The Alpha's Fallen Princess

Ch. 4: Gus (Pt. 1)

(Alex’s POV… Cont’d)

I looked over the blueprints and diagrams for the new hospital, then nodded my head, “Get it approved. The sooner we break ground on this the better.” That seemed to make Jake happy. He smiled as he took the notepad back and did a few things on it.

I waited in silence, tipping back the bottle once again. I have to hand it to Jake. He was doing pretty good at ignoring my drinking today. Not that I’m complaining, but I can’t help but wonder why I’m not receiving my normal lecture from him. He seems to have taken it upon himself to get me to stop drinking.

“That just leaves the new training regimens. With the construction crews that will be coming, we’re going to have to change the times we train. Either that or we'll need to move it out to the pasture in the Northern Territory. We’ll be less likely to be seen there by prying eyes.”

I considered what Jake had to say before answering, “Let’s do both. I really don’t need the new headache of more humans finding out about us. The old elder’s will throw a Goddess d*mn fit, and I’m not in any mood to be listening to them b*tch and moan about us breaking rules yet again.”

Jake rolled his eyes at me because of my comments, shaking his head as he said, “Dude. They haven’t b*tched at us about rules since they found out who we actually are. Once they found out we’re the Royal Pack, they’ve all been very respectful. Even Elder Michael Angelo.”

Michael… Now there was an a*s if ever there was one. He was the biggest snob I’d ever met. Still is, actually. Though I suppose Jake did have a point about the others. “Yeah, well… doesn’t mean I wanna take the chance.”

I couldn’t help but sigh in frustration, which caused an uneasy silence to fill my office. After a few minutes, I raked my hand through my hair, pushing it out of my eyes as I said, “Man, don’t you ever wish we could go back to the days when this was all easier? No Elders under foot all the time, no being straddled with all this responsibility, or having all these extra people looking to us for help and guidance. Just a bunch of kids trying to figure out what we wanted out of life.”

I took another swig of whiskey as Jake leaned forward and very firmly said, “No. I don’t. Because I know we’re capable of handling this if we would just all get our collective acts together. The Moon Goddess would never have given us this responsibility if we weren't capable. Besides, going back means never having met April, or rescuing my Sister and Winter. It means not having my Uncle around anymore. And it means we’d all very likely be living under Solaris’ rule by now…

… I don’t know about you, but none of that sounds appealing to me. So I’ll keep at this, doing my best to keep this pack running and productive. You can either choose to be a part of that, or you can keep hiding in your bottle.” With that, he got up and started for the door.

I guess he wasn’t quite finished because when he got to the door he gripped the knob then turned back to face me and added, “A word of warning, though, Alpha… She won’t wait forever. She’s not one to sit around and twiddle her thumbs waiting for someone else to make a move, after all. Besides, she deserves better than this. You both do. So if I were you? I’d start figuring things out.”

With that he left.

I got so angry at what he said I threw the bottle at him, which was still a quarter of the way full of whiskey. But he never even saw it heading his way. He just walked out and shut the door behind him. Just as I heard the click of the door latch falling into place, the bottle hit the door and shattered, making a huge mess.

Well, that was helpful. I rolled my eyes at Max's comment as I raked my fist through my hair again. He and I do a lot of fighting over my drinking these days. We fight because you refuse to admit I'm right. You have a problem, Alex. And that problem is only going to get worse if you keep denying it. We fought so hard to get our mate back. Now that we have her back, you won't even go near her. All you do is sit in here with your d*mn bottle like a big old baby.

I sighed heavily as I heard another knock on the door. I went to let in the Omega to clean up the mess as I thought over what Max and Jake both said. Finally, I answered back. Maybe you're right, Max. I don't know. But I'll think about it.

(April’s POV)

Eight months later… Almost two years after the battle…

“Is everyone alright?” I asked my girls and everyone answered back that they were fine except for Chloe. “I don’t think Chloe is awake yet, Luna.” I leaned my body forward and craned my head around to try and get a good look at Chloe as I answered Tori, “Is she breathing?”

“Yes, Luna. But she’s still out cold. She took the brunt of that collapse.” I sighed. I could smell her blood, so I knew she was injured. I just hoped it wasn’t too bad. It happened as we entered the cave system we're in now. The whole entrance just collapsed around us. Though it was far from accidental. “So what now, Sister?” I let my eyes drift to Bethany as she spoke, but I didn’t answer immediately.

I was still taking in our surroundings and all of our conversations were being held through our group royal mind-link, so the enemy wouldn’t hear us. Unfortunately, I hadn’t planned on being captured, so now I needed to come up with a new plan. And quick.

“Well, the good news is we’re in the Wendigo’s nest. Was anyone conscious when they drug us in here?” I looked around at our group of six women, all of whom were being trained by Bethany and me.

I had this idea of making an elite group of all women fighters. Bethany and I were now in charge of training about twenty-five female warriors for this unit. And ever since I began retraining for myself, Bethany and I have been working on how to get this idea off the ground. We finally decided that we'd offer spots to all the female warriors who showed some promise. However, the position was voluntary.

This unit will eventually be responsible for taking out all the nastiest evils of our world. Like these Wendigo’s.

I was proud of what we were trying to do here. These women came from all walks of life. We even had a couple of humans in the mix. And they were strong, independent, skilled women. Unfortunately, they apparently weren’t quite ready for this mission. “I was, Luna.” Grace said, dragging me from those thoughts, so my gaze naturally went to her.

“Think you can remember the way back out?” I asked, and she nodded immediately, “Absolutely.” Her response made me smile as I gave her a nod, then said, “Here’s what we’re going to do. Pepper, you’re the strongest here, so I want you to get Chloe… Grace, you’ll be in the lead. Guide us out of here. Tori? I want you to flank them, you’re on protection detail. Get them out safely. Bethany and I will deal with the hive.”

I got a “Yes Luna” from each of them as I told them their a*signments. It was only Bethany who balked at any of it. “Are you out of your mind, Sister? There are dozens of them! We need help!”

I calmly looked over at Bethany and raised a brow as I said, “Are you seriously telling me that the ultimate weapon and the Am*zon princess can’t handle this on their own? Sine when do you beg for help with battles, anyway?” Bethany rolled her eyes at the challenge in my voice before saying, “If there were no other, safer, ways to handle this, then yea, we could. But we don’t have to do this alone. It’s too dangerous. And I never beg. But I do ask. Winter is going to kill us both!”

“Fine. Then we’ll all leave together and wait for the cavalry to arrive. You can bring up the rear.” I said just as a small group of three male Wendigo's came into the chamber we’d literally been hanging around in.

You see they had us bound at the wrists with silver chains which were attached to the ceiling. The silver didn’t bother us, but none of us tried to get free. We needed the distraction in order to confuse the bast*rds.

So as they approached, I spoke through the mind-link, “Wait for my mark, girls.”

We were all watching the Wendi’s movements as they stepped into the chamber. The one in the lead was someone I recognized. Someone who, once upon a time, I had serious issues with. When he was still human, that is.

He was a school bus driver who had a nasty little habit of m*lesting the girls on his route. When he tried it with me, I not only handed him his a*s but ultimately got him fired. I guess he still holds a grudge because he came straight over to me. “I’m really going to enjoy my lunch today… B*tch. Always a favorite.”

This pr*ck has some nerve. “Unchain me, and we’ll see how well you enjoy anything ever again.” I said with a smirk which got me a hardy punch in the gut. I groaned, just to make him feel good about himself. Wouldn’t wanna give anything away too quickly, now would I?”

“You ain't in any position to be so f*ckin smug now, b*tch!” I started to laugh at that. This a*s had no idea what he was up against. “Come on now, Gus. I kicked your Goddess d*mned a*s when I was only eleven-years-old. I’m pretty d*mn sure I can do worse now.”

“That’s a f*ckin lie, b*tch! You never…” I laughed again, interrupting him as I said, “It’s okay. I’m sure the hive already knows you’re nothing but a washed up old perv*rt who fancies little girls over grown women because you can’t get your d*ck up unless it’s for a child. Probably because you’re so sorely lacking in that area. If you even have a d*ck left to get up, that is. For all I know, it’s probably fallen off already. It’s not like you can use it anymore anyway.”

My taunts earned me a punch in the face. I ain't gonna lie, it hurt. But I’ve dealt with way worse. I also achieved my goal of getting Gus to move in closer to me, so I could have the best vantage for capturing him.

I was just about to give the order to attack when I heard Chloe scream out in pain. My eyes flew over to her only to find one of the other two Wendigo’s with his hand in her abdomen, blood spurting from the severe wound. I didn’t hesitate to give the word at that point,

“NOW!” I shouted, and the girls instantly freed themselves and were on the other two Wendigo’s like a swarm of bees. Gus was so shocked by the turn of events that he froze, which gave me the opportunity to pin him to the ground without much of a fight.

“Where are they? Where’s the hive?” I snarled in his face before punching him several times. “Answer me!” I shouted but he didn’t utter a word. “April? We have to go! Chloe’s in bad shape! We gotta get her out of here.” Bethany said as she came up behind me.

“Go. Get her out of here and call our warriors in. I want this place completely destroyed!” I ordered, and the others began to group up. I took a minute to give them instructions, then turned to Bethany and said, “Get them out and come back. I’m gonna try to get some information out of old Gus, here.”

“Promise you won’t do anything without me?” She pleaded, and I smirked as I said, “I promise. We’ll take these mother-f*ckers down together.”

I could tell none of them wanted to leave me behind, but I said, “Get Chloe out of here! She’s the mission now. And once you’re clear and can mind-link the pack again, get a doctor up here. She’s gonna need to be triaged.”

I got a chorus of “yes Luna’s” back, and they all began to leave. Bethany was the only one who looked back at me, concern written all over her features. But she ultimately did as I asked her to.

I turned back to Gus, who was now back on his feet and smirked. “This is gonna be fun.” I said as I took my first steps toward him, causing him to snarl. “You think you're so good. I’m gonna kick your god-d*mn a*s! Then I’m gonna show you just how big my d*ck really is!”

I laughed. He had no f*cking clue.

Ten minutes later, I was walking over to where his head lay on the ground. “I’m never gonna f*ckin betray my queen! Put me back with my body, and we’ll see how f*ckin bada*s you aren’t!”

I just rolled my eyes. I guess this mother f*cker is just never gonna learn. “Oh shut up, will you! Now, as much as I don’t want to do this, I’m going to ask you one more time, where are they?”

Of course, he didn’t answer me, but I didn’t need him to. I could hear his thoughts clearly now that those silver chains had been off for a little bit. Silver doesn’t hurt us royals, but it can interfere with our gifts if it’s on us long enough. And since we were all unconscious for a while, the silver had begun to affect us.

But now the silver was wearing off, so I can now hear his thoughts. Not that I like being in his head. It’s a repulsive place in there. But at least I know where to head now. No pun intended.