The Alpha Queen and Her Rogue Kingdom

CHAPTER TWO

BASTIAN

I still remember the first time she was seen after her departure, we had not heard direct news of her whereabouts for weeks, I had tried to search everywhere but never found a single clue of her, and the rumors that she was behind the Rogues attacks in those times, grew every day and spread like wildfire throughout the kingdom, I received daily calls from the alphas in which they asked me what was happening, or if it was true what was said in the kingdom, and I couldn't give them an accurate answer because I had no idea what was going on.

Although, I knew deep down that the surge in rogue attacks at the borders must be connected to her disappearance somehow, she had promised not to leave us alone after all, so it was logical to assume that she and her uncle were behind every single one of the attacks, but there was also something else that had changed in those confrontations, the Rogues did not seem as wild and disorderly as before, they rarely attacked to kill, but rather they seemed determined to hurt as much as possible, and to steal supplies.

And it wasn't until about two months after she left that she was seen for the first time, reports indicated that they were in the middle of one of the worst confrontations with Rogues that had happened since she left, several of my men had already perished, and almost half of the Rogues, but everything changed the moment she arrived, she managed to end the confrontation in the blink of an eye, but without causing more deaths, which made everything much more impressive, and when the warriors who fled came to the palace immediately instead of to the hospital, I knew it had to do with her, and so it was, in the midst of shock they managed to report that the largest wolf they had ever seen had arrived, and when I asked them the color of the fur, I was not surprised when they told me it was white with gold, it was her, she had finally appeared.

I didn't know whether to be happy that I finally found her, upset because my suspicions that she was behind the attacks turned out to be true, or to be sad because they had been able to see her and not me; However, that was only the first report of many that would come later, it got to the point where she became a myth and the mere mention of her presence somewhere was enough for many warriors to decide to retreat, but still I couldn't find her, as much as I tried to get to the places where she had been seen as quickly as possible, I never arrived on time and she had already vanished just as she had when she rejected me.

For a couple of months after the first time she was seen, I received similar reports and then they stopped for about a month, although the rogue attacks continued, she was never seen again and, contrary to my warriors who rejoiced with her absence, I started to worry, I felt that something had happened to her, especially after one night when I felt that something bad was happening at that very moment, I don't know how to describe it, but somehow I felt that she was suffering some kind of strong pain, and although I knew that I could no longer feel her emotions because the bond between us was broken after she rejected me, I was sure that something was not right with her, but everyone tried to explain to me that it was not possible, and that it was probably just my mind playing cheap tricks on me for the absence of reports on her.

And after a couple of weeks since I had that strange feeling, I received a report in which I was informed of her presence at the end of a confrontation, however, she had not taken part in it, because apparently she only remained on the sidelines and after a couple of minutes, the Rogues seemed to have received some kind of order and left with her; I remember questioning the informant exhaustively over and over again, until he finally remembered something he hadn't said before:

“She looked a little skinnier than before, I have seen her twice before that and she looked like, I don't know, bigger, this time she looked a little not so big, I don't know if I am explaining myself well, she is still the biggest wolf I have ever seen, but she looked different,” he said as he scratched his chin, and I watched August roll his eyes as I became interested in that new bit of information.

“Did she look sick? Or was it more like she was recovering from a serious injury?" I asked him in a tone that sounded a lot like desperation.

"I couldn't tell, Your Majesty, as I said before, she stood aside from the fight and didn't intervene at all, then just left," the man told me, looking sorry that he couldn't answer my questions.

"That is very good, boy, you can go back to your post now," August told him, patting him on the back, and he left feeling proud of that brief gesture.

"I know what you are going to say, and I don't think she is hurt or sick, she just must be tired, so don't start with that whole thing about feeling her pain, you know it is not possible," August told me so soon the man left.

And although I am sure that in that time I was right about what I had felt, at this moment in which I feel that something bad is going to happen it is not the same, it is not as if I believe that she is in danger or suffering in some way, this time it seems that this bad feeling is about me or my kingdom.

The phone rings and I answer almost immediately, but when I hear the voice of Desmond Gray, the husband of my aunt Lucy and king of the Moon Valley, I almost feel the temptation to hang up the phone, because the last thing I want at the moment is to hear his hateful voice, but he seems to guess my intentions because he immediately tells me:

"Don't hang up, I will be quick, I know you have been wondering about the Bloodmoon girl's whereabouts, so I sent you something I received a couple of weeks ago that I thought you would be interested to see," he says almost mockingly, and I sit upright in the chair.

"What do you know about her?" I ask him immediately.

"Oh, you will see when you receive the package I sent you, it must be arriving right now," he tells me, and just then August pokes his head out of the office door, and then walks in with an envelope in his hands, followed by Dr. Phillip, both looking concerned, which puts me on immediate alert.

"Tell me what you know, Desmond," I tell him in a frustrated tone.

"Oh, don't be impatient, open the envelope and then thank me for informing you," he tells me, and I feel like cursing him out, but I control myself.

"Desmond ..." I tell him in a warning tone.

"Well, I have to go, I have a wedding to attend," he tells me and then hangs up.

So, I reach out my hand to August for him to hand me the envelope that is already open, which is normal since I don't have time to go through all my correspondence, so there are people who do it for me, but August seems reluctant to hand it over to me, and I look at him harshly, while I stretch my hand even more towards him, but he still refuses to give it to me and exchanges glances with the doctor.

"August, damn it, give me that envelope right now," I say in annoyance, and he sighs in defeat.

"But before I give it to you, promise me that you will control yourself, we do not want rumors to continue to spread through the kingdom, it is not good for your image," he tells me with concern and I roll my eyes, so he gives me the envelope, I open it and immediately notice that it is an invitation card, so I frown without understanding what all the fuss is about this, until I open it and my blood runs cold when I read the words written in golden letters:

“King Zane Crimson, of the great kingdom of Crimson Woods, is pleased to announce his engagement to Princess Elina Bloodmoon, and wishes to have your honorable presence at their wedding, which will take place in the gardens of the royal palace on the seventeenth day of the Seventh lunar cycle, at five in the afternoon ... "

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