Rains' P.O.V.
After Zion announces the run will begin soon, I tell Odett that we'll be back soon. We both give her a kiss on her forehead, she runs to my mom, and we make our way out to the courtyard. Once we reach the courtyard, Zion helps me up the stairs of the stage left here after our mating ceremony. When we make it to the top of the stage, we look around at all the wolves howling, and the crowd becomes quiet when they see us.
"Thank you, everyone, for joining us in this tradition. Now without further ado, Let the run begin." Zion says as he looks at me with a huge smile, and I nod in response, showing him I'm ready. He walks us behind the divider placed on the stage. He helps me remove my gown and kisses my shoulder before he gets undressed, and we shift into our wolves. When we walk out from behind the divider, everyone becomes quiet, which makes me very nervous and self-conscious. Suddenly, Dosha lets out a loud earth-shattering howl, showing our strength and dominance, and the crowd erupts into howls. Dosha beams with excitement that they have accepted us.
Ryker walks over to me, nudging me with his snout. I take that as a sign, and we both jump from the stage and take off for the trails. I remind Dosha not to run at our top speed so we don't lose everyone else following us. When Orion, Sam, Jessica, James, Evan, and Mathew join us at the front of the group, we become overwhelmed with pure joy to run with our family.
After 45 minutes, we decide that it's time to return to the castle and end the run. But before we can make it back to the courtyard, a guard comes through the link to alert us that there's an attack at our border. I listen as he tells the guard to get all the women to the kids to take them to the basement and guard them until the attack is over. I know the next thing he says will be that he wants me to go home with the other women, but that won't be happening. I won't stand in the background while our people risk their lives to protect our home. So I take off at full speed toward the border before he can look at me. And I can feel his aggravation but also his pride.
"I want an update. Who's attacking our border, and how many are there?" Zion yells down the link to the patrol guards.
"It seems to be a group of twenty made up of rogues and a few witches. They just seemed to appear out of nowhere., Sir." The warrior says. "We're holding our own between the warriors we have now and the witches that joined the patrols this afternoon, but we could use some backup."
"We're on our way," I say
"My Queen? You shouldn't be on the front lines. It's too dangerous." The warrior studders.
"Care to say that to my care?" I ask him, and he falls silent as I hear Orian and Sam laugh and Zion growl. I could care less if he's upset. And I push Dosha to run faster.
As I make it to the fight, I let out another earth-shattering growl and jump on the back of a rogue standing on one of the patroling witches. I rip a chunk of meat from the back of his neck as his blood sprays across my silver fur while my claws dig into his spine, and he falls to the ground, unable to move. Then I hear Zion growl and turn to see he's arrived with Orian, Sam, Jess, and Alpha Mathew. They jump into the fight as we all split up to take out what's left of the group of rogues and witches. All I hear is the sounds of rouge wolves' howls of pain and the enemy witches' scream.
Soon the enemy has been defeated, and I shift back so that I can help heal the wounded. Before I can make it to the first warrior, Zion hands me an oversized shirt to put on. I look down and realize I'm naked and quickly put the shirt on in embarrassment as Dosha laughs at me. "Did you forget that you would be naked after shifting back?" She says.
"Honestly, I wasn't even thinking about it," I say as I blush. I hear Jess yell for me and take off running for her.
As I reach her, I see she's got one of our warriors' head resting on her lap and see he's missing an arm and losing a lot of blood. I rush to their side and instantly start to heal the wound. I know I won't be able to replace his arm, but at least, he won't die. After a few minutes, he's completely healed, and I move on to the next. Zion informs me that we didn't lose anyone but that the rest of the injured will be taken to the hospital for their minor injuries. He then lifts me up into his arms after I finish healing the last warrior with major injuries and carries me back to the castle.
"You know I can walk, right?" I ask him, and he lets out a light laugh.
"I'm aware of that, my Queen." He says with a smile. "You knew I would send you back to the castle? That's why you ran headfirst into the fight?"
"Yes, but I'm not sorry for doing it. If I didn't, we would have lost a few of our warriors." I answer him. He looks down at me with a smile.
"Then I guess we'll need to start your combat training sooner than I planned." He says. "We'll also have Jessica join in since she refused to return to the castle as well. But from the looks of it, neither of you will need the basic training."
"Well, what did you expect? You did say she was to become my Beta." I say with a laugh and beaming with pride for my sister.
When we finally reached the castle, Zion linked the guards watching over the women and children to let them know everything was safe and they could come up from the basement. We stand at the door to the basement as the door unlocks and opens, and our guards start helping everyone out. Odett comes running up to us and wraps her arms around both our legs.
"Is everyone okay?" She asks us, and we both nod.
"Are you okay?" Zion asks her.
"Of course, Daddy, I knew y'all would come back, and that's what I told everyone while we were all done there." She says with a smile. And Zion picks her up and puts her on his shoulders while I make sure everyone in the basement is safe and accounted for.
"Zion, I think we need to count everyone at the hospital. We have guests missing." I link him.
"Who?" He asks.
"Alpha Max, Alpha Ian, and Luna Emily. Luna Misty is here." I tell him.
"I'll get Orian to check the hospital, but I think we now know who told the enemy to attack." He says through the link, and I nod in understanding. "We also made sure to keep a few attackers alive so we can interrogate them. Alpha Mathew and his Beta will take them to the basement after we get all of the guests cleared out."
"I'll get the servants to prepare a snack for everyone in the dining hall to distract them," I say. He gives me a questioning look, and I shrug my shoulders. "Everyone likes a midnight snack."
"Everything has been taken care of, and you are all safe. You may either head to your rooms or go to the dining hall to grab a midnight snack." Zion says, and everyone starts to clear out. He looks at me and laughs. "I'll let Mathew know it's clear to bring the prisoners in. Will you make sure everyone stays in the dining hall, please?"
"Of course, but I think it's time to invest in multiple safe rooms or bunkers around the kingdom. We got lucky this time, but we need to make sure everyone can reach one in case we get attacked on a bigger scale next time." I say.
"I agree. After your crowning ceremony tomorrow, we will meet with construction workers and go through the plans for it." He says, making me smile, knowing that he agrees with me. Zion puts Odett down, and she takes my hand.
"Of course, he agrees with us. He knows how brilliant we are, and we're always right!" Dosha says, and we both laugh.
"That's very true," I say.
"Would you like to come with me to help the servants make snacks for everyone?" I ask her, and she nods with excitement, and we make our way to the kitchen.