Becoming the Alpha Queen

Chapter 23

Cynthia POV

I sat in the kitchen, just staring at the plate of food Cristobal had brought me, unable to eat. I sighed deeply, knowing in my heart that no matter how badly I wanted and needed Phantom to stay in my life, i could do nothing against the poisonous silver running through her blood. I pushed the plate of food away from me, unable to eat for once in my life. I got up and made my way to the back of the clinic, following the faint trail that Cristobal had left behind.

That's interesting I thought to myself human stench lasts a lot longer and is stronger.

But I shrugged it off and opened the back door. Faints yips and howls greeted me, but no matter how noisy it was, I could only make 5 distinct voices, or barks, of dogs. I continued to follow the trail through the seemingly empty part of the pound, winding my way through rows and rows of empty cages.

Good. No matter how primal, animals should not be locked up in cages.

As I rounded the corner, I caught sight of Cristobal, kneeling by a large white dog, his hair covering his peripheral vision so he didn't see me. As I approached, I was able to hear him murmuring to the dog, which at this point I noticed was a pure white German Shepard.

"You know, it's kind of sad the state of that wolf I brought in. I am barely managing to keep her alive no matter how hard i try. And you know the council banned me from practicing magic to cure other races. They're so selfish!" the dog barked. "I know Tequila, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to raise my voice. But its so frustrating. She's a werewolf, don't you see?!" The dog, who I assumed was Tequila, growled. "Oh...riiiiiiigghttt. Uhm. Sorry. But you get my anger right? I cant help her because shes a werewolf and I'm just a human that was born with a gift. When the Coven raised me, I was told my gift was to help the people and creatures i could, no matter how small or how large. But i guess that that's what got me trouble in the first place right?" he sighed. "I feel like she needs my help. but I'm probably just crazy."

I finally had the guts to interrupt him. "The Coven? You meant the witches coven? Youre a witch???"

Cristobal let out a small yelp and tumbled backwards. The German Shepard turned and growled in my general direction and when I looked at her, I realized her eyes were a milky white. She's blind.

"Silver!...I uh, didn't hear you coming."

"Answer the question."

"How did you hear what i was talking about?"

"You know the answer to that question, now answer mine."

The German Shepard snapped her teeth, the hair along her spine standing on end.

"Tequila! Down." Cristobal commanded. The dog lay down but continued to growl at me threateningly. "Sorry about her. She has trust issues."

"Answer the question."

"Wow, you got your confidence back really quickly didnt you. Well....do we have to talk about this out here?" he asked, emphasizing 'out here.'

"I need an answer, Christobal."

"Okay okay, lets go inside okay, let me just let the dogs go."

I nodded, but kept my eyes on him as he went to each cage and unlatched each gate, letting out a sharp whistle as he did. Out of the 6 cages he opened, only five dogs came out and followed behind him in a pack formation. Seeing Cristobal interact with these animals and lead them reminded me so much of my father, at the head of every pack run, and of Steven and Nyx's fathers, who sometimes led the hunts during winter. He's an Alpha in his own right I thought to myself.

He led the dogs out into a large space that bordered the edge of the forest adn let out two short whistes, releasing them from folowwing him. The dogs took off with much eagerness and yipped in glee as they were allowed to stretch their legs. Cristobal noticed he seemed to be missing one so he turned back towards the last cage, where no dog had come out of. "Not today Mafia?" he asked talking to what i assumed was the dog that inhabited that cage. "Okay well, maybe tomorrow." He siged and closed the gate to her kennel.

"I'm still waiting you know." I said, tapping my foot impatiently.

Cristobal sighed but didn't turn towards me.

"Okay...just promise to keep an open mind please?"

"Hm......"

"....follow me then."

He led me back inside the building and I followed closely, looking for any indication that the boy in front of me was anything but human. Perhaps it was that i had been away from humans too long or that my normally keen senses were still overwhelmed by the scents and sounds of the pound that I saw nothing different. Or maybe, Cristobal was just really great at hiding it.

He led me back upstairs to the room and turned towards me.

"Please. Dont make me do this." he mumbled quietly, looking at the floor.

"Cristobal, I'm sorry, but I need answers."

He whimpered. "I understand. But can I can I ask you to do something for me if something goes wrong?"

"...sure." I hesitated, wondering if I should stay and help him. Of course you should, you idiot. He's the only reason you're alive right now.

"Okay. If...anything makes you scared or worried, just say 'lupus ad lucem dirigas vias tuas omnique perit ante vos,' allright?" he said, making sure I recited the line to him so that I wouldn't stumble over it.

I nodded.

"All right. Here goes." he sighed and dropped to the floor. 

In second the boy that had once stood in front of me with black hair and blue eyes was no more. In his place stood a large black wolf, eyes narrowed, ears pinned back and teeth bared. I gasped and took a step back, not breaking eye contact. The wolf growled at me and without a second warning, he lunged straight for my throat.

Hey guys!

I'M BAAAAACCCCKKKK
Or well...at least for a little bit.

I'm so sorry that I've kept you guys waiting for so long. If you guys hate me for taking so long to update say 'aye!' *resounding chorus of 'aye's' all around*. Oh well, all right then...I don't think I can apologize enough for this. I've been having such a hard time with school and work, and trying to juggle home life with my boyfriend and everything seems to be falling to shit at home. I'm sorry that I lost my vision for this book and put it on hold for a while. I'm sorry that you guys waited so long for me to update. I'm sorry. I hope you guys can forgive me.

I hope that you all are doing really well. I missed all of you. We finally passed 4K reads! Wow, you guys are seriously the best!

Finals week is coming up so it will probably be a while before you guys see another chapter again. I'm sorry in advance. :'(  but i SWEAR I will be working on it as much as possible. 

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