The Hidden Kingdom

Aurora followed Ethan through the forest. Neither of them spoke for the first few minutes. Her shoulder still burnt from where the wolf's claws had torn through her clothes, but the sensation didn't bother her as much as the thoughts swimming in her head. Ethan could transform into a wolf. The wolf with golden eyes who had watched her every move the night before.

She shot him a glance as they walked a few feet apart from each other. "Are you going to explain any of this?"

"No," he said simply

She frowned, taken aback by the suddenness of his refusal. He kept walking.

She hurried to catch up to him. "I watched you turn into a wolf. You're acting like it's normal."

"It is," he replied.

Aurora gaped at him. She opened her mouth to protest, but she closed it again as she realized there were indeed no arguments to make. They continued walking until she noticed something strange. They weren't walking normally. Ethan knew the forest and he knew exactly where he was going. Even though there seemed to be no path, Ethan wove between the trees with ease, taking the occasional turn that Aurora would have never seen.

Aurora stopped walking after nearly twenty minutes. "Where are we going?"

He glanced over his shoulder at her. "Home."

"We've been walking deeper in to the forest. There isn't even a road."

"We don't need one."

"You're really not helping."I didn't promise to."

She rolled her eyes. Of course he hadn't.

A few minutes later Ethan halted so suddenly that Aurora almost ran in to him. She peered past his shoulder, but saw nothing but trees.

"What is it?"

He didn't answer. He only stepped forward and raised his hand. A strange pressure rolled over Aurora's skin until the trees in front of them shimmered and vanished. Aurora's mouth hung open for a moment before she blinked. A massive wall of stone stretched out in front of them. It extended so far in both directions that she couldn't see the ends. Tall towers dotted the structure, and on top of every one stood guards dressed in dark clothing.

"That wall wasn't there," she stated

"It was," Ethan replied. "You just couldn't see it. Humans are not allowed to find this place."

Her stomach twisted. The word 'human' did not sound good coming from Ethan

He walked up to the wall and she hesitated. "Wait." He paused and she met the dark stone with curious eyes. "What is this?"

"My kingdom."

She laughed nervously and shook her head. "Your pack, you mean?"

He looked at her. "My kingdom."

Her heart raced as she followed him. As soon as they crossed the invisible wall, the air thickened around her. It was cleaner somehow, sharper. She took it all in before focussing on the sight before her. Aurora inhaled sharply. Towering buildings of stone stood side-by-side with modern glass structures. Wide roads wound through the city and were littered with people who walked, talked, and laughed. Some carried bags while others ate from cafes that lined the street. Children played around huge fountains and the occasional car drove down the road. Every single person in this place was a mass of thousands

A man walking across the street suddenly tensed. His body contorted as his bones snapped and twisted before he vanished around the corner as a wolf. Aurora's eyes nearly popped out of her skull. Another woman laughed as she stood beside her friends, her body folding in to a wolf form with the ease of breathing. None of the people around them screamed or ran. None of them even blinked because this, where she stood, was normal.

She turned to Ethan. "What is this place?"

"The Kingdom of Kings."

She turned back around, taking it all in. Her father's kingdom had seemed large to her when she'd been growing up, but she had been surrounded by wealth and servants and sprawling estates for eighteen years of her life. This... This was something else entirely. Something different, powerful. Hidden from her existence up until now.

Ethan began walking again and she followed his pace almost unconsciously.

People began to notice them when they walked past. At first Aurora thought they were looking at her, but then she realized they were looking at Ethan. A woman balancing a basket of fruit stopped in her tracks and her eyes nearly bugged out of her head before she ducked her head quickly. A group of men moved out of their way, one bowing respectfully before the next. Aurora slowed her pace as they came closer.

"What are they doing?" she asked.

Ethan didn't stop walking. She watched the way people gave him space, how no one spoke to him casually, the way even the children automatically knew that they had to move.

"You didn't mention you were important," she said dryly

"I didn't."

"You're clearly important."

He sent her a look over his shoulder. "Observant."

She almost laughed. "It's not funny."

"I know."

They marched deeper in to the city until Aurora caught sight of strange symbols on the doors of buildings. Warriors trained in courtyards and packs of wolves prowled the streets, transforming mid-stride as if in conversation. Every part of her old world was being re-written with every pace Ethan took.

She stopped walking and pointed at the large group of warriors standing just outside a huge black building. "Are those soldiers?"

"Yes."

"How many people do you have?"

"Enough."

She sighed. "That answer is becoming very annoying."

The man's mouth twitched with something like amusement

Then they came to the middle of the city and Aurora took in the sight of a palace unlike she'd ever seen. Black stone covered the lower parts of the building in long, flowing patterns. Great windows caught the light from the afternoon sun and reflected it in sheets of gold. Silver towers shot up from various points on the building, tying together with bridges and corridors. Guards stood at either end of the main doors and the moment Ethan drew close they straightened. One knelt to the floor on one knee.

"Alpha."

Aurora's heart pounded in her ears. Another guard dropped to a knee and soon there was a line of them, all lowering themselves before Ethan. Aurora turned slowly, her breath catching in her throat. "Alpha. Who are you?"

For the first time, he didn't avoid the question. "I told you my name."

"That's not what I asked."

Silence lingered between them as the doors to the palace opened and more guards stepped out. An older man met Ethan's eyes and bowed his head.

"Welcome home, Alpha Ethan."

Aurora went stiff. She took a moment to look around at the kneeling guards, at the great palace, at the huge kingdom before them, and finally at the man standing beside her. The strange wolf who had saved her life the previous night. The man who had lead her here.

"You're the Alpha," she whispered.

His golden eyes locked onto hers. "Yes."

Her stomach turned. She had thought her entire life was over when her father had banished her. She had thought the forest was the end of the world for her.

She had been very, very wrong. She had stumbled right in to an entirely different world and she had no idea that the man beside her ruled it.