The Lost Alpha Queen

Chapter 4: Arabella

We never got over comfortable in the house we lived in, we always had a go bag in case of emergencies. So, leaving, we didn’t have much to pack. Just our clothes and a couple of small personal items. We rented the house fully furnished so we decided to sell it just the same. I have enjoyed living in Dallas but I’m excited about heading north again. I miss snow and I cannot wait to experience it again.

The capital city is located in Montana. It’s not a big city, it is home to 7,820 wolves, last heard. The palace is at the center of the city. Moving out from there are the houses that hold all of the members of the royal pack. Around the outside of the pack are miles and miles of nature reserve to let our wolves run.

The flight back north was nerve-racking because the closer we got to pack territory, the more nervous I got. We decided to fly into Minneapolis and drive the five and a half hours north to the pack lands. Once we were outside the pack lands, we decided to stay in the next town over. Uncle Jasper contacts his inside source to see how we plan to move forward.

As we wait, we check into a hotel and the two of us take turns taking showers and freshening up. As I am exiting the bathroom, his phone rings. “Hello,” Jasper answers. I wait for him to put it on speaker but I remain quiet in case someone that shouldn’t might hear me.

“Jas, is that you?” says a familiar voice.

“Yes, Migel. How am I to move forward?” Migel was my Uncle’s best friend before we left. I’m glad that he still trusts and has loyalty to my uncle.

“I have set up for the guards in the northwest point to be guards I trust. They know you are coming and will look the other way. I will meet you inside the reserve and lead you to the safe house. I need you to enter pack territory at midnight. Stay in the shadows as much as possible and make sure she wears a hood so she is not recognized,” Migel rattles off all the details.

“You are sure she will be safe? You know what it means if something is to happen to her. I can’t let that happen. She needs to be safe,” Jasper reiterates. “I can’t protect her without my wolf so I need to make sure before I put her in danger.”

Migel sighs, “there is no guarantee about something like this but I swear I will protect her with my life. She will be guarded by only those I trust. I am personally making sure of all of the arrangements.” He lowers his voice and whispers, “long live the queen.”

Jasper agrees and quickly ends the phone call and turns to me. “We have about three hours until we need to leave. It's roughly a four hour hike so I plan to leave here around seven so we have plenty of time. Maybe take a nap cause it is going to be a long night.”

I took his advice and lay down on one of the beds. Sleep did not come because my mind would not stop running through all of the possibilities. At six, Jasper rolls over on the other bed and sighs. “Might as well get up and get food if neither of us are going to sleep.”

Both of us are up and ready to go in five minutes. We aren’t coming back so we grabbed our bags and walked out to the rental car. Someone that is helping us will be returning the car. We grab the fast food at a local McDonalds and head toward the mountains.

We park by a local hiking trail so the car will not stand out if anyone sees it. We grab our backpacks and I make sure my hood is secured to my head. That will be annoying to wear for the entire hike, but I understand. I look a lot like my mother, but I have the very distinct blond hair and green eyes of the royal family. Most wolves have dark hair and brown eyes, so my combination is rare. Jasper dyed his hair years ago and wears colored contacts so he is not easily noticed. For some reason my hair will not hold the dye. We dye it one day and the next it's back to blond. Contacts also won't stay in my eyes, they get really irritated and then I can’t see at all. My Uncle thinks it's because, since I am the ruling monarch, I am too closely tied to the Moon Goddess and those were her traits she passed down to me. Just my luck, she doesn't want me to hide when that's what I need to do to survive. With my hair hooked into my black hoodie, we started out on the journey.

It is a good thing we left early because the hike was more difficult without Jasper’s wolf for enhanced strength and speed. We arrived at the border with fifteen minutes to spare. We watched as two wolves walked past. There is a very large slate gray one with black on its tail and ears. The other smaller one is chestnut brown. The larger one stopped and looked toward where we were hiding, sniffing the air. The other wolf nudges that one, pushing it to continue on. The first one shook his head and turned to head in the opposite direction. At exactly midnight, we rushed across the border and into the woods. Running as hard as we could, we met Migel at the meeting place and headed toward the safe house. Once there, we need to wait until tomorrow to strengthen the wards and retreat to the sanctuary.