Chapter 2
Casper 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 very hard on shifting.
It took a minute, but finally he shimmered slightly and slowly took the form of a tiny grey wolf.
The more he shifted, the faster he would be able to do it.
Casper and the rest of the adults were able to shift in seconds.
The boy was no longer than Casper's arm, but the gray wolf took on a fierce demeanor, baring his teeth as the mountain shook with impact once more.
"Good boy," Casper praised, stroking his son's head.
"Now, Evelyn, give me the baby. I'm going to cast some spells on her so she'll survive the cold. You three take the boy and go. I will be right behind you with our daughter."
"Are you crazy?!" Morgana snarled.
"You think we're just going to leave you behind with an infant?"
Casper rose from his crouch beside his son and stared down at his little sister.
"I do think that. I will not have you waiting here, putting yourselves in even more danger. You know that I'm the fastest runner here and the only one that can use magic. I want my son and my mate far away from these humans and I need you two helping me to take care of them!"
"Casper, I'm not helpless," Evelyn reminded him steadily.
He met her blue eyes, which were suddenly filled with fire.
There was the mate that he chose, the one who backed down from nothing, a mate fit to be Alpha female.
"I know that," he told her in a softer tone,
"but our son is going to be there with you."
He didn't need to say anymore to see that Evelyn understood exactly where he was coming from.
She nodded and put a hand on their son's side.
The little wolf looked at them expectantly, waiting for someone else to shift.
"Morgana could go ahead with Evelyn and I could stay behind with you," Xavier said.
Casper realized that that was a sound plan, but the Alpha in him didn't want any of his pack being close to danger longer than they had to.
He was also sane enough to realize that the longer they argued, the more time they wasted.
"Alright, yes, but Xavier, go with Evelyn, and Morgana stay with me," he reached forward and took the tiny bundle from his mate's arms after she gave the little baby girl one last kiss.
"You take care of her," Evelyn told him.
"And be careful." She kissed him tenderly, he tried not to feel like the kiss was saying goodbye, and shifted into her gorgeous, lithe wolf.
Her royal blue fur glittered in the moonlight that entered the mouth of the cave.
She rushed toward the door, running right alongside her giant paws, and as she leaped into the land, she grabbed the tiny wolf with her and took off into the night.
Xavier clapped Casper on the shoulder and shifted into his huge roan wolf in one fluid motion before chasing after Xavier.
Morgana looked after her mate worriedly, but turned to casper with a look of pure determination.
"You might want to get a move on, brother," she said.
Casper nodded and set the baby gently on the ground before him. He knelt in front of her and wrapped the blankets tightly around her little body. Then he cradled the back of her head and he simply whispered an incantation to create a small barrier over her body that would keep her perfectly warm until he was able to remove the spell.
She wrinkled her nose as the magic touched her, but remained quiet as she so liked to do.
He stared into her bright blue eyes and smiled, his heart warmed at the beauty of his offspring.
He stroked her chubby pink cheek and leaned down to plant a kiss on her forehead, just below where her wispy red hair stopped.
"Daddy will protect you," he promised her and tucked her blanket tighter around her body.
She was still amazingly calm despite the anxiety emanating from the people around her.
He felt a small hand on his shoulder as he stood back up, cradling the baby in the crook of his elbow. "
Everything is going to be fine, Casper, you have to know that."
Casper sighed and looked down at Morgana.
"I know, but it's an Alpha's job to worry about his pack."
"Well, then we had better get everyone out of here. Once everyone's in the forest, it'll be easy enough to outdistance the humans."
"It's just getting everyone in the forest that I'm worried about."
"That's what you're for, Alpha," she teased with a kiss on his cheek before she scooped the baby out of his arms.
"I'll take her while you circle around. She and I will catch up with Evelyn and Xavier and get as far away as we can, okay? I'll keep her safe."
"I know you will, little sister," Casper hugged Morgana and pressed his cheek to the top of her blonde head.
"Now go."
"We'll see you soon," she smiled and shifted into her wolf, forming perfectly around the baby, who was tucked neatly into her huge paw.
Casper knew that was safest place for her and there was no chance of her falling, but the fear still rested like a rock in his gut.
Morgana's spring green fur shimmered as she ran into the woods.
Casper released a huge whoosh of air from his lungs and finally let his wolf free.
The beast sprang from the confines of Casper's mind and rushed into the night as the powerful blood red wolf that was going to lead his pack to safety.
He growled ed menacingly.
It was the growl that only an alpha could possess.
It held every threat, every promise, and every hope for his pack.
It was powered by a magic so old it had been forgotten by everyone except for those who possessed it.
Tbc
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
King Gaius p.o.vGreta and I had tried to coax the blue wolf to shift back into the princess, but either it couldn't or it wasn't inclined too. I waited as long as I could, but I couldn't go any longer without talking to Hilda."You'll keep an eye on her? Don't let anyone in here until she shifts back into herself," I warned."Of course, my lord," Greta looked at me as though I was crazy for even thinking that she would allow such a thing. I glanced at the clock on the mantle in the nursery. Two o'clock in the morning. It had been two hours since Isla had changed into the Wolf and it didn't look like she was going to turn back into a human any time soon. The wolf appeared to have overcome its initial shock of suddenly being an animal. It now around the room wreaking havoc. It would climb up the drapes and crawl back down onto the bed with tiny legs. Then it would run around the room, knocking over toys and running into various pieces of furniture. It had stumbled into the fire t