The Alpha Queen's Journey

The man in the woods

    Elara was walking along the main corridor of the palace heading to where Palvin was waiting for her. As she could still feel Alex touch on her skin, she felt really pissed to have to stop their lovely meeting in such terms. At this moment, she hated her princess’ duties to the core. Taking a deep breath, she opened the heavy door of the library. The stained-glass windows of the room spread tons of little coloured rays of light over the huge wooden bookshelves. At the centre, Palvin was leaning onto an antique craved table, a giant map of the kingdom spread all over its surface.

    “Hooray! Geography class again!” The young princess exclaimed with an ironic tone.

    “Good morning miss Elara. May your subjects have the patience to wait for you, always” He beat her back without taking his eyes off the map.

    “Ok, Palvin, you win, I’m sorry” Elara pouted, raising both hands in defeat. “What’s on for today?” She leaned on the table as well, trying to figure out what he was so interested in. He didn’t answer. Elara noticed this map was different from those Palvin usually used for his lessons. It had no boundaries, no packs’ names, no coloured territories, it only represented mountains, rivers and forests. She doubtfully glanced at him. He was a handsome middle-aged man with some grey hair, a gentle face and a noble heart. He was her father’s closest counsellor, the most loyal of men. His destiny was to educate and take care of the mischievous princess since she was a baby, maybe that was the reason he never got married or had a family but Elara never heard him complain a single day about his duty.

    She softened her voice and softly asked him. “Palvin, what’s worrying you today?”

    At last, he raised his head and looked at her as if she was still the little princess who didn’t stop shouting and running in circles around the library during her lessons. Elara could feel the nostalgia of his heart, his inner wolf suddenly feeling so blue. She took a step forward to grab his arm, feeling a bit overwhelmed. When he watched her reaction, he immediately composed himself and with a small cough, the serious and elegant man returned to the present time.

    “I want to make sure you already know by heart every inch of your land, princess. Tonight, you must show not only your beauty and sympathy but also your exquisite manners and huge knowledge of the history of the kingdom”. Elara rolled her eyes up, turning her back and sitting on the table. Palvin corrected her by pulling her back to the floor. “The first part will only be useful for the paintings” He pointed at the walls, richly decorated with the pictures of the royal family. Then, he focused on the map. “The second can save your life if a war strikes”

    Elara scoffed. The last civil war ended 18 years ago, a few months before Elara’s birth. Her father made an alliance with some Alphas of the land to fight against the ones who wanted to get more and more power by enslaving weaker packs. The traitors were defeated and banished from the territory. After that, Elara’s father married her mother, whose blood carried the genes of an ancient royal werewolf line and so they were both acknowledged as king and queen. Since then, every pack had its own alpha and managed its own lands and resources, the king’s duty was just to give advice and keep the peace and harmony among them. Therefore, tonight’s ball was not a mere party but a way to enhance the alliances of the whole kingdom. A ball Elara was getting fed up second by second during the morning. 

    “Is that the reason you look so concerned today? Are you worried I could mess up in a single night everything my father fought to achieve eighteen years ago?” She spit out, her anger rising uncontrollably. “Let me tell you, Palvin, I’ll do my best. Although no one has ever asked my opinion about all of this!”

     “Elara, your parents are doing what they think it’s best for your safety as a queen. They truly think of…” Palvin raised his hands and tried to calm her down but the princess took a few steps away from him.

    “Oh, of course, safety. But what about my wishes? My feelings? My happiness? Do they really think that an arranged marriage would make me happy? Have they ever asked me if I wanted to be queen? The answer is no, Palvin. I am not ready to have a stranger sleeping beside me and I don’t even think I am the right person to take the responsibility a crown requires!” Elara was sobbing heavily, her tears running down her cheeks. She had kept these thoughts deep inside her for a long time but now it was the first time she dared to say them out loud. Palvin had that effect on her.

    “What do you want to do then? Sleep all day, run through the forest and mess around with the boy of the month? What’s the name of the last one, that blondie?”

    “Do not dare to put Alex…!”

    “Of course I do, Elara! Do you know what your parents had to sacrifice to get to where we are today? To give you the dream life you’re living? When, Elara, when are you going to grow up and take the place you were born to?”

    Elara’s rage turned into an utter shock. Palvin was the only person beyond Hendaya to whom she could talk with full sincerity, she saw him as a second father. But Palvin’s last words had made a deep hole in her soul. She felt as if she was running out of air, restrained, she needed to escape from there. As if someone had heard her thoughts, the doors of the library opened wide and two gorgeous she-wolves entered the room, swaying their hips sensually and heading directly to Palvin. He got so paralyzed that he could not see the little witch sneaking in the room and hiding behind a tall bookshelf. Hendaya made a short whistle that took Elara’s attention. The princess quickly run to where Hendaya was waiting for her.

    “Nice trick, eh, what do you think?” She said giggling at the sight of Palvin’s embarrassed face surrounded by the two spectacular females.

    “Hendaya, how did you find those two? She dried her tears with the palm of her hand under her friend’s intrigued gaze.

    “It’s an illusion. I’ve been training on them for a long time but I have not mastered yet. I can’t keep it for too long. Elara, what happened?”

    “I’ll explain you later. Come on, I need air”

    Hendaya nodded and looked at Palvin’s red ears once more She smiled and carried Elara towards a very well-known spot near an old bookshelf. The blue book at the middle of the second shelf was the key to their freedom. She touched its spine and pronounced the secret word.

    “Mandarat!”

    Immediately, a low sound broke and the books in front of the girls quickly rearranged to shape the opening of dark hidden passage. Hendaya lit a light on her finger and closed the secret door behind them. The walls were damp because of the rain of the previous days and musk was growing in between the stone bricks. They didn’t walk much until the sunlight made them cover their eyes. They were far from the palace, at the northern part of the forest. Elara quickly took off her clothes, shapeshifted into her silver white wolf and run at highest speed through the trees. Hendaya sighed and followed her, jumping to the nearest tree and flying from branch to branch leaving a trail of golden sparks behind her.

    When the witch arrived at their usual meeting point, Elara was seated, still in her wolf form, looking at the horizon, pensive.

    “Ok. What happened with Palvin?” Hendaya, who had taken Elara’s clothes with her, handed them to the silvery white wolf.

    Elara shapeshifted back and dressed up while telling Hendaya about her distraction at the training and her quarrel with Palvin. She also told her about her meeting with Alex.

    “Wow girl, you’ve been busy today, eh?” The little girl took a seat beside her friend and scratched her chin. “Are you sure that what you saw was a blue flame? It sounds like ice fire and only experienced witches can summon that kind of magic. I don’t know any witch nearby can do it, apart from my mother, of course”

    The princess looked at her bare hands, doubting about her own memories. “I don’t know Hen, maybe it was only a sunray reflection but my wolf went crazy as hell” Elara put her head into her hands “Please…I need to be alone for a moment. I need to think”

    “Sure”. Hendaya quickly understood and got up on her feet, concerned. “I’ll be taking a swim at the river, just call me when you’re ready”

    Elara nodded and watched her go. Then, she stood up and climbed up the nearest tree, from where she could see the north border of the royal pack, her favourite view. The fresh breeze always helped her collect her thoughts. While she was trying to relax, she heard some branches breaking on the ground and her wolf got on alert again.

    “Who’s there?” She shouted from above, scrutinizing the bushes under her.

    She obtained no answer. Still, there was something abnormal in the movement of the vegetation around. She got off the tree, looking for a trace or a scent as even the smallest animal had a scent.

    “How strange” She said to herself.

    When she was about to climb up the tree again, she saw him. A well-built young man with tanned skin and chocolate brown eyes was looking at her with a smirk on his face. Elara could say he was a werewolf but his scent was very faint and his aura almost unnoticeable. His features were familiar to her but she couldn’t recall where she had seen him before.

    “Who are you? What are you doing here?” She used her alpha tone. “Nobody is allowed to enter the royal lands without permission” Her aura was spreading, but the man didn’t retreat an inch.

    “Nice to meet you at last, lady Elara” He sounded as if he was telling a joke. Elara shivered when she heard her name. Who was this man? How did he know who she was? She was scanning his features, he looked strong and determined so she also considered her escape options. The man continued his speech. “I was watching you looking all serious and gloomy up on that tree and I thought nobody should look like that on its birthday. Maybe you need some company?” The princess prepared herself to fight, balanced her body, putting all her weight on both feet.

    “If you know who I am you should also know I will not ask a second time. Who are you?” While saying so, she alerted the closest patrol through the mindlink. The stranger somehow realized, his wide smile turning into an annoyed face.

    “You will know sooner than you expect. Farewell, princess” That words sounded like a dangerous threat. Elara jumped at the man to stop him but he disappeared in a blink of an eye. The patrols arrived at that moment.

    “Princess! We heard your call, where did the intruder go?” The leader of the patrol followed her gaze and gave orders to the patrol to begin to search. He looked at the young lady, making sure she was unharmed. But the princess was absentmindedly looking at the direction the intruder left, her mind working at full speed. Could this man be related with the blue light she saw at the training? At that moment, Hendaya run to her, soaking wet, her swim interrupted when she saw the warriors coming in a hurry.

    “An intruder? What’s wrong Elara? You’re white as a sheet. Did he attack you?” She could see her friend was physically untouched but her mind was elsewhere. A few minutes later, she heard Elara’s voice say to her.

    “We have to come back, Hendaya. I must talk to father”

    Hendaya nodded in agreement and took her hand. This time, they were going to use the fast track.