The Alphas & The Heiress

Magnolia

I didn’t sleep at all last night. By daybreak I was tired of just laying there, driving myself crazy, so I slipped out of bed and took off for the training grounds.

The grounds are deserted at this hour so I’m able to get in my workout in peace. I don’t know how long I’m there for when Incandis and Xander find me laying on the floor, smoke rising off my body from being literally burnt out.

“I told you she didn’t sleep.” Incandis mutters to Xander, scrutinizing me and speaking about me as if I’m not there.

Xander frowns but doesn’t say anything.

“Mags, why don’t we get you back so you can sleep for a bit before we meet?” Incandis reaches out his hand to help me up off the floor.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” I glare at him. If last night is any indication, I know I won’t be able to rest now either. My mind has been running a marathon, going through different possibilities, different scenarios, imagining their outcomes and calculating their chances of success.

I lift off into the air towards the castle, Incandis and Xander following behind me.

“Where are we in terms of getting a meeting with Elder Rimori?” I ask Incandis as we land and walk into the castle’s main entrance.

“She’ll be here within the hour, we’ll meet with her in your office and then we have a meeting with Malin to get an update on the hunter activity.” Incandis says.

“Good. Xander, I’ll want to meet with the guards after I see Malin. Can you arrange for them to gather in the meeting hall about thirty minutes after I’m through with Malin?” That should give me enough time to synthesize all the new information — well, hopefully new information.

——

“My young queen, Elder Rimori is here to see you.” One of the guardsmen announces to me.

“Thank you, please see her in.”

Incandis bows to the elder as she enters, “thank you for coming all this way again, I know it’s not an easy journey.”

She smiles kindly at him, “I don’t get to see the grove often enough, it’s always a pleasure.”

He gestures to a seat and pulls it out for her to sit, ever the gentleman.

She situates herself in the armchair across my desk, she has yet to look at me let alone address me.

“We were all very intrigued to receive a call from your father. Ianthe runs a tight ship, we’ve hardly had cause to — intervene.” She looks up at me finally, her warm smile drops as she stumbles over her words when our eyes meet.

Her eyes widen considerably, surprise, terror registering on her face. It’s a look I’m intimately familiar with, it graces the faces of most who meet me for the first time, but it’s most unexpected on an elder.

“I-I am so sorry, you must excuse me. We will have to meet another time.”

Incandis and I are dumbstruck, mouths agape, scrambling to process what the fuck is going on.

“Forgive me for speaking out of turn, Elder Rimori, but we were hoping the nature of your business with my father could help lead us to his whereabouts.” I’m incredulous. This can’t be happening.

“I know, my child,” she has the decency to look guilty, “the Elders will not abandon you, I will be back with answers.” Her gaze lingers on mine a moment longer before collecting her things and walking out of my office.

Seconds, minutes pass between Incandis and I in silence. I’m ruminating over every second of our brief interaction.

“Dis, who did you say asked for the meeting? Dad or Elder Rimori?”

“I wasn’t actually clear on who called the meeting, why?”

“Because she said it was dad who called them, and obviously whatever they discussed was pressing enough for the elders to call a meeting the next day.”

“If it was that important that he had to call the elders then why didn’t he tell mom?” He asks.

It’s a sobering thought. My lips press in a thin line, and I give him a wary look. There are still so many unknowns, but I’m more certain than ever that he’s in danger.

“Bring in Malin.”

Malin enters a few moments later and before he can begin with his formalities I cut him off getting right to the chase, “Malin, have you heard from the other colonies?”

“Yes, ma’am. None of the colonies report sightings or concerns of hunters. They’re all dismayed to hear of the King’s disappearance. Pine Grove and Rose Wood have pledged their support should we ever call on them.”

I nod, dismissing him silently. We’re right where we left off last night, but I’m not out of ideas yet.

“Dis, gather all of our shadow dragons. We’re going to fly stealth and search now while it’s still light.”

“I can handle the guards if you want to go rest, Mags.”

I roll my eyes at his insistence. I know it’s his nature calling to him to care for me, his biological need to protect his queen. But sometimes I just want him to be my brother, not my guard. I have enough guards but only one brother, and when he treats me like this it feels like he’s forgotten that fact.

“I’ll rest when they’re found.”

——

(One month later)

Magnolia

No matter what I do it’s the wrong choice.

First we sent out our blindsighted dragons to search at night, but we couldn’t see anything above the trees and our blindsight wasn’t strong enough in human form to discern any details.

Failure.

Then we sent out the shadow dragons to search during the day since they can conceal themselves in shadows making them practically invisible. Though we were able to search from the skies longer, we found that flying at full speed is not ideal when on a search and rescue.

Even at half speed, the density of these forests blocks our view from above. Not to mention the mountains, caves, cabins, and houses in the area.

Failure.

Searching from the skies wasn‘t working so we grounded our search. As dragons we’re not nimble enough to travel through the dense forests, so we were forced to conduct ground searches in human form. This only served to slow us down tenfold.

Failure.

Over and over and over again. Day after day, week after week — plagued by the pity that slowly grew in the guards’ eyes.

Fuck!

I swipe angrily at maps, papers, and other supplies on my office desk. The lamp falls to the ground with an angry thump, the papers raining down slowly. Maybe Incandis was right. I bit off more than I could chew, I jumped straight in like I always do. I grab the lamp off the floor and throw it against the wall across the room. I erupt in flames, unable to control myself.

I stalk out of my office, flames trailing behind me. Walking gives way to jogging which then turns into an all out sprint as I dash off the balcony at the end of the hall. I relish in the feeling of free fall for a few moments. I enjoy the resistance of the wind against me as I belly flop towards the ground. Just before I hit the ground, I let my wings unfold and I fly off to my favorite spot.

I land at the edge of the thermal pools. These hot springs are like naturally occurring jacuzzis. I like that I don’t have to use any of my energy to heat the water, it enables me to fully let go and relax in the water. I also love coating myself in the thermal mud, my skin always feels tingly afterwards, like an energy current is running across it between each follicle.

I strip down to my bra and panties and climb into the pool, coating myself in mud from my neck to my navel. I close my eyes and poach myself in the near boiling water.

After about 20 minutes Incandis’ voice shatters my peace and quiet. “I thought I might find you here.”

“What made you think I was here?” I ask not bothering to open my eyes.

“Well, when you weren’t in your room I went looking for you in your office…”

“Ah.”

“Ah, indeed.” He mirrors my tone.

We sit in silence for a minute before he speaks again. “I think we may need to try a different approach.”

“What is there that we haven’t tried already, though? Like, what am I missing? What am I doing wrong?”

“You’re not doing anything wrong, we’re just at a disadvantage. We need people who can move during the day, and quickly, in large numbers so we can cover a lot of ground.” He pauses, hesitant to utter his next words. “I think we should ask the wolves for help.”

I roll my eyes and snort at his suggestion.

“Mags, think about it. They know the groundlands like the back of their hands, they can move on land much faster in wolf form than we can on foot. And wolves in woods is practically a given, no one would think twice about seeing a pack of wolves running around. And -”

“Ok ok I get it.” I tell him. Damn, I hate what a good idea it is. It’s actually a great idea. They are said to have trackers whose sole job is to find missing persons. And if we’re consorting with wolves, we may be able to escape recognition by any hunters. I know Malin said no one had seen any but I’m not willing to take any chances.

“How do we get in touch with these wolves?”

“Well I’ve been doing some research and there are three packs within our search area. The one closest to us is the Shadow Moon Pack. I sent a request for a meeting with their Alphas and they’ve accepted, we can meet them tomorrow afternoon.”

I climb out of the pool and throw my shirt and leggings back on. “Let’s go pack, we leave tonight.”

“What? Now?” He asks bewildered.

“Yes, I want to check out the area. We can spend the night in the human town. Come on, it’ll be fun.”

Incandis teleports us back home and I quickly wash the mud and minerals off my body before getting dressed in black skinny jeans and a black and purple crop top. I slide into my black and silver combat boots and pull my grey neck gaiter up over my mouth and nose. I’m tying my black blindfold on when Incandis walks in.

“All set?” He asks.

“Yup.” I start strapping my twin blades onto my back.

“You’re bringing your twin blades?” He looks at me incredulously.

“Yup.”

My beloved twin blades. I feel naked without them, they’re like an extra appendage. They are two identical single handed, three feet long, double glaives. A thick, curved blade juts out from both ends of a single hilt. The bottom of the blade is smooth and sharp, curved to a point at the end. The top of the blade is jagged with exaggerated serrations. They’re meant for war.

Incandis isn’t pleased but he’s not going to fight me.

“I spoke to Xander, he’s going to stay here and lend a hand to Malin and mom while we’re gone.” He tells me.

I’m a little relieved Xander is staying behind. For the past month I’ve been declining his offers of nocturnal companionship. Sometimes I let him sleep in bed with me, but we haven’t had sex since my father went missing.

I don’t know if it’s the stress of the search or what but there’s something that pulls me away every time we kiss, stopping me from letting it become more. Being the gentleman that he is, he never pushes me. He tells me it’s okay not to be okay.

“Good. Let’s go.”