The Royal Triumvirate

Chapter Forty-Six: Reina

When she opened her eyes, Reina found herself somewhere unexpected. It was small alcove in a garden. She and Dana were standing on a stone walkway with two stone walls on either side of them. On their right the wall was covered with roses and vines. To their left the wall formed a crescent around a marble bench. Rose bushes surrounded the back half of the bench. Looking up Reina saw was what appeared to be a black sky with bright stars, however squinting she could almost see little grey pathways connecting each of the stars. The path ahead of them was guarded by an ornate metal gate enclosed in a dark grey archway.

"Where are we?" Dana asked turning in a circle. "I thought we supposed to be inside Alex's worst memory."

"I don't know," Reina said frowning. "Maybe something..."

Her words were cut off by a rustling in the bushes nearby. A moment later a wolf slipped out of them and sat in front of the bench licking her paw. Reina's eyes went wide. It was Xandara but...she was different. It took her a moment to realize what was off about the black wolf in front of her. She was clearly younger judging by the absence of scars on her back.

"Xandara?" Dana whispered. The wolf apparently hadn't noticed them because she yelped and scrambled into a defensive position.

"Who are you?" Xandara growled. Reina absently noted that it sounded like Xandara was actually speaking aloud rather than using the mind-link before answering her wolf mate.

"Don't you recognize us?" she asked. "It's Reina and Dana. Your mates. We're here to help you and Alex. Where is she?"

"Mates?" Xandara murmured confusedly. She laid down and put her paws over her head. "My head hurts. Trapped. Separated. To protect me."

Reina could feel Dido reaching out to her scared mate but to her surprise, it felt like Dido stepped outside of her mind. She could see her wolf approaching their cowering mate.

"It's ok. We're here," Dido murmured. "Where are you?"

Xandara whined, "we were captured. Alex wants me to conserve my strength so we separated our minds until we can escape."

"We want to help Alex," Reina said kneeling down in front of the young wolf. "How can we get to her?"

"You'll have to start from the beginning," Xandara muttered. Pointing with her nose, the gate suddenly vanished, and Reina could see a blurry image projected within the archway.

"Let's go," she said. Meeting both Dana's and her wolf's eyes, (that was a weird feeling), they steeled themselves to pass through the arch but were stopped by Xandara softly whining and moving listlessly. It seemed she somehow forgot the others were there because she kept muttering to herself.

"Alone. Want to help. So alone. Trapped."

Dido sat back on her haunches and out of the corner of her eye, Reina saw Avalon step away from Dana. The white wolf glanced at her human and their mate before speaking.

"You two go and help Alex. We'll stay here with Xandara. ...Wherever here is."

Reina nodded then she grabbed Dana's hand and together they stepped through the archway.

Blinking as they stepped out of the memory portal, the two mates found themselves in a warm wooden room. Along one wall they could see a small kitchen with its counters covered in clutter. Books opened to various pages, ingredients scattered around in varying degrees of preparedness, and on the stove, they could see a bubbling cauldron being stirred by a floating spoon. In front of them was a wooden table with four chairs and the far wall was covered by disorganized bookshelves. They could also see a pair of doorways in between the kitchen nook and bookshelves. Behind them a door flew open and in walked...Alex.