ONE DAY BEFORE THE WEREWOLF QUEEN'S HEAT REACHES ITS PEAK
"Ken", Danny begged while crying, "I helped save you and your warriors from Raphael. I risked my life to help you guys. I...I love Elizabeth like a sister. She saved me from my dad. I don't understand why Mathew is acting this way. Please talk to him."
I sighed nervously while I looked at her through the front view mirror of the car. I only had two werewolves in the car with me. Danny and at least 15 nymphs made up the rest of the people in the car. It wasn't the right time to have this conversation; not infront of an entire audience, but Danny seemed adamant to prove her innocence during the entire car ride.
Even from the front I could see her tears and trembling lips. The smell of the dead warriors still wafted through the car because her pink dress was stained with their blood. My warriors and the nymphs had asked that she be given a change of clothes, but I refused. Mathew still wanted to interrogate her and I wanted them all to remember those warriors. Some of them had accompanied me to go find the Kelpie kingdom. They died a gruesome and terrible death today and we could only bring back their severed limbs back to their loved ones.
Their parents, mates, siblings and children would literally have to bury them in pieces. No one deserved to die like that. They didn't even get a chance to shift. Raphael had butchered them.
I cleared my throat while I tried to focus on the road ahead of me. We were close to the seat of the Werewolf kingdom and I had no doubt Mathew would want her thrown in the cells or interrogated as soon as we arrived. After finding those warriors like that, I understood why he wanted to blame someone. Perhaps questioning Danny was his way of making sense of everything.
"Danny, the boss just wants to make sure you didn't miss anything in your story", I tried reassuring her. "Just tell him the truth and everything will be fine. Elizabeth and Mike are probably already back so the boss will be much calmer. There won't be any need for me to talk to him."
I could have sworn I saw her frown through the front view mirror, but it disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared on her face.
She smiled at me nervously from the back while she sat in between two of my warriors. "I can't wait to see Liz" She gulped. "But I'd like to think that I've proven myself to everyone here and do not need her to vouch for my innocence. She wasn't even there, Ken. I put my life on the line for the werewolves when I met you and I did the same thing today. I shouldn't be punished for that."
She was making very valid points. I watched this girl almost die trying to help us fight Raphael. She told us all about what her father was planning with Raphael and Elizabeth and Mike really did trust her. Mike even joked that Danny was like a girl version of him.They trusted her with their lives. What the boss was accusing her of made no sense even if he thought a few things didn't add up.
"Danny, you're not being punished", I responded. "Mathew is very particular about things. He just wants to double check a few things. If you're telling the truth, which I'm certain you are, then you have nothing to worry about."
I watched her shift nervously between the two warriors. This was the first time that she had chosen to remain quiet throughout our entire car ride. My warriors had the same look of uncertainty as me. They also weren't sure what precisely was going on. Danny's heartbeat and breathing had remained steady while she tried to defend herself. If she was lying then she was really good at it. I was just hoping Mathew wouldn't resort to torture or pushing his aura down on her to question her. Liz wouldn't approve of that.
"Beta Ken", one of the twin warriors called out to me when he realised Danny was finally done talking, "what the hell was that? Our wolves...why were we that big...that strong? We were almost as big as as the were-bears."
"And King Mathew", his female twin chimed in, "how's his wolf even bigger than the last time we saw him? What's happening to us?"
I smirked at them. They might be acting concerned, but I knew both them and their wolves welcomed the new surge of power coursing through our veins. The first thing my wolf, Asriel, roared in my head when I shifted in the Nymph Kingdom was that Selene walks with us.
A pack gets strengthened when an alpha is with his fated luna. Mathew is finally with Elizabeth, his fated mate. Our strength no longer just comes from having the Werewolf King rightfully claiming his throne. Now it also comes from him having his fated mate by his side. As soon as they were marked and mated, Asriel and I were certain werewolves would be unstoppable even if Raphael had the Eye of the Ocean. Breaking that fucking curse was probably the key to our victory.
"What's happening is our king is finally with his queen", I smiled at them through the front view mirror. "Those two were chosen by Selene herself to lead us. Liz is probably back by now. We'll only grow stronger with them at each other's side."
I could see their grins through the mirror. All of us felt that surge of power on that battlefield. The bears didn't stand a chance. That's what made Danny's story almost hard to believe.
Those warriors hadn't even shifted. That could only mean they thought they were safe and didn't need to shift. They trusted whoever was with them. Mathew said the last thing the warrior said through the mindlink was Danny's name. They wouldn't have felt the need to shift with her there. But on the other hand, if Raphael was there, maybe he prevented them from shifting. Maybe he left Danny alive because he was once engaged to her. Perhaps he has a soft spot for her.
My mind was racing. All I knew was that Danny helped save my life. Liz and Mike trusted her. Ultimately, Mathew's accusations seemed unfounded. He would calm down after being with Elizabeth. He would be able to clear his head and see that he was letting the failure of the mission get to him.
"The Werewolf kingdom seems...endless", Princess Cecilia remarked shyly. Her head was pressed up against the window for the entire journey. She didn't want to miss anything.
"You got that right", Ben, one of the twin warriors replied boastful. "There are more than 100 packs in the Werewolf kingdom, there's an order of seers and an entire coven of witches with more than 100 witches. Just wait until you see the king's territory and his fiery Queen."
The three of us chuckled at that last comment. Ben may have made it sound like he was speaking figuratively, but we knew he meant it literally.
"How can he control a territory this big?", Prince Owen asked with intrigue lacing his voice. "We're taught that power struggles are very common amongst werewolves. Surely there have been attempts to kill him, cause conflict in his kingdom or take his throne."
Ben and Beanca looked at each other and then at me. They couldn't really answer that question. No one understood why Mathew was able to find traitors so quickly and deal with them. Normally kings would kill traitors and sometimes even kill their entire families as well, but Mathew refused to do that.
He wanted the kingdom to grow and was of the view if he killed every Alpha who thought they could usurp him, he would be left without a kingdom to rule pretty quickly. He figured out pretty quickly that although werewolves craved power, they were still one of the most loyal magical creatures around. So he worked on gaining everyone's trust. He helped pack businesses in the human world grow significantly, he demanded rigorous training for all pack members from the age of 13 onwards, he changed curriculums in pack schools so kids could understand both the human and magical world from an early age. Those are just some of the things he did to prove himself to his people and it worked. His people trust him.
Sure you'll find an unruly alpha here and there, but that was the exception to the norm. Keyon continously roamed the kingdom in his shadow form and was able to tell us if any trouble was brewing. This helped Mathew monitor the progress he was making.
"Above all things, werewolves are loyal and keep their word, Prince Owen", I finally answered him. "Our king has proven himself to his people. We have no reason to want to kill him, cause conflict in his prosperous kingdom or usurp his throne. His reign has brought much prosperity to us."
I saw the twins nodding. The nymph siblings looked at each other before Princess Cecilia started blurting things out.
"We would like to prove ourselves to your King", she bit her lip nervously and looked at her brother. "King Mathew thinks we don't have much to offer because of the reputation our father has left behind, but my brother and I aren't like that."
I growled at her. She was lying. "King Mathew tried calling both you and your father several times, Princess. Neither of you bothered to answer any of his calls. Don't try to hide behind your father just because he's dead. Liars and cowards will not impress our king."
I saw her avoiding her brother's eyes in the back. He looked furious.
"You...you ignored his calls?", Prince Owen tried to steady his voice. "I told you all my suspicions about the black were-bears and you ignored the man's calls?"
"Owen, I-"
"Save it", the Prince cut her off abruptly. "I am the King now and you and father will no longer stand in my way. I thought he favoured you over me because you were too afraid to speak up. Now I realise it was because he saw himself in you."
The Princess gulped nervously. "I had to pretend to be under father's control for the sake of our people", she said quietly. "He may have gotten away with a lot, but there are plenty of things that he didn't do because I stopped him. If it weren't for me, you'd be married to the were-bear Princess right now. He thought that was the only way to appease them. You wouldn't be here, Owen. I stopped him from doing that."
The Prince no longer seemed concerned with what his sister was saying. Despite the car being packed, he even tried shifting away from her.
"Beta Kendrick", he sat up more straight and used a very stern voice, "If you could just convince your King to give me another five minutes of his time, I would appreciate it. I have a special gift as the Nymph Prince and I believe it would be most useful to the King and his kingdom. I just need five minutes."
I snarled at them. This wasn't the time. We were preparing for a war. Mathew would be swamped right now, especially considering how big of a failure this mission turned out to be.
"Don't bother, Prince Owen", Danny mocked him from the back. "Even if you help them, later they'll accuse you of treacherous things. You're better off without them."
The twin warriors at the back growled at her, but I chose to ignore her comment. She was upset. Mathew had basically accused her of betraying us. Her behaviour was not that shocking.
"We're preparing for war, Prince Owen", I sighed. "I don't know if you noticed while we drove, but all those bunkers you saw being cleared out, the children and old people you saw being lined up, the warriors and weapons you saw being assembled, all those things are being done because Raphael is bringing war to our kingdom and the magical world. Had the nymphs cooperated with us earlier, this war might have been easier for us to win. Now..." I rubbed my temples out of frustration. "Now who knows what will happen to us."
"I can whisper to the trees", He blurted out nervously. "I can talk to the trees and find out anything you need to know. If an enemy is on the move, the trees will tell me. If someone is hiding from you, the trees can tell me where to find them."
"And I can control any earth metal", his sister chimed in quickly. "I...I can extract it from any material, no matter how complex, without damage. I can even change the shape of earth metals and hurl them at enemies."
"Owen can help find Evangeline", Asriel growled in my head. "She might know where Raphael is."
"The King is probably with his Queen right now and will kill anyone who tries to disturb them." I watched their eyes grow while they waited for me to go on. "I will tell him of your gifts and ask him to see the two of you."
They both exclaimed from joy.
"But only five minutes", I warned them.
"Five minutes is all we need", Prince Owen replied excitedly. "That's all we need for an alliance."