Viking Wolf King's Mate

1.1) The War

Keely was nothing short of a flower child. Balder watched his cousin with such fascination as she tended her garden. He didn’t often get to see her, being in different packs and all, but he always made the exception for her birthday. See, Keely was the black sheep of the family. Her father had cheated on his chosen mate with Keely’s mother, his true mate, but Keely’s birth had killed her. Her father, the beta, had never forgiven her for ruining his life. So, the youngest daughter of the beta lived her soft, peaceful life. She stayed in a small cottage on the outskirts of the pack. Keely spent her days helping in the pack nursery. Her afternoons and evenings were spent in her garden, the most beautiful one Balder had ever seen. She had always gravitated towards children and nature.

“Keely,” Balder shouted. Her head quirked up as she looked at him. She had mud staining her cheek as sweat beaded on her forehead. “Ready for dinner?”

“One moment,” she shouted back as she went back to her garden. Balder shook his head at his cousin who pulled a weed from the ground. He hopped off the small stone wall and loped towards her. Keely had to be dragged away from her garden or she would be here till the sun set.

“Let’s go.” He hauled her to her feet.

“I’m not finished,” she complained.

“I’m not caring,” he grumbled back as she became dead weight in his arms. He was a warrior, but his muscles ached from the run to her pack from his. “Keely,” he grunted but she refused to stand on her own feet, “stubborn cow.”

Balder dropped her. The thud of her ass hitting the ground brought his much satisfaction. She tilted her head up to glare at him as she announced him a “pig-headed bastard.”

God’s help him but he loved his cousin. He always forgot that she wasn’t as sweet as he remembered. Keely was getting feistier the more she aged, and at twenty-one she was truly growing into her own. He attributed that to being out of her family home.

“Oh, I’m the pig?” he feigned offense, “That’s rich coming from the girl covered in mud.”

“Woman,” she corrected as he helped her out of the mud, “I am now a woman.”

“Don’t remind me,” Bolder mumbled, “The older you get, the older I get.”

He had just turned two-hundred and thirteen, no longer the pup he once was.

“You, getting old?” she looked up at him with such care on her face, “your spirit could never age.”

Balder could not help his smile, “Thank you, dear cousin. Now go shower. We have a party to attend.”

~

Despite her father’s hatred for her, Keely had a good relationship with her pack. Well, most of them at least. She knew that she would have a fairly good time at the celebration if she avoided her family. The celebration was not for her, even though it was her twenty-first birthday, but rather for the arrival of The Northen Reginal Alpha’s for The Treaty. The Treaty was a pact created and signed by every Alpha of every pack in The Northen Region to keep peace and alliances. When I new Alpha rose to power, The Treaty would be discussed and resigned by all Northern Alpha’s. Tonight, would be the welcome celebration for all seven arriving Alpha’s and their companies. The North-Eastern pact was their vegetation region. Being the furthest South and the warmest, they had the best climate for crops. The North-Western region was high in the mountains near The Volcano. The easy heat and rock access lead them to becoming the weapons region. The North-Ice-Northern Region, Keely’s region, home to all warrior trainings. As the coldest region, it had no use other than to prepare warriors for the brutality of war. Keely’s father and their Alpha were in charge of making the warriors the best out of the three continents. A task they excelled in. The Central-Northern Region was the most prestigious of all. That was The King’s region. The war central region. You see, The Styrkr Continent was at war. The wolf shifters had one lived a peaceful existence on the small continent in the difficult to reach land. That was until the appearance of the Ichneumon. The Ichneumon were thought to be long extinct, only found in myths and fairytales. Until one hundred years ago when they reappeared on the main continents of Varmur and Kyrre. Those continents had previously held The Dragon shifters. Except The Ichneumon had reproduced like vermin and began wiping out the Dragon Shifters. So, in an attempt to save their people, The Dragon counsel had decided to take flight. All the remaining dragons had, which were few, had taken to the sky in search of a haven. That was when they had arrived on Styrkr.

The Dragon’s did not come peacefully. The wished to obliterate the Wolf Shifters in fear they would bring ichneumon to the continent, like The Giants had, and The Dragon Shifters would all die. That is how the war began. The Dragons had pushed The Wolves into the cold mountains in favour of the mild weathered Southern region. With little ways of fighting their fire, The Wolves had found solace in the cold mountains of The North and The King had devised a plan – he would reason with The Dragons, try to find harmony so both could live on The Continent together. But The Dragons were distrustful. They feared an attack from The Wolves so had attacked first, killing The Wolf King. His son, Cardan, had taken his place. King Cardan of The Styrkr had no mercy. He was ruthless in pushing back The Dragons to reclaim his land, his home, and the protect his people. In the last two hundred years, King Cardan had reclaimed more land than any thought possible. He had created weapons out of the ice and stone The Dragons had pushed them towards. The King was brutal and cunning and determined to win this warm. Though on the night of her twenty-first birthday, Keely came to realise the war was far from over.