Chapter 29

Lia~

My paws dig into the dirt as we cut through the third pack in a row. Their warriors don't even approach us and instead cower at the sight of me, their queen, running through their territory in a fit of rage I'm sure they can sense from where they now stood. Nicole clings to me for dear life and the others struggle to keep up with me in this state. We've been running for hours now and they're probably exhausted.

I stop in a clearing just beyond the pack's borders and the rest of them all collapse in front of me. A wave of guilt rolls over me at the sight of them, knowing that I shouldn't have pushed them that hard. Nicole gets off my back and I go behind a tree to shift into human form, taking my bag with me. I think of my human form and slowly my bones start cracking, taking the shape of a human. I stand up and notice that my clothes are still intact. This isn't the first time this has happened, "Maybe it's because your magic is affecting me." it would make sense why I shift back with clothes on and why my fur has changed., "Any idea about that one?" I can sense her shaking her wolfy head at me, "Not a clue."

I come back from behind the tree and everyone has shifted back already, some panting while some of them *cough* *cough* Dominic, has his entire head in the river. He drinks greedily before finally coming back up for air, "Jeez woman what the fuck is up with you today? I get you want to find them but for the love of the goddess above can you slow the fuck down! Half of us are alphas and we could barely keep up!" I really wish I could take him seriously but between the deranged look in his eyes and his messed up hair, not to mention the fish on his head, it's practically impossible.

I burst out laughing at the sight and brace myself against a nearby tree trunk. My laughter goes from a mild chuckle to hysteria and everyone turns to give me a weary look. I can't blame them though, I, the queen of werewolves and strongest most skilled fighter in the kingdom am busy breaking down in the middle of the forest. Henry takes a tentative step towards me and takes my hand in his. I can see concern edged all over his face and my laughter starts dying down. I look around at all the faces surrounding me, my twin alphas, my deltas, the mother of my mate, and my dear friend Nicole all stare at me with worried gazes. "Lia, we've all realized you haven't been yourself the last few days. You've buried yourself in work and you barely get out anymore. You and I have known each other for years and even though we've never been together I still consider you a friend and as your friend, I'm worried about you so please tell us what's wrong." I look back into Henry's eyes and realize that for the first time in a long time I'm seeing the real Henry, not the snobbish playboy that he portrays to everyone around him. This is a Henry I can see leading the kingdom and maybe, just maybe he and I could rule together.

"You're not seriously thinking that are you?" Raeya pipes up. I can feel her exhaustion from running in wolf form for the last few hours but I can also sense her anger at my earlier thoughts. I ignore her and face everyone. Each one of them is a close friend to me and I know that I can trust every single one of them. "The reason I've been stir crazy is ..." I trail off, trying to find the right words to express what happened. I decide to just get it over with, "Lucas cheated on me because he found out what I was and he couldn't accept it so he ran into the arms of another girl-" I hear gasps from everyone around me. Selena and Nicole gasp while Meaghan's eyes fill with tears and a look of disbelief. "I saw them kissing right after he and I had an argument and it broke my heart. I broke down in front of them and I screamed out in agony as I physically felt the rejection. The part that truly hurt me was that neither of them even blinked at my pain, he didn't care." Droplets fall in my palms and for the first time since I started talking, I realize that I'm crying. Henry wraps his arms around me protectively and by the looks of it, I can tell that Dominic, Dylan, and Jasper are about a hair's width away from shifting out of pure rage.

I can feel Henry's body shake as he tries to contain his fury. His eyes start glowing and I can tell how close he is to shifting. If there's one thing you never do, it's piss off an alpha wolf and you never hurt their queen. I place my hand in his and his eyes shoot to mine, softening slightly. "But I don't understand, Lucas is in love with you, he always has been. He wouldn't cheat on you if his life was on the line." Meaghan shakes her head in disbelief that soon turns to fury, "It's not like him to do something like this! I raised him better and if the vampire king doesn't end up killing him I'll take care of it myself." I stifle a laugh and she shoots me a playful glare. Henry starts laughing beside me and tightens his hold on me. For someone who was such a douch barely a month ago, he sure has changed. I'm starting to like the new Henry. I smile at everyone surrounding me and decide to take action.

"Okay firstly no rampages yet, the king doesn't know we're on our way so from this point onwards we maintain radio silence which also includes no running in blind to kill my mate," I shoot a playful glare at the boys who all look at me in frustration. I laugh at their reactions and smile at the fact that they always have my back, "Next up we have to find a place to set up camp. I know we've traveled far but we're not done yet. I want to make it halfway to the docks by nightfall then in the morning we can get there and take a boat to vampire territory. I know we all wanted to fly instead but the vampires could easily spot a plane landing on their territory and I didn't want to take that risk-"

"Um, Lia..." Selena speaks up. I turn to her.

"Yes, Selena?" She never interrupts me during a briefing. I raise my brow at her and urge her to get on with it.

"We passed the halfway point about half an hour ago. We were running so fast and without breaking that we covered way more ground than anticipated." I give her an incredulous look and take a look at the map, charting all the landmarks around us. I snap my eyes back up at them.

Well, I'll be damned...

I let out a burst of nervous laughter as I reassess the situation. "Okay, new plan. Dylan and Dominic will collect firewood while Henry and I get to work on finding hidden shelters since staying in the open would be far too dangerous. The rest of you will take care of food and a perimeter scan, make sure we're alone." They all nod at me before splitting up into their assigned teams. Henry and I start walking through the forest in silence, trying to find a shelter, "Remember we're looking for something like a cave or abandoned cabins, something unsuspecting and hidden."

We walk in silence as we search the area, trying to find shelter. As alphas, we were trained to be stealthy but just in case, "tăcere" I cast a spell over us, making us practically indetectable to anything within a 50-mile radius. "Lia, I think we should talk about the alliance." I halt in my tracks and turn to face Henry who has a hesitant smile on his lips. "After everything that's happened and the impending war, I think we should reconsider our rejecting the marriage proposal"

I consider Henry's words. I don't want to give up on my mate and I never thought I'd be marrying Henry willingly but things have changed and we have to take that into consideration now, after all, we're not kids anymore, we're alphas. I sigh, "Henry, I-"

"Rogue vampires, about 50 of them, spotted East of our position, the rest of us have taken shelter, I suggest you do the same."

Selena's voice breaks through the link, momentarily cutting mine and Henry's conversation short. I can't let them find us, we might be strong but we'd be heavily outnumbered and it's way too risky to try and fight them on our own.

Oh screw it