The Lonely Lycan Alpha Queen

Chapter Three

MALIKA’S POV

I managed to choke down a little more food before thanking the King and excusing myself to have my run. Just as I was about to walk away, Haidar stopped me.

“Alpha Queen Malika, could I have some time with you later today? I’d like to get to know more about you and your species.” I went stiff at his question but dropped my mask over my face as I turned back to him.

“Of course, King Haidar, I would be honoured to spend some time with you. I’ll send one of my guards to arrange a time once I am back from my run.” He smiled brightly and nodded enthusiastically.

“Wonderful, I look forward to seeing you later.” I faked a smile and walked out of the room.

We went back to the suite where Ward woke the other guards whilst I packed my special backpack with weapons and some snack food. I left enough room for clothes for the five of us, in case we needed to shift back.

I flung the backpack over my shoulder, and we left the room and headed out of the castle. We got many weird looks. I guess it would have looked strange seeing a woman flanked by four burly men.

We made our way around the castle in the direction I had seen the mountains. Once we were far enough away from the main building and grounds, we stripped off, put our clothes in the backpack and shifted. Whilst my four guards were now on four legs, I towered over them on two legs.

I don’t even feel the shift now, it’s like I shut my eyes to blink and when I open them my vision is sharper, all my other senses are heightened, and I am further from the ground.

The four different coloured wolves around me huffed and pranced, eager to get running. I carefully collected the backpack. My claws were wicked sharp and, unlike felines, could not be retracted.

Once the bag was securely over my broad furry shoulders, I linked my guards. “All right boys let’s move out, I want to get to the mountains so we are going to have to travel at top speed. We will stop if we find water.”

“Yes, Alpha Queen,” all four voices said simultaneously. I knew they wouldn’t be able to actually keep up at my top speed, so we would travel at their top speed. We took off towards the mountains with two wolves in front and two behind.

After about an hour, we stopped at a small river for a drink. Werewolves were pretty fit, especially my guards, but they were starting to slow from the gruelling pace, so stopping for a quick rest was necessary.

I bent down and leaned over the edge of the river to scoop some of the crystal-clear water into my palm to drink.

I caught my reflection as I did and took a minute to stare into the bright purple eyes of my Lycan counterpart. She was so unique.

Even when there were many Lycans still in existence, she had been one of a kind. No other Lycans had purple eyes and silver fur, not even my parents.

Both my parents had black fur and their eyes were the same as their human counterparts, green for my mum and light blue for my dad.

My human side had jet-black hair like both my parents had, and I had eyes that were a perfect combination of both blue and green. No one knew why my Lycan was so different.

I shook myself from my thoughts and drank deeply of the cool water. Once the wolves were recovered, we set off again towards the mountains.

The forest was beautiful, not that I could fully enjoy it at such high speeds. We stopped a couple more times before finally arriving at a village at the foot of the mountain range.

I linked the wolves. I want to shift and see if I can get any information for the villagers about the Baihu sightings.” I said.

“OK, two will shift with you and two will remain in wolf form for protection”, Ward replied. I shifted back behind a tree and quickly dressed, I then left the bag and walked away to let the wolves shift back.

Ward and Ajax emerged from the trees. “Do you think they will talk to us? I mean we are strangers and not Felines.” Ward said, keeping his voice low as we headed towards the town.

“Not sure but we can only try” I replied. We made our way into the outskirts of the town and noticed a few people watching us warily, especially after seeing the two giant wolves flanking the three of us in human form.

I approached one group and they all turned and hurried into their house. We continued further into the town and each time we approached a person or group of people the same thing happened.

We finally arrived in the main part of the village, and I huffed in frustration after being ignored for what seemed like the millionth time.

“Um excuse me Ma’am, do um… do you need help?” I turned to see a tall lanky teenager nervously watching us.

“Oh hi, you are the first person to even talk to us,” I said, looking around at other people watching our interaction. “Yeah… um they, uh… I mean we don’t usually get outsiders here. So, um… what can I help you with?” He asked, looking down at the ground.

“Well, first you could tell me your name, I’m Malika.” The guards beside me stiffened whilst Ramon and Evander growled lowly at the fact I hadn’t told the boy my title, it made the nervous boy flinch and step back further.

“He is scared enough; he doesn’t need to know exactly who I am, so tone it down”. I linked all four of my guards. The wolves dropped their heads and whimpered softly.

“It’s OK, they won’t hurt you and neither will I, so can you tell me your name?” I asked again.

“It… It’s Elliot, Ma’am” he said.

“Well, Elliot, it is a pleasure to meet you. We are just here to talk, nothing more” I said, and Elliot finally looked up at me.

“Oh, ok. Did you want to… um… sit down somewhere?” he asked hesitantly.

“Sure, lead the way,” I said with a smile. Elliot led us further through the town to a small field with a large tree on the edge.

There were logs arranged like seats under the tree. Elliot motioned for us to take a seat. I sat and my two human guards sat closely beside me whilst one wolf sat at my feet and another behind me.

“Thank you, Elliot. So, are you happy to answer some questions for me?” I asked.

“Um sure, but can I ask you one first?” He asked hesitantly.

“Of course, Elliot”, he shifted uneasily in his seat and looked at the ground for a minute. I assumed he had to build up the courage to ask his question.

Finally, he blurted out “Are you a princess or something? It’s just most people don’t have four guards.” I chuckled and he looked up at me shocked.

“You’re very perceptive, Elliot. I didn’t give you my title as I wanted to make you feel more at ease. I am actually the Alpha Queen of the Werewolves.” His eyes bulged and his mouth dropped open.

I was expecting him to bow or something ridiculous but to my surprise, he jumped up. “Holy s**t you’re the only living Lycan, my friends are gonna flip when I tell them, though they probably won’t believe me…”

He was pacing around in front of us as he mumbled. I laughed and in my peripheral vision, I noticed Ward and Ajax smiling. “Elliot… Elliot, please stop pacing and pay attention.” I said to the teen.

“Oh I’m sorry,” he said, stopping and looking down at the ground.

“Do you have a phone?” I asked. He looked up at me confused before pulling a mobile phone from his pocket to show me. I personally hated the things but all the young people these days enjoy modern human technology.

“Great. Let me make you an offer then. You answer all of my questions to the best of your ability, and I will get my Gamma here to take a photo of you with my Lycan to prove to your friends that you met me.”

I am definitely not above bribery in these kinds of situations. His mouth dropped open and started opening and closing like a fish. “Well, how about it?” I asked, getting impatient but not wanting to scare the kid.

He nodded rapidly. “OK then, take a seat while we chat, and you have my word as Alpha Queen you will have a photo to brag about.” Elliot rushed back to his seat and plonked down looking at me intently. I chuckled at his enthusiasm.

“OK Elliot, have you heard rumours of a Baihu in this area?” he c****d his head and frowned.

“A what?” he asked. It hadn’t occurred to me that his generation wouldn’t know what a Baihu is. Don’t they teach the younger generation about the lost species?

“A Baihu is a White Tiger shifter” I replied. He sat forward in his seat.

“Oh, you’ve heard about that? Yeah, I know of a guy who reckons he stole one of his lambs and he says he saw it with his own eyes” It was my turn to sit forward in my seat.

“So, it’s true then, there is a Baihu still alive?” I said more to myself than anything.

“That’s what the rumours say, Ma’am, but if we are being honest, the guy who says he saw it… well, he’s…” He stopped and looked around to make sure no one else was listening. “He’s a drunk and a little crazy since his mate was taken.”

Wait, what? Someone’s mate was taken? By whom? “Elliot, what do you mean his mate was taken?” I asked.

“Um… well, Mr Felon said that someone came and took his mate away, they didn’t say why, and she hasn’t been seen since.”

I looked shocked. “Does your king know about this?”

“Yeah, Mrs Felon isn’t the first nor was she the last, but the king hasn’t done anything about it.” I could not believe what I was hearing.

Could the appearance of the Baihu have anything to do with the disappearance of the villagers?