The Alphas & The Heiress

Syble (Magnolia)

I hastily throw on my shorts, shirt, and shoes, shifting quickly and taking off for the skies. I conceal myself in shadows so no one panics at the sight of a dragon flying overhead. I make it back to the pack house in less than 5 minutes but I’m not ready to go into the house just yet. I need to clear my mind and the packhouse is the first place the twins will come searching for me.

I land instead in the middle of the gardens, shift back into my human form, and take a seat on one of the low hanging branches beneath the magnolia tree.

There is a part of me that knows I would have given everything to the twins, they make it feel so easy to fall for them. Beneath their hardened exterior they are thoughtful, protective, and my Gods do they stoke my fire. But when Varian reached for my blindfold, something held me back, I couldn’t give him my identity.

Not because I don’t trust them necessarily, but because my secrets could put them and their entire pack at risk. They said it themselves the night we arrived. If someone managed to track me here, knowing who I am, they would tear through anyone in their way to get to me. This is exactly why I’ve avoided getting seriously involved with anyone, being close to me only puts people in danger. Even if those people are strong, and caring, and more irresistible by the day, even if they might as well be the very air that I breathe…it would be selfish of me to open them up to the dangers that surround me simply by existing.

Several minutes go by before I’m fished from the storm that is my thoughts by the sound of Accalia’s voice. “Mind if I join you?” Accalia smiles kindly at me.

“Oh, yes of course, sorry.” She takes a seat next to me on the tree’s hanging arm.

“How was shopping yesterday?” She asks cheerily.

“Long,” I laugh, “Kat knows how to shop.”

Accalia laughs softly along with me.

“And how was your day with the twins today?” She lifts an impish eyebrow as she asks.

My head snaps sideways to look at her, my mouth opens, unable to hide my surprise. “How did you know I was out with them today?”

She simply shrugs, giving me a secretive smile, “call it intuition.”

I tilt my head back and sigh to the heavens. At this she frowns slightly.

“Are they being respectful?” She asks quietly, as if she’s afraid of the answer.

“Yes ma’am, they’ve been nothing if not gracious hosts.” I answer honestly. The twins have been good to me, very good. It’s me that’s the problem. Who I am, the secrets I have to keep in order to protect my people, in order to protect the people I love…

“I see. Then why is it that you are sitting here under the magnolia tree all alone?” She asks in a way only a mother can.

“I just — I’ve never doubted myself before coming here. I’m used to making the tough choices, being decisive and sure. The more time I spend here, with the twins especially, the cloudier my mind becomes. I’m second guessing what’s right, what I want. Everything and nothing makes sense.”

Accalia grasps my hand in hers. “You’re just like your mother.”

Her words paralyze me. “H-how…”

“My dear, I was there when you were born. It was the same year this tree was planted. Like you, I have watched it grow from a small sapling into a beautiful, blooming Magnolia.”

She pauses briefly, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear, before continuing. “You and your mother are both immensely strong, powerful women, carrying the weight of your colony and it’s well-being on your shoulders.”

I look away from her and down at our clasped hands. “I could say the same of you, Accalia. How do you manage to carry that burden?” I ask quietly.

She smiles brightly at me, still holding my hand in hers. “I don’t do it alone. Being queen, or Luna for that matter, doesn’t mean you need to be everything for everyone all the time —“

“Doesn’t it though?” I interrupt her, looking her in the eyes. “The matriarch is the keystone to our entire colony —“

“Yes and what is beneath every keystone, hmm? Pillars of support lifting you up so you can support them and hold them together. One cannot exist without the other. You, my dear, just need to find — or rather accept your pillars.”

She squeezes my hand and stands. “See you at the party,” she says and walks back towards where they’re setting up for the party.

— — —

Unknown

A week has gone by since they first caught her scent. They’ve been following the wolves from a distance but no one has actually seen the young queen with their own eyes. That is, until today. From his spot on the rocky ledge he chances upon two large wolves, one carrying a young woman with white hair. He watches them in the lake, getting as close as he can without tipping off the wolves’ superior sense of smell to his presence.

When they disappear behind the falls he almost leaves, he’s here to find the young queen not to spy on young lovers. Just as he’s about to return to his post he sees her, flying over the water changing into her clothes, shifting into the famed purple dragoness with blue streaks like lightning across her body. Then she took off into the skies, disappearing into the shadows, before the two men she was with came swimming out after her.

With the wolves gone too, he can get closer to the lake where he confirms from her scent that it’s her, the one they’ve been looking for.

***

“It’s her, we found her!” He yells through the caverns, running at speed towards the throne room. “Your excellency, forgive my intrusion, we’ve found her.”

From his petrous throne he stands and slowly approaches the scout. “You’re sure? You’re absolutely sure?”

“Yes, the scents match. I didn’t see her face, but she had white hair and a purple dragon. It has to be her.” The scout bows to his master, withering under his gaze.

“Where?”

“The wolves’ territory, she was with two of them in the woods a few minutes away from their central dwelling.” The scout says, his confidence growing.

“Trackers?”

“No, your excellency, they were out for…recreational purposes. They weren’t trackers.” He hesitates on how to describe what he saw, he doesn’t want to earn his master’s ire.

“Excellent.” The word drips out of his mouth slowly, a sinister smile curling the edges of his thin lips. “You’ve done well, my devoted soldier.

He dismisses the scout with a wave of his hand, resuming his position on his throne. His spidery fingers tap lightly against his chin as he contemplates how to proceed.

“Gorm,” he calls out to the head guard standing off to the side, “we need to lure her closer to us, away from the wolves. A few we can handle, but not an entire pack.”

Gorm nods, and grunts his agreement.

“Let’s throw these dogs a bone. My flower will come running if her trackers catch wind of daddy dearest’s scent. Let’s make sure her trackers pick up on it.” He smiles maliciously. “Get a team or two to welcome them at the entrance. Bring her in unharmed, not a scratch. Dispose of the rest however you see fit.”

Gorm merely grunts again, bows, and walks out of the hall to execute his master’s orders.

The self-proclaimed king slithers off his throne and glides out of the room towards the cells. He slows down as he approaches the cells holding Bastian and Dex, thrumming his finger along the bars as he walks so there’s a menacing thump thump thump that sounds from the contact and resonates through the cavern.

“Good news Bastian, our precious flower is coming home. She’ll be here within a day I expect.” He boasts.

Bastian doesn’t take the bait, rather he silently curses his stubborn daughter for coming after him, willing her to stay away out of harm’s way.

“Have you given any more thought on walking her down the aisle, Bastian? I’m sure she’ll want daddy’s support on a day as important as her wedding.” A vicious smile creeps over his face.

“Even if what you’re saying is true, she’ll never agree to marry you.” Bastian huffs out in disgust. “You? A greasy old man hiding in your caves like the worm that you are? You’ll be dead the moment she locks eyes with you.” Bastian spits at his captor.

The man doesn’t react at all to Bastian’s words, he doesn’t become angry or yell. His voice is as even and calm as ever. “The thing is, Bastian, I don’t need her to agree to anything.”

Bastian’s eyes widen in horror as the full meaning of his captor’s words set in. If Magnolia doesn’t agree to do whatever he says, he’ll attempt to take what he wants by force. Bastian shakes with rage, the furnace in his chest igniting briefly only to be snuffed out by the very same magic keeping him from teleporting himself out of the cell.

He has to figure out a way for him and his brother to escape their cursed confinement and to protect his daughter from an abhorrent fate – and now he only has 24 hours to do it.