Reign

Chapter One

My legs were propped up on the desk, my nose in a new book, when the door opened. I glanced over the edge of the book and made eye contact with the owner of the desk.

"Macon." I greeted my leader.

"Aria. Up." He growled, flicking his hand at me.

 I growled back and stood up. He didn't sit.

"The king has requested our presence." He told me.

"Hm." I hummed noncommittally.

"When?" I ask, closing my book.

"Two days. We leave in twenty minutes. The Prince's coronation is then, and they have been receiving threats." He answers.

"And the Guard will be there. Nothing to worry about." I finish his thought.

As members of the Lupine Guard, Macon and I were constantly on call; to save Lunas, help with rebellions, put down rogues, assassinate bad alphas. But our most important jobs revolved around the royal family. As the Alpha of Alphas, the King was the most important, and most highly targeted, of our kind. A threat to the King was dealt with by the Lupine Guard.  

"I'm only bringing you, Devian, and Athena. Prep on the way there. You go tell them." Macon ordered. 

I nodded in response and headed out the door, jogging to Devian's quarters. A few moments after knocking, Devian answered the door, his easy smile spreading across his pretty-boy face. I transferred the message, and then went to Athena's room to do the same. After, I realized I had fifteen minutes.

I changed into the black leather uniform the Guard wore, and gathered my weapons: a set of throwing knives and a sword. Every guard learned how to use a sword out of tradition. The knives were mine. Macon used knives as well, while other members had other specialty weapons. I grabbed a hair band, deciding I'd resort to begging Athena to braid my hair in the car.

Pounding on my door made me pull my boots on faster, and I opened the door to find Athena waiting for me, leaning against the wall inspecting one of her two swords. When she heard me she put the sword away and gave me a small smile. I followed her out of our compound. Macon, dressed the same as Athena and I, was waiting by the driveway when Devian pulled up in a nondescript black SUV. We all climbed in and settled, but not before Devian cracked a few jokes, which were met by our lighthearted laughter. 

Macon briefed us through the four hour drive. King Ev and his wife, Queen Myria, were preparing to step down and give the throne to their eldest son, Crown Prince Rylan. Queen Myria would continue doing her duties as Queen until Rylan met his mate. If he didn't meet his mate by the time he turned 30 or Queen Myria died, whichever came first, the crown would be passed to the second eldest heir, in this case his sister, Princess Rhiana. While the Palace had its own legion of Guards, after the multitude of threats the King had received against the Crown Prince, The Lupine Guard was being called in.

Devian spoke up after Macon finished.

"This is the first serious threat against the crown since.....well since before I joined The Guard." Devian added. 

"And before Aria and I joined as well." Athena said, looking up from my hair. Devian and I both startled at Athena's voice. Athena was what we called a Relic. She could sense things in a spiritual way, like an oracle. She rarely shared prophecies, but she sometimes just knew things, and that made her a valuable Guard. It also impacted the way she interacted with people, she was often quiet, stoic, and kept to herself.

Macon looked out the window for a few moments, and we waited in silence. 

"The last threat was just after Princess Ila, the youngest, was born. We lost two Guards before we took down the adversary." Macon told us. 

Guard deaths were very rare, we were trained from birth on fighting and infiltrating enemy operations. When trainers thought we were ready, we moved on to be taught by the Guard themselves. From there, some were asked to join, and others returned to their packs. Athena and I were 3 years older than Devian, so we joined before he was able to. The guard has always had 21 members including the leader.

Guard preparation was brutal and thorough, only the best of the best were accepted. It took an extremely formidable opponent to foil The Guard, much less take down two of them. 

I was about to ask Macon about the incident, but Athena spoke before I could, her eyes widening the way they always do when she senses something.

"We're here."