Werewolves
Alexa spoke without thinking, but as soon as the words came out of her mouth, a conviction settled over her, she could not send anyone with a vampire, she doubt any of the member of the pack would have enough will power to not attack a vampire, since the wolf had awaken in her that she had kept her emotions in check making sure that the wolf never came out, she was a Natural Born wolf, her control over her wolf needed to be absolute, and she was unsure if any of the others would not fall to instincts and attack, she had seen this happen and had to use her Alpha Voice to stop something bad from happening, and no one knew how long this journey would last, if it caught a full moon, none of the others would be able to maintain the human form, and with a vampire at their side, they would attack unceremoniously, causing a grave diplomatic incident and probably war.
Edwin looked at her with a raised brow and wide eyes, and Alexa almost could see what he thought of her, an unhinged and stupid queen that would leave the pack and the kingdom to go on an adventure, he pursed his lips in a thin line, then looked away in a smug smile, "Your Highness, not to disrespect, but have you lost your mid?, Alexa raised an eyebrow, in disbelief, "not that I have anything to do with your decisions, but leaving a kingdom without a leader and without an heir to go on a possible dangerous mission, to search for who know what is affecting us, like this one seems reckless."
"I have my reasons, Prince Edwin. Rest your mind, my kingdom will be well taken care for, the only thing I ask is that you keep to yourself that my kingdom is without it's queen a secret," she looked at him, her forehead wrinkled, she was weighing everything and she was feeling bad to leave the Kingdom on it's on, without an heir, if she died, all the kingdom would be defenseless and the vampires would be able to take the land, "On my side, only my pack members and the merchant sorceress will know that I will go on this journey." Alexa looked through the horizon, she took a deep breath and felt the intricate smell of rain and snow mixed with the smokey cozy smell of a fireplace, coming from Edwin, that took her momentarily to the last time she had seen snow at the winter cabin that their parents had up north, closer too the barrier between the kingdoms, she felt strange that he had evoke that memory on her, of a happy time, when he was an enemies specie and the way he had treated her and her kingdom so far.
"The fewer people to know, the better. When do you want to leave?" Edwin jumped from the bench, patting his clothes, removing any specks of dirt that might have been on the bench.
"I must arrange some things here," Alexa stood up, "just as I am sure you will need to make some arrangements. Is a week enough for you?"
"Of course it is, I'm efficient, unlike some creatures," Alexa rolled her eyes at the stab. Vampires always thought they were so much more superior than werewolves, just because they lived for thousands of years and had much more strength and stamina than a wolf, but they forget that a wolf can be more agile, more ruthless when needed and surely their strategic and pack mind always protected them, instead of the individualism of the vampires.
"Putting aside the offense, we shall meet in one week, at the Emerald River, on the stone road."
"Do not give me orders," Edwin grunted, his fist clenched.
Alexa kept walking, not giving importance to Edwin's complaining. "It was not an order, Prince Edwin, but a suggestion."
He raised an eyebrow but nodded. "I suggest you take a bite, before you head north."
"I do not eat your food," Edwin grunted, fist clenched.
"I know you don't, Prince Edwin," Alexa turned to him, in a sweet tone, "I took the liberty to send a human volunteer to your room, so you can feed before you go."
Edwin faltered, looking at her with an utmost surprise, "I thank you, Queen Alexa, for this generous offer. I will be honest, I was not expecting it."
Edwin accompanied Alexa's step as they reached the entrance of the castle. Alexa felt a turmoil inside of her, never had she expected that she would go outside of the walls of the castle, much less with a vampire, even though Edwin had been trying to coax a violent reaction from her she thought he was just testing her, but she was used to it, no one rules Zulcan without dealing with some entitled nobles that thought she could not rule well, since she was a female and in her family, she was the first female born queen, there were doubts if she was fit to rule, but her wolf had crushed all the doubts from the nobles minds, Edwin was the firs vampire that she had ever met and the jabs aside she thought that they were not too different, both of them wanted to protect their people and were willing to go to great lengths to make sure the kingdom was protected.
She knew from the history records and the protocols in place that never a regent from Zulcan would offer one of their subjects for a vampire to feed from, they despised the vampires and accused them of murdering innocent people and trespassing into the Zulcan at any given time.
"Never before has a regent from Zulcan worried about the comfort of an emissary from Elatre."
"I know, but I try to be a different ruler than the ones before me I hope you can see that one day." Alexa offered him a sad smile. All her predecessors had been violent kings and queens, and ruled by their wolf instincts, but she suppressed hers, fearing it's brutality and blood thirstiness.
Her father used to fight other men at a tavern. She remembered well how ruthless he had been, how he had laughed at the cruelty of the tournament. Her mother was a kind soul, always with a soft word and embraces, and she wanted to be like her mother she wanted to be there for other people like her mother was there for her.
Edwin gave her a little curtsy, "I shall take my leave. The sun is not generous with my kind, and I wanted to let you know that I appreciate your offer very much." Correcting his posture, he turned his back to Alexa, not waiting to be dismissed.
Alexa lowered her head and kept walking to the dinning room. She chewed the edges of her nails, deep in thoughts, for one side they would be able to find what was going on with the breeches of the treaty, and maybe form an alliance even stronger than the Treaty, showing the world that a werewolf and a vampire could work together, however if they failed, if she killed the vampire, a war would be started, after all he was a Prince, and if he killed her, then her kingdom and the pack would be extinct, there would be no more wolves to protect the kingdom, the curse would be lifted and the throne would be left without an heir, it would be the extinction of the werewolves and the end of Zulcan, because vampires would cease the opportunity to lay siege and conquer Zulcan, leaving all her subjects alone to fend for themselves, this last left Alexa riddled with guilt. She took a deep breath she would to clear her mind, she knew her pack members were also using those arguments against her decision, but she was determined in going.
She called her pack telepathically to the dinning room, marble floors covered the ground, and the stone walls were covered in tapestries, the window overlooking the village had dark blue blinds semi closed keeping just a thread of light to illuminate the room, as she sat down on the oval table, close to the fireplace that was lit, it's crackling sound soothing Alexa's anxiety, this room had always that effect, calming her, it was here where she and her pack ate, talked and studied, theorized and discussed problems far away from the prying eyes of others, the heat, from the fireplace comforted her like a warm hug, the smell of it make her remember Edwin, until her pack members started arriving, and getting to their places around the place. Diana must have been with some of them because she came in behind them and took her usual place at the end of the table, almost directly opposite Alexa, as it was her usual, since she was not part of the pack but a friend and an important member of counselors that Alexa could depend on.
"The Treaty is being broken," she started, her voice low,looking from one pack member to the next, making sure their attentions were on her.
"I do not know anything about it," Diana started jumping on her chair, like she had been wet with a cold bucket. "If there were any indications of that, the vampire sorcerer should have had to contact me." the sorcerers from the Merchants Council were another part of the treaty, in which for each Kingdom a Sorcerer or Sorceress was appointed to the Kingdom as advisors and vigilant of Treaty, for Alexa Diana was a friend but she did not knew the one from the vampires neither had she heard rumors about it,
Alexa threw a stern look in her direction, but Bryan, one of her pack members, one with an uncanny ability to track leads, was the one who spoke, he was three chairs down on the right hand side of Alexa, "just as you should have informed him of the vampire activities in our territory, and failed to do so." The broad shouldered man, built like a bear with piercing brown eyes, turned to Diana with a grin on his face, it had been him to discover and report the attacks to the Queen.
"Yes, I know," Diana faced Andrew, "I have not done that yet because Alexa asked me not to." She clasped her hands together and looked down on the table, Alexa had asked her not to contact the vampire sorcerer because she wanted to gather more information before accusing anyone, "and I don't like Flavius." This was the first time Alexa heard the name of the vampire sorcerer, and it sound foreboding in her mind like someone that she would never wanted to cross. "I would prefer if I don't have to speak with him, at all. His aura disturbs me."
"It does not matter, now." Alexa took a deep breath to steel herself for the reactions of what would come next. They would oppose to her. They were such a tight knit group and since they had turned them they had never separated from each other.
"The Treaty is being broken on both sides, and neither of us has a direct connection to the violations. We found several remains of vampire hunting, and the vampires noticed that the warmth has increased and that it is endangering their species, we know excessive heat from werewolves can make vampires sick and it could lead to their death, so I understand their concerns. They have accused me of creating more werewolves than allowed in the treaty."
"Is that a joke?" Truman interrupted Alexa's speech with his small voice, the youngest pack member sounded. The young one was seated next to Diana, at her left and everyone turned to look at him until he shrank under the weight of everyone's gaze.
"No, it's not a joke. I feel a greater power as well." Alexa looked away.
All eyes were on her again.
The build up in power was barely noticeable but she could feel it. She only thought that it happened because they were getting stronger as a pack. "I feel like there are more werewolves in the kingdom than the ones in this room, as part of the Treaty she could only create to up twelve wolves, and she had only six, and since the Treaty only the Royal Pack existed, there were no more Natural Born other than Alexa, "and as I was not really aware about the increase in the power, Prince Edwin also did not knew about the vampires' attack on our territory."
"That could be a lie," Elia started. Her face closed off as she scrunched her features, as if she was trying to think really hard.
"I do no think so," Alexa shook her head. "I proposed to Prince Edwin that we should investigate what is happening to get to the bottom of the issue. A vampire and a werewolf, no one else. He has offered to go."
"I offer myself," shouted a woman next to Alexa. She was tall, and sculpted, wearing leather armor, standing up.
Alexa signaled for the woman to sit down."No, Flora. For this mission, my presence is the one required."
Objections rose from every part of the table, the pack speaking in a chaotic and nearly deafening cacophony. Alexa stood still, listening in to every argument that they raised, and she was mentally giving them answers, checking if there was not an argument that she missed, the leaderless pack and kingdom, the lack of heir on the throne, the possibility that she would kill the vampire or that the vampire would kill her, making the kingdom without a pack and ready for the taking by the vampires. She allowed them speak their hearts out, until she could not listen to anymore and wearily raised a hand to silence them. All at once the silence fell on the room and their gazes landed on her face.
"I know all your arguments intimately. Every single thing that you told me I already examined." Alexa pressed the bridge of her nose, before looking again to the members around the table. "Now, listen to me, we don't know how long this journey will last. What will you do if the full moon comes?" Alexa looked each member of the pack in the eyes. When Charles opened his mouth to answer, her brow rose and he closed it, making Alexa relieved that he understood that there were no arguments he could use to defend another werewolf going "Your instincts would make you kill the vampire causing war, which is what we are trying to avoid. That would be the main reason, but there is more to the question, if there is a need to make a decision that will affect the kingdom, you would not be able to contact me, but I can take that responsibility by myself and if needed, I can still contact you. Furthermore, this is not the first time a regent from the Zulcan Kingdom has gone on a journey, leaving the kingdom in the hands of the pack, and I trust my pack above all else."
The silence grew. Everyone was looking down at the table, avoiding the gaze of the queen. Charles slowly raised his head. "You are right, Alexa. It happened before. However when it happened there was already an heir to the throne, an Alpha Born, ready to continue the lineage if anything happened to the King or Queen."
"I know, Charles, but I think the gain outweighs the dangers. Besides, Prince Edwin will be invested in keeping me from dying, even if it is only to prevent a war between the two kingdoms. This is something neither of us want, the casualties on both sides would be grave and I'm not speaking only about the wolves or the vampires, because the kingdom would back us up, as they should, I'm talking about the human lives that we swore to protect."
"I understand your reasoning, Alexa, but I could go in your place, I'm not a werewolf, I don't have to worry about the full moon or the control of my emotions," Diana started looking around the table trying to get support, seeing some of the pack members nodding their heads.
"And who would help take care of my kingdom and my pack? If anything happens, if anything is uncovered, we might need you to get in touch with the vampire's merchant sorcerer if anything happened, you are the only one who can do it. And like I said, I can contact you through the pack but you contacting me is extremely difficult if not dangerous at long distances."
Diana nodded, understanding the points of Alexa's argument. Then Alexa looked at each of the wolves one by one, waiting for a signal of agreement. She was the queen but she never made decisions without consulting them and without them seeing her point of view. There were times where they were the ones dissuading her of doing something, they were the ones changing her opinions and she gave them the liberty to speak freely, her father ruled the kingdom with an Iron Fist making his own decisions and more often than not, intimidating the entire pack to fall in line, her mother and some of the other pack members were against the First Tournament, and they spoke against it, but his father was adamant in holding the tournament and that became physical, she saw her mother with a black eye for weeks after that and some of the others had some broken bones and one of them had a night in the dungeons, she felt so much closer with her pack, they were her family, and her friends, her mother had taught her to respect the next and that we don't know everything so other perspective is always welcomed even if she do not agree with it. After every member of the pack nodded in agreement, her face relaxed and a smile took over her lips.
"I want you to make any decisions together, to appear on the throne room and to listen to our subjects, and be fair to them. Promise me this. If anything out of the ordinary happens, you can always ask Diana try to amplify the pull," she could feel every wolf of her pack in her mind sometimes feelings if they were strong enough or if she took an effort to check their minds, which she tried to stay away from, since she could fell them and they could feel her, if close enough she could speak and hear them, and they could do the same, but far away only she could contact them, what she was proposing was that Diana would connect to the pack mind and send her, a distress signal, "I'll know to contact you, and I'll be checking in every once in a while."
"What should we say when people ask for your whereabouts?" Flora asked, taking a strand of her hair light brown hair and playing with it, without even noticing that she was doing it, it was a tick that Flora had since she was young, and Alexa recognized it, every time in the past that Alexa called her on it, she was surprised that she was doing it.
"Tell them that I'm taking care of some of the kingdom's affairs."
"Isn't that going to raise suspicion?" Andrew's dark eyes seemed to pour into Alexa's soul, and she felt the warmth and the worry that he had for her and was sad to see that she caused such unrest.
"I do not think so. If that happens, you can always come up with an excuse, but nothing to alarm the people. Please, do not tell them that I left and even less that I'm in poor health, as a lie it would alarm the people even more."
"We promise," Truman got up and curtsied with a hand clasped in front of his chest, making Alexa smile, she could always count on the youngest of the pack, to have her back, even if he was the shyest of them all.
"Thank you," Alexa nodded with her head and Truman got back in his seat. "Any other questions or concerns before we leave?"
"I don't think so," Charles was looking at the table, his tone of voice low, shaking and full of doubt, snapping his jaw shut after speaking but he would follow her lead no matter what.
"One more thing, and this should not leave this room. My absence could cause riots, rebellions or and even war," She looked at them one more time, before getting up and leaving the room.
She was walking towards her room, through the marble walls, her shoulders heavy with the burn of her responsibility, she felt like there was no good answer and the meeting with the pack did not improve her state of spirit, she was confused between going or staying, but once she gave her word she would see it fulfilled. Some servants were moving around her, going about their busy lives, she was grateful that they were there to help with the upkeep of the castle and also a little bit jealous that their lives were so simple, probably the only decision they made everyday only affected them or their family, and here she was making decision that affected not only the wolves, but the humans as well. The light from the windows brought a sensation of warmth and the smell of lilies and roses filled the castle, from flesh flowers placed on each corridor. This was her home and she would miss it. Arriving to the door of her room, her maiden a small woman with her braided black hair tucked around her head curtsied calling for her attention, Alexa knew
"Tell me, Cassandra."
"My queen, I just wanted to warn you that the vampire emissary has already left the grounds of the castle."
"Thank you, Cassandra. You may go."
The big plush bed tempted her to lie down., She hadn't had any real rest today, and was dreading another sleepless night in the forest with the pack. She took a deep breath, inhaling the leather and the metal, the cozy fireplace, the linens and furs, and turned to the trunk under the window, to start packing. She picked some clothing items, her light armor woven with leather and chain mail. Black and blue reinforced in the sensitive zones, for comfort and more mobility being more malleable than the leather. Then she chose some traveling riding pants with the darkest blue cloak she had. She placed the items that she was going to use tomorrow on the bed and placed the remaining on the bag.
The sun was setting outside the window, so she went to the dinning room, took a meal with the pack and listened to everyone talk about the gossip of the realm in a relax environment, even with the loom of departure from Alexa, they all wanted a normal night, at least one last night. When they finished they walked together to the walled forest for another full moon, the last full moon of this cycle. Next month they will face this again, since only a month he pack members would not have control during the night, over their wolf.