Hidden Queen

Warnings

                                                                                    POV: Aymara

       Thursday was going slowly without Nova around. The story was that she caught a cold and that she wouldn't be coming in today or tomorrow. I knew the truth though. Her aunt was in town and was keeping her home to get ready for her eighteenth birthday. Roman was mopey and irritable any time someone tried to talk to him. Vivian, the shifter girl, came up to me during lunch. "Tell your alpha that it is dangerous to bring so many wolves into this territory. This town has hunters in it that would love to kill all the wolves that step over the border," she warns us. Roman growls. "Mind your own business. There will be no wolves in the territory. We are meeting in no-mans-land. The alphas have a whole bunch of houses and a pack house that is going to go to the Queen Alpha when she rises," he mutters. 

       I slap Roman upside the head with a growl. "Fool, that's too much information to someone outside the pack. What if she tells the hunters? A lot of us will be killed." I glare at Vivian. She raises her hands. "I would never run to a hunter to tell on another supernatural. That would only lead to me getting killed too. I'm not stupid," she says, with hurt in her voice. Roman looks at me angrily. "Don't hit me you brat. Remember, I am older that you," he growls. I roll my eyes. "Oh grow up Roman. You were born two minutes before me. And stop sulking just because you won't see your mate till Saturday. You best feel lucky. I still haven't found mine yet," I say, guilt tripping him. 

       My phone pings so I pull it out of my bag and look to see who texted me. "Alpha Elijah needs us to meet him outside now," I tell Roman, reading the text. He groans and heads towards the back door which leads to the woods. Alpha Elijah was waiting in the trees in wolf form. He shifts when he sees us. Roman. Aymara. I need your help. I've already told the school you were leaving for the next two days. There are rogues that we need to deal with and you are two of my strongest members. Hide your things then shift. Everything needs to be perfect for the awakening of the Queen Alpha," he says before shifting back into his large black wolf. Mara, my wolf gets excited by the thought of getting to fight. I hide my things is a tree and let Mara take over. Ah, sweet release. It's been too long since Alpha Elijah has let us fight. We will surely be chosen to be the Queen Alpha's beta. We are strong and smart enough to be, she says, running behind Roman and the alpha.

       I sense the rogues right before they jump out to attack us. By instinct, I duck, raking my claws along the stomach of the wolf that tried to attack me. The wolf yelps before falling to the ground, back in its human form. I see Roman pin an large grey wolf to the ground and snap its neck with his teeth. Alpha Elijah finishes off the last two rogues before we shift back to our human forms. Thankfully, our clothes don't shred when we shift. Alpha Elijah pulls out a bundle of wolfs bane and sprinkles it on the dead rogues. The bodies turn to dust and I sigh. "Every time I see that, it is so weird. How such a small plant can do that to a whole body gets me every time," I say. Roman lifts his head and sniffs the air. "She is so close. I can smell Nova," he whines. Alpha Elijah looks at him in confusion. "Who is Nova?" He asks. 

       Roman sniffs the air again. "Nova is my mate. I found her yesterday at school. She is a human though so I was going to talk to you about changing her so that I can properly mate with her. Max is always on edge now since he hasn't been able to mark her," he explains. Alpha Elijah looks at me and my brother in confusion. "You found your mate and you didn't tell me as soon as you got home yesterday? we will talk more about it after the awakening on  Saturday," he tells Roman. Roman nods before turning towards the smell one more time. Alpha Elijah sighs before chuckling. "Go find her. Spend sometime with your mate," he says with a smile. I look at the alpha in shock. He laughs. "A wolf driven crazy with the bond will be of no use to us in a fight. He will be too distracted," he explains to me. I give him a knowing look. 

       "Come, you can help me chose something out for the Queen Alpha. I am terrible at gift buying," he tells me, leading me back to town. We go from store to store looking for the perfect gift. In a little boutique, a large gold pendant holding a polished fire argot catches my eye. "Alpha, what about this? It is beautiful. Something fit for a queen," I say. Alpha Elijah picks it up and smiles. "It is perfect," he says. Looking down at me, he frowns. "Why don't you pick out something to wear for the party. Knowing you, you have no dresses," he says, shocking me. I look around the store and smile when I see a black and gold dress hanging on the wall. Alpha Elijah sees what I am looking at and asks the cashier to get it for us. He pays for the necklace and the dress and we leave the store. 

       My phone pings again so I pull it out and read the text. "Alpha, Nova wants to know if I can hang out with her and my brother. They are going to see a movie and then go to the arcade for a while. May I go or do you still need me to help with the rogue problem?" I ask. The alpha nods and shoos me off. "I'll have one of the cubs get yours and your brothers things. Go have some fun with your friend and your brother. I dash off down the street. As I run, Mara keeps trying to take over. Let me run some more. You always keep me in when we are outside. I want to run, she howls. I shake my head. "No, we can't wolf out in the middle of town. We will have hunters on us in seconds. We will run once we go home," I promise to her. 

       I reach the theater and see Nova and Roman laughing at something. Nova looks different when I get up to her. "Nova, I'm so glad to see you. Did you change yourself in some way?" I ask when she sees me. She nods. "Yeah. My aunt took me to get my hair and nails done. Later, we're going shopping for clothes," she tells me. I look to my brother who is practically drooling on himself. "So Roman, which movie are we gonna watch?" I ask, pulling him from his own mind. He shakes his head and looks at the movie list. "How about Shock? It looks like a good movie," he says. I look at the board and inwardly groan. Out of all the movies he could have chosen, he had to chose a werewolf movie. Nova looks at the board and giggles. "Sure, why not. I like werewolves," she says. Roman pulls Nova up to the ticket window and buys three tickets and then leads us to the snack counter. We buy snacks and then head into the theater. "Here goes," I mutter.