Launching an Adventure

*Trisha*

I’ve been staring at the ceiling for half the night, gazing at the rays of moonlight that slip through the curtain dancing on the ceiling. I don’t have my wolf yet, but I feel like she’s already restless. 

I understand my mom’s point of view. I’ve heard a thousand times about the kidnapping when I was a baby, how some crazy woman snuck away with me and how they were lucky to find me. 

I don’t want to scare her again, but this is different. I just don’t feel like I belong here, not right now, and something about that moonlight is tugging on my heartstrings, begging me to leave the castle. 

My sister doesn’t want me to go, but she seems to at least understand that I’m hearing some sort of calling from somewhere far away. Every time I drift off to sleep, I see him in my dreams. It’s strange because he always looks like someone different, or at least, there’s been three different versions of him that I’ve counted so far. 

Sometimes, he asks for my help. Other nights, he’s just there, and something in my heart pulls me toward him as if I’m lost until I find him. Every time I leave the castle, I try to close my eyes and feel him in my heart until I can feel his direction. 

But then, I always get caught. 

My brothers and my dads—they’ll never understand me, and I’ve given up trying. I know they mean well. But my mother went far away from her home, and that was where she found them, and look at how their lives all changed. 

Reeva seems to think that it’s my mate in my dream, but I don’t think so. The idea of a mate just sounds so repulsive—always having someone demanding to know where you were. I get enough of that from my family.

I just have the feeling that it’s someone calling to me for help from far away.

I sit up, throwing off my covers and running into my bathroom to change. I grab my bag, which is still packed and in my closet, and this time, I grab the wolf statue that I’d hidden before and throw it in.

It’s later in the night than I usually leave, which seems to be an advantage because the guard looks like he’s drifting off. I open my door a bit wider than the small crack I’d used to scout out the hallway and slip out, not even breathing until I’m in down the hall in the library that has the other passageway entrance. 

I use the knob to open it up and slip in, stopping to listen for several minutes to be sure one of my dads isn’t standing guard. I guess they figure I wouldn’t try again so soon because the coast is clear, and I slip out the back of the castle wall at a point where it’s only a quick sprint to the forest. In seconds I’m there, clear of the castle but still quiet and cautious so I don’t get caught this time.

There’s just one more obstacle—the city walls, which are heavily guarded. People come and go at all hours of the night, so there are plenty of guards on different shifts. There’s no chance of finding them asleep and sneaking by. I’m going to have to bribe them. 

I duck into an alleyway near the entrance and dig through my bag. For a second, my hand hits the wolf statue, and I consider using that. I pull it out, looking at it and noticing for the first time that it has some type of carvings on it in the moonlight. I decide not to let go of it until I know what those are for sure. It might be worth more money than I’d need to bargain my way out of Dark Forest City. 

Putting it back in my pack, I reach for my gold, grab a few coins, and head for the gate. I take one last deep breath before passing through. 

“Miss.”

I wince, having almost made it by before the guard called me back. 

“Yes?” I say without turning around. 

He walks over in front of me.

Great.

“You look a bit young to be off at night,” he says. “It’s dangerous out there. Do your parents know where you are?”

Happy that he hasn’t recognized me, I paste on my innocent face. It’s lucky that I didn’t wear anything that looked royal, though I rarely do anyway. 

“I need to pick up some medicine from my aunt in Belshire,” I say. “Mom is sick and the pharmacies in town are out.”

He looks at me for a while as if measuring my honesty, so I do my best to read ‘innocent girl’ in my eyes. 

“Belshire’s awfully far to walk,” he says.

“I-I’m going to shift and run,” I explain. I figure that since I’m almost old enough to shift, I probably look the part.

He nods but just keeps standing there, not saying anything but not letting me leave either. I narrow my eyes. 

Greedy bastard.

“Oh,” I say, still feigning innocence. “Is there a toll for the gate? Here.” I hand him the gold. “Is this enough?”

“It’ll do,” he says, putting it in his pocket. He steps back, and I turn around and walk forward, trying not to break into a run. 

Once clear of the gate I step into the forest, leaning against a tree and taking off my shoes to feel the soul of the forest in me. For some reason, I’m more in touch with things that way and feel like I can find whoever it is I’m looking for. 

A vision of the docks comes to mind. I shiver a little, and not because I’m cold. Ships run up and down the coast all the time. I’m not afraid of that. But some ships go over the ocean to a whole other realm. 

If the man calling for me is way over there, I’ll be a long way from home.

***

*Ethan*

“Dad, I can’t go running off on some assignment when Trisha is missing,” I say. 

The whole house is in upheaval, and it’s barely 5:00 in the morning. I hate the look of worry in Mom’s eyes and just want to be part of the search crew. She can’t be far. 

“We have a whole castle full of people looking for your sister,” he assures me. 

Alpha Eli, my biological father, does not look any calmer than my mother. I know he’s right, that there are whole armies of warriors who can search for Trisha, but I just need to feel like I’m doing something to help.

“Unfortunately, this is an emergency assignment that can’t wait,” he says. “We always find your sister, and she’s never far. But we have a problem up to the north at the resort.”

I’ve heard the story of that place many times, where my father and aunt were trapped for a few days with some rogues who had taken over an abandoned resort deep in the forest. Their leader was apparently insane from the loss of his mate, and the people were nearly starving. 

Dad didn’t abandon them, though. As soon as he could, he sent a team to fix up the place and make them all members of our pack. 

“Your aunt Kelly sent a distress call yesterday,” he continues. “She wouldn’t send that unless she really needed the help. I’ve had a contingent of warriors getting ready all night, and I need you to lead them.”

I sigh. I’d met Aunt Kelly only a few times, but she always acted like she’d known me forever. Ever since I could remember she’s lived at the resort with her mate, running things and reporting back to my dad. There haven’t been any problems until now. 

“It’s at the very edge of the territory,” he says. “That far out, the Stone pack, led by Alpha Drake, has a long history of questioning the authority of the Alpha Kings, back long before King Gene and even his father’s reign. If they’re causing trouble now, that could mean war if we can’t get a handle on this now.”

I take in a breath. I understand the importance of maintaining the crown’s power. If every pack just did whatever they wanted to, there would be nothing but war in the whole realm, which I understand was the way it used to be when King Gene was in charge. 

I need to go to keep things peaceful in our realm. That, and I need to protect my aunt if she’s in danger. She’s a really nice person who seems to care about others quite a bit. 

I nod. “I’ll be at the front gate in thirty minutes,” I say. 

“Make it twenty,” Dad replies. 

I nod again and make my way back to my suite at a fast pace. I have to stop halfway there, though, as the former Alpha King and Queen are taking a stroll down the hallway, and I have to give them a quick bow.

Former Alpha King Edward nods and Former Luna Queen Marcella gives a slight curtsy. The couple is getting very old but always looks so happy. I’ve grown up in the castle with them around, and they always seem to have time for children, to tell a story or look at something we’d made. 

Theirs was a terrible story. The former Alpha King Gene, their son, had stolen the crown from them and kept them prisoner separately to keep their minds foggy. They are true mates selected by the Moon Goddess herself; that is clear in the way they look at each other. 

But for my entire life they have both been free, enjoying life in the castle with no responsibilities. Though King Gene had no right to assign the throne to anyone, King Edward has accepted my dads’ rule. In fact, he has encouraged it, especially since they had rescued and reunited him with his mate. 

Once I pass them, I head down the hall and into my room, quickly assessing what things I need to bring, knowing that the warriors likely have all the provisions necessary even if we need to fight a battle. 

I’m a few months away from getting my wolf, so I will take a back seat to those warriors while still guiding them on. All four of my Alpha dads have trained me in combat strategy from an early age. 

Satisfied that I have everything I need in the bag and still worrying about Trisha, I head toward the front gate.