Filed to story: Wolf Crying Mate of the Alpha by Jazz Ford
‘Oops,’ I say.
Alpha King Damon
Troy mind-links Eric and me about an eight-year-old boy named Zayden who is now in his care after buying him from a slave auction in Shadowguard. Zayden is the sole survivor of the Mystic Pride me, and his father, Alpha Ezra, is dead. Troy is somewhere near Bramblemore, and Eric is at Moon Crest Castle.
Maia said there were soldiers in the forest. They must be the ones who attacked the small villages. I say.
Who’s Maia? They ask me in unison.
My mate.
The girl from your dream? Eric asks, incredulous.
The exact one. I say.
I can’t wait to finally meet our Luna! Troy says excitedly.
There’s one problem there, Troy. She ran away.
What? What do you mean she ran away? Troy asks, confused.
Eric is also confused. I inhale and exhale sharply before responding. My brain needs the extra oxygen to explain this next bit.
She doesn’t seem to be a werewolf. I can’t sense or smell her wolf. She doesn’t smell human either. Her eyes are violet, and she has the power to create fire and control the wind. When I told her we are mates, she became scared and ran off. I say.
Her description is the same as the girl in the tales I heard about in the villages. Troy says, quickly relaying the story of the Forest Princess to Eric and me.
The Forest Princess is my mate? I ask, surprised.
Sounds like it. Troy replies.
I’m in the castle library, looking through a history book. It has tales we heard when we were children. You know the ones about the witches, mages, vampires, fae, sprites and orcs? Maia’s description matches the description of the sprites mentioned in this book. Eric says.
A sprite? I ask. Are they insane? Eric continues.
It says here there are five types of sprites, four of whom have the power to control one element only. The main four are Pyrokinetic sprites, Hydrokinetic sprites, Aerokinetic sprites and Geokinetic sprites. The fifth is extremely rare and is born only through the Primal sprite’s royal bloodline. The Primal sprite has power over all four elements. They’re so rare that primal sprites skip a few generations before another is born. A Primal sprite is rare and equivalent to a mage who can also manipulate elements. The difference is that some mages can also cast certain spells, whereas a sprite cannot.
So, my mate is the forest princess and a rare primal sprite?
Correct! Eric replies.
We’re silent and in disbelief, trying to process all this new information.
Alpha King Damon! She’s the answer! Maia is meant to help us fight this war! With her powers, we can defeat King Fenris! Troy says excitedly.
Troy, I don’t know about that, sure, it sounds great, but you’re forgetting something. She. Ran. Away! I say. Eric sighs.
You need to find her, and you need to persuade her to help us. Show her you need her by your side as your mate, Luna and Queen. Eric says. I pause in thought.
I’ll look for her. I won’t give up on her. I also need to check the smaller villages to ensure they’re okay. Troy, meet me near the forest border with our new recruit. I tell him.
We’ll see you soon, Alpha. Troy replies.
Alpha King Damon
In Thornwell, while sitting in a communal tent and holding a pint, I give my pack the good news about meeting my mate. I tell them a little about her, how I don’t think she is a wolf, and how she became scared by my claims of our mateship before running off. A few ask me how I will find her. I tell them I don’t know but that I will.
They roar and cheer and c***k their pints against mine in congratulatory gestures. They’re relieved and happy they’ll finally have a Luna.
I yearn to have her beside me. If I could just hold her in my arms like I did when I found her by the river, it would make me the happiest man and wolf in all of Mysteria.
We head to Mystic Pride, passing through Moonstone River, east of the forest. We smell the stench of death before we see the bodies. Alpha Ezra’s head has been placed on a spike, and a crow pecks at him. I shoo the crow away, pull the spike out of the ground, and add it to the growing pile of heads and bodies my men and I have retrieved from the houses to burn. I light a torch, throw it onto the dead, and we walk away, bereft, and empty.
In Darkpaw, the scene is much the same, and we burn the dead and leave. We send any surviving she-wolves and pups we find hiding to Moon Crest Castle, where they have protection until the war is over.
Sitting in my tent in Thornwell, I mind-link Troy and Eric and then the pack army, and they’re devastated to hear just how many have been wiped out.
We will kill King Fenris and spike his head! Someone yells, and the rest roar and cheer at his words. More yells fill our connection.
We will burn West Wallow to the ground! Someone else says.
I round up my warriors, we leave Thornwell and set up camp at Thistle Well, a large village close to the forest border. It is the best location from which to defend Moon Crest Valley.
Arriving in Thistle Well, we can do nothing but freeze as the ground shakes and rumbles under our feet, and cracks appear in the dirt, felling nearby trees and grazing local huts. Not knowing how long it will last, my men and I hold onto trees. ‘What was that?’ Someone asks the rest of us.
‘That would be my mate,’ I say.
‘What do you mean?’ They ask.
‘Alpha King Damon has lost it. He thinks his mate is an earthquake!’ Someone says, and a roar of laughter breaks out among my army.
‘Haha! Very funny. I’m going into the forest to look for my mate. In the meantime, keep training the recruits. Prepare for war. A group of you will escort me to the forest border, where you’ll keep post,’ I instruct, and the men scatter like mice, obeying my orders. I’m escorted to the forest border by ten warriors.
‘Set up a lookout, mind-link me if anything happens, and inform the army if you need back up,’ I tell them. They nod.
I proceed into the forest alone and look around at the breathtaking scenery in the forest in search of my beautiful sprite princess.
Maia
I’m tired after accidentally causing the earthquake, and my balance is off.
‘As fun as all that was, Ember, I’ve drained my energy. Let’s rest for the night,’ I tell him, and we snuggle up together on my bed, we fall asleep, and I dream.
I’m standing in a field where thousands of wolves and humans are fighting. Bodies of the dead are scattered everywhere. Swords impale wolves, and wolves rip into human flesh.
It’s an awful, violent, bloody battle. A wolf is skewered on someone’s sword, and blood spurts all over me. I fall to my knees and stare at my bloody hands.
Soldiers hoist me up under my arms and drag me toward their army. I scuffle and try to shrug myself free to no avail. Finally, growling wolves pounce on them and rip their heads off.
They shift into their human form and drag me toward their base. I scuffle and try to shrug myself free of them, too. I summon the wind and force them backward, knocking them onto the ground. I run to the forest.
To calm myself, I sing. Two hands plant themselves on both of my shoulders. I spin around to see a tall, blonde, smiling man with blue eyes and a few small scars on his face, who is otherwise quite handsome.
He is wearing the same royal armour as the Wellmore Village soldiers and a red velvet cape clasped over his collarbone with a gold pin. A gold, red, rubied crown sits on his head, matching his cape.
Alpha King Damon appears in a different kind of uniform. He is dressed as a warrior and stands on my right-hand side. Seeing him, my heart races, and I’m instantly put on the spot and presented with two choices.