Fated to the King

chapter 7

Calista watches out the window as she watches two men she doesn’t recognize, by sight or smell. They didn’t smell like Rogues. They usually have a sourish scent. They turn into great wolves, one is silver with black legs and tips of his ears, the other is a golden color with white and darker brown patches.

“Royalty.” She says thinking out loud.

Onyx swishes her tail and gets comfortable in Calista’s head. “If they wanted to harm us, they would have. Those are royal wolves, they are much larger.” Calista replies, and calms down. She knows Onyx is right. ‘Those men could have shredded her like it was nothing. The bigger question is why they didn’t.’ She mentally reasons with herself.

Not wanting to risk being seen, Calista decides to stay inside until evening time to fetch water. She walks into the bedroom and sits on the floor, and reaches for the chest and lifts the lid, it resists with a loud creak, the lid resting against the foot of the ancient bed.

She looks inside, the first thing is a picture of a woman, who looks a lot like her. Same black hair, and fair skin. She picks up a stack of letters, and papers. She looks through them, and sees a territory deed, and an ancestry chart.

The deed clearly says Cassandra Murphy Blackheart. “This is for the territory, and belongs to my mother” she says as she sets that document aside, and picks up the ancestry chart. She reads it, and finds herself, her mother, and that her grandfather was the Alpha of this land.

“That would technically make my mother the Alpha. Is that why my father chose her? Maybe they weren’t fated mates at all.” She wonders aloud.

She looks inside the chest, for anything else, and there is a leather bound journal of some type.

She opens the book, and on the first page, it reads,

‘Dear Callie, I hope this finds you in good health, and after you know the truth. I hope you know the true story, and not some lie you've been fed.

I haven’t long before he kills me. A Rogue named Joshua, warned me. Joshua is a nice man, and if you ever need to escape, go to the Rogue lands and ask for Joshua, or tell them you are my daughter. I was friends with them, they are safe. But, only if you tell them who you are. Joshua believes, that James will frame the Rogues. They are innocent.’

Calista reads silently, tears running down her face. All of her life, all she wanted was to hear her mother’s voice. Reading her fear laden thoughts are not the same. But, it’s the closest thing to her mother since she was an infant.

‘My own father killed my mother, for her pack. But, why has the pack turned on me? It’s my ancestral pack. Dear ol’ Dad turned them against me. I’ve heard talk about how my mother was loved, but not in a long time.’ She thinks silently as she paces the room, chewing on her bottom lip.

Suddenly she drops to her knees, and places the journal back, and the papers over the top of it and closes the chest. She just sits there and looks at the ancient wooden box for a few moments before getting up. Onyx is up pacing in her head. “He killed her! I want to rip his throat out! He might try to kill us.” She says before growling.

“It’s going to be ok, Onyx. We have one more day of solitude, before going back. We won’t be so compliant. I won’t be hiding you anymore either. They think me wolfless and weak.”

“We’ll show him. And remember our mate is at the packhouse. We should go and watch from the lookout.” Onyx says.

Calista grabs her hoodie and pulls it on, and walks out of the bedroom. She checks her wood supply, and decides to look for more, and grabs an old pot she found and walks outside.

She slowly walks through the tall grass to the stream. She savors every moment of freedom she can get. Onyx is on alert in her head, on guard for every sound and sight. “Were safe Onyx, and just beyond those trees is the Rogue territory. Remember what my mother said. And besides, you said our mate is at the pack house.” Calista says smiling at the thought of even her having a mate.

They walk in silence along the bank, and Calista spots a cloth bag sitting just in the rocks on the shore. She walks over and curiously moves it with her foot, thinking it might explode. She looks around, scanning her view. Sensing no danger she bends down to look inside. There are ziploc bags of coffee and tea bags. Some canned stew, and canned fruit, and other assorted food items. and a blanket. She recognizes the labels as brands that the pack buys.

“I wonder who left this here? Maybe those men I saw earlier. Something is going on, nobody would have sent me food. Alpha would punish anyone that helps me.” She thinks aloud.

Onyx gets excited and starts dancing in her head. “What in the blue blazes is wrong with you?” She asks.

“Mate! I smell mate on the bag.” Cinnamon and oranges, Calista can smell it faintly and it makes her feel relaxed and calm.

“We’ll see Monday when we go back. Let's get this food that was generously brought to us. Gather some firewood, and have dinner before we shift.” She says as Onyx prances around excited for their mate.

Later, Calista puts her sweats and hoodie on the chair near the wood stove, and then undresses and walks outside. She shifts and transforms into a large black wolf with silver tipped ears and the tip of her long tail.

Onyx takes off running through the grass. She enjoys the feel of the cool ground and grass under her paws as she runs to the lookout.

“I wonder what is going on, it looks like the whole pack is there. And all those lights.” Onyx wonders.

“I bet they gave Miranda a second party. She’s such a princess.” Calista replies with sarcasm dripping from her voice.

All of the sudden, she feels an intense pain in her chest, and then throws her head back and howls loudly, and do all the wolves at the packhouse.

“The Alpha bond is severed, Calista! We’re free.” Onyx says.

Onyx remains sitting and watching. Some wolves have looked in our direction, after hearing a far away howl. But, soon they turn their attention back to the courtyard.

A silver glint catches Onyx’s eye as the crowd opens up and they can see the former Alpha, his wife, and Miranda in chains. A large man stands behind the Alpha, he looks over at another large man, with long red hair. “That must be King Magnus.” Onyx says.

He nods at the man behind the Alpha and he swings his arm, and Onyx sees the silver tipped whip.

Calista starts laughing, and Onyx howls lightly and rolls around in the grass, her light howls and grunts almost sounding like laughing.

“You don’t see that every day.” Calista says in Onyx's mind. The same warrior to flog the Alpha, looks up at the ginger haired man, he nods, and the warrior brandishes a blade, and slices the Alpha’s throat from ear to ear.

A loud blood curdling scream is heard from Madeline, as she watches her mate bleed out. Their bond severs and she loudly screams. She tries to flail but her restraints keep her still. Calista watches as her step-mother goes through excruciating pain and is helpless to do anything about it.

“Let’s go home, Onyx.” She says.

Onyx doesn’t comply right away, and instead she stands, puts her head back and howls loudly. The entire pack turns, and looks up in her direction. “We will never hide again.” Onyx says and turns to walk back to the cabin.