The Alpha Kings Fairy Princess

Chapter 19

Lucian’s POV

Halfway through the tour, the Alpha mentioned a birthday party happening Saturday that I would be invited to attend as the Alpha and Beta families would also be there.

“And the Gamma family? Where will they be?” Derek asks in my place.

“Oh, we are hosting it.” Linda responds. “It’s our Lillianna’s 21st birthday on Saturday.

My eyes shot up at this information and I locked eyes with Derek.

‘Does it seem strange at all to you that this information just keeps falling right into our laps.’ Derek links me.

‘Later, and you still need to find out about that Beta Pup.’ I reminded him.

“We would love to attend, of course.” He responded to Linda and her eyes lit up with happiness and excitement.

“Fantastic! The party starts at four. We are holding it on the patio out back. Initially, we intended on the great room inside the packhouse, but Lilly loves the view from the patio, especially at sunset. We thought it would be a nice surprise.” Linda explains and I nodded in understanding, giving her a small smile.

The tour continues as planned. Max is doing a fantastic job as an Alpha. His pack runs smoothly, they are making major profits with their businesses, and there’s very little in the way of improvement that I can offer to the structure of the pack. If we only have to focus on the few meetings and training, that leaves ample time to do some research in and time with my mate.

The only odd thing I noticed so far was the avoidance of discussing the southern border.

“What about the Southern Border? Past the farmland.”

“Ah, I see you’ve heard the rumors, my young king. The Moors surround our southern border. We don’t patrol within the forest itself, but we always have patrols running along the tree line. We have never had any issues from that side. Only the Western and Northern borders ever see any problems, and even that’s rare. The Eastern Border is shared directly with Valley Pack, which each pack typically patrol parts of together.”

“May I ask, what is the reason behind not patrolling in the Moors?”

“In all the time this pack has inhabited the area, there has never once been a single rogue, creature or otherwise detected entering pack lands from there. It’s protected by it’s own entity and with it our pack from whatever lies within. It’s a rule among the pack members, we don’t enter, just patrol the tree line.”

I nod in understanding and don’t push the issue further, there will be time for that.

I took part in a training session during our tour and, from the look of things, I have a feeling most of our recruits will come from this pack. The members advancing to warrior from regular training will need a leg up to replace anyone who joins our training program. They also have the numbers to replace literally half of their current warriors within the next two years.

It makes me proud to know my mates' pack will be responsible for producing some of our future royal warriors and guards. It might even make her transition better if she has some familiar faces among the crowd.

The tour for Crescent Moon is cut short when the Alpha has an urgent call from Valley Pack, the other pack we are to visit while we are here. We all agree to finish tonight after dinner. Once the Alpha, Luna and my future in-laws leave, I turn to Derek.

“I need to let Axle out and do some recon along the southern border. Time to check the Moors out myself.”

“Want back up? You know the rumors.”

“No, you have a Beta pup to investigate, and rumors are usually just that. I’ll link you if I need you.”

I stared off towards the forest, I felt like I was being pulled there. I have since we entered the pack lands. Axle keeps pushing at me from inside, both wanting to go out and to explore the forest. He feels the same pull to it that I do.

Derek nods and heads towards the packhouse; I turn towards the woods. I turn my walk into a jog and once I step foot inside the tree line I’m slammed back into my mind as Axle takes over and shifts. Thankfully, Royals can shift without the need to remove their clothes. Once we shift back, our clothing will be there.

Axle starts to jog through the forest, looking for any trace of any scent lingering. I notice that the deeper we go, the darker the world gets around us, even with our enhanced vision. It’s exactly like my dream. I looked up, and I couldn’t see a single speck of light, the canopy of trees blocking the mid-afternoon sun, the trees' branches so thick with leaves that no light could penetrate.

After about twenty minutes, I come to a spot in the forest that stops me in my tracks. It looks exactly like everything else in here, no different from the last mile of forest, but the feeling I get, it’s incredible and exactly what Axle was looking for it seems. He stopped suddenly and inhaled deeply.

‘Axle, this is it.’

A faint honey and strawberry scent filled the air. It’s a few days old at least, but she’s been here.

‘Hey Axle, go that way.’

We aren’t on the path for long before I start to see daylight through the trees ahead. Axle pushes us faster through the woods until we run full speed into the same exact clearing from my dream. We slid to a stop as we emerged and looked around in awe. Lush green grass, flowers poking through the ground in rows, and the waterfall. Every detail is the same, down to the frogs on Lilly Pads, and bees buzzing from flower to flower. I stood there stunned.

Axle gives back control and I shift back into my human form fluidly. I slowly take in the sight before us, half expecting Queen Mab or the Moon Goddess to appear, but they didn’t. I can’t believe it’s real.

“It’s real. Holy s**t! It’s real!”

‘They said we could find it.’

I made my way over to the pool of water like I did in my dream to look at my reflection. As I approached, I noticed a woman with long sandy blonde hair, delicate features, and big blue eyes standing in the reflection. She smiles at me and shimmers away, into the water coming from the waterfall. I wondered for a moment who she was.

I shake off the thought and feel compelled to remove my shoes and step my feet into the water. I am amazed by the temperature. It’s perfect and calming. Large boulders stuck out of the water nearby, I decided to sit and let my feet soak for a while, just taking in the energy in the clearing. It’s like a constant static charge is in the air. I can actually feel the power of protecting this area. I know now, that it’s from the portal to Lira that is hidden here.

“All will be revealed soon.” A voice carries on the wind.

I feel relaxed by the voice, comforted almost. Could it be one of the Fae reaching out to me because of my connection to Lillianna, and her connection here? I pondered this thought for a while before standing and leaving the water. Grabbing my shoes, I headed back the way I came, stopping to turn and take the clearing in once more.

‘Boss, dinner is in an hour. You’ll probably want to get cleaned up beforehand.’

‘Heading back.’ I replied and closed the link.

I heard a very faint, muffled sound coming from just inside the tree line. Slowly, I started to turn and take in the dark forest that surrounds the clearing. Trees were towering overhead but not a single shadow was cast into the area. That’s when I hear it, a nearby link.

‘What is he doing here? How did he find it?’

‘I don’t know.’

I recognize Lillianna’s voice, the other must have been Maeve. I smirked to myself and decided not to let her know that I knew she was there. I listened for a moment to see if she made a move to show herself before taking one more look at the clearing and inevitably heading back towards the packhouse.