my voice as I placed a nonthreatening hand on her shoulder. “I understand what the King wants, but he’s not here and he obviously doesn’t know a thing about fashion. So …” I looked at her amiably and then peered down at my dress, extending my claws and ripping it to shreds. “Now there is no dress. Oops.” I shrugged.
Ana pressed her lips together to keep from laughing.
“I will pay everyone in here double wages for your time, if you can somehow find a dress more suitable to my tastes,” I told the others. “And yes, I know I’m acting like a spoiled brat, but honestly, would any of you have worn this shit?”
When the other lunas shake their heads, I got my answer.
“Exactly. So, what are my options, ladies?”
Ana smirked. “I have just what yer looking for, Princess.”
I followed her to a closet situated in the back of the room and she opened it to reveal an array of garment bags hanging from the closet rod. She unzipped a couple of them and peered inside until she found the one she was looking for. With a victorious gleam in her eye, she lifted a white garment bag and brought it over to the clothing rack. With a flourish, Ana unzipped the bag the rest of the way to reveal a beautiful, mermaid-style, dark green dress. It was stunning; the absolute opposite of what I was currently wearing.
“I want it,” I breathed, my gray eyes never leaving the dress.
“I knew ye would,” Ana chirped with a satisfied smile wreathing her kind features.
I tore off the tatters of the bubblegum pink dress and tossed it aside, eagerly stepping back onto the circular stand where the lunas galvanized into action, helping me step into the new dress.
It fit like a glove. It was tight from my chest all the way down to just below my knees, where the skirt flared out in a dramatic cascade. The lunas adjusted the measurements and I happily let them do their work as I stood there with my arms held out.
Ana stepped forward with new jewelry to match the dress and I was afraid to touch the gold and emeralds she showed me.
“It’s from yer family’s collection,” she explained.
“How do you have it?” I asked with a raised brow.
She smiled demurely. “I had it brought down the moment we changed yer dress. The jewelry we had before does nae match the emerald tones of yer new dress.”
I nodded, accepting her explanation.
Once the lunas were finished tucking and pinning the dress, they helped me step out of it and I put my jeans and t-shirt back on, feeling comfortable for the first time in hours. After agreeing to meet
