Visena frowned into the forest with her hands balled into fists on her hips. "Jedidiah? I know you can hear me!"

Gideon had gone to find out the ETA on the Alpha leaders after a border wolf had scented at least thirty high ranking wolves on the western breeze. "Come find me when you're done harassing him."

"Harassing? He's your little brother out there!"

"At least he won't be moping. We can organise something to get him back soon... What we really need is his mate..."

Visena was optimistic that he would find his mate soon, she only hoped it happened before the Earth Fae found him in the forest and killed him.

"Jed?" She tried again, voice increasing in volume. "Don't make me use my Alpha command..."

A light whimper sounded from behind a tall oak, and Visena breathed a sigh of relief. "You don't have to shift back. I just wanted to tell you to be careful. Earth Fae are hiding in Malum woods and they would have no qualms in killing you. I understand why you did it, please just stay close and if you need food I'll leave something out over here." Her feet scuffed the earth and made a small X shape. "And you can sleep in your bed if you want... I'll leave the back door open!"

Jed's chocolate wolf rounded the tree, stared into Visena's eyes before nodding and running out of sight.

After a brief pause of indecision, the Fae turned on her heel and jogged toward the Packhouse, swallowing the growing panic in her throat. Voices drifted from the dining room as she crossed the threshold.

"- North and South American packs here first. She'll be fine."

"They are notoriously the ones who kill first, ask questions later."

Gideon and Liams voices floated through the entryway and Visena cringed. "Knock knock."

"Come in, Vi."

The men sat at the dining table with Prim and Orion in attendance. Gideon had changed and looked delectable in navy tailored pants and a tucked-in white dress shirt rolled up to his forearms. Good enough to eat.

Her attention faltered on her fiery-haired friend.

She still hadn't talked to Prim since she found out they were moving out.

The house is gonna be so empty...

Visena cleared her throat and pushed the thoughts away with a gentle shake of her head. "So... How long do I have?"

"The border wolf believed they were about twenty minutes out. Five minutes ago," Liam responded with a mocking, tense smile.

Gideon gave him a stern look before smiling at his mate. "You'll be fine. Is there anything you want to know before they arrive?"

Visena had to somehow fit years of questions into fifteen minutes. Despite years of combat training with her father, he had shared little about pack life or her wolfie heritage. She knew about as much as when she was memory-less. "So, what's going to happen? Why are they coming?"

"Word got out somehow," Liam looked pointedly at Prim with a smirk, "The Alpha female of Invictus was the self proclaimed Queen of the Wolves. And now, all the packs want to see if the Witchy 'prophecies' are true, or if they should just kill you."

Liam as usual did little to alleviate her worries.

"I never self proclaimed anything. You all called me your Queen... Not me!"

Prim jumped in, bumping Liam with her shoulder. "You are our Queen Visena. There's no doubt about it. I knew there was something special about you when we first met in the forest." Prim's smile was radiant. She was practically glowing from the pregnancy hormones. She smelled nice, too. Rhubarb and custard. "Right guys?" She peered around the table, and the men all quickly added their confirmations.

"Thank you, Prim. Okay well, why would they want to kill me anyway and not the Council? They are notoriously corrupt and have murdered whole packs right?"

"People follow what they know," Orion spoke gruffly. It was one of the few times he had ever spoken to Visena and even then, he was saying it more generally than to her. He and Prim were perfect for each other. Yin and Yang.

"What he meant was," Prim said with a smile, "The Wolf Council didn't start out corrupt. Instead, they gained our trust and protected us until slowly they didn't anymore. They only recently started threatening us and using their power to keep us under their thumb."

"How do they control every pack... Aren't there packs all over the world?"

"Yeah," Liam took over with an eye roll. "Only six continents have Wolf packs in them and each one of those has a Warrior pack. Wolves trained specifically to kill you every which way from Sunday. The council 'hires' them and makes them do the dirty work. Plus they control the money each pack gets. If a pack goes against the Council, they don't get their monthly allowance. They have their hands in all the pies, Visena, don't you worry," he finished with a huff.

Every conversation left Visena feeling like she had more work to do. The whole Council still needed to be dismantled. Mihnea was on board representing the Vampire Alderman's, and she hoped Svend still had some sway over the Wolf Council. At least after Yrsa 'mysteriously' disappeared.

Next was The Fae council who were obviously AWOL, still recovering their bodies and pride in the Malum forest.

All that was left were the Witches and Humans, and they didn't feel worth worrying about at that point.

Should be fine for a few more weeks until this Alpha business is done.

"Okay. Jeez, that was a lot to take in. Uh, how will I talk to them? Do they all speak English?"

Liam jumped in again. He was having way too much fun being the know-it-all. "They aren't coming to talk to you, Alpha. They want you dead." The way he dragged out the word dead made her scowl.

"Liam!" Gideon growled at his Beta. "You are not helping!"

"I don't even want to be the Queen. Can everyone just look after their own packs and not be controlled by anyone?" Visena whined very un-Queen-like.

"The fact that you want that for your kind is why you would make a good Queen. You bring us all together and love us Visena. You don't control us." Prim reached to grab her Alpha's hands across the table.

Some of Visena's previous tension eased from the tender touch. "You are such a good friend, Prim. I love you."

Prim was grinning ear to ear. It almost looked painful, and a chuckle poured past the Fae's lips as she brushed her fingers down her friend's cheek. "Okay, how much time do we have?"

"They are at the barrier now," Gideon told her as he stood and straightened his dress shirt.

"Are they in wolf form?"

Liam scoffed before Orion punched his shoulder. "Ouch, what the hell?"

"Yes, Alpha Queen. They'll be in wolf form. You might want to shift too. Otherwise, they may not feel the bond," Orion said while helping Prim to her feet. They were acting like she was nine months along when she was hardly showing.

"Where's Cassia?" Visena hadn't seen her since the morning and felt a sense of guilt from her absent-mindedness.

"Sleeping. She still has an hour or so left then I was gonna give her some lunch," Liam said with a whimsical look.

He loves that baby.

"Has anyone ever told you, you would make an incredible dad?" Visena asked genuinely.

Liam's full faced blush had the Fae grinning.

"Thank you." He managed to choke out before leaving the room briskly. He was actually such a sweetheart beneath his sarcastic, sometimes arrogant persona.

Visena took a few deep breaths and clasped Gideon's outstretched hand. He smiled reassuringly and walked with her out the front door.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" A familiar voice yelled from the trees.

"Eve!" Prim squealed, running to embrace her friend.

Thyra stalked out of the woods and nodded at Visena. "We are all here for you."

She wasn't lying. The Invictus grounds quickly became overrun with Praelia wolves and the women smiled at one another.

"Let's go!"

Visena opted to stay in human form to avoid any unnecessary pain from shifting. They walked at a relaxed pace, and she wondered what would happen if the American Alphas tried to kill her. Her abilities could subdue them if necessary, but she didn't want to hurt them. They were all Alpha's for a reason.

"Can we pick up the pace a little bit?" Visena whispered to the group. "You guys are making me more anxious." She strolled ahead, detaching her hand from Gideon which elicited a butterfly inducing growl. He would pay her back for that later. She hoped the punishment would be of the sensual variety.

As she turned the last bend she saw them. Glorious, giant, proud Alphas observed their approach with an array of coat shades from deep brown to a steely grey. Umber and rust. Honey and daffodils.

Nobody moved as Visena stood before the wolves. She counted thirty two. Three women that looked identical stood at the back muttering unintelligibly. Witches?

"Hi." She opted for politeness and got no response. "Cool, okay. Are any of you gonna shift or ask me questions... What did you plan on doing?"

No response again.

The woman sighed. "Wonderful." Visena realised she would have to shift after all. It was the first meeting of any Alpha's outside her small Invictus and Praelia bubble, and she would have to strip naked in front of them.

Way to make a fantastic first impression.

Stripping her top layers until she was in her underwear, Visena met eyes with the smallest Alpha of the group. She appeared to be female and her Alpha presence was layered in kindness. Visena already liked her the most. "Wait here."

After a seamless shift, Visena bounded around the tree and stood tall before the group. They looked side to side warily and some took a few whiffs in her direction. The smallest wolf looked intrigued and shuffled forward slightly, her honey coat glossy in the sun's beams.

Visena took a risk and raised her rump in the air, tongue automatically lolling to the side. Her chest bowed before the small wolf, silver tail swishing overhead. With a small yap of encouragement the small Alpha mirrored Visena's posture and panted excitedly, feeling the bond.

They circled each other and Visena nipped playfully at her face. The surrounding Alphas' claws scratched tracks in the dirt as they retreated from her massive tails range. Fear hormones seeped from their bodies as they watched the exuberant interaction.

After a few barks and yips later, Visena sat on her haunches and frowned at the skittish Alphas. What is their problem? An ache bloomed in her chest, and she howled hauntingly to the midday sun, pausing as the song absorbed into the surrounding forest. The small Alpha imitated her Queen and howled, exposing her throat submissively.

Visena howled again with growing conviction until every wolf within miles participated in the rallying cry. Finally, the American Alpha's broke out of their staunch persona's and each lightly bowed to Visena as she danced between them.

One male wolf got a little bit too excited rubbing his scent down Visena's side when Gideon's growl put a damper on the celebration. He bared his teeth at the male, but the Fae gave him a reassuring look that said, 'I'm all yours.'

Visena quickly returned to her clothes behind the tree and changed, but the Alphas had gone before she could say goodbye. Nothing remained except a plume of dust where they had stood only moments ago.

"Where did they go?" Visena was most disappointed that she didn't get the name of the small wolf.

"They got what they needed to see and accepted you as their Queen," her mate replied.

"They did?"

Gideon looked like he wanted to burst out laughing. "Of course they did. What did you think you were doing?"

"I don't know. Playing, I guess."

Liam didn't hold back and let his laughter rain over Visena. "You initiated a Pack rallying cry and they all responded. They accepted you and now they are heading back home."

"I'm so confused. Do any of you know the name of the Alpha that first howled?"

"Carina," Prim said, strolling up next to Visena. "She's the Alpha of one of the Columbian Packs. You should probably go recharge or whatever at your cottage because the European Alpha's will be here tomorrow."

It was an effort not to roll her eyes, tiredness pulling at the lids."Great... Well, then, I need you to stay at the pack house tonight to help with Cassia. Liam knows what to do; just help him if he needs it. Eve and Thyra, you're welcome to stick around if you want to be here tomorrow. If it's possible, can you arrange more security around our border between Malum? The Earth Fae are still hiding and now Jed is in Wolf form, I want him protected out there. Gideon will be coming with me to the cottage so its training as usual and no shenanigans." Visena's instructions left no room for questioning or hesitation. Everyone nodded and went off to do their jobs, and she felt like a Queen for the first time.

Prim grinned and bounded off with Liam to check on Cassia while Gideon eyed her up like a delicacy. Hearing her take control was clearly a turn on. For the first time in ages, his tired eyes refused to stay their olive green tone, instead flickering gold.

Once all prying eyes and ears had left the vicinity he spoke in a hushed whisper. "You better run, or I'm gonna throw you over my shoulder and take you in the woods."

Visena almost moaned aloud before undressing at lightning speed to shift and sprinted into the forest. Gideon was hot on her heels with a growl before she zigzagged through the trees, branches whipping across her face. She knew the way but with Gideons hot breath fanning across her back end she could hardly think. Visena pulled hard to the right and dug her claws into the underbrush, creating some distance between them.

It was exhilarating.

She had never pushed herself like this in wolf form in fear of injury or death. Which was reinforced multiple times as a possibility. This time though, she felt stronger. The ache was manageable and she could ignore it as she forced her legs to move faster. Harder.

The vegetation in her peripheral vision became a blur of greens and browns while the trees ahead seemed to dance out of her way.

A warning bark from behind barely reached her consciousness when she spotted them. Her hind legs dug into the earth but her body had been moving so quickly, the forward momentum had her flying through the air and tumbling into an unyielding redwood. She yelped as her body stopped against its base, tentatively wiggling every paw to check for injuries.

Gideon snarled and charged over, using his head to gently help her to her feet. When Visena finally looked up she discovered they were surrounded. A handful of Earth Fae with cloaks of wolfsbane stood grinning in a perfect circle. Elowen and Oren were nowhere to be seen and Visena was sure they hadn't crossed the Invictus perimeter.

They found a way through the barrier.

There was no time to shift back as the circle constricted around them. Gideon snapped at the vining branches slithering from one of the Fae, but quickly withdrew as the Wolfsbane burned his snout.

They were trapped.

~~~

A/N

Super long chapter ...

too long? let me know ;)

what did you think about the American Alphas?

And the earth fae are back! What do you think will happen next?

Toodlesss,

K <3