Twenty years ago
"The Alpha has returned!" Cried one of the patrol guards. "Open the gate! Make way!"
Alpha Axel galloped through Blue Moon's gate, tired and dirty from his travels. He had already delayed things long enough. The prophecy had been his last hope, and now he had nothing. Nothing left but to move forward with his father's dying wish.
He rode directly to the stables and dismounted, handing the reins off to one of the stablehands. Then he jogged out to the stream and stripped, leaving his clothes and leather satchel on the bank and jumping into the icy water.
The swirling eddies and lapping waters helped to clear his body of dirt and his mind of disorientation. He would go through with it. There was nothing else to do. He'd already done everything he could. Everything he had
