I wake up to a loud knocking at my bedroom door. I sit up with a groan.
"Come in," I say. I look up and see one of my guards.
"Alpha, the messenger from the Mountains is back," he informs me. The urgency in his voice makes me hurriedly follow him through the house.
He leads me to my office where he stands guard outside the door. I walk in to see my Beta beside a ragged-looking wolf.
His hair is sticking up in multiple directions, there are dark circles under his eyes and he is covered in dirt. His shoulders are slumped and he looks exhausted.
"I apologize Alpha for my condition, I could not stop and what I have to tell you is too important to wait until morning," he says, his voice hoarse.
"Get him some water," my Beta tells the guard outside.
I lean against my desk, nodding for him to speak. "What happened? Where is the rest of your group?" I ask.
"They're all dead. We were only there for a day before the dragons found us. It was in the middle of the night and I had left to take a leak when they attacked."
"Did you guys get any information before the attack?" I ask.
"Just what we saw. There were mostly guard dragons but there was one red haired girl that stood out. She wore a crown so we assumed she was the Dragon Queen or something," he shrugs.
Dragon Princess, my wolf corrects.
"Why did she stand out?" My Beta asks.
"She can manipulate fire better than any of the other dragons, and she is the one who has been training their warriors," he says.
"That's not good," I mutter.
"So going back to the attack, what happened exactly and how did you get away?" Beta Cadyn asks.
"I didn't really. They killed everyone then found me. They were going to kill me too but that girl told them to let me go," he tells us.
"Why'd she let you go?"
"She wanted me to tell you that she is going to kill every single wolf until the Werewolf King is the last one, and then watch him burn," he recounts, glancing at me nervously.
"Thank you, go get some rest and we will continue discussing this tomorrow," I mumble.
The man leaves and Beta Cadyn, peers at me with concern. "What part bothers you most?" He asks. I let out a low growl.
"The fact that this is all my sister's fault."
***********
"What the fuck Daerius! Why are you putting me in here?" Angel yells as the guard shove her into the cell.
"Because of you, my mate is determined to kill all wolves!" I growl.
"How is that my fault?" She spits.
"Because you couldn't keep your fucking hands to yourself, Lyza nearly got herself killed trying to save us! And now she's been turned into a weapon!"
"That stupid guard almost raped me! I had no choice but to kill him!" She defends.
"He did not rape you! Stop changing your fucking story! It's different every time you tell it! I asked you what happened on the way back home and you said that he snuck into your room while you were sleeping. And then you said he didn't actually touch you and now you're saying he raped you," I growl angrily.
"What's your point?"
I grit my teeth. "So because of your stupid decision the dragons hate us more than ever and my mate has been turned into a wolf-killing monster!"
She glowers at me as she sits down on the cot. She growls under her breath before switching her gaze to the floor. "So how long am I going to be in here Alpha?"
"At least a month, you were supposed to be in here as soon as we got back but you were injured. Now if you try anything on these guards I will add another week to your sentence. I've had enough of your shit," I snarl.
She clenches her jaw and crosses her arms over her chest, but stays silent. I storm out of the prison, my growls echoing through the halls.
*********
I lean back against the wall, watching my warriors train. All of them are excellent in hand to hand combat—
They're nowhere near as good as Lyza, Madox comments.
True but I think she is probably one of the greatest warriors in the world so I doubt my warriors will ever be anywhere close to her skill-level.
My shoulders fall a little as I keep watching. Very few of them are good with a weapon, and long distance weapons are our only chance of saving our race.
Mykael shifts uncomfortably beside me, shaking his head at the training wolves.
"Daerius I hope you realize this is completely hopeless," he growls lowly.
"The lady who wrote the book told us enough about them that we have a chance, not a good one but still a chance," I sigh.
"All she said was that cold iron is their weakness but we already knew that!" He hisses.
"She also told us the weak spots they have in dragon form, and that killing their leader is the last thing you want to do."
"That doesn't make any sense though! If you kill a leader then their followers surrender, that's the way it works."
I shake my head. "Not with dragons. Killing their leader makes them a martyr and there is always another dragon to take their place. It would just piss them off," I explain.
He growls under his breath, turning his gaze back to the warriors. They are practicing with crossbows and swords and various other weapons.
"They need a moving target, or at least a target in the air," I mutter.
"Yeah I'm on it," Mykael grumbles. He stalks away, shaking his head and mumbling curse words.
I suddenly see a few warriors stop and look off into the distance. I follow their gaze to a thick plume of black smoke curling into the sky.
Tendrils of smoke keep rising in the distance until half the sky is an ashy gray. I watch in horror as it starts moving towards the pack.
"What the hell is that?" I hear myself say. Hundreds of wolves are suddenly running out of the forest, faces white with terror.
They run straight past me, glancing over their shoulders every few seconds. I stop one and pull him aside.
"What is going on?" I demand.
"The dragons are coming. They burned down the White Mountain, the Blue Dawn, and the Pine River pack; they killed everyone," he says. His voice squeaky and he is visibly shaking.
As soon as I release his arm he is gone. I look back towards the forest and can see distant, blurred flames between the trees, without my wolf's help they wouldn't even be discernible.
Mykael they're here, I mindlink my Gamma.
I'm on it, he replies immediately.
My warriors start lining up beside me, weapons in hand. I watch as the flames move closer, then realize they aren't moving like a normal fire.
It moves as if it's alive.
"What the hell is going on?" Cadyn growls. He stands beside me, just as confused as I am.
I stagger backwards as a sudden roaring growl shakes the ground. I look around wildly for the source of the noise.
"Oh fuck," Cadyn curses. I look up and see a massive red dragon rise up from the forest.
My eyes immediately lock onto the girl on its back. "Lyza."
She stands on the back of the dragon, her black dress flowing around her. There is a black crown atop her flaming red hair, just like the messenger said.
Dozens of dragons suddenly appear all around them, all some shade of red or black and absolutely massive. The fear of my pack fills my senses.
Lyza suddenly lifts her hands above her head, moving them in a strange twirling motion. My eyes widen at the ball of flame forming above her.
It grows bigger and starts to look like it has a face. "What the fuck is that?" I breathe.
The fire morphs into what looks like a cobra, then dives into the forest. I let out a string of curse words as the flaming snake tears through the trees.
I watch in horror as the forest that has protected my pack for centuries is destroyed by a fiery cobra. The trees burn differently than anything I've ever seen; the flames are red.
I look back at Lyza and realize she is controlling it. Her gaze suddenly meets mine and my eyes widen at the sight of hers.
She stares at me with gleaming red eyes, moving her hand towards me. The hulking cobra is in front of us all of the sudden, towering over a hundred feet above our heads.
"Lyza!" I scream. She stares directly at me as the snake continues to slither closer. I stumble backwards, an icy realization sweeping over me.
She doesn't recognize me.