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Chapter1
Zen
Silver light glistened through the impossibly high tops of the evergreens overhead, casting shimmering slivers along my pathway. The eerie but beautiful glow lit a guide that only I could see to lead me through the Bellewoods, encouraging my paws faster across the mulchy ground.
Being in my wolf form gave me a feeling of freedom.
Although my guards remained close by, they were never near enough to catch up to me if the occasion required it, my speed gathering with each twist and turn of the trees, this forest my playground, and had been for many, many years. They were there as a requirement, rather than a true safety measure. This wasmyland, crown land, belonging not only to the Kingdom of Silverhold, but to my family specifically.
Every rock and dale were known to me, the storms that passed through never escaping my sure footing as I danced gracefully over the small passageways, avoiding the molehills and hidden tunnels often developed by playful children exploring as I had in my youth. But those days were long past, the city’s kids running freely through my protected lands no more. We no longer allowed outsiders among us, those we didn’t fully know and vet. We couldn’t afford to make any more careless mistakes, not when it had cost us so much already.
These forests were for me and my sister, Cyndella, alone, alongside the very few we permitted under the strictest of our purview. Even the staff kept their own children out now, even though we hadn’t explicitly forbidden their play, but it went without saying that it was forbidden to trespass there.
Today, there were no children and no other bodies to encounter when I ducked below narrow, fallen branches. My gray ears tucked in as to not catch the burrs in the thick of my glistening fur, and my intense eyes fixated on the next curve of the landscape, lest I chance upon some unsuspecting deer or rabbit in my view. At this point, anything would be a welcome sight.
The forest, enchanting as it were, was oddly still, the quiet unnerving me, and for a moment, I halted, bothered by the lack of sound. Although I hadn’t expected to come across another fae per se, it did seem odd that I hadn’t heard birdsong since my departure from the castle’s gates over an hour earlier. It was almost as if something had warned them off already.
“Are you all right, Alpha?”
The question came from a distance, Calliver a way off to my right, and caught me unawares. The fact that I’d been caught off guard annoyed me, and I felt the need to return the favor. After a lifetime of being watched by others, first as a prince and then as the Alpha King of Silverhold, I should have expected that someone would see my moment of uncertainty. Still, it irked me. For all my power, privacy was one thing I could never have.
I raised my snout, gaze fixating on Calliver, half-hidden in the thicket. I hoped he could feel my rising resentment through the leaves, but I didn’t wait around to gauge his reaction.
Unable to respond verbally in my wolf form and unwilling to answer such a ridiculous question, I merely bounded onward again, catching more air this time, tongue lolling out of my mouth as I moved. A part of me challenged to see if I could lose the guards, a childish game I’d played with myself since I was a boy. The task was too easy, even in my youth. I didn’t need their protection, their presence merely a dated formality meant more to announce my nearness than to keep me safe. There was not a single thing that Calliver, the head of my Royal Guards, or my other personal guard, Landon, could do that I couldn’t do a thousand times more effectively.
Which is why I could lose them so easily.
I knew these woods better than anyone, after all. If anyone could hide amongst the trees, it was me. But I would have to be quick about it. They weren’t my personal guards for nothing. They were trained amongst the best in Silverhold for the position and handpicked under the most grueling of scrutiny from all of my Royal Guards. Plus, they were half-accustomed to my antics for the most part. I’d been toying with them since my teenage years.
Abruptly, I darted to the left, entering a bramble of dense bushes, rife with insects that I was sure would annoy Calliver and Landon to no end. Skilled as they were as guards, they were still faeries at heart and irked by pesky irritants I could easily overcome in my wolf form.
Smirking internally, I dodged the mass of buzzing gnats and sank low, keeping my senses up until I found a heavy puddle of mud. My well-honed instincts sensed their defenses rise.
“Alpha?!”
It had to be irritating them, shifting back and forth between their animal bodies to keep my pace and mortal forms to call out to me, but I didn’t really care. It was my game, and I would continue to play it, if only to add some fun to my day.
Chuckling inwardly, I remained. It wouldn’t take them long to locate me in the swamp, even as I lay low in wait.
It was a dumb play, and I wouldn’t let it go on, but it was also one that reminded them who truly held the power here. They were my personal guards, but the truth was, they could never protect me—not when I didn’t fully trust them.
Such was the conundrum with our positioning. But that was no fault of my guards, not really.
They couldn’t be blamed for a deep-seated wariness that had sprouted for unspeakable reasons, ones that only my sister could fully comprehend, ones that others would consider full-fledged paranoia if they understood their depth. I would have fired them all a year ago if I could have, but that would have created more problems. Sometimes it was better to go with the devils you knew, regardless of what Cyndella thought. If my sister had her way, she would have fired all the staff and locked everyone out of Silverhold Tower permanently.
“Alpha! Please, show yourself!” It was Calliver calling out this time.
The game had already lost its appeal to me, the pleading panic in the guard’s tone annoying me as much as the insects that had intended to irk him. The gig was already up and taking its toll on me.
I slowly padded out from the swampy landslide to shake off the dirt and debris. There were no more calls for me, and although I didn’t look for my guards, I heard their collective sighs of relief nearby. If I were in sight, they were doing their jobs.
Ignoring them again, I bounded onward, racing now, as fast as my muscled legs would allow. These almost daily runs had given them a strength unmatched by anyone in the kingdom, earning me my title as Alpha King in more than mere nepotism. Whatever power my bloodline naturally carried would always remain as long as I drew breath—I would ensure that with vigorous exercise and relentless pursuit of magical practices. I wouldn’t make the mistake of some of my predecessors, simply allowing my name to carry me through.
Shame slapped me in the snout as I thought of my mother, her solemn gray eyes still boring into my soul and stealing my breath in that moment. She was not who I had meant in my runaway thoughts that always overtook me on these afternoon runs. But inevitably, I couldn’t help but think of her. Queen Malinda’s fate had been nothing short of betrayal.
All the more reason to keep myself strong in all capacities,I thought furiously, sweat forming thickly in the undercoat of my heavy fur.My instincts need to be sharper than most.
My heart thumped with such intensity, I could taste it in my windpipe, but I refused to slow my sprint. Pushing my body to its limits, I willed scared forest animals out of their hiding, urging some semblance of life beyond those of my guards, whose loyalty I wasn’t sure I had but was forced to keep lest I looked like a king gone completely insane. The death of my mother had created a suspicion in me of even my most trusted advisers now.
