Chapter 5 A Son For The Alpha King

ASTORIA EILISH POV

Opening my eyes, I met with a blurry vision of a tent, squinting to get a clearer picture of where I was, I was right! I was in a tent. "Ouch..." A sudden migraine caused me to rub my temple.

I sat up, feeling inexplicably weak, the herb had hit me hard, or wait! Flashes of a memory caused me to shut my eyes tight, I remembered almost being trampled by a horse, or maybe I was, it would be the perfect explanation for the body pain.

Forcing myself to my feet, I started towards the entrance of the tent and poked my head outside. A young man was seated next to a fire, enjoying its warmth under the vast dark night sky. He hadn't noticed me as I stepped out of the tent or maybe he did but decided to ignore me. One careful step at a time, I began retreating for the woods.

"Where are you going?" He asked without taking his eyes off the fire. "You will only get killed out there."

"Who are you?" My voice came out shaky.

"My name is Joel, I brought you here because my horse frightened you and you passed out but apparently it was something else, you blacked out for almost two days."

"Two days!" I exclaimed. I found myself walking towards him.

"I treated you in the best way I could and don't worry, your baby is safe." He said to me as he noticed my hand trail to my stomach.

"How do you know?"

"I know a lot about medicine and the body, speaking of which, you need to eat before you black out again." He got up and went to the side of the tent. "I brewed some soup for you to drink."

"Soup?"

"Afterwards, you can have some meat." He returned with a small bowl of brownish soup. "Drink up, your baby is probably hungrier than you."

"Do you know who I am?"

"Yes your Majesty but why not put your pride aside and have a meal, I couldn't poison you now, I would have killed you if I wanted to." He took my hands and placed the warm bowl in my hand.

I hesitantly raised the bowl to my mouth and sipped from it, it was so good, my stomach growled for more.

"Sit down and have some meat, you need your strength." He sat down on the ground.

I sat next to him and finished the soup on the second gulp. The meat was a little burnt and empty of taste but it was enough to satisfy my hunger.

"I don't know why you ran away from your fancy home but I can take you somewhere Alpha Calix will never find you." He muttered.

"Where?"

"Wait!" He hushed me as his ears pricked up. "Someone else is here."

His horse began neighing loudly as he lifted himself up in the air, from the depth of the darkness emerged a mighty black wolf, growling angrily.

"Calix..." Joel frowned.

Calix? Why was he searching for me?

"Don't move Joel! You are under arrest for the attempted murder of the Alpha king!" Calix's King's guard said. "You are with a very dangerous man, my Queen."

Joel came to stand next to me, "on my call, you run west as fast as your legs allow."

I nodded. Calix shifted to his human form and stared at me, almost apologetically but didn't say a word. Lost in his eyes, I heard Joel yell and I started running as I was told while he fought them off.

Someone was following me, I turned around and noticed Joel behind me, he was exceptionally fast. After several minutes of running, we arrived at a small village and he took me into his hut.

"You tried to kill him?!" I yelled the instant I caught my breath.

"I didn't! They are trying to frame me because I am poor and less privileged. Don't you know the kind of man you married? He is probably looking for you to punish you for stealing from him, if you want to survive, stay with me here in Zaraf." He explained.

I found myself trusting him, hopefully I wouldn't regret it. He introduced me to a few others and they took me in with a smile, once again, I was relieved.

The village of Zaraf was as peaceful as the word itself. I was welcomed there, days turned to weeks and weeks to months. I had become a Zarafian myself and never for once did I have to worry about Calix finding me.

It was a dark and cold evening, there was a flower in a woods nearby that bloomed only on the nights for the full moon and I had never missed one and wasn't planning to.

Everyone was fast asleep, sneaking out was a piece of cake. As I arrived at the site, the flower opened up to me. "Just on time." I smiled.

Crouching next to it, I watched it showcase its beauty as it glowed blue, I had named her serenity. I scrunched my face as I felt a sudden pain in my swollen belly, was it time? The pain increased and there wasn't a single person in sight. I sat down on the floor, trying to steady my breathing. "Arghh!!!" I groaned loudly.

The baby was coming, I had to take my own delivery. I felt beads of sweat building on my forehead, trickling down my face, I could feel the head coming out. "I can do this!" I breathed.

On my third push, I heard the cries of my baby and thunder and lightning struck in the sky, so brightly that it was almost like daytime.

I raised the baby to my chest, it was a boy with eyes that glowed as brightly as the sun, he was just like his father.

I couldn't move, I fell at a loss of strength as I laid on the ground. If anybody could hear me, please help me! Tears streamed down my face and the last thing I saw was serenity closing up her pedals.