Chapter 1
Alpha Casper footsteps thundered down the cave.
The wolf within him fought for freedom; his only coherent thought, protect the pack.
His vision blurred as the wolf fought for control over his body. The wolf saw only the immediate threat; the man saw the consequences of each course of action. And right now, he needed to make sure that his immediate family was out of harm's way.
He needed to reach Evelyn, his son, and daughter.
Needed to reach them, needed to warn them, needed to save them.
He pushed his legs to run faster.
The mountain shook as the canons beat against it.
He had to get them out of the mountain; that was his first priority.
The growls of wolves echoed through the chambers, bouncing through the walls, driving home the fact that Casper's family was in danger.
The park was being attacked, and the members were rising to action.
Hopefully, he could get everyone evacuated before there was too much loss.
He skidded around the corner into his bedchambers to find it empty.
"Evelyn!" he cried.
He ran into the adjoining room that his children shared, but his son bed was rumpled and empty, and so was his daughter cradle.
He called out his mate's name again, his fear slowly rising each second he couldn't locate his family.
"Casper!" his mate's voice reached his ears.
She was close, but not in their chambers.
He ran further down the hall to find his mate, their five-year-old son, their newborn daughter, and his sister Morgana and her mate, Xavier. The group was in the process of fleeing the mountain, and they looked as relieved to see him as he was to see them.
The wolf within him calmed at the sight of his family.
The beast relented its battle for freedom for the moment.
His family paused in their race toward the exit to greet him.
"Casper," Evelyn's voice was full of relief.
"What's happening?"
Casper folded her into his arms, his son between their knees and their daughter cradled between their bodies.
He buried his nose in her red hair, inhaling her scent, letting it fill him with reassurance.
He would get her and their children to safety.
He had to.
"The humans, they snuck up on us while we were all sleeping," he said into her hair.
"They have cannons and archers and silvers. We need to get out of here." Casper lifted his head to address Morgana and Xavier as well.
"How?" Xavier asked.
His question was not a challenge, but a pledge of loyalty.
He would follow his Alpha's guidance, no matter what it took.
Casper met his eye in acknowledgement.
"Follow me, I have an idea," he stated and took off down the hall.
As he took off running, he grabbed his son, who was trembling in fear.
They needed to move fast and while his son was faster than human boys, he would never have been able to keep up with the adults.
"Daddy," His son whimpered as Casper ran deeper into the mountain.
The boy little head was tucked into the crook of his father's neck, bouncing with each step.
Casper clutched him tighter, his strong arms keeping a steel grip on his offspring.
A deafening crash sounded above them, causing the boy to jump and bury himself further into Casper's s chest with a small cry.
"It's alright. Everything will be okay."
Although Casper was aware that it wasn't.
Half of the pack strongest males were away on a mission to drive the Wildlings further from the pack, and the humans were getting better at fighting them; they were learning the weaknesses of the wolves.
Another impact shook the walls around them, and Casper knew that this time a wolf had collided with the stone.
One of his pack, his family, who were trying to protect them, was just thrown into the side of their home.
This brought his rage even closer to the surface, efficiently replacing the fear, and the wolf within him fought to break free once again.
That couldn't happen inside the narrow hallway, so Casper clutched his son even tighter to gain back some control over his emotions.
Protect the pack.
He looked over his shoulder to check on his small group.
Evelyn was directly behind him, holding their daughter to her chest protectively.
He was shocked to see that the tiny bundle was quiet and calm, despite the excitement going on around her.
Morgana was close behind Evelyn with Xavier bringing up the rear.
Xavier gave him a nod of acknowledgement.
He knew that his second-in-command had his back no matter what.
That fact gave him the will to run faster.
He wasn't tired yet, but his worry ate away at him.
What if the exit that he had in mind had been collapsed or the humans had found it?
What if they couldn't get away in time?
The second he will be out, he was going to give the signal to have his pack retreat.
No matter how fast the humans' steeds were, there wasn't a horse alive that could keep up with a wolf.
They entered a part of the mountain that likely hadn't been traveled in months.
There were no torches lighting the way and the air was cool and damp. Luckily, Casper had lived in these mountains all his life and knew every tunnel there was to know. And he knew that this one led to the side of the mountain that was opposite the one that was being attacked.
They continued onward in the complete blackness, relying on their senses to keep from running into walls on slight turns.
His followers trusted him wholeheartedly and said nothing as they ran after him into the bowels of the mountain.
After what felt like hours of running, but in reality was less than ten minutes, a dim light could be seen.
The entrance to the tunnel.
He smiled in relief; they had reached the base of the mountain.
The tunnel opened into a large cavern with a slightly smaller opening that a wolf could just fit through without getting stuck.
It was the perfect escape hatch.
"Alright," he set his son down and wiped the tears from the little boy's cheeks.
His emerald green eyes were red and puffy, and snot was running from his pudgy nose as he hiccuped.
"I need you to be a tough little man, alright? Will you shift for me, huh?"
The boy shook his head vigorously.He had only shifted once before, on the last full moon when he was finally old enough to shift for the first time.
The full moon forced everyone to shift, which wasn't a big deal unless it was the first time.
Xavier knew from experience that the first shift was difficult, scary, and painful.
Poor boy had had a rough time of it and couldn't shift back for a few days after the full moon, but that was common amongst first time shifters.
Now the little boy was scared to shift again.
Tbc
Chapter 2Casper knew that if he was going to survive the long flight they were about to take, at the cold temperatures they would encounter outside, he needed to be a wolf."Please, pumpkin" Casper begged, "I need you to do this so you can keep your sister and Mommy safe, okay?"The boy looked over at Evelyn who gave him an encouraging smile. She knelt down next to him and pulled the blanket down so that he could see his sister pudgy face. The baby was only a few weeks old, but her eyes were already a startling sky blue, just a few shades lighter than Evelyn's. "Will you help us protect your sister, sweetie?" Evelyn asked softly. "We need you to be brave right now, okay?" The boy stared down at his little sister and gently touched his finger to her round cheek. The baby stirred and focused her eyes on his face. Casper knew that was when his son came to his decision.The boy nodded, pulling his hand away from his sister. The little boy squeezed his eyes shut, concentrating ver
Chapter 3Casper released another growl, one loud enough to be heard above the deafening noise of battle. At once, he felt the pack's mental connection click into one thought:Alpha.Their collective relief and newfound determination to destroy the threat that was influenced by the appearance of their leader caused warmth to bloom in Casper's chest. A warmth that wasn't simply the wolf stored inside of him. He ran over his pack and the humans, honing in on a particularly loud group of humans surrounding three cannons. One man spotted the diving wolf and screamed. That was the last noise he made before he was engulfed in the mouth of Casper . The smell of flesh permeated the immediate area as he walk through the scattered body and it gave him petty satisfaction that humans smelled like nothing other than food when they were eaten alive. He wasn't sure if they had lost any pack lives, but he wasn't willing to take that chance by lingering. So what if the humans would win by driv
Chapter 4"Drop the child, beast!" the leader of the men demanded of Morgana. Ten of the soldiers charged Casper's little sister, who limped back up against the trees, dragging her crumpled leg. His daughter was clutched desperately in her right paw while she used her left to swipe out at the soldiers. One of the humans threw their spear in a deadly line, and before Casper could react it was embedded in morgana's already-injured side, right between two ribs. Her roar rang through the night and she collapsed, nearly crushing his daughter underneath her large body. The humans' leader stepped forward, swinging his sword in an arch that would slice right through Morgana's neck. This time, Casper's brain was quick enough to react. He leaped forward, right between Morgana and the sword.When he hit the ground, it took a moment for his brain to register what had happened. His paw hurt in a way that he had never experienced, but when he blinked his eyes open to look at his leg, his pa
Chapter 5King Gaius p.o.vI was gone for two weeks.But, in those two weeks, I accomplished quite a bit. It started with my visit to a neighboring kingdom. My relations with King Harry were tense, but Harry owed me. I had gone on that journey with only a handful of my most trusted knights. We needed to move quickly and efficiently to be back before anything drastic was done in the wake of my daughter's death.I and my men were ushered into the large, dreary throne room in Harry's castle. The throne room was nothing like my own, which was full of light and windows with a welcoming atmosphere. No, Harry's gave the impression that he wanted his guests out of there as quickly as humanly possible. Dark drapes closed part way over the windows, allowing only minimal light in, and the dark stone made everyone in the room feel as though we were trapped there. Naturally, that made people anxious to leave and therefore out of Harry's hair."Harry, old friend," I greeted him politely, qu
King Gaius p.o.vThe infant girl was barely larger than our daughter Hilda had been clutching to her chest, and she couldn't have been older than a few weeks. I reached into the cradle and lifted her up, taking care to keep her swaddled tightly in the blanket. She blinked up at me in confusion, but didn't start crying. It was peculiar, I decided, to be holding something so tiny yet so full of life. Her vibrant blue eyes studied me before they closed and she cuddled into my embrace."Oh, look, it likes you," Harry said mockingly. He leaned against the far wall. His black eyes raked over the child in contempt. I wasn't surprised; Harry had never really cared for living things."Where did you get her?" It wasn't important to me, but I recalled Harry saying a soldier had brought her to the castle. I wondered where the man would have discovered such a young child that she didn't have anyone else to care for her."My men were raiding a known wolf pack and they found the human baby
king Gaius p.o.v "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!" Isla screeched as she ran down the hallway toward me. I turned around just in time to catch her in my arms."What's the matter, sweetie?" I asked as I grasped my six-year-old in my arms. Her emerald dress wrapped around her awkwardly, but she didn't seem to mind. I reached up to push the flyaway strands of her fiery red hair away from her face. No matter how tightly Greta braided her hair, there were always wisps that escaped."My back hurts again," she said, tucking her face into my shoulder. This worried me. She'd been getting back pains, right along her spine, for the past few months and the countless doctors we had called couldn't figure out what was wrong. Everything else about her was perfect; she was completely healthy. And she could run quite quickly and play enthusiastically despite the pain, so the doctors were even more perplexed by this."I'm sorry, Isla" I kissed her head. "Have you been taking your medicine from Greta?" G
King Gaius p.o.vI stayed silent as Hilda proceeded down the hall ahead of me.I admired the swell of her hips beneath the deep purple gown she wore. Her gold crown balanced gracefully atop her auburn locks. I wondered how I had been lucky enough to be betrothed to her. There were plenty of other kings and princes who would have died to marry such a beautiful princess. Whatever my father had done to solidify the alliance with her kingdom, I thanked the heavens for. My only regret was that I hadn't been able to give her a child that was truly hers by birth. We both adored Isla and loved her to death, but I knew that Hilda craved a child that she had carried inside of her. We had stopped trying for a baby long ago. Hilda had gotten pregnant again when Isla was about two years old, but she almost died giving birth to the baby boy who died three days after he was born. After that, we no longer tried to have a child. It was very likely that Isla was the only child we would ever b
King Gaius p.o.vI sighed and stood up to pace to the window. I stared out into the courtyard. I was comforted by the torches of the guards that paced back and forth and perched on the wall. I begged for the gate to open to allow a doctor in, but I was losing hope. The clock in the nursery alerted me that it was now nearing midnight. It wasn't likely there would be an available doctor in the village. I looked up at the full moon that loomed above the castle. It was bright and mocking. It's white light bathed the land, and I felt betrayed; the full moon had always brought me comfort because it was watching over my kingdom. Now, here it was, and my daughter was possibly dying. The clock chimed midnight in the corner. I turned to glare at the obnoxious ringing and was shocked to see Isla's eyes were wide open.I rushed over and Hilda was staring at isla in shock. Her blue eyes were glowing in the darkness, the irises emitting a sort of their own light. She was completely stil