The Alpha Queen’s Revenge

*** They came at midnight, with a full moon shining overhead and the forest as silent as death. The patrol had just shifted guard, and the silence of the forest had seeped into the pack house. I was asleep in my room, or rather I was in that half space between sleep and consciousness. It had been a long day, right after the New Moon festival. And then I heard the sound, as sharp and piercing as the cry of a battle horn, which cut through the trees and washed over the entire pack. I woke up with a jolt, and my wolf immediately snapped to attention, eyes wide awake and fear lodged deep in my throat. "What’s going on?" she demanded, but we could already smell the danger in the air. Someone somewhere was screaming at the top of their lungs, and the sound woke nearly everyone in the pack. My father burst into the room, with his beta--Seth— behind him. His eyes settled on me, and in the semi-darkness of my bedroom, I could see the relief in his eyes. "Dad, what's going on?" I asked. "It's alright, Leah," he said. "Everything will be alright." He turned to face Seth, and in a soft voice which barely carried across the room, I heard him whisper, "Protect her with your life." He turned to face me, and in one split second, he rushed towards me and kissed me on my forehead. I didn't realise I was trembling until he held onto me, and I wrapped my arms around him. Exactly nine years from that night, I would realise that I wasn't the only one trembling that night. Father's hands must have been shaking as well, but he held onto me fiercely as though he was afraid that I was going to slip right out of his fingers. "I'll be right back, sweetheart," he said, pulling back to look into my eyes. "Watch your back, and stay hidden. Go with Seth, and do exactly as he tells you to. Do not leave his side, and if anything bad should happen, I want you to run like hell and don't look back. Aim for the mountains, and don't stop until you reach Ambrosa’s cave. He'll probably be awake by now. Get a horse, get some supplies, and head east. Do not stop until you reach your uncle's place. Do you understand me?" "Dad, you're scaring me," I said, trembling. "What's going on?" "Rogues," he said, the word sounding dirty on his lips, and sending a chill down my spine. "I have to go and take care of them." He kissed me on the forehead once again, and then he turned towards the door and walked out, his footsteps heavy as they faded into the hallway. Seth turned to face me, and he must have seen the tears in my eyes because he tried to smile as he made his way towards me. "It's alright, Leah," he said. "William is a strong man. He'll hold them off." I was shaking like a leaf caught in an autumn wind, and when he took my hand, I was still afraid. He told me to stand up and change into something light, his own voice much calmer than my father's had been. I did as he said, and I slipped into a pair of sweats and a light black shirt. I grabbed a coat as well, because I got the sense that we would be going outside. And then the fighting broke out somewhere outside. Screams went up in the air, growling and howling was the only sound I could hear, and the horrible sound of someone choking on their own blood. "That's it," Seth said. "Out we go." He grabbed my hand and we dashed out of the room, down the hallway, through the antechamber and straight towards the enlarged frame of my grandfather. He pressed something on the wall, and the flame slid open to reveal a secret tunnel. I had lived in this house for all fourteen years of my life, and yet I had never known of this tunnel before. Cold air was coming from inside, and the darkness was so intense that I couldn't see anything inside. "In you go," Seth said, helping me up. "I'll be right behind you." I crawled into the tunnel, and once he had entered behind me, he pressed a hidden button and the frame slammed shut, sealing us in. "Quickly, Leah," he said. "I have to go and help your father." We hurried along the tunnel, darkness and cobwebs all around us. I moved as quickly as I could manage without tripping and falling, with Seth's sharp breaths coming behind me. It took several minutes before I finally saw a sliver of light. The tunnel led up into an open cave in the middle of the forest, and when I emerged from inside, I was surprised to see that we were almost a mile away from the pack house. I recognised the trail which led down to the town square, and the clover field to the left. But nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to see. The entire pack house was on fire, the bright blue flames leaping up into the air and casting an orange glow over everything around. My blood turned cold, my ears started to ring, and I nearly screamed out as Seth turned back and saw what I was screaming at. My whole life was going up in flames, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. A wildness came over me, and I knew I had to go back and help everyone. But then a powerful blow suddenly came to the back of my head, and everything suddenly went black. ***