Chapter 26

Lia~

"Miriam, don't forget to finish the lacing on the shirt, Lola, can you tell the twins to be here in an hour, and Jake, remember to check in with the bakers on the progress of the cake. My wedding and alpha ceremony is tomorrow and I just want it to go smoothly, people." Everyone bows and scampers off while I sink into my chair with a deep sigh. I unofficially took over as alpha after the challenge, meaning I'd have to plan the whole thing as well as run the pack. My mother is still bitter but we've called a truce and Henry arrived yesterday so he's been helping here and there, although he still has an obligation towards his own pack so his focus is split. I start going over the paperwork concerning disputes between packs in the kingdom. As the future Queen, it is my responsibility to look after my people which in turn means I'd have to solve all disputes, petty or not. A knock sounds at my door, "Enter."

The two idiots bursting through my door are the last people I'd expect to see this early, especially since I just told Lola to have them here in an hour, "Hey, sis, love what you've done with the place. The clear misery on your face really complements the beige walls."

"Yes, brother I completely agree with you there. Not to mention the bags under her eyes. The perfect accessory for the wedding, all the rage in Paris I hear."

"I couldn't have said it better myself." The two idiot twin alphas continue to joke about my appearance and make fun of how serious I look. I roll my eyes at them and bang my head against the table, completely exhausted.

"Dominic, Dylan, please shut the fuck up!" but obviously with these two, I never get my way.

"Jeez, you'd think our sister would be happy to see us." Dominic, the jokester.

"Well, obviously, being a queen is taking its toll on her." And Dylan the serious jokester.

The two of them have always been like family and even though we're not actually related, they still treat me like I'm their little sister. They may be twins but they look almost nothing alike. Dominic is tall with dirty blonde hair and green eyes, taking after his mother and Dylan, while still tall, takes after his father with his chocolate-colored hair and blue eyes. Their faces however are a perfect mixture of Carla and Joseph, the previous alpha and Luna of the Night Howl pack before these two imbeciles took over three years ago.

Dylan taps on my arm while Dominic comes to stand behind me, "Seriously, sis, it looks like you could use a break so why don't we go for a run or even just a stroll through the pack. You'd be surprised how much good just taking a walk can do." I think about it for a moment before grabbing my jacket and following them downstairs. They tell me about their pack and how they still haven't found their mates although they hope to find her at the crowning ceremony tomorrow.

" Where do you think you're going?" I turn to her and send her a glare. I rub the bridge of my nose and sigh.

"I'm going for a run with Dom and Dyl, mother. As soon as I come back I'll continue my duties but for now, I need a break." the twins nod along with me and we walk past her to the door, laughing and making jokes. Clarissa comes behind me and stops me before I can leave.

"Before you go, darling, can you give me the deciphered copy of the book? I'd like to read through it, find ways to help you and better your training." Oh yes, I almost forgot about that. I conjure up the book and create an exact copy but in English this time, with the exception of the spells, of course. I give her the book and turn back towards Dom and Dyl who are gaping at me like I've grown two heads.

Shit!

They didn't know I'm a tribrid. Well, they do now I guess. Before either of them can say anything I drag them out to the middle of the woods. I let go of their arms and send them a nod, "Go ahead."

"What the fuck?!" they scream in unison. I wince. Damn my heightened hearing.

"Okay, first of all, barieră. " I create a barrier around us, protecting us from prying eyes and curious ears. "I'm the tribrid of legend, yes I exist and I have magic and vampire abilities." I wait for them to overreact, to get mad, to do something!

Dominic gasps, "That's how you always beat us in races you cheater!" we all stare at each other before bursting out laughing. Leaving it up to Dom to lighten the mood. "Okay okay enough laughing, let's see the wolf of the Tribrid of legend" I smirk at him.

"You mock me, peasant, I will show you!" I say in an exaggerated accent before focusing on my wolf and shifting into Raeya. I hear Dominic and Dylan gasp as I shake out my fur and stand on all fours. I look down at my paws and notice something different, instead of stark white I see blue. I focus on the spell I want to do. The book said I could do magic in wolf form so let's test it out. oglindă (mirror). I say the spell in my head and a mirror appears in front of me. I howl out of joy. I honestly didn't think that would work. I look into the mirror and have to do a double-take. It's definitely Raeya but instead of stark white, my fur is now streaked with dark navy blue, almost black but my eyes are still blue speckled with gold.

"Woah," they both say at the same time. Woah is right. I've never seen these colors on a wolf and I've never seen a wolf with more than one colored fur especially with this stark contrast. There are streaks throughout my body as well as the tips of my ears and tail. "I'm going to be honest with you cuz when they said your wolf was magnificent, I didn't think they meant this."

I form a link between the three of us, "I didn't look this way before, maybe winning the alpha challenge and becoming queen alpha made my wolf stronger." They look at me in shock while I give a wolfie chuckle, One of my powers is that I can do magic while in wolf form and I can create links between anyone regardless of pack or species." They nod, processing the information. I duck down and wag my tail, "Now enough of this. Catch me if you can!" And with that, I take off running through the forest, hearing the sound of bones cracking followed by paws digging into the dirt, trying to catch up to me. I bask in the feeling of the wind in my fur, ducking under branches and jumping rivers. This is where I pity other species. They will never experience the thrill we feel in wolf form and they will never know how it feels to be truly free.

I stop near a waterfall and listen for the others. I can tell they're close but not close enough to spot me. I shift back into human form and climb up to the edge of the waterfall, ducking down and watching as they approach the river and look for me. Dom and Dyl both dive into the river, trying to cross in wolf form. I smirk as I stand up and they spot me. "Took you long enough!" And with that, I run to the edge and jump into the freezing river below. I open my eyes underwater just in time to see them shifting back and Dominic, now soaked to the bone, diving at me. I try to swim away but Dylan grabs me from the other side and pulls me up above the water. I cough up the water I accidentally swallowed and wiggle out of his arms. I open my mouth to speak but before I can even get a word out Dylan splashes me with water. I give him a look of pure shock before lifting my hands, creating a giant sphere of water above him, and dropping it on his head. Dominic bursts out laughing and it turns into a full-on splash war. The twins team up and start splashing me while I laugh till my stomach hurts too much for me to utter a spell. I dive underwater but they pull me back up before launching me back under.

I freeze as the beta tries to form a link with me. I allow her and all playing comes to an end. "You're Highness, we just got word from the future beta. The message was brief and choppy but we managed to decipher it. They've been kidnapped, her, your mate, and two others named Julia and Jackson." I jump out of the water and shift midair sending a quick message through the link to the twins. I take off towards the palace and it's not long before I hear them right behind me. I growl as I push myself to go faster, knowing that whoever did this was going to pay.