The Alpha Queen And Her Chosen Mate

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Tears from a moonflower, the essence of a mythical healing herb that only blooms under a full moon, and a fragment of the fabled Healing Crystal. All unique, all vague, all hard as hell to find any information about. I started my research on the moonflower since I had at least seen a drawing of it in one of my older books.

I called dozens of my fellow plant enthusiasts, and one man heard of a man who he said might know about the flower. It took a week to get his number, but it was a start. I left two voicemails and sent several emails. I contemplated asking for his address so I could send a letter, but didn’t want to come off as too crazy.

While I was waiting to hear back about the moonflower, I started my search for the healing herb that only blooms under a full moon. There are only a handful of plants that bloom under the full moon. Of those, there was only one spoken about amongst our werewolf lore. The Lunaris Herb. Said to have delicate petals with a shimmering bioluminescence and a soft fragrance. It only grew in one place on earth, the Epping Forest in England. Of course, it was also said to be a haunted forest, which made me even more sure that that was what we were looking for, because why on earth would it be in a friendly, enchanted forest?

So that left the fabled healing crystal. Something I wasn’t particularly versed in. I knew that crystals grew in caves, but that was the extent of my knowledge. So, I began my search there. Again, jumping right to the most deadly caves, figuring it wouldn’t be a pleasant experience given the warnings that came in the scroll. It was going to take me some time to figure this one out. But I have faith that it can be done. If our ancestors could find its location, then so could I.

“Dr Barbato.” King Carson said my name almost like a threat.

“Sir, may I help you?”

“What are you doing with those scrolls?” He asked pointedly.

It was no secret that the ancient scrolls were not open to the public. There was no good way out of this. So, if you can’t beat them, join them.

“Princess Kelly stopped by to ask me if there was such a thing as a moonflower. I told her I had never heard of such a thing.” I shrugged nonchalantly.

“I see.” He said, turning to leave. “I trust that you wont do anything stupid?”

“Sir?” I asked, playing dumb.

“Nevermind.” He shook his head. “Thank you.” He mumbled before heading out.

That was close, too close for comfort. I needed to be more careful if I was going to help Kelly with this quest. If the king knew that Kelly was pursuing this, and I was helping her, goddess help us.

– – – – – – – – –

Thorin

I don’t know what my Solnyshko is thinking, but whatever it is will undoubtedly land her in some sort of trouble. The king did not take fondly to any of his daughters leaving the pack lands, let alone whatever mission Kelly had conjured up. She said it was to help save her mother, so perhaps if this works, upon our arrival back home we won’t be beheaded on the spot. Maybe only life in prison. I could deal with that, but only because I knew I would eventually find a way to escape.

Stopping at the hanger first, I checked on my Cessna 172 Skyhawk. She was a beauty. I spent the day performing all kinds of maintenance and doing pre-flight checks, finally leading up to a test flight. Everything was working properly, as it should be.

“Thorin? Everything okay?” The King’s beta, Ryan, asked.

“Da.” I nodded, reverting back to my heavy accent.

“What are you doing here?”

“Proveryayu svoy samolyot…eh…look plane.” I started in Russian and ended with broken English.

I purposely hid the fact that my English was beginning to get quite good. Really, only Kelly knew how good my English was. I preferred it that way. People didn’t bother me much, thinking I was hard to communicate with. They didn’t ask for unnecessary favors. They left me alone, and in cases like this, it got me out of trouble much faster.

“Look plane? Why?” He frowned.

“Menya okhvatila nostalgia…eh…how sick.”

“How sick? Home sick?” He questioned, his brows knitted together trying to figure out what the hell I was saying. “Okay, whatever, just don’t take off without checking with the human air traffic control first. They’ll have a fit and the last thing the king needs is something else to deal with.”

“Da, thank you Comrad.” I would be a stupid man not to check with air traffic control first.

He left soon after, giving me plenty of time to wrap things up. Everything looked good with the plane, but knowing Kelly, this was not going to be an easy feat. Nothing ever seemed to be with her. That in mind, I must prepare for anything. She gave me next to no information, and I have a feeling that the next time we speak about the matter will be when she is asking to leave.

So, I spent a week gathering supplies. Tents, sleeping bags, first aid kits, basic survival gear, a few weapons, and, of course, a few necessary tools to help control Keres should there be an incident. I made sure to load up the plane when no one was around. I didn’t want any more questions. I had just enough room for four packed bags. One for each passenger, assuming Kelly had invited two others along. She would be smart too. In an emergency situation, well, you don’t need to be faster than a shark, just faster than the person next to you. If something goes wrong, having another guard or two could be lifesaving. If it were up to King Carson, he would send her with his entire army to ensure her safety. Unfortunately, she had three people at the most. Fortunately, she was one of the most terrifying things out there. This was gonna be one hell of a mission.

– – – – – – – – –

Jonas

Kelly always did find the most worthwhile reasons to get into trouble. In school, it was for sticking up for some kid getting bullied. Another time she skipped school to go check on a sick friend. Now she was willing to embark on a journey to save her mother. This was the Kelly I knew, this was the Kelly I loved. The Kelly who threw her whole heart into what she was passionate about, throwing caution to the wind.

Growing up, I would go along with her on these missions, landing myself in some sort of trouble with her. So, naturally, when she asked me to come along with her on, essentially, this worldwide treasure hunt, I was all in. I don’t know how much help I will be, but I know I’ll make the journey memorable, somehow. This would be Kelly’s first time leaving home without the protection and guidance of her father. I think this will be great for her, even if we can’t find all the rare ingredients to create this ever rarer elixir. Maybe she will finally realize how strong she really is.

To help prepare, I asked Kelly to let me know where we were going to find all these items. She said she would get back to me, and I imagined it would be soon. I have already started pulling out some of my old college books that spoke of mythical creatures around the world. If anything, I hope that nearly ten years of studying diplomacy will come in handy should we run into something that isn’t particularly fond of us. I have learned several languages over the years also, which should come in handy. Otherwise, I’m going right back to my college and asking for my money back. If there was ever a time for me to put what I learned to good use, this would be it.

– – – – – – –

Several weeks later….

– – – – – – –

I was just halfway through making lunch for myself when I could hear my front door being unlocked. I knew who it was without even looking, there was only one person that I gave a key to.

“Hey!” Kelly exclaimed, a bright smile on her face.

“Hey pretty lady.” I said, greeting her with a hug.

“Brazil, Uzbekistan, and England.” She said with a wild look in her eyes.

“Alright,” I nodded excitedly. “So when do we leave?”

Her face fell slightly, and I had a feeling I knew exactly why.

“Probably after my honeymoon.” She shrugged, giving me a forced simile.

“I’m always here if you need to talk about it,” I said.

Kelly has been especially tight-lipped about her relationship with King Derek. Though my impression was that things weren’t going particularly well. How could they be? She didn’t love him.

“Thanks…just…just be ready.”

“I will. Stay for lunch?”

“I would love to, but I have a wedding to go to. Dereks Beta Jeff is getting married tomorrow. My flight leaves in a few hours.”

“A few hours? Thats plenty of time for you to stay and eat.” I said, offering her a spoonful of the pasta salad I had just made.

“Half an hour, and that’s it.” She said, pointing at me seriously.

“That’s it.”