The Royal Pain

CHAPTER ONE:

"Leave her alone, you filthy mutt!" I growled at a lanky unkempt figure that stood before me, attempting to get to the cowering figure behind me. His name was Danny and he was the son of the Alpha which explained his arrogant and naïve attitude towards life and how he felt like he was entitled to whatever he wanted.

Danny, obviously not liking my disrespect towards him, snarled at me, his bottom fangs protruding in warning, but he didn’t scare me. He was nothing more than a little boy, drunk on power that he didn’t even have yet. Behind me, the thin frail form of Bethany cowered against the wall. She was the smallest in the pack and she was treated with the upmost disrespect. Danny had sneaked into Bethany’s room and attempted to make her swoon with his charm, but it had done the opposite and left her quaking in fear. Luckily enough, I had arrived in time to stop Danny taking what he wanted forcefully.

I had been dispatched to this pack three weeks ago, on behalf of my King, I was his main warrior; his protector. Where he went, I went apart from times like these. Right now, I was undercover, and my mission was to help wolves in trouble as lately there had been masses of reports of rogue werewolves – those who didn’t belong in a pack or had gone mad because of how long they’d been alone. Some rogue wolves, however, just preferred to be solitary and loved to cause chaos for packs and hunters.

I had searched far and wide, sending helpless wolves back to my King and sending wolves back that I thought may have some information on the ever growing rogue problem that we were currently facing. It bothered me, but rogues weren’t much of a threat on their own.

I had joined this pack temporarily to use as a base, when I found out about Bethany, she reminded me of myself when I was a child, scared and afraid of standing up for myself so I had taken it upon myself to protect her, and as soon as my job was done helping out other wolves, I was going to take Bethany back to the Royal Kingdom with me. There, she would be free to train, and join my ranks as my second in command, if that’s what she wanted. She was strong; a fighter, she just needed a little push and some guidance.

The Alpha from this pack knew I was here on a mission for the King, the ruler of all wolf kind. Therefore, he dared not mistreat me, after all, even though he was an Alpha, I still had more power over him. The only people who could really order me effectively were those with royal blood coursing through their veins. Sometimes, I loved to rub this fact in the faces of those who were a higher rank than me and wanted to push me around. No one outranked the King.

Danny's face scrunched up and his long, sleek black hair started to grow longer. I grabbed his face, hard, and stared at him. He was losing control. I tutted, a wolf that lost control that easily, after being told no, would not make a good alpha at all.

"Look here," I began as I shifted closer towards him. "If you shift, I will tear you apart with my bare hands. Do you understand? Leave. Bethany. Alone."

Danny glanced at Bethany and then back at me. He seemed to be mulling something over in his mind and after a long few seconds, he growled low in his throat and stormed off, slamming the door behind him as he left, muttering something incoherent.

Bethany's room couldn’t really have been considered a room at all really, it was basically a mouldy basement with barely enough room to fit a bed in. Which is probably why Bethany didn't have one. The way she was treated was horrendous really and I made a mental note to report this to the King.

There was a small window above her ratty blanket that was sprawled across the cold concrete floor, but it was closed and silver bars surrounded it. Bethany scrambled into the corner and rocked herself backwards and forwards. She barely spoke and it had taken me a whole week to convince her that I was here to save her, and not harm her. Eventually though, she began to trust me and my heart broke to see her like she was now.

Her ratty blond hair fell limp at her shoulders and her baby blue eyes were brimming with tears. She was so thin and malnourished that I had to resist the urge to growl. She shouldn't have been treated like this; no one should have and I couldn’t wait to take her home with me where I’d know she would be safe.

Her body was covered in a flimsy white gown that kept slipping off of her shoulders, she had probably been asleep when Danny had stormed in. I sat down beside Bethany and put an arm around her. She leaned into me and cried into my chest.

I pulled my dark black hair out of my face and cuddled Bethany. My black jeans were snug around my legs and, in my head, I had the image of kicking Danny with my platform combat boots. I ripped off my leather jacket and handed it to Bethany, gently putting it over her shoulders. Once again, she leaned back into me, resting her head on my tight black top.

"I can't do it anymore!" she cried, gripping onto me even harder. “I hate it here! Ever since my parents died, they all treat me like I’m the runt of the pack!” Bethany’s parents had been killed by rogues a few years ago when they were on their way to speak to the King, after that incident the Royal Guard had been established so that diplomatic issues could be handled by people with proper training and innocents didn’t feel the need to deliver messages themselves.

I rubbed her arms and told her: "I'll get you out of here soon." I bit my lip, wondering if the King would mind if I headed back early. Usually, if the wolf was strong enough, I sent them back by themselves, or one of the soldiers with me would escort the person in need back to the Kingdom, but none of my soldiers had returned yet.

Bethany shook her head. "I can't take anymore," she whispered.

I tensed as she reached up for more support and gripped the scar that went over my heart. The person who gave it to me was long gone, but his face lingered at the back of my mind. Always. No one could know about him; he was the reason I had joined the Royal Guard. To learn to be able to protect myself and others.

I had to make a decision to save Bethany. I had a plan in place if I needed to leave early for whatever reason. I decided that my King wouldn't mind if I was back early, he'd understand, considering the circumstances, he was a lovely man, a righteous King and not at all like a tyrant. Plus, I had sent more than enough people back to the Realm.

I heaved myself and Bethany up off the floor. "Alright, come on. We'll set off."

Bethany looked at me with wary wide eyes. I smiled at her and grabbed her hand, taking her through the modern pack house and out through the door to stand on the edge of her pack's territory. The sun was high in the sky, beating down on our backs and we stood in a clearing...waiting. The trees swarmed us in a circle and I pushed Bethany outside of the pack territory, towards the trees.

She was on no man's land, but she was safe. Well, she was safer out there in the wild than she was in this pack.

Suddenly, sensing one of his pack members leaving the confines of his territory, the Alpha came running towards us, his feet being swallowed by the long, thick grass. Alpha Terry was an old man, his wrinkles marred his ageing face that was scrunched up into a snarl. The grey mop if hair on top of his head was haphazardly swaying in the light breeze. "What do you think you're doing?" he growled.

He had swathed himself in a luscious red robe, his pack's crest on the breast pocket – probably to impress the Royal Guard with his extravagance and ‘eye for fashion’ but I was more impressed by the mud on the ground. As he neared us, I could see him visibly shaking. His fangs elongated and sharp, yellow claws burst out from his knuckles. A warning, meant to make those who saw either retreat or become submissive. I wouldn’t be doing any of those, though. Behind me, Bethany let out a tiny squeak.

"Bethany," I said, turning slightly so I could see both her and Terry. "Remember what I told you to do?"

She smiled slightly at me and nodded her head. "I, Bethany Tanner, break all ties with the Falling Star pack." Her voice was hard and cold, and she meant every word. I was proud of the malice laced within her words.

"I, Aishling Maros, break all ties with the Falling Star pack," I repeated, quirking an eyebrow at the Alpha. I felt weird saying the words even though I’d said them numerous times throughout my life, but for some reason this pack was different – there was something about leaving a pack with somebody that felt…wrong.

Terry roared and surged towards me, anger seeping out through every pore in his body. Before I knew what was happening, he raked his claws down my left cheek and unbearable pain exploded in my cheek – shock, too, I was usually more alert and prepared for attacks, it wasn’t often that anyone managed to get a direct hit on me. I felt blood gush from the three claw marks on my face but luckily he had missed my eye.

I jumped back. "Son of a b***h!" I screamed. Adrenaline rushed through my veins and I lusted for revenge. My eyes darkened and a growl resounded in my chest. I kicked out and my foot slammed into his chest, sending him sprawling onto the floor, a few metres away. I went in for another hit, anger and adrenaline swirling through my veins but small hands clasped my arm. "Leave him!" Bethany urged.

A savage growl rumbled deep in my chest, I knew she was right; we didn't have time to waste, the other pack members would arrive soon and I couldn’t fight everyone off if the Alpha ordered an attack. We took off through the forest, heading for where I'd parked the escape car when I first arrived - I was always cautious and prepared something that I was reverently thanking myself for now.

I felt dizzy and I had to force my feet to keep on moving. The left side of my face had gone numb and my heart slammed against my rib cage. I fumbled around in my jean pocket and grabbed the phone that was there, using my other hand to apply pressure to the wound on my face.

I thrust the phone at Bethany, halting. "Here," I panted. "Ring Jex, tell him that –" I fell to the ground as a hot, searing pain crawled through the pores in my face, vexing the Alpha. "Tell him I'm injured, that he needs to get here pronto."

Bethany nodded vehemently, watching me warily.

The darkness engulfed me shortly after, and I could only hope that Bethany trusted me enough to not let me die alone, here in the forest.