The Alpha Queen

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

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

Casper 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 driving them from their home; the cowards had attacked in the middle of the night.

They knew that if they attacked when the pack was ready, they would have lost without so much as a soul to tell their story.

They would have been erased from the world, only a pile of dirty remaining to walk in the surface of the earth, but never tell of what happened on the battlefield that day.

The pack responded to his signal immediately, abandoning whatever fight they had been involved in, running enough to be out of range of the human weapons as they ran west.

As the pack retreated, Casper lingered so that he could keep bring up the rear.

He looked around at the various puffs of light as the cannons went off, trying to catch the tails of retreating wolves.

The twangs of arrows as they left the soldiers' bows reached his sensitive ears and he growled, but remained where the soldiers couldn't reach him.

As much as he wanted to tear them apart, he knew that he needed to stay out of harm's way, now that the pack was out of immediate danger.

As he was staring down at the enemies, wanting to tear them apart with no mercy, an agonized bellow echoed off the rock beside him.

The guttural scream was that of a wolf.

The familiar roar hit Casper like a blast from one of the cannons below.

Morgana.

Daughter.

No, no, no, he growled in terror, running around.

His night vision lit up the world around him and he watched Morgana as she fell down.

The cannonball had collided with her side and one of her legs was crumpled against her bloodied fur.

A small brigade of the king's soldiers had circled the mountain and were approaching the other side to encircle the mountain.

What if they had caught Xavier and Evelyn?

The thought pushed him faster and faster forward, fueled by the sliver of hope that he could save his sister and daughter.

Why was Morgana still anywhere near the mountain?

She should have been long gone.

And why had she been running slow enough for their cannons to reach her in the first place?

It didn't matter, all that mattered was that Casper reached them before Morgana finally hit the ground.

She appeared to be frozen;

she wasn't struggling or trying to right herself up.

Damn!

he hoped his daughter was safe.

Her large form fell below the treeline and he lost sight of her, but he could hear the soldiers' hoots of success as the ground shook when the heavy beast plummeted into it.

Morgana!

He called to her with their mental connection.

All wolves shared it, as it allowed them to speak when they were in their wolf form.

There was no reply from his little sister.

He dive into the forest, right where he had watched her fall with his infant daughter clutched in her paws.

As he dive over the heads of the humans, he snapped one up in his jaws and before the man could react, bit him cleanly in two. Blood, bones, and the tender innards of the man spurted into Casper's mouth with the act, but he paid no mind to that.

He tossed the pieces back into the small army of two dozen men.

They had been busy in their attempts at stabbing spears into Morgana's side, where she fought weakly, baring her teeth and growling and batting at them with one large paw, but the soldiers had backed off abruptly when Casper had killed their comrade.

Blood and gore dripped from his mouth as he stood protectively over Morgana's form and a steady, menacing growl leaked from between his glistening teeth.

Casper... Your daughter, Morgana whispered weakly through their mental connection.

She is okay.

And yet, the baby was silent.

Casper didn't dare take his glare off of the soldiers, who were slowly regaining their confidence.

Every parental instinct wanted him to check on his daughter himself, but all of his instincts as an Alpha forced him to take on these challengers to protect his family.

The leader of the men, a tall, bulky soldier with an eye patch over his right eye and a deep scar peeking out from above and below the patch, stepped forward.

His voice did not waver, but rang confidently above the continuous growls emanating from deep within Casper.

The man raised his sword and pointed it directly between Casper's s eyes, though his head rose high above the humans.

"I will slay thee, monster, in the name of the king."

A sharp growl ripped from Casper at his words, startling the soldiers.

Casper risked a glance downward as he heard her intake of breath right before she began to wail in a way that only a frightened infant can.

Her face was red with the effort of her screams, and she shook her clenched fists angrily from where she had pulled them free of the swaddle.

His daughter had never cried like she did right then; Casper was shocked at the amount of power in her tiny lungs.

"It has a human child!" the leader shouted.

Casper's stomach dropped as he recalled that the humans were unaware that the wolves were also men and women;

they would never suspect that his daughter was one of them.

"Casper! Take her and go! I can't run, but I can hold them off long enough for you to get away" Morgana began to rise to her feet.

His daughter still tucked in one of her paws.

The humans charged them then.

All of their fear was gone, replaced by the determination to save the child they thought had been kidnapped by monsters.

Casper roared and leaped between Morgana and the charging men, taking out four of them with his muscular tail.

This didn't even slow down the humans.

His daughter screamed even louder as the noise and commotion rose.

Tbc