Red:The Alpha's Queen

Chapter Three

~Alpha Jared~

Silver Mist Pack/ The Head Office

The Pack House

I sat in my office, a pile of paper work before me, as my eyes slowly scanned through the newly recorded birth records of the past month.

There had been a total of four births in the last month, and none had occurred yet this month. A pair of twin pups had been born, and two single cubs from separate families. A single pair of quadruples had been born recently too. I was glad because that only meant the pack was thriving. The higher the numbers, the stronger we bacame.

I noticed that none of the parents had received any parental leaves of absence from their jobs and so I made a mental note on doing so. After all, the mothers were still nursing and the fathers needed to support their wives. Raising newly born babies was quite tiresome.

I tried to read some more, especially about the pack's finances, but my mind wasn't settled. I palmed my face, letting my fingers run through my hair as I let out a sigh.

My thoughts were everywhere but I couldn't stop thinking about those dreams. I could only describe them as eerie as I had never experienced anything like that in all my time of living.

The dreams came in a series of three, all in the span of one night.

In the first one, I stood in a dense forest and I was surrounded by darkness although I could see perfectly. I looked up, and suddenly, the trees were raining blood. I turned at the call of my name, and I found my cousin, Nate, staring back at me. Except that his eyeballs were missing and there was blood coming from his sockets.

I tried to rush to him, but a force slammed into me and I startled awake with a cold sweat. I brushed that one off as a nightmare, and went back to sleep.

The second dream came as soon as my head hit the pillow. This time it was a woman, one that was very familiar although I was sure we had never met. She was extremely beautiful, with dark hair and bright clear blue eyes.

She smiled at me, and I smiled back at her, warmness feeling my chest. She pulled my face down for a kiss, and as I bent to do so, I suddenly woke up, only to find myself with a boner. After much contemplation, I came to the conclusion that I would meet my mate soon.

The last and final dream was the strangest. In it, I sat on what I could only imagine as the door, facing an extremely ethereal woman. She sat opposite me, doing what I had witnessed the older females in the pack do. Knitting. That was strange.

She reached out, patting my hair in a gentle manner that came with so much peace. Gently, she whispered, "Trust your heart, and follow your instincts. Don't be afraid to fall in love."

I pulled away, only to find her gone, and that's when I woke up again. I didn't go back to bed after that.

Just then, the door to my office opened, slamming against the wall harshly as my Beta, Raymond breathlessly stomped in. The expression on his face was grim and panicked.

“Trouble?” I asked, leaning back in my chair and looking up at him.

“Worse. There’s been a disturbance at the Northern borders.” Raymond replied.

“I don’t see how troublesome that really is.” I said, giving him a puzzled look. He could have taken care of this and then reported to me later. “I believe this is something you can handle on your own.”

Raymond did not answer, and I raised my eyes from my paper work to stare at him. I noticed his hesitancy as he licked his lips. And were his hands shaking? What was going on in his head?

“Is there something you’re not mentioning? Something I should know?”

“It’s more than just a disturbance.”

“Then what is it?” Why couldn't he be out with it already? I was already impatient and desperate to return to my work. “Spit it out already.”

“It’s Kyle. He’s been murdered.”

*****

~Ruby~

I raced across the lands, desiring to get to the border. It was two days and one night since Luna had enabled me to escape and now I was practically fleeing for my life.

I had managed to acquire a few items, a black cloak and a weak jade to concile my identity. I was sure by now that wanted posters would have been posted by now in search for me.

As I travelled, I was able to overhear what was being said. Kyle Blackthorn, the second heir and cousin to the Alpha of Silver Mist Pack had been murdered, supposedly by yours truly. The public was convinced that I was the one that had done it and a lot of rumors were being spread.

Particularly my lack of fondness for the werewolves. I found myself snorting at a lot of nonsense that was being said. As if that would lead me to kill a royal.

Killing a royal blood was bad. But then murdering one that was under the Silver Mist Pack was self-destruction. Suicide. And the person that had orchestrated this crime and framed me was indeed smart. One thing was for sure. I would still die, no matter what I did.

The Alpha's reputation kept me on tenterhooks, because he was known to be a ruthless and fearless leader, serving justice as he saw fit, and that's why I wanted to get away from all this.

I wasn’t fleeing because I was afraid. No. It was because no one except Master Milagros would listen to me. Although the evidence was pretty convincing it didn't mean that I was the one behind the crime.

Ugh. I was so frustrated.

Nightfall was coming, and if I walked through the whole night without a wink of sleep, they wouldn’t catch me. My scent would be lost among the many along the border.

Having found some encouragement , I pushed on. Night came fast, and my stomach was rumbling. My muscles protested too, but I was close. I would get time to rest after crossing the border.

Not able to take it anymore, I gave into my hunger. I settled down against a tree to have what was left over from last night’s catch. There was no time to light a fire. A cold meal would do.

Suddenly, a twig snapped, and I scrabbled from her sitting position. With horror, I realized I must have slept off from how tired I was.

Something was wrong and I was definitely not alone. My senses were on high alert but the world was quiet and still. Not even the wind howled.

I turned at the sound of falling rocks, and that was my first mistake. Next thing I knew, I was soaring into the air. I landed harshly on the tree, hitting my head and momentarily seeing stars.

I gasped at the sight when I looked up again. A werewolf loomed above me, snarling with all it's fangs bared., circling her as a predator did with its prey. I scrambled to escape, but didn’t have a chance as I was dragged by her foot, locked in the wolf's jaws.

Lifting my foot, I kicked the beast’s snout as hard as she could. It grunted, but it didn’t let go.

I had no time to launch a second attack as I was suddenly let go. The werewolf was immediately out of sight, and I stood up on wobbly feet, realizing that I was in some kind of a clear surrounding.

I wasn't alone though. Someone else stood a few feet away from where I was.

“Leave.” He commanded, and I watched as the rest of the wolves disappeared behind the trees and that's when I realized I was was facing the Alpha.

Well, s**t.

The Alpha, Jared Blackthorn, current king of the werewolves was here, and he was deathly glaring at me.

For a minute, I considered running, but realized the other wolves would intercept me without hesitation. I was willing to take the risk rather than face him alone.

As if he could tell what I was thinking, the Alpha invaded my space in no time, wrapping his hand around my throat. I tensed.

Power and anger radiated from him, and it was hard not to cower in his presence. Nevertheless, I looked him straight in the eyes, an insult to his royalty.

They were a beautiful shade of forest green, even though they belonged to the asshole. And it was no time to notice such things.

He growled, his fingers tightening around my neck, but then the strangest thing happened.

Tingles erupted on my body, especially the part he touched. I was really confused. Instead of pain, all felt was pleasure from where he touched.

The grip around my neck softened, and the Alpha’s eyes turned from their forest green to a golden yellow. The words he growled next shocked me to the core.

“Mate.”