The Broken Queen

Chapter 20: History

Dani's POV:

We are all walking through the forest in search of a cave, or alternative shelter and protection when I stop still. This clawing sensation is gradually building up behind my eyes. It feels like burning claws are scratching at my eyeballs. Owwwww. It's time to meet my vampire, I'm guessing. And just like that it all goes dark, and I'm pushed back in my mind. While she comes out, I decide to play with Kayla in the inner world, praying she gets along with my pack, in the meantime.

Hulu's POV:

We are chatting away when Alpha Brown falls silent and stops walking all of sudden. I look back to see her clutching her head, groaning in pain. She gives us all a look that tells us it's time for her second shift for either her vampire or dragon. Goddess it still sounds like crazy talk, imagine having a dragon, the last one to exist. That's pretty badass but I feel sorry for her dragon too because the only one of it's kind will be extremely lonely. I pull myself out of my thoughts when I hear a sharp, long whistling sound. I look at our Alpha, but I'm looking at a totally new person. She has vibrant red hair, magenta eyes, really sharp fangs, sharper than a wolf's and she is very short. She is only up to about my shoulder I'd say.

This must be the Alpha's vampire. I eye the guys, and no one moves, they just stare at this short but intimidating girl with wide eyes, their wolves on edge. So, I decide to step forward and introduce myself. "Hi, I'm Hulu, you are my Alpha's vampire I'm guessing. It's nice to meet you, what's your name?" I say slowly, gaging her reaction. I fear our Alpha as it is, but this is a vampire. I have only heard horror stories in story books as a pup, about how vampires love to hunt wolves or enslave them with wolfsbane.

I entangle my fingers to try to hide my anxiety around her kind. The vampire grins at me but there is something deeply unsettling about it. She seems to notice because she suddenly smiles normally and introduces herself. "Hey, Hulu, I'm Olivia, and yes I am a vampire. You are brave, you would be a good guard for Dani. I'm sure you have all heard how our kind tends to hunt yours?" She looks us dead in the eye and laughs hysterically.

"Oh darlings, that aint true. You hunt each other, my kind has hunted wolves in the past but that was centuries ago. Although there are still those rare case where some bloomen wolf attacks, hurts or kills one of ours. If that's the case, then we will get revenge however we see fit. Whether that's by killing you or killing your loved ones and making you watch their executions. So, please, for your own sakes, keep your paws off of Dani. You do not want to get on my bad side, trust me." She smirks smugly at the sentence making me gulp nervously, not wanting to underestimate her and unconsciously take a step back.

"Me, Kayla, and Dani's Dragon Reno, grew up together in the inner world with the Moon Goddess before we were bound to Dani, and we are all extremely protective of her. Understood?" she asks seriously. We all nod fearfully, and step away from her.

"Now, I'm gonna go introduce myself to Dani, since I've surfaced, so I'll see ya sometime in the future? See ya, byyyyye" she says before she disappears in a cloud of smoke, which reveals Alpha Brown again, standing in front of us looking quite confused. We all rush to help her get steady on her feet. "Well? What happened?" she asks dazed. We all look at each other trying to decide who would answer and what to say. Her friend and Beta, Bree chimes in. "Emmm, we met your vamp, her name is Olivia. She seems nice but is seriously creepy as hell and very intimidating for her short stature" Dani laughs and responds to Bree with "well that's why you should never underestimate anyone, especially the small ones" with a smile on her face, trying to hold in her laughter.

90 minutes later...

We finally stumble upon a decent sized cave roughly forty miles from where we fought, and Dani took us all in. It's up the side of a mountain a bit and is directly overlooking a large clearing with a river flowing through it. Once we are all settled down and satisfied, we just start chatting with our new Alpha. "So guys, how old are you? Tell me your stories. If you are okay with doing so of course." she says smiling softly. Maybe she isn't too bad...I'm starting to see the kind, gentle, human-like side to her. Ethan speaks first.

"Quinn and I were in the same pack; we are originally from the Ice Moon pack. I'm fourteen and Quinn is twelve. Our pack was attacked by rogues about two years ago. We fled with our mother but, she didn't survive, and we soon met Edgar. He had been the leader of the attack on our pack and quickly found out from his spies that we had a little sister and sick father at home. He blackmailed us into joining and fighting for him, as he did with all his members. He even provided us with photographic proof that he had unlawful surveillance directly on our family."He pauses as his breathing becomes shaky.

"We had no choice, our little sister Milly is only five and she is raised mostly by the Luna, who can't have pups. Our father is dying, and if I'm honest, he could already be dead, and we wouldn't even know, since we are no longer in the pack. When we joined Edgar, we met these fools, and we all have been best friends ever since. The rogues you guys killed back there, were dickheads anyways who willingly followed and swore loyalty to Edgar."

Alpha Brown listens intently to the story before whipping out a little notepad and pencil and starts taking notes? What in the world? "Ethan, Quinn...we will get you back home and if you want to go back to your family you have my full permission, or if you would like, you could stay with us, and your family can join us too. I will accept them with open arms. It's yere decision to make and I will not make them for you or force you to do anything" she assures them. She gives them a kind smile. Goddess, where is this side of her coming from?

Ethan and Quinn almost burst into tears. Dominiqué speaks next. "I'm 10. My older sister and I were playing when I was only 7, and Olive was 9. We were playing catch and went out too far and got lost. We didn't feel anything when we crossed the border because of our age, so we didn't realize where we were, until we couldn't recognize our surroundings anymore. We were rogues by mistake, we tried our best to survive but no matter how hard we tried, we couldn't find our way back to the Greenies Pack."

"We got separated a year ago and I got roped in with Edgar when I was so weak, I was on the verge of death. He said if I followed him, he would keep me alive and safe. If I died out there, I'd have no hope of getting back to my sister. You actually remind a lot of her Alpha. You are kind, brave and beautiful, just like Olive" Alpha Brown takes more notes before responding, though she smiles lovingly at the last part.

"Okay, Nick we will look for Olive, and if she is still out there, we will find her, I promise." Stir fry begins to cry but before anyone else has a chance to react, our Alpha reaches out and puts her arms around her in a loving and protective embrace. It's amazing how someone so dangerous and intimidating is actually so loving and gentle at the same time. The Alpha's friends look at each other before the girl speaks up.

"I think that's enough emotional stories for one day, how about we get some rest and continue this group session tomorrow yeah?" That sounds like a good idea to be honest, and we all agree. The sun is starting to set, and I am feeling very sleepy. We should try to cheer Quinn up tomorrow, she's like our little sister. We all lay down on the cave floor like a line of logs or something before drifting off to asleep.

3hrs later...

I'm woken up by the sound of a girl sobbing. I rub my sleepy eyes and look around; the Alpha is missing. Immediately alert, I quickly get up and walk towards the opening of the cave. The cries become louder, and I stop when I realize it's Alpha Brown, she's sitting on a ledge of the cave with a blade in her hand, her feet dangling over the edge, sobbing.