The Queen Alpha

Girl’s Trip

(Emma)

After my mother left, Kara told me she had to go to the office for a bit and get some work she had been neglecting done. She gave me Anthony and Darlene’s address, a credit card in case I needed anything, as well as a map to the pack’s village, named SilverWood. I could tell she didn’t want to leave me but her phone was going off constantly. She had no more than walked out the door when Darlene called.

I answer cautiously. “Hello?”

Darlene’s honey thick accent comes through the other side. “Is Kara gone yet?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Because we need to go dress shopping, the coronation is in two days! We have to hurry if we want to make it back in time before the bonfire tonight. Anchorage is two hours away if we speed. I’m on my way to get you now!”

“Okay Darlene I need you to slow down a bit. What bonfire, why can’t we just go to the dress shop in town?” I say and she huffs into the speaker.

“The old dog at the dress shop doesn’t know how to dress us curvy girls and I will not let my new best friend look bad on her first day as Luna.” She hangs up abruptly and I hear a car honk outside and look out to see Darlene in a cherry red pickup truck.

Grabbing my thick jacket off the back of the couch, I slide into a pair of brown leather boots and run out the door, giggling with the excitement of a road trip. I never had many friends at Blue Forest and to find myself with one so easily here I couldn’t wait to have a girls day.

I hop into the passenger seat, throwing my coat and purse into the back seat. “Let’s go!” I say pointing back to the road.

We drive out past all the houses and through SilverWood, Darlene crunching handfuls of pickle chips as she steers. “Ew, pickle chips?” I ask, making a face.

Darlene laughs and stuffs another in her mouth. “Don’t you judge me, Kaylee loves pickles. Anything that involves vinegar really. Gods I want salt and vinegar fries now.” She moans at her own mention of fries.

We drive the long and winding roads for two hours before finally reaching the city. Darlene maneuvers traffic with extreme precision and finally pulls into a parking spot in front a gown store.

Darlene parks the car and pats her belly. “Alright Kaylee, let’s go ruin momma’s self esteem by trying on dresses your little butt won’t let me fit in.” I smirk and get out of the truck, grabbing my bag.

As we walk in, a small woman with a short blonde bob greets us. “Hello Mrs. Graves, what are we shopping for this time?”

Darlene wastes no time getting started, directing the woman to find the most prestigious gown she could find for me and one that will look nice with her baby bump.

I wander around the store and gasp when I see the most beautiful dress on a mannequin. The straps are made of thin ribbon, which glides down to border a deep v neckline. The skirt is puffed out with tule, almost like Cinderella dress. It’s gold fabric catches the light and shimmers elegantly.

I catch my personal shoppers attention and she agrees that I had to have this dress.

They did a few alterations right there in the store and the dress was ready to go home with me. Darlene found a dress just prefect for her and her lovely bump. As we went to check out I nearly fainted when the price of 4,000 dollars popped up on the screen. Darlene snatched Kara’s card from my trembling hand and swiped it. “Oh honey that’s pocket change for Kara, trust me she’ll barely notice.”

We’re now finishing up at the shoe store, both of us having worn ourselves out from spending our significant other’s money. Darlene purchased a pair of nude heels to go with her baby pink dress. We climb into the car, huffing and exasperated from walking up and down the aisles of all sorts of stores.

After grabbing some quick fast food, we’re on the road again, heading home. Home, I think to myself. I actually felt as if I belonged here, nobody seemed to judge me or make hushed comments as I went by.

I’m assuming I must’ve fallen asleep because next thing I know Darlene is waking me up telling me we’re back at my house and I should run inside and change into something warmer. I climb out, filling my arms up to the shoulder with all my bags and tell her I’ll see her in a bit.

I tap on the pin code for our home and walk up the stairs in silence, struggling not to trip over my excessive baggage. To my surprise, Kara is sitting at the dining table with her laptop out, typing vigorously. Her hair is once again braided and hidden under a beanie, and her arms are covered by a thick flannel jacket.

“Honey I’m home.” I sing to her and plop the bags onto the floor, gasping dramatically.

Kara peers over the top of her computer at me and my mess, raising an eye brow. “Did you and Darlene leave anything for the rest of the customers?”

I giggle and trot over to her, wiggling myself into her lap. “Nope, we bought it all for ourselves.” I plant a kiss on her cheek, indulging in the volts of electricity that surge through me from touching my lips to hers. “Should I go get changed for the bonfire? What should I wear?”

Kara presses send on a spreadsheet and closes her laptop gently, then wraps her arms around my waist, burying her face into my shoulder. “Yes, wear something warm, nights out here get very cold, especially for little witches.” I smile softly, feeling so pleased to be here with my mate.

I hop off her and go to retrieve my shopping bags from the floor. “Can you help me carry this upstairs?” I pout.

Kara grabs the rest of my things when she sees the large black dress bag. “Is this for our coronation? Can I see it?”

I snatch the bag from her. “Absolutely not! You don’t get to see it until we’re on that stage. I want the whole pack to watch their Alpha drool all over herself.”

We go to our room and throw the bags into the walk in closet, deciding it’s best to deal with them later. I tell Kara to go wait by the door for me and I change into some fleece lined jeans and a thick long sleeved shirt with a sage green sweatshirt over it, as well as a tan leather coat on top of that. I cover my head with a knitted hat and find boots to match the coat. I want to look good for whoever is going to be at the fire, after-all I’m going to be their Luna.

We leave out the back door of the house and walk along a pathway into the woods. We follow the trail mostly in silence, occasionally talking about what we did all day.

The smell of smoke fills my lungs and soon I can hear voices, laughing and shouting. A gigantic bonfire comes into view, burning brightly in the center of a clearing. There’s roughly two dozen people all around the fire, drinking and enjoying themselves. Chairs and logs to sit on circle the fire, coolers packed full of drinks and a table with food on it are off to the side. I grimace slightly when I notice instead of hotdogs on sticks, it’s skinned rabbit and squirrel carcasses.

Kara squeezes my hand slightly and I look over to her and see that her emotionless expression is trying to overcome her face. I wish she would just allow herself to have fun, I understand she wants to be a strong and respected leader but her whole life shouldn’t be a constant state of numbness.

“Come on, let’s join in on the fun babe.” I grab her and guide her to the nearest cooler, pulling out a beer for each of us. “To us.” I whisper as we clink our glass bottles together.

We both take large gulps, trying to catch up with the others. Looking around, I notice Darlene standing amongst a few other girls, who all look like they could kick any man’s a*s that’s here. She waves at me and I return the gesture.

“Come on I want to introduce you to my pack members.” Kara murmurs and pulls me over to a group of guys all laughing and eating by the fire.

“Evening boys, is there any room for us over her?” I say and they look up at us, their eyes immediately avoiding Kara’s gaze.

One of them speaks up. His golden hair is shaggy and he looks younger than the rest of them. “There’s always room for our soon to be Alpha and Luna, come have a seat we’re just talking war stories.” I smile and sit next to Kara on a log, who snatches a piece of meat off the man’s dinner.

“This is our Gamma, Felix. He just turned 18 and has already fought in the name of Silver Crest twice. He’s a great warrior and a mediocre jester.” Kara tells me.

Felix smirks at Kara’s depiction of him but never looks her in the eye. I wonder if this is a sign of fear or respect. “Aw careful Your Majesty I might blush. I like to think of myself as the only stand-up comedian in this place. If you’re ever in need of a good laugh I’m your man.” He peels off another piece of cooked rabbit from his stick and I gag internally. Felix briefly introduces the other four men.

“So whose war story were you hearing before we interrupted?” I ask, taking another heavy drink of beer, and pushing Kara’s bottle back to her lips. Maybe if I get her drunk she’ll loosen up, her people need us to be approachable if we want to have a happy pack.

One of the men speaks up, Dean I believe. He and one of the other men are older than the rest. “I was telling these two pups about the time Rick and I got lost out in Yellowstone during the winter there. We had gone down to help out one of Alpha Jorah’s friends who had a massive rogue problem.” He continues his story while Kara and I finish our beers, and Felix passes us a bottle of unmarked whiskey. I take a shot of it and cringe as it burns its way to my stomach. Once he finishes telling us about having a go at the actual wolves in Yellowstone by mistake, Kara excuses us and we go off to find others to mingle with.

I grab a bottle of rum off a table and wrap my arm around Kara’s neck, guiding the bottle to her lips and make her take a double shot of it before taking one myself. “I see your enjoying yourself.” Kara whispers, breaking her poker face long enough to smile at me. My plan must be working. “I love seeing you talk to my people.” She twirls a loose strand of my hair around her finger.

“I love being here, I thought it would be hard but I finally feel like I fit in, nobody’s judging me. Everybody’s so welcoming. It’s like I’ve lived here my whole life.” Happiness floods to my chest and I know I’m feeling Kara’s emotion. Squeezing her hand, we make our way back to the coolers to get more drinks.

Just as we finish rummaging through the different brands of beer, a deep and very loud voice booms from behind us. “Emma Scott! It’s so wonderful to finally meet you!”

I turn around slowly and look upwards to see a mountain of clothes, beard hair and flesh towering above me. He stands at least six and a half feet tall, with muscle and fat that could easily put him over 300lbs. I immediately recognize him as Alpha Jorah, Kara’s father.

I try to muster an introduction but his intense Alpha aura has me fumbling for words as his presence commands even me into submission. Jorah doesn’t seem bothered by my lack of words and scoops me into his arms and off my feet, pulling me into his trunk-like torso. I weakly hug him back, trying to rein in the fear I’m feeling at his embrace. The smell of expensive vodka rolls off him and I realize our King is very wasted.

Kara rolls her eyes at him. “Okay dad please don’t break my mate. Your making her nervous, the last man to touch her wasn’t very kind.”

Jorah looks down at me, his almost glowing blue eyes apologizing for scaring me. He sets me down gently and throws his arm around his daughter. I expect his weight to at least make her fumble but she doesn’t even budge as he leans on her. “Who f*****g touched her? I swear to the gods I’ll pull his eyes from his sockets and feed them to his mother!” He roars and I jump instinctively, covering my mouth to hold my startled scream in.

Kara side stepped from under him and he nearly falls over without his arm rest. “You are still scaring her, it has all been dealt with, dear father. How much have you drank with the other elders already?” She raises her eyebrow at the nearly empty bottle of liquor in his hand.

Jorah’s anger quickly dissipates and he starts laughing. “Oh sweet daughter I’ve drank enough for the whole damn pack! I’m celebrating our first Queen!” He shouts loudly and everyone at the party hoots in agreement with him. He sees me trying to hide my unease. “My apologies Emma, we aren’t use to taming our feral ways, I don’t mean to scare you.”

I bite my lip for a second then snatch the bottle from him. “No worries Alpha, I can get pretty feral too.” Bringing the bottle to my lips, I tip it back and chug the remaining vodka, forcing the urge to gag down with my drink. I hand him back the empty glass and wink at him before wrapping my arm around Kara’s waist.

He howls with laughter, smacking Kara on the shoulder. “I f*****g love her already! Get some food and grab a chair, it’s time for storytelling!” Jorah barks at his pack.

Kara grabs us a rabbit to split and we walk towards fire once again. “Each year they bring the newly shifted and new warriors to this and tell the stories of our pack. I wanted you to be here so you can know the history of your new family.”

Everyone finds a comfortable spot, there’s laughter and cheering as Jorah takes his place in a large wooden chair with other older, burly men and a few women alongside him. “Quiet everyone, Misera is going to start with the telling of our beginning.”

An elderly woman with long gray hair clears her throat. “Long ago, before werewolves or vampires came to be, there was a village of people who lived in the caves of the mountains behind us. They were a small village, of five or six families. One day while sitting outside her cave watching the Northern Lights, the daughter of the chief watched a piece of the light fall from the sky. She knew better than to venture out alone but she had to see where the light had landed.”

Misera looks about the crowd, her eyes settling on me. Something about her gaze made me feel strange. “She went out into the forest and traveled very far from her home. Finally, beside the den of a bear sleeping for the winter, she found the light glowing in the snow. Carefully, the chiefs daughter reached down to the purple light and dipped her fingers into it.”

I realize she wants me to help her tell the story, and I lift my hands to face the fire, bending the flames into shapes. The chief’s daughter flickers into form, and I twist the blaze to match her story as she spoke. The pack gasped and applauded at me, which was a first for me. “Hot lightening shot up her arms, the light pouring into her body. She screamed for a moment before the light settled inside her, giving her a power she could never imagine. The daughter was now our first spell caster, the first witch of these lands.” Misera continues.

A few eyes shifted to me at the mention of the word witch. I smiled gently and continued telling Misera’s story in the bonfire. “She was filled with great pride at the gift the gods had given her. But this was short lived, because the bear sleeping inside it’s home had been woken by her, and he came out very angry. The great bear climbed out of his hole and stood onto two legs, roaring at the girl.” A giant bear of fire towers over the small woman I created, his roar shooting sparks.

“Just as the daughter thought her life would end, a dire wolf leaped from the forest beside her, placing himself between the girl and bear, protecting her. The bear and wolf fought a long and b****y battle but finally the wolf ripped the bears throat out, killing it and saving the chief’s daughter.” I wave the bear away, it vanishing into the coals. “The daughter was so thankful, she used her new magic and turned the wolf into a man. The wolf man skinned the bear and wrapped himself in the thick brown hide. Together, her and the wolf man walked back to her village. Once there, she proclaimed her power and the man’s great victory to her people, who named the wolf man their new leader, and the chief wed his daughter to him. The daughter was renamed Aurora, the wolf man Borealis in honor of the light that brought them together. Together Aurora and her husband had many children, some with the gift of shifting into a wolf like their father once was, some with the magic their mother had found.” I make small children in the flames, then let the story fade back into the natural pattern a fire takes.

Misera nods in approval of me. “This is how our pack was founded, and now thousands of years later here we are again, our people will be led by a powerful witch and werewolf once more. I feel this is a sign from the gods themselves. A time of greatness is coming for us, and our queens will be the ones to lead us to that.” She smiles at as Kara and I, and everyone stands, clapping and cheering for us, for Misera’s story telling, and for the life they all have here.