Queen, Alpha, Mate

Chapter 19

JOSHUA POV

I follow my gamma to the crime scene. We arrive at a small cottage near the edge of town. These parts have been mostly abandoned recently. Not because the housing isn't good, but simply because we don't have enough people to fill the houses anymore. I can't say arriving was exactly pleasant. As alpha, I feel the death of each of my pack members. Some deaths hurt worse than others and given all the recent attacks and deaths... It's been hell, feeling so many bonds snap so frequently. I guess the more pain you experience, the number you become to it. Could it be that this person just happened to slip through the cracks? Before me lies a girl. She can't be older than 17 and by the looks of her, she's been through a lot. I search the broken bond to find out who she was and when she died, but first I close her eyes. I can't stand the emptiness of her eyes looking up at me. Behind me, Katie gags audibly and Alex stands there with a stone face, arms crossed. From the looks of it, his anger matches mine.

Her name was Rachel DeVries, she was 16 years old. I clench my fist in anger. Who would do such a thing? I tell Alex and Katie to find out who did this and bring them to me. They will pay for what they've done, no matter the reason. I head back to the packhouse to wash all this death off of me. When I see my mate, I can't help but embrace her close. My nose in her hair, she calms down the rage I hold in my heart. She's good and I won't lose her for anything in the world.

"You okay?" She asks.

I shake my head 'no'. "She was only 16, my love. She had so much life ahead of her."

"Who was only 16?"

"One of my pack members. Scouts found a body this morning. By the state of her, I can see she suffered. Poor thing didn't even have her wolf yet to defend her." I feel my fists clench again.

"Is there something I can do to help? I'm pretty good at hunting and deducing, you know. Even without my wolf." My mate tells me and looks me in the eyes, her face hardened. "I'm not going to sit still when some little girl was just murdered."

I kiss her forehead. That's my brave mate. "If you want to take a look, that's fine, but I'm coming with you. Also, let's not go right now, I need a moment before I can get myself to go see her again."

"It's okay if you want to rest, I can go with Daniel if you want? I don't think he's been yet and he's perfectly capable of protecting me if need be, right?"

I growl at the thought of her alone with another man. She's mine and mine alone. As if on cue, Daniel strolls around the corner and I shoot him a death glare. His confused expression pulls me back to the situation at hand. He's my beta and my best friend, he'd never try anything with my mate. I scold myself for even having the thought.

"Hey guys," Daniel says hesitantly. "Everything alright here?"

I explain the situation to him and he's fine-ish taking Diana to see the site of the crime. I see them off and then head to bed. I've been cracking my brain too much already today and I'm knackered. A nap will do me much good.

DIANA POV

When we get outside, Daniel changes into his wolf, Ajax, and lets me ride on his back to the site of the crime. I hold on tight to his fur as he races through the trees. When we get to the cottage, I have a look around. It reminds me of my grandmother's house. As we get closer to the entrance, I feel Kysandra go a little bit wild inside my head. The smell of death enters my nose as we get closer to the victim. Kysandra lets out an earsplittingly loud howl. I grab my head. It hurts, her pain hurts. I'm so confused, what's going on? Daniel is with me in an instance, looking alarmed. I don't know what to tell him. Kysandra is still going absolutely ballistic inside of me. Finally I hear her whimper, 'Sister. They killed our sister.' I have no idea what she's talking about. I don't have a sister. 

'Not that kind of sister. A sister of the moon. Her wolf's name was Ruby. She was to be a wolf of the new moon. She was like us! Strong and special.'

'Like us? How many of us are there out there?'

'We are 8 in total, but we're only born once every 100 years.' Kysandra forces her way to the front of my mind. She wants to speak and I let her. My eyes turn lilac as Kysandra turns towards Daniel.

"You cannot bury her yet. We must wait until I've fully manifested. Just wait until the full moon. I can save her. I must save my sister."

Daniel looks stumped. "Sister? I didn't know Diana had a sister?"

"No, not Diana's sister, my sister. Sister of the moon!"

"What do you mean, you can save her? She's dead as dead can be."

"My powers will manifest soon. I will show you then! But you must not bury her before then."

"Okay, okay. Calm down. I will talk to Joshua about it. Can you let Diana back in please?"

I feel Kysandra withdrawing to the back of my mind again. She's let me back at the reigns. I wonder what kind of powers we're going to get if we can actually save someone who is already dead. Daniel looks as me as though he's seeing a ghost. 

"What was that all about? What does she mean save Rachel? Rachel is gone. Joshua felt the broken pack bond." He asks.

I shrug. "If I knew, I'd tell you. I'm getting more and more curious every day about Kysandra and her special powers though. Is there any scripture on wolves of the full moon?"

"I'd think you could find it in the capital if such scriptures exist." Daniel says. 

"Kysandra mentioned something else," I just remembered. "She called Rachel a wolf of the New Moon and said she is supposed to be a powerful wolf as well. Besides, we're not even the only two wolves of the moon alive, apparently there are six others. I can take a guess why people would want us dead or on their side."

Daniel has turned pale. "To win wars, you mean?"

I nod. "What is power if not the ability to bring back the dead? And this is not even the only powers we're supposed to have. I need to know more." I notice myself getting restless. I open a mindlink with Joshua. "My love, something happened. We're coming back your way, we have lots to discuss." I feel his distress shoot down the bond. "No worries," I add. "We're not hurt, we just got some new information about the victim."  I send a kiss down the bond after which Daniel and I head back to the packhouse.

When we get back to the packhouse, Joshua is waiting for us. He patiently listens to our explanation of the situation and then orders some warriors to bring the body to the morgue and make sure it stays there. 

He then completely changes the topic to our mating ceremony. I'm so startled, I let out a surprised giggle. His parents intend to introduce me as Joshua's mate to the pack tonight and announce that when our mating ceremony happens officially, we're set to merge our packs with Joshua as alpha and myself as queen. Though my head is not quite in the game right now, I think a party would do me good. 

"Just one problem." I tell Joshua. "All my clothes are gone, I don't have anything to wear."

"No worries, my princess. You can go through my sister's wardrobe. She'll probably have something that would look better on you. Besides, she's not here anyway. She's gone to study in Sydney, you know, in Australia." He says with a wink. I didn't know he had a sister. I can imagine why she wouldn't come back for the ceremony if she's on the other side of the world. I do hope I get to meet her at some point though. If she's anything like her brother, we'll get along nicely. 

I kiss my mate on the cheek and grab Katie from the common room in the packhouse. When Joshua asks where we're going I tell him a masterpiece takes time, before wiggling my butt at him and strutting up the stairs to his sister's bedroom. Katie is behind me, laughing her head off.