The Alpha’s Weakness

Chapter 6 - Xander

We were in battle all night. They kept attacking in small groups of about twenty, and just like the King had said, they committed suicide before we could start to question them. Until we found out how they were doing it, we were at a loss for words. Kyle, my men, and I are all covered in blood. There were lots of wounded but luckily, we didn’t lose anyone.

The hospital and the field hospital were all filled, treating the wounded. The worst injury sustained was a wooden stake to the rib cage. And he was in surgery now getting it removed. It made no sense to me. Why would they send small groups just to be slaughtered? The more I thought about it, the more my head hurt. I take a shower in the locker rooms nearby before going back to my tent to fall asleep.

I have a dreamless sleep and wake up soon to the sound of Kyle calling my name. I get up and walk out of the tent. “What do you need?” I ask him still groggy.

“The Queen and King are having a war meeting and need us there now” he says quickly. I nod my head and stifle a yawn as we make our way to the meeting room. When we walk in I recognize a few different alphas, along with warriors of the royal pack I fought alongside last night and some others I didn't recognize. The King and Queen sat up front and alongside them were four billboards holding up detailed maps of the territory we were in.

Everyone was arguing and once I walked in everyone proceeded to quiet down. We start talking about strategies and numbers. I’m looking at the reports as they start arguing again. I’m looking at them closely, separating them out into each day. I can feel the King watching me carefully to see what I’m doing. Soon I turned to him in shock. I’m surprised no one has figured it out yet. Sensing that I had something to add, the arguing once again started to die down.

“Kyle, I need you to mark each spot with an ‘x’. One for each spot we were attacked at. I will give you the last four days.” He nods in understanding before grabbing a marker. Once every ‘x’ has been marked, I notice the pattern. Each day they attack the same areas except for one. The area next to the hospital.

“I think that the attacks are just a distraction. So far none of the attacks have been inside the Royal Pack’s territory. It has always been outside of it. I think they are trying to figure out a way to get inside near the hospital, where the security measures are the strongest.” I say without a doubt, knowing it to be true. It was the only logical thing. But if they were trying to get in by the hospital, it must mean that what they are here for must be close to it. I look over to the King and Queen, sudden realization dawning on me.

They were trying to get Isabella. While asleep they could do it easily and wouldn’t have to worry about her powers getting in the way. If they are sending their troops to their deaths, then they must have enough warriors to not even worry about the consequences. They were also running out of time, the Princess could wake up at any minute.

Roland and Brook, I could tell, were thinking the exact same thing as me. We had to move the princess to a new spot. The safest place that would be, was inside the castle itself. There was nothing else we could do. After new plans were put into place, making sure there were going to be designated warriors in that position, the king and queen went to help move their daughter safely into the castle. She will be tucked away closely in a secret room that was hidden in the castle. Only a select few knew where it was and I wasn’t one of them. For some unknown reason, I seemed bothered by this fact.

I go back to the tents with Kyle, giving out new orders, and telling everyone to get some rest. Once inside, Kyle and I go and get some more rest before standing watch all night. In my dreams, I saw myself looking at that beautiful wolf again. Except this time she was sitting there staring straight back at me. I watched her carefully for what seemed like a few minutes, before walking up to her. As I do, she growls slightly, the wind picking up along with her. I stood in front of her, her eyes held a sadness I couldn’t place. She has been through a lot and she wasn’t sure if she could trust me.

I slowly reach my hand up to touch her coat. With only a few centimeters left she backs away. I am saddened by this movement. She was so beautiful and to see her back away from me brought me a sliver of pain; it hurt to know she couldn’t trust me yet. Didn’t she know I wasn’t going to hurt her? She turns to leave, looking at me before she does.

I sit up straight in my bed. Cold sweat was covering my body. Kyle comes in holding a few papers which I soon will realise are reports from my men. He looks up and stops what he is saying. “Dude, what is wrong with you?” He asks, concerned. I take a deep breath and look at him.

“I have been having dreams lately of this white wolf. But something is off about them. This wolf is almost as big as I am, and has a black diamond on her chest, exactly like mine.” I told him without hesitation. Kyle was my closest friend and was the only one alive who knew about my powers.

“Do you know who’s wolf it is?” He asks me after a moment to think about what I said.

“I’m only certain about one thing.” I say quietly. “Whoever she is, she is extremely powerful.” I say looking up at him. We talk about the little details of my dreams in private. Soon it’s time to go on patrol and await the battle looming ahead like every night so far. But they never come. Not a single rogue was spotted tonight around the entire perimeter.

At first light, we all gather in the council room. Everyone is arguing and the King and Queen are staring at something with pale faces. When I walk in, the noise instantly quiets down and I walk to the King and Queen trying to figure out what they are staring at.

I can feel the blood draining from my face at what I can see. It’s a picture of the future Queen and King, laying on the ground with silver knives stabbed through their backs. A note came with it and I took it to read it myself.

To the King and Queen,

You don’t know me, but I know all too well about you. For years, we’ve watched your family rule, and to say I’m disgusted is an understatement. Every alpha is guilty of murder. Every wolf you banish, you essentially have sentenced them all to die. Well no longer, over the years, your banished wolves have created families of their own. Growing our army to unimaginable numbers. Your family tree will end, and soon we will have complete control. There will be no mercy for anyone who gets in our way. Therefore, I will strike a deal with you. Your youngest daughter, who is now your current Queen to be, has powers. I have witnessed this first hand, as I was the one to dispose of her mate in the first place. For there to be peace, you will allow me to mark your daughter and we can rule besides each other in peace. Your answer will be expected in three days' time. You will send a single warrior to your border along the south line with your answer. Consider this carefully; if you say no, you will soon find out just how powerful we are. Your palace walls can’t hide her forever, and I will take her by force if I have to.

Sincerely,

Rogue King Raphael

I let the words sink in before turning to the King and Queen. Silent tears fell from her face and the king was red with anger. I place a hand on his shoulder and he looks up at me. “Take your wife and go to your daughter’s beside. Take all the time you need. I won’t rest until this is solved.” I whisper. He nods and takes his leave with the queen. There is a moment of silence after he closes the door before the arguing starts back up again. People were arguing if they should take the offer or not.

I look back at the picture and then the note, before coming to a decision. I sit the picture down on the large table everyone has gathered around. I know the King and Queen didn’t give them the whole truth about the note, so I slipped it into my back pocket. The princess was going to have a hard time when she woke up, she went through loss before she went into the coma, and when she wakes up, she will end up going through more. There is only one option for her. And it isn’t with this so-called ‘Rogue King’.

“Alright everyone, here is what is going to happen. We are not sending the Princess to the rogues.” With this a few cry out in outrage, but not as many as those that take a sigh of relief. “We can not send her to her death, which is what will happen. He must be getting desperate if he is starting to make demands. Which must mean he isn’t as powerful as he is claiming he is. The Princess has been through enough. Her first mate died in her arms the same night she shifted and now when she wakes up, she is going to discover that her sister is gone too. We are not going to act like she doesn’t have a choice in the matter. She is still a living person and no one else in this room would send their daughter away to be forcefully marked and hope that the other side will then hold their end of the bargain.” I finish with a slight growl. Everyone here knows I’m right. Some are just too proud to say it out loud. What surprised me though was the fact that I have never met this girl, yet I’m holding firm on keeping her safe.

“What should we do then?” One of the Alpha’s asks. I turn and look at everyone before speaking again. I knew this was the right thing to do. It had to be.

“We don’t send a messenger. They will understand that we will not agree to their terms and we get ready for a fight. We need to realise that they will be sending their better fighters now and there will more than likely be a few casualties. Until then tell your men to be ready. If it is a war they want, it's a war they’ll get.” With this I turn on my heel and leave the room. I head towards the tents and stay inside resting for the remainder of the day. Come nightfall, I decide to go for a run.

I walk out and sit next to Kyle for a moment. “I’m going for a run in wolf form. I need to cool off for a while. Mind link me if you receive any important news.” I head towards the forest and shift once inside. Chief lets out a loud happy howl, since he finally gets to go and stretch his legs. I've kept the poor guy cooped up and I felt bad for him. We ran for most of the night. When it was two hours before sunrise we stopped inside a small clearing. A waterfall wasn’t too far away from us. I walk around checking the area before shifting back to human form. I lay down on the ground and look up at the sky. Something big was happening and unfortunately I found myself right smack dab in front of it. It was stressful.

I hear a twig snap and turn to find a small deer running through the woods towards me. I sit up so it sees me. It stops in front of me for a few seconds. I looked at it curiously. It didn’t seem to be afraid of me. It walked over to a spot a few yards from me and scratched at the ground before running off. I scoot over to wear it and look at the ground, the grass had grown overtop of it which is why I missed it the first time. But on the ground laid a black spot, completely charred. Realization hit as this must have been the spot where she released her power. When I reached down to touch it, I had a large tingling sensation go up my arm. I watched my skin develop goose bumps and I’m startled when I hear Kyle’s voice inside my head.

“You need to come back quickly,” he says urgently. I shift instantly and start running back before linking back.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s Princess Isabella. She’s awake. You won’t believe me unless you see it for yourself.” He says vaguely. Once I hit the group of tents, I ran directly into mine to grab clothes. After putting them on I run up to the castle to find Kyle talking to Roland and Brook.

“I came as quickly as I could, what’s wrong?” I ask when I get to them.

“She is awake. After a while we broke the news to her about how long she had been asleep, and about her sister. She took off into the forest and she’s too fast to catch her.” The king says quickly.

“Okay so I’ll go after her. I’m fast and I can probably catch her. What else seems to be the problem?” I ask curiously. Surely this couldn’t be the only reason why I had to come back.

“Her wolf is white.” Kyle adds. I pale a little at his words. “And she has a black diamond across her chest with electric blue eyes”

It was the wolf in my dreams.