The Alpha's Lost Queen

Chapter Four

Avaline Pov

The border hit me like a curse.

It was vastly different. Even one step across, and the scent in the air indicated its wildness. I didn’t like it one bit.

The guards who had accompanied us watched us from far away as we trudged into no man’s land. That’s what the pack called it. A wasteland where wolves went to die. Where Cassian and I had just been sent to die.

Compared to the luscious greens and lively forest surrounding the pack’s territory. No man’s land was a stark contrast. Past the boundary stone, the atmosphere was thick and suffocating, mixed in with damp moss and the occasional rotting animal.

Even wildlife wasn’t safe here.

The trees were scattered about, their skeletal unnourished branches scraping the sky. The leaves were scanty, bore no fruit. I spotted a vulture perched on one of the trees. Quite befitting of the dead population here, it was almost laughable.

The sun had begun to dip below the horizon, and a chill wind smacked into us. We hugged our bodies to shield from it.

“You doing okay?” Cassian asked, his voice low.

“I’m trying.”

He sighed, noting the clothing from the ball I still wore. It wasn’t made for the outdoors. The silk caught on the stray branches one too many times.

A crow croaked in the distance, drawing our attention to the sky. The darkness had started to settle in faster than I’d expected. I knew that the walk out of the kingdom had taken a bit of time, considering the sheer size of the territory alone but this. This unnerved me, raising the hairs on my skin.

Sage’s words from the night before rang through my head.

“The faster you leave, the harder it is for the killers to catch up to you”

Then I heard it.

The first howl.

It was a slow, eerie sound, waving over the earth like a call to the dead itself. Cassian and I met eyes, our bodies stiffening.

“They’re here.” He muttered.

The killers. I hadn't known what she meant by now I did.

The Royal Assassins.

Another voice rang through.

“I’ll see to it that you never come back again. Ever again.”

I swallowed hard, my heart pulsing in my throat. Of course, Darius has sent them after us. We’d been marked. Branded as traitors. We were nothing but bait. This was their hunting ground and we were the prey.

The stark realization made my blood boil. I refused to die here.

“Tick tock Aveline.”

“Move.” I rasped, my feet already pushing me ahead.

Cassian followed without question. We moved our weakened bodies through the unclear path. And the further we ran, the darker the sky got. The skeletal trees staring down at us like some form of phantoms awaiting a meal. Not if the assassins got to us first.

Then another howl came. Followed by another. Soon, the howling was accompanied by growls.

Low. Devastating. Sinister. Surrounding us.

These deliberate tactics were enough to send a chill down my spine multiple times.

A shadow dashed on our right.

Another on the left.

We were being boxed in.

“We can’t outrun them like this.” Cassian came to a stop, panting. His eyes darted around searching for an exit. I, on the other hand, tried to keep my eyes on the shadows lurking beyond the trees.

“I don’t think they were ever meant to be outrun.” I breathed.

“We just need to—“

A sharp whistle tore through the air.

Cassian shoved me quickly to the side just as an arrow stabbed into the rough terrain where I’d been just a moment ago. I eyed the weapon, I’d know them anywhere. The shaft was iron coated in wolfsbane. A favourite among the elite killers. It was a direct kill shot to any wolves unlucky to be pierced by it.

I scrambled to my feet regardless of the groan from my limbs. I couldn’t shift. Neither could Cassian, we were drained. And even if we had been at full strength, I wasn’t sure we would survive this attack.

A dark figure dropped from the trees, clad in a dark hood and leather. In his hands he brandished two silver blades. Cassian lunged at him, brandishing weapons of his own. His claws. He slammed into the assassin sending them both to the ground almost immediately. Cassian made a hasty reach for the killer’s throat when the second arrow pierced him in his side.

He cried out.

The assassin pushed him off roughly and he collided with the trunk of a tree.

I scrambled towards him, but the wind was knocked out from my ribs from a sharp kick. I collapsed unto the ground.

Coughing out, I blinked as a second assassin descended from the trees. By the figure I could tell it was a female. She pulled out a silver dagger, spinning it in her hands. I tried to focus on them but I all I could see was a shadow of black cloaks waving in the wind, merging with the growing darkness behind them.

“Allow me, your highness.” She murmured, voice muffled beneath her hood. “The Royal Alpha sends his greetings.”

I exhaled, bracing myself.

Cassian’s roar broke through the air. He launched himself at the first assassin. I took the advantage of the other’s distraction, lunging at her while extending my claws towards her throat. She moved aside and I ripped through her shoulder instead.

The first assassin cried out in pain.

Cassian had stabbed him in the stomach with one of the arrows. He kicked the female asssassin aside. She fell back, but Cassian followed ready to deliver the final blow. She swung her black at his neck. He grabbed her wrist, redirecting her hand to plunge the blade into her own chest.

The sound of unsettled crows in the far distance attracted our attention.

There were more coming.

The howls started again.

“Shit.” Cassian cursed, putting a hand to his bleeding side.

“Are you alright?”

He ignored me. “We need to move. Now.

The first assassin was already struggling to his feet.

Cassian’s bloodied hand grabbed unto mine pulling me along with him. I forced my aching legs to move, matching his pace. His breaths were labored but he remained determined. The cold wind howled past us, the scent of blood and the uncountable footsteps carried with it.

They were too close.

“We need to lose our scent.”