The Alpha's Fallen Princess

Ch. 3: New Hospital

(April’s POV… 3 mo’s later)

The day we got our pups back, things changed again. Everyone was so happy and for a while things seemed really good. But then I began noticing odd things with everyone. It all started with Austin, Conner and their mates, Noel and Nora.

They were back to arguing again. Badly. I couldn’t figure out why, since the girls’ Father had joined his Elven Kingdom with our packlands, making our pack considerably larger. It was a good idea, though, because it meant the elves could not only come and go as they pleased, but it gave the other Fae species a place to live away from the prying eyes of humans.

It also got them out of our forest so we could run freely again.

The rest of us can coexist with humans. We do it all the time. And with all the changes around here, we’ve needed to hire contractors for different things, which meant bringing humans onto the pack's territory.

I was surprised the vamps had no issue with humans being around. They hunted at night anyway, so during the day they simply stuck to regular food and drink. And yes, they eat and drink like normal people. It doesn’t do them any good, but they seem to enjoy the taste of it.

Which brings me back to the guys and their mates.

Austin and Conner, being twins, often knew what the other was thinking without having to ask or even read their thoughts. Nora and Noel were the same way, seeing as they were twins as well. And both pairs of twins were very good at doing that, too. A skill they use against each other often.

Conner seemed to be the worst out of all of them. His normally carefree attitude had turned quiet, withdrawn, and even a little dark. When we got our pups and Sparks back, he seemed to get a lot better. But that only lasted for a short time.

Sparks is my cat/familiar with whom Conner is really close too. She protects me, not that I need protecting, and she adores my children. So when we sent the twins with my cousin Allison and the others, I sent Sparks too. As added protection for my pups. Which means when we couldn’t get them back straight away, it hit Conner nearly as hard as it did Alex, Me, and our families.

Now that they’ve all returned, Conner has been all over the place, emotionally. Sometimes he’s his old self, all “class-clown-ish”. Other times, he’s aggressive and combative. And he trains like there’s no tomorrow. I just hope this isn’t going to be an issue.

Though this behavior isn’t localized to those four, either. Jeremy can't seem to look me in the eyes. He’s become very quiet and unsure of himself. He’s the best tracker in the world, and he keeps second guessing himself on everything. His father's worried about him, too.

Bart is the third-best tracker in the world. He was tied with another wolf from another pack for second, but he’s been off his game lately too. That’s how worried he’s been about his son. And I get it. Jeremy and I had gotten pretty close, working on the whole situation with Solaris and Elder Scott. Well, former Elder.

So when my body went missing and he and his Dad couldn’t find me, they both took a major hit to their confidence. Bart understands it wasn’t his fault. But Jeremy? He blames himself.

Then again, I think a lot of people feel that way. I keep trying to tell them they have nothing to feel guilty about. Things happened how the Moon Goddess needed them too. But it doesn’t seem to help.

I’m at a loss about how to help any of them, right now.

Me? I’ve embraced my new role as The Ultimate Weapon.

What’s “The Ultimate Weapon”, you ask? Well, apparently that’s me. As in, actually me. The person, the wolf, the whole package. A warrior fighting for good against the evils of the world.

At least that’s what I took the legends to mean.

I’ll give you the Cliff Notes version of the legend. Because otherwise we’ll be here all d*mn day. See, back in the beginning, Selene watched our solar system form and life evolve on Earth. But when the only thing to evolve was animals, she decided to create creatures that could keep her company.

So she created dragons. They were too snobbish to stick around, so she created Elves. But they took the dragon's cue and went their own way. So, finally, Selene created werewolves who remained loyal and true.

Then Selene and Solaris got into a war, and he somehow managed to defeat Selene, sending her back to her garden where she pretty much remains. Solaris, being that he is a demon-lord, kept on with his rampage, killing anyone who stood against him or sided with Selene.

After a century or so of recovering from her loss, Selene was finally able to send the wolves some help. So she went to humans who were followers of hers and offered them magic, making them the first witches. Meaning that all the first witches were light witches.

Then she went to those of her followers who were on the brink of death and offered them immortality. Making the first vampires. Again, they were all good guys. The witches were to help the wolves in any way they could with their magic, while the vamps were protectors of the night.

But it still wasn’t enough. So Selene sent the White Wolves, and together they fought back Solaris and his minions. The White Wolves were named as King and Queen to all supernaturals, and they ruled over all the realms peacefully for over a century. Until they were betrayed.

Then the legend tells of how the White Wolves would return. One would become The Ultimate Weapon, also known as The Sword of Justice, while the other would become The Great Protector, also known as The Shield of Righteousness. (That’s my Brother, Winter.)

Together we’re supposed to usher in a new era of peace in the supernatural world. The previous Elder’s Council claim we’re the future Queen’s and King’s, us and our mates. But I don’t know if I wanna be a queen. I don’t think I’m queen material, if I’m being honest.

Anyway, figuring it all out was not even remotely easy and living up to it all? I can’t even begin to tell you how difficult that is. I mean, h*ll, we can’t even bring an era of peace to our own pack. How are we going to do that for the whole supernatural world?

Leo, which is short for Elder Leonardo, thinks I should take my time and allow myself to come to terms with everything that’s happened over the past year. He and I are very close. He’s actually mated to my best friend's Mother, Destiny.

Destiny is the literal Queen of the Am*zon’s. Which makes Bethany, my best friend, a literal Princess. Bethany is mated to my brother. And since I call Destiny my Aunt, I also call Leo my Uncle. Well, I actually call him Tio, which is Italian for Uncle, but that’s just semantics.

He’s a good man, Tio. I trust him beyond measure. And if we do decide to take those thrones, I’m hoping he will consider taking on a position of Advisor to the court. Right now he’s spending time in the Am*zonian Kingdom getting to know his people. He’s enjoying himself, learning new things, and spending time with his mate. I’m happy for him.

I miss him terribly.

(Alex’s POV)

KNOCK* KNOCK* KNOCK*

You'd think after six months they would know to leave me the h*ll alone once I’m in my d*mn office! But noooo! They have to bang on my door like the world has suddenly opened up and is about to swallow us all whole!

As a result, I yanked the door open with a snarl, “WHAT?!” Apparently my snarl doesn’t hold the same bite to it as it once did because Jake just stood there, unphased by my foul mood. “Alpha”. He said that one word as if he wanted to get it off his tongue as quickly as he could. As he did, he briskly pushed past me, causing me to frown.

Was it not obvious I wanted to be left alone? Am I missing something? “So… Where would you like to begin today? We need to go over new training regimens, we need to sort out plans for the new hospital wings, and we need to sort out Prince Tobias and Michelle’s request for their wedding date. Though I’m pretty sure the back garden and ballroom are both free on the date they chose. They want to be wed before Mateo takes his trials to become Primas.”

“Primus”... Now there’s a title I never thought I’d have to treat with any sort of high regard. Tobias is Mateao’s younger brother and my dear friend Michelle’s fated mate. Mateo’s Dad now holds the title of Primus. But eventually it'll be passed on to Mateo if he can make it through their trials first.

Don’t get me wrong, I like Mateo and his family. But having a vampire coven living full-time in our pack territory has actually been a little more weird to me than I’d have thought.

I still have to laugh to myself every time I remember how April befriended the vamp prince. We were still in school at the time. And back then, wolves and vamps just didn’t mix. There were a lot of prejudices on both sides back then that kept us from interacting. But to April? Toby was just another innocent kid who needed protection from a bully.

What really solidified our alliance with them was when April talked me and the gang into going to their coven to check up on Toby because she was worried about him. When we got there we found out they’d been attacked by other wolves and vamps who used that f*ckin compound on the entire coven, children and all.

The compound is a poison some as*hat created that'll kill anyone injected with it. One of our own pack members tried to use it on April, but with her being a special wolf, she managed to live through it. Which in turn helped us create a cure/inoculation to combat it.

The reason it’s so deadly is that it’s basically a cocktail of all the things we, the supernatural, are either weakened or killed by. Like silver and wolfsbane. But also vampire venom, which is deadly to a wolf, and wolf venom, which is deadly to a vampire, arsenic, which is deadly to humans, including witches, and some other stuff.

Anyway, we rescued the coven only to find out Toby’s parents had been taken, so we then had to go rescue them. His Father, Primus Marcus, was so grateful he became our ally that same day. And with their coven in ruin, my Dad offered them space within the pack.

“Did we get the specs for the new coven house yet?” I asked tiredly. We were waiting on an architect firm to send over designs for approval so we could get them into a place of their own. “No, not yet. But they said by Friday, so we’re expecting them any day now.”

I nodded at Jake’s answer. He seemed like he was all business today. In fact, he hadn’t even gotten on my case for the open bottle of were-whiskey still sitting on my desk. I smirked as I picked it up and tilted it to my lips, taking a good swig before answering, “Just keep me informed, then. As for Tobias and Michelle’s wedding, if it's free, just give it to them. I don’t care.”

That seemed to get a reaction out of him. I nearly laughed when he shot me a glare. “She’s one of our best friends, Alex. The least you can do is show her some respect.” He was probably right, but I just shrugged. It’s not my wedding, after all. I don’t see what I’ve got to do with any of it.

“I didn’t say I wasn’t happy for them, dude. Chill.” I said as I took another swig. He sighed heavily and turned back to his notepad, typing in my approval, then bringing up the schematics on the new hospital wing.

He turned the notepad around for me as he said, “These are the new blueprints for the hospital. Doc Thompson worked with the arcitech to get everything fully up to date and modernized. I guess the last eighteen years in the human world was a big help in knowing what was needed.”

I saw the deep sadness enter his eyes when he spoke about Doctor Thompson. I think we all felt some guilt where he was concerned. What was done to him was so wrong.

He was the doctor who delivered April and Winter. Back then, we had a Pack Elder named Scott. Elder Scott was in league with Solaris, so he used his Elder command to make Doc Thompson declare Winter as being dead, then Elder Scott used his command again to break the Doc’s bonds with the pack and f*rce him to leave.

He was never to return or be in contact with anyone from our pack, either. Living in exile forever. Meanwhile, Scott faked Doc Thompson’s death so we’d all believe he was gone and no one would go looking for him.

Thankfully, while Allison and the others were in hiding with our pups she needed to get some anxiety meds. Aries took her to one of those free clinics humans use for medical needs and that’s where they found Doc Thompson.

Of course, until we broke our own Royal Command on Allison, Aries, and Arsyss, they couldn’t reveal who they were either. But Allison recognized him from his portraits on display in the hospital and in our Packhouse. So, when we called them home she told us about Doc Thompson and April was able to break his Elder Command and bring him back home where he belongs.

“So he approved this design already?” I asked and Jake nodded as he said, “Yes. It has a more secure maternity ward, an established emergency area, and a critical care unit. everything a hospital in the human world would. Just like we wanted.”

We were upgrading our hospital because with all the various species, humans included, who now lived in our pack, we wanted to be fully prepared for everyone’s needs. This new hospital will achieve that, though we'll also need to hire some more doctors and staff.

But I’ll leave that part up to Doc Thompson and Doc Helena.