The Lost Princess's Alpha

Chapter 5 : Long Trail Ahead

*Lynn*

The snow fell in large clumps from the treetops, piling in huge heaps along the slender trail.

We traveled in single file, save for the warriors who padded through the trees on either side in their wolf forms, always on the lookout for more trouble.

Dryden's warriors had entered Aldrich's territory once, and I didn't doubt they would try again. However, Aldrich assured me that he and his people would know almost instantly if someone tried to enter his domain.

He confessed that he had been following my sisters, me, and the wolves and hunting us for some time before he stepped in.

This revelation only caused further unease about traveling with the Alpha and his warriors. I didn't know if I could trust them or if I should even try. How long would we stay with them? How long before Dryden caught up with us again?

He had claimed Clara as his, and I didn't know the man to let go of what he thought belonged to him.

Aldith walked in front just behind the first of the warriors, a woman by the name of Alex. She and Aldith were chatting about the differences between her territory and our own.

I was able to catch a word or two, enough to determine there were, in fact, vast differences between the two lands.

“The castle is open to all of Lord Aldrich's people," Alex mentioned. “In it, food is offered to those who need it, as well as fresh clothing and other goods. No one in our pack wants for anything."

“Really?" Aldith pressed. “I can't believe it! We have to practically beg for scraps from our Alpha's table! He and his so-called warriors have hunted out nearly everything in the territory. We'd be lucky to even get a fetch of rabbits once a week!"

I was tempted to stop Aldith from saying too much, from giving too much away. But Lord Aldrich didn't seem to be paying attention as he walked at the group's rear. This, I'd learn later, is the common practice for an Alpha. It is also one I have never seen Dryden perform.

I was sure by then that Aldrich pretty much guessed who our previous Alpha was. Our proximity to Dryden's territory would tell him as much, as well as the sudden appearance of Dryden's warriors.

It didn't take a genius to figure that out, but Lord Aldrich didn't say anything. He simply kept his eyes focused on the land around us, ears trained on every sound he heard.

He had seemed so confident last night that I would tell him everything. But why should I if he already knows?

I tried to glance back at him to read his face behind the steel wall he kept behind. But as I turned my head ever so slightly, I saw his eyes staring directly at me. I swung my head back, pinning my eyes on the road ahead, but my heart started thundering like a stampede in my chest.

I could feel those silver eyes slicing through me as easily as a knife. I shivered, thinking of what he must be thinking. If he knew where he came from, surely he must know who, or what, we are. Rogues, rogue wolves with nowhere to turn, and an angry Alpha on our tail.

Aldrich said it himself. We're running from something, and I know he meant to find out what.

As I focused on keeping my feet moving forward, I almost jumped out of my skin when I felt a warm hand touch the back of my arm.

I yelped and jumped away, only to see Lord Aldrich standing behind me.

“What are you doing?" I asked him, clutching my chest as my heart threatened to run off without me.

“I saw that look," he told me, and I stopped in my tracks, afraid to move. The rest of the group continued on without us, the sun still shining brightly above,

“What look?" I snapped, anger filling me.

“What are you running from?" he asked cooly, his voice low and filled with questions.

“Why are you so curious?"

“You are the ones who came to me. You came here seeking help. Now, if I am to aid you, I'd like to know what I'm getting myself into."

I looked ahead at the trail, where I could see Aldith moving in closer to Alex for warmth.

“Look," I said, turning back to him. “We are running, but from whom isn't your concern. All we ask is for work and food. We can take care of ourselves apart from that. I swear, whatever you give us, we will work three times more to repay you."

I looked up into his intense gaze and forced myself not to turn away. His hand slowly crept up and held my forearm, preventing me from stepping away.

“Alright," he said. “I won't push you. We do need the help back in my castle. It's a big place, and it takes an army to maintain it."

I believed he was attempting to make a joke, but his tone never changed as he spoke. In fact, his face remained as stone cold as I felt his emotions to be.

“You do the work, and you'll receive food and shelter, but.." he stepped closer to me, so close I could feel his breath on my lips. “One wrong move, one mistake, if any of my people get hurt, and you're out."

I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded. He pursed his lips and stepped away. He knocked his head toward the vanishing group and said, “Let's go before they start missing us."

He gestured for me to go before him, so I went, squeezing into my coat to fight off the cold and the lingering feeling of fear and adrenaline coursing through me. I could hear his heavy footfalls behind me, and I knew his eyes never left me, always watching, always on guard.

The day grew older as we traveled through the forest, the trees swaying with the breeze around us. Wind whipped around the thick trunks, peeling around us and peddling away into the distance, howling it went.

The warriors traveling with us switched places from those in their wolf forms on our flanks to those marching in front and behind us. None of them carried weapons of any sort, their claws, and teeth more effective than any knife.

A few others took turns pulling Clara on a sled they had made. With each turn or bump in the road, I stiffened, fearing a cry of pain from my sister.

I felt in my coat pocket for the knife I had placed there. It was small, but enough to put up a fight against anything smaller than a bear…or a wolf.

The knife was never my first course of action to use. It belonged to my mother and was jeweled with rubies and sapphires, a beautifully made knife not meant for a serious battle. But it was something to remind me of the life I lost and that I hoped to have again.

It was the one thing, out of all our possessions, I could never bring myself to get rid of, not even to sell for food in our worst times.

Alex and Aldith were speaking again just ahead of me, the two women moving in step side-by-side.

“You're kidding!" Aldith exclaimed, stepping over a fallen log.

“Nope," Alex said. “Single and thriving."

Aldith placed a hand over her mouth, gasping with shock. “An Alpha with his size and status? With no mate? That's…well, that's unbelievable."

“Believe it," Alex told her. “I've known Calix for years, and not once has he even mentioned looking for a mate."

“But isn't he the only child? Isn't it his duty to produce an heir?"

Alex laughed at that. “Not to him. He believes his duty is to protect and serve his people, nothing more. I don't even think he's really put much consideration into who will be his heir. He doesn't really focus on things like that."

“Oh, yeah? And what DOES he focus on?"

Alex looked at Aldith somberly. “Calix has had a hard life. His mother died when he was just a pup, and his father died only a month after his first shift. He was left to be the Alpha of a kingdom he wasn't prepared for. But he stood up to that challenge and conquered it.

“With no one to guide him or help him except for his younger brother, he's had to rebuild the pack with his bare hands. All that can take a toll on a person, even someone as strong as he is. He's a good leader, but it's a lonely life being who he is. He puts a lot on himself."

I felt a tingle on the base of my neck, a flicker of thought in the back of my mind.

Who was this man?

I dared to look back once more, and I found he was only two paces behind me, his eyes still glued to me as if I were the only thing in his universe.

I let out a shaky breath, something new coiling inside me, a heat I hadn't known was there.

An Alpha without a mate. A boy who became king. The rebuilder of a kingdom.

His eyes were filled with an intense fire that seemed to envelop me. He had heard what Alex had said. He never once said something to contradict or add to her story. Her story didn't matter. It was one person's point of view. But the story he had to tell was much different.

I could see fire in those eyes, a blazing inferno of pain and scorching heat. He and I shared something in common. We had faced the fire and had come out on the other side....alive.