The Rogue Queen

Freya came to the Northern Lycan Kingdom as a refugee when she was 4 years old. The King and Queen of the North had opened their gates to those fleeing the war that broke out in the Southern Kingdom. She was so young that she didn’t remember much about the war or what life was like before. One of the elders of Southern court brought her with them after her parents, who had lived in the capital, had been killed along with most of the population. She was lucky really as one of a few handful of wolves and Lycan's to escape that night and in the days leading up to it. Freya remembered the sight and smell of the fires from the sanctuary of the Northern Castle, which was perched upon a hill as the Southern Kingdom burned. Everything she learned about her birthplace came from history books and the stories she heard in the Northern Kingdom. An illness ravaged the southern lands, turning werewolves and Lycans feral and stuck in wolf form. Whole packs collapsed and began to turn on each other until, eventually this unrest and illness reached the capital when rogues attacked the city. The illness did not discriminate against who it took and by the time they discovered it, the illness had spread too much it couldn’t be stopped. The northern Lycan Kingdom and the Southern Lycan Kingdom had never been allies. At best, you could have called it a cold war in the years before the outbreak. They had built a wall the entire length of the border which remains guarded by warriors to this day. Tunnels allowed controlled passage through the walls for trading or other purposes, but most were sealed once the Southern kingdom fell and left nothing but rogues. So really it was somewhat of a miracle that King Brandon and Queen Helena allowed any refugees at all, but in Freya's experience they had been fair rulers. She couldn’t blame the North for their actions really, the northern capital was so close to the border that it was at risk if it allowed the passages to remain open, and it took in as many werewolf and Lycan refugees as it could, finding them all homes in their packs. The rogues continued their attacks every so often, testing the border defences and on occasion making it over the wall and close to the capital. She, of course, considered herself one of the lucky ones really. She was a Lycan and was permitted to stay in the capital living with the elder Hugo, who had brought her with him. They were provided shelter and Hugo a job in the castle library whilst she was provided an education. As time went on and the attacks continued, people were more openly hostile to outsiders like Freya and the rest of the refugees. The Northern Lycan Royal family sent their children away to different packs for their own safety and their identity became a closely guarded secret for fear that someone might attack them, and the King and Queen were rarely seen out in public. Freya remained in the northern capital until she was 16 when she got her wolf, Hera, and like all other 16 year olds, she was sent off to one of the many training packs to train as a warrior. It didn’t matter if you were Omega born or ranked, as soon as you turned 16 you needed to learn to be a warrior in order to safeguard the Northern Kingdom from rogue attacks. Their education continued in addition to training as a warrior and there your skills would be tested to see where you would match for your job and pack once you turned 18 and you graduated from training. Her life in the Red Mountain Pack was so vastly different to the one she lived in the capital. As a Lycan she had been accepted into the capital as a nobody, a ghost really, who lived their life in peace, but at the Red Mountain Pack she was often referred to as a rogue and ostracised for it. Freya lacked friends and missed the easy and invisible life of the capital. She spent so many nights dreaming of the day she would turn 18, graduate and be assigned to another pack. If she was lucky, she would be a warrior or given a job in one of the pack's businesses. If not, she would be assigned a role as an Omega to help around the packhouse. The latter option felt like hell for Freya. But still, warrior camp wasn't all bad; she had her own tiny bedroom within the training centre with a single bed, a wardrobe and a bedside table with a lamp. They shared a communal bathroom, which she hated. Freya longed for a bath instead of a shower. If you were lucky to be a ranked member, you had a whole wing to yourself and their rooms were bigger and more luxurious than those unranked wolves or Lycans. Every day was the same. They woke at 0600 and trained from 0630 to 0730, breakfast was at 0800 and then school began at 0900 until 1500. Then you would begin training until 1700 and dinner at 1800, you would get the evening to do homework or whatever else you wanted. On a Saturday you train again from 0900 until 1200 and then you would get a Sunday as a day of rest. Freya often mused that her parents must have had a sense of humour, naming her Freya after a deity. What a joke for a low born Lycan like her, as it turned out, the Moon Goddess also had a sense of humour giving her a wolf named after a deity too. Though make no mistake, her wolf was fearless and full of sass. The day Freya got her at 16 was the best day of her life. She had the friend she always wanted and would never have to feel alone again. Hera gave her the strength and courage to get through this warrior training no matter what was thrown at them, and goddess was her wolf beautiful. As a Lycan she was bigger than other wolves. In fact, her size could rival ranked wolves and had glorious red fur with a distinctive grey streak that ran from her nose right down to her tail and she could absolutely hold her own among even the ranked members, even the Lycans. Freya couldn’t help being smug about that and she was pretty hopeful that it would land them the role of a warrior in a pack as soon as she could graduate. Psst, Psst Freya……Freya…..FREYA! “My wolf just won’t shut up and get out of my head. Why did she have to be so loud?” She muttered to herself as she lay in bed. Hera, I swear if you don’t shut up and let me sleep just a bit longer I’ll take you for a cold shower in wolf form! She wondered why her wolf had to be so annoying at times as she tossed the pillow over her head in a hopeless attempt to drown out the voice in her head. But it’s our birthday and not just any birthday, it’s our 18th Birthday! You know what that means? There was no way Hera was letting her go back to sleep. Freya groaned audibly, it was Saturday! Couldn’t my wolf just let me sleep in for once? I wasn’t a morning person, so why did the Moon Goddess curse me with a wolf that was? She thought. You know I can hear you, right? Hera said laced with sarcasm. Well it’s true! And anyway, I’ve already told you, I don’t want a mate, I’m perfectly fine as I am. That was the truth. Freya didn’t want a mate, she was happy to continue being a lone wolf. Hera whined in her head in response before giving her the silent treatment. Freya smiled to herself, she would enjoy the silent treatment for a couple more hours before she had to get up. She rolled over and happily went back to sleep before being woken up by pounding on their door. “There better be a good reason why you’re not at training right now!” The voice shouted through the door and caused her to jump up with fright frantically looking at her watch. “s**t! It’s 0910! I’ve slept in, how the hell did I sleep in when I set an alarm?” she cussed under her breath and heard Freya chuckle in her head. You did that! I swear I’ll get you back for this! She threatened Hera only to hear her guffaw louder. Freya was pretty sure it was the Gamma Leon pounding on the door. She jumped out of bed and pulled her hair into a messy bun and then grabbed a pair of dirty yoga pants and a cream vest top and tossed the door open before immediately lowering her eyes to the ground to show submission. "Sorry Gamma, I slept in. I swear I won't do it again", She said cautiously. He stood and looked at her for a moment before grinning and nodding his head towards the exit. "You're 18 today, aren't you?" "Uh, yes Gamma, that's right." "In that case, I'll let you off with it this time, since it's your first offence. Maybe you'll find your mate today?" "You're as bad as my wolf", she groaned as she followed next to him. Gamma Leon turned and grinned, "Don't tell me you don't want a mate?" "I don't, I do just fine on my own." "You might be the first she-wolf I've ever heard say that" he began laughing as they reached outside, "you can join in with the laps like the rest of them, training will finish early for the Alpha and Luna ceremony." Freya suppressed the urge to groan in front of the Gamma as she took off and joined the pack of runners. It wouldn't go down well to let the Gamma hear any sign of moaning about the ceremony. She had forgotten that the new Alpha would be taking over tonight, she tended to keep herself to herself in this pack and not draw attention to herself and that included avoiding pack events. But there would be no avoiding this. The new Alpha Matteo seemed nice. Freya never spoke to him personally but she knew who he and Luna Kate were. Most of those in the training centre weren't part of the Red Mountain Pack and never would be, but they did abided by pack rules and showed due respect to the ranked members and that would include attending the Alpha and Luna ceremony. Mate! Hera said loudly. “Oh s**t” Freya mumbled. Where? She groaned as the scent of sandalwood flooded her nostrils, making her feel slightly nauseous. “Double s**t”. I don't know, he's here somewhere. We'll find him. Uh how about you give me a birthday gift and don't find him Hera? "I need everyone to stop now and listen." Gamma Leon shouted, as everyone did as they were told. "I've just been given word that there is a rogue attack happening right now on our packland borders. I need all of you ranked wolves to come with me and the rest of you go straight back to your rooms." There was noise as various wolves protested that they wanted to go and help fight too. "This is not a negotiation, this is an order, return to your rooms with no stopping along the way" he was using that Gamma tone again that Freya had heard many times before. She saw the rest of the wolves lower their heads in submission as they always did. His tone, however, didn't seem to affect her in the same way. Freya guessed it was because she was from the Southern Kingdom, but she had learned over the years to pick up on what the wolves did here when they had an order from a ranked member and she would mimic it to fit in and draw less attention to herself. Lots took off at pace back to their rooms, others a bit slower but she wasn't in any hurry. She knew she would follow his orders but didn't see the need to run, the borders were miles away. Mate! That is mate! Hera said as Freya turned to see a face staring at her as the ranked members began to shift into their wolf form and she was pretty sure that he was the current Alphas second son, Iain. Hera, was…was our mate Iain? She wrinkled her nose at the thought. I believe he was. She knew this wasn't good, she knew he hated her, she lost count of the amount of times he had called her and others a filthy rogue. She doubted being his fated mate would change that. He was also finishing up his ranked member training. He would soon be heading off to be Beta to the Silver Spring Pack. Ranked members stayed in training until they were 21 in order to prepare them for their roles. You must have really displeased the Moon Goddess for her to give us a mate like him. Me? Why does it have to be me? Maybe you were a s**t wolf in your previous life and this is your payback? Hera made an exasperated noise and went silent, but Freya loved when she went in a huff, the silence was excellent for her head. She turned the corner and was almost sick as she hit a wall of rotten scent. She could see the pack house from the treeline but the putrid smell in the air was making her eyes water. Hera, do you smell that? Don't think I'm being nice to you now, but yes I do, it's a rogue, or maybe two? I'm picking up two scent trails. Maybe we should follow them? They shouldn't be this close to the pack house, Gamma said they were on the border. The packhouse won't be prepared, we need to tell someone. She let Hera take control and followed the stench which took a right behind the training centre and continued towards the play park. This put Freya and Hera on edge, that play park was often filled with pups. But they were sure Gamma would have given the pack order to return to the safety of the pack house. Freya scanned the treeline and saw two ragged wolves prowling behind the play park which was empty. Just what were they up to? She picked up the pace into a jog and then heard some soft singing just as Luna Kate came into view and horror gripped her as she saw Luna Kate's two young pups sitting at her feet on the grass lawn. The wolves were within striking distance. She moved into a sprint. "Luna! Look out!" She screamed as she let Hera take full control and shifted into her wolf form. She knew her clothes would be shredded but didn't care. She couldn't let those rogues kill or hurt Luna or those pups. Hera leapt through the air and landed on top of the skinny grey wolf that was about to lunge at Luna. Hera went tumbling through the air before she was back on her feet and in front of Luna, who now had the two pups in her arms cradling them and the wolves positioned themselves at either side of them snarling at us. Hera let out a low warning growl at them as she felt Luna try to back off behind her. These rogues were no match for her and she knew it. Being a Lycan meant her wolf was naturally bigger than most, but these rogues were small and skinny, they were probably starving. There would be no way they could do much damage to her, but Luna had her pups and wouldn’t be able to shift and Hera knew they would try to target them. The grey wolf let out a low whine to the larger black wolf who tilted its head towards Hera. She couldn't understand why they weren't attacking. She let out another warning growl, this time baring her teeth and them. The grey wolf seemed to be bowing in submission but Hera was sure her eyes were deceiving her. Ugh Freya are you seeing this? She asked in disbelief. Of course I am. My eyes are your eyes, remember? Goddess help me. The black wolf launched itself to the side of Hera and the pups screamed in unison. Hera acted on instinct, she leapt and twisted her body, her two front paws stretched into claws as they landed on the body of the wolf, sending it flying to the ground with ragged wounds down its side. She wasted no time before snapping her jaws towards its neck. She felt a sharp pain in her hind leg and suppressed a howl as she saw the grey wolf sink its teeth into her. She chambered her leg and shook it off, the wolf howling as it hit a tree. She took the black wolf in her jaws and shook it before throwing it up in the air with all her might. She heard the crunch and looked on as its head whipped to the side and landed in a heap at her paws. Blood seeped from its mouth. Hera turned snarling at the grey wolf that was pathetically trying to get up. She would make this quick. She took no joy in killing, even when it was for hunting purposes, though this would be her first actual kill of wolves. Her jaws locked around the neck of the wolf before she felt her muzzle become wet and the grey wolf went limp. Hera limped to Luna, who looked both terrified and relieved. She nudged her muzzle into the side of one of the pups gently, the little boy reaching out to stroke her head. You're not a dog Hera! Freya complained but secretly she was enjoying the contact. "Thank you, I owe you my life and that of my pups" Luna Kate whispered before the noise of running bodies caused the group to turn. Gamma Leon appeared out of the trees accompanied by, the soon-to be Alpha of the Silver Spring Pack and Iain. Their eyes went wide as they took in Hera and the two dead wolves and panic set in as they looked at the Luna and two pups, their running turned into sprints. That's definitely mate! Hera confirmed and Freya knew she was right. Her heart sank. She didn't want a mate, let alone him. She would have to find a way to reject him that wouldn't get her banished.