She And The Alley

The King purposely ignored the man's words. He always knew the northern council man was full of tricks too many to count, and his mother may have fallen prey to one of them. But at the same time he liked the idea of Braheri coming here; it served him great purpose.

"Very quickly, have my in-law put on a chamber befitting of his status. Remember to treat him as royalty. I would want it to be a surprise for my dear wife…who has been feeling homesick for days now." He ordered some guards who was sure to stand outside the room.

Basalom was confused and as well angry but he didn't let it show. The cunny old man had wanted to capitalize on the strained relationship between mother and son to institute his own plans, but now Razhal seemed to somehow know of it.

Once his orders were being carried out he brought his attention back to the decaying body in front of them and also to the deceased woman's husband.

"It is a great shame your wife met with such tragedy. As your king I empathize with you and also mourn with your family, but as also you can see there is nothing to be done. The only thing we all can do is to hope that she finds peace while on her journey to the moon…"

Successfully closing the case it automatically brought the meeting to an end. He took one cold but brief glance at his mother and without uttering a word he strode out of the throne room with some guards in tow.

"And what now do we do son of Joff? You've successfully succeeded in cutting links with the Queen, or have you gained real power now…is that it?"

Priel badgered the other man with questions in front of the palace gates. It was just the both of them and also four others who served as attendants including their own personal guards.

"Don't worry. Ygrette would think twice before cutting me off; it is not her that worries me but her son. I smell secrets around the Beast; secrets that would be too big for the realm to handle. Which makes me think it's time to introduce a new addition to the royal family…"

"And you think his mother would look upon your suggestion in good faith…? Have you forgotten how she gets?" Priel probed further and a frown began to appear on Basalom's forehead.

"You ask too many questions for your age. All these years you've been with me and still yet you know nothing about my ways. Tell your crook of a son to escort the parcel through the borders…that is if he could manage it"

The angry man didn't wait to hear the man's own reply and matched away with his own entourage.

****

The young Queen had waited to be summoned. A day passed, then the second and then the third but still no news about her fate.

Sophiet and other servants had been tending to her in place of the other two women who were nowhere to be found. Farah and Gal hadn't been seen in two days and that even heightened her apprehension.

What if they were caught…or even locked up in a dungeon somewhere?

The questions were many but with so little answers.

When on the fourth day she could no longer let herself be subjected to such turmoil, the red head stepped out for fresh air.

There was a garden that sat directly under her own room. She was told it was kept for whosoever would take up the position as Queen, but Verona had been so involved in many things not to have the time to indulge in pastimes.

It was a beautiful vegetation with so many flowers even the ones deemed already extinct across the realm. Some she knew to be poisonous and others medicinal.

Her thoughts were somehow brought back to the home she used to share with her husband. He had given her a small backyard garden but all she could grow in them were edible fruits and vegetables she cooked with.

Although he hadn't had the time to tend it with her but on rare days he had watched her from the kitchen window with a warm smile that spoke of his love.

A drop of water fell on her thigh and she first thought it to be rain but when she touched a finger to her face…she realized they were tears.

Here she was in a strange palace, married to a man she doesn't love and also planning to kill that same man for killing her mate. Verona thought her life a mess and knew that living would become difficult when everything comes to an end. After she must have killed the King and the others who carried out the murder, she knew there must be some kind of restitution for her sins…because one who lives by the sword would surely die by it.

From where she sat in the calmness of the garden she saw a group of young warriors trudging towards another corner behind the palace. They seemed too young and she wondered if they too would be pushed into battle anytime a war should break out which seem possible by the aura thick in the air.

Verona wondered how their fate may have been different if this were another time.

Somehow, as if lost in a trance she found herself following them albeit from a distance. All eight of them were tall and lanky but their aura told her they would be of Alpha descent. But yet again, there was another smell she couldn't yet place.

They were laughing about something and had their arms holding onto each others necks; a typical adolescent behavior of which shouldn't look suspicious. Soon they crossed over to a darker part of the palace in between two large buildings where a small fish pond was kept.

This would be her first time exploring these grounds or even any grounds to speak off, so for a moment she was taken by it.

Lost in her own world she heard the first hit and it was followed by another. The group of innocent looking boys had forgone the innocence which she now sensed were a façade and was now showing their true colors upon another boy.

Her eyes had failed to notice there was some other boy in their midst; also tall but not up to their height. He smelt like a runt, a term used to describe wolves incapable of shifting. It was shocking how the smell had failed to register in her head, even though she used to once smell like that.

"Haa lets see how much he's able to take today…"

"C'mon now, with the way he wolfed down that pudding I knew the bastard would provide great entertainment" another one laughed.

"Wheew even the goddess would be embarrassed of him. Should have never been born a creep. Seen the way he looked at Amalla as she took the stairs?"

"yea yea he maybe a runt but the desires must be there. I may even had seen a bulge. Hahahaha"

"Should we check and see?…what if it's already there? I once heard his kind do get pleasure from getting whipped."

The boys were mocking, kicking, prodding and doing all sorts to the smaller boy who was scrunched into a ball to evade them. His bones snapped and cracked so many times the sound grated inside her ears.

Verona was taken with anger and didn't know when she stepped into the alley and her presence got their attention.

"Who is that…?" one boy asked with trepidation in his voice. He was afraid but the one closest to him took the mantle and stepped forward. It was clear he was orchestrating the entire act.

"Yea…who are you and why have you come to worry us?"

In his bid to intimidate her, the boy shifted away from the one on the floor and his face became visible to her.

It was the guard.

The one who had led her into almost getting stripped on that eventful day.

Seeing him now he looked skittish and with deep sorrows bringing back her curiosity.

"Hey I asked you a question. Tell me why you have come here…before you'll feel the weight of my fists. Or…would you rather like the weight of something else…?" he asked suggestively and his friends laughed heartily like he had told the greatest joke ever.

Verona heaved loudly through the back of her throat and watched the boy's laughter cease.

They looked confused and the sight thrilled her.

The heaving continued and when it seemed like it stopped, she turned towards the callous young Alpha and sent a mucus filled spittle flying onto his face.

Their outrage came immediately as the rest shifted away from him. The idiot was rubbing his face thereby spreading it all over.

"How does it feel…?" she asked cheerily and that incited the fellow who rushed towards her with a mighty growl; both human and wolf.

And she waited patiently for him.