The Alpha Queen And Her Chosen Mate
Chapter 61

Thorin

Keres was not holding back, which was perfect in today’s case. She was tearing through the chupacabras like they were made of paper. On some level, I was proud. On another level, I hoped that when these beasts were gone she wouldn’t then turn on me or anyone else in the palace for that matter.

Keres took on the masses while I handled the stragglers. We worked together like a well oiled machine. Everything was going great, we had most of the palace cleared, but then Keres came to a quick halt.

“Keres?” I asked.

She growled and then turned and sprinted down the hall towards the alpha wing. I wondered what was going on. Were the survivors being attacked? That was the first thing that crossed my mind, anyway, until I saw Emmett running away. I slowed and watched as he ran with purpose. And then I saw a group of chuparacabs stalk after him.

Praying that Keres wouldn’t harm any of our people, I took off after Emmett and the chupacabras. I saw Emmett slip inside a set of double doors, leaving the beasts on the outside with me. It was a four to one match, but I had confidence. I killed the first two with ease, the third one was giving me trouble though. He was bigger than the rest, stronger looking too. His scaly skin was harder to penetrate with my sword. That in mind, I quickly shifted and watched as horror washed over the beast. It began to run but its claws were slipping on the marble floor. In one quick crunch, he was no more, leaving only one sorry soul to deal with.

Not a moment later, Emmett burst out of the doors he had gone through, his shirt on fire and a smoking plant in his hands. He hadn’t the slightest clue that he was being stalked by the runt of the group, or that I was even there. As soon as the chupacabra lept into the air, so did I. I latched onto its neck midair and bit down, snapping its neck. Emmett had wide eyes for a moment before standing to his feet.

“Thanks.” He nodded. “We need to get back to the alpha wing, Kelly needs us.” He said over his shoulder, already running back from where he had come.

I let my wolf take the lead, keeping a sharp eye out for any more of the hideous creatures. What I saw instead made me sad. Broken windows, rooms on fire, destroyed furniture, and easily a hundred dead bodies of both the Chupacabras and our people. It only got worse when I saw the survivors. There weren’t as many as I had expected, more than half were pups, scared beyond belief. The rest were mostly women and a few wounded. Emmett was tending to the wounded, preparing them for travel, while Jonas was helping the pups and uninjured out of one of the broken windows, trying to get them to safety. I looked around, my heart heavy when I saw what had caught Keres’ attention mid battle.

I decided then to give her a moment and help Jonas with the pups instead. I pushed past a few survivors, my wolf a bit large in the room, before carefully jumping out of the first story window. I laid down and looked at Jonas and he nodded and began loading the pups onto my back. I recognized the two as being Kelly’s nieces. They had the same blond hair and blue eyes as both Kelly and Kelsey.

The full gravity of the situation was beginning to settle upon me. I had to get these pups to safety. I would not let their fate end up like Alina’s. I would not be forced to look the pups’ parents in the eye and tell them I failed them. As soon as Jonas loaded the last one onto my back, telling them each to hang on tight, I started walking, eventually turning into a trot and then a jog. The women were close behind me, followed by Jonas and Emmett, who were helping the wounded get out.

I led them all to the safest area I could think of, which was the training ground that Kelly and I practiced at. It was completely surrounded by a large barrier, and was Keres proof. There was only one entrance which stayed locked at all times. Only a few people have access to this area through an eye scanner with an air lock door system. It was moments like this that I appreciated the Kings disgression. There was no way the beasts could get inside, not unless they were dropped from the sky, which I didn’t see happening. Plus, even if they did, I had every type of weapon imaginable at my disposal.

I trotted up to the eye scanner and let it do its thing, the gate buzzed and began to open, once it was shut, I scanned my eyes again and the second set of doors opened up. Some relief came over me when I saw that it was loaded with nothing but other survivors. Thank goddess.

– – – – – – – –

Kelly

A pit formed in my stomach as soon as Jonas called me, or Keres rather. We each had our assignment, so for him to call me was already a red flag. But then for him not to tell me what the problem was when I kept asking caused me even more anxiety. Keres was thankfully satisfied with her killings enough to let me shift back as I arrived at the alpha wing. I ran inside, the first thing I saw was a sobbing Kelsey. I looked around and saw a flipped over table with a large table cloth and yanked it out from the rubble. It would have to do for now.

“What’s wrong? What happened?” I asked as I wrapped the table cloth around me, already being flanked by Kelsey.

“Kelly!” Kelsey sobbed.

“What happened?” I asked again, harsher this time. “Where is everyone? Mom, Dad, Kylie?”

“Mom is dead.” She sobbed.

Everything in me wanted to drop to the floor and curl up into a little ball and sob just as much as Kelsey was right now. We were too late. But now was not the time to grieve. I didn’t have the luxury.

“Okay, its okay.” I said, pulling her into a hug, my eyes blinking over and over and over again trying to fight the tears that were about to fall. “Where is dad?”

“Kelly,” Jonas said, a grim look on his face. He stood in the doorway that led to my parents’ bedroom. I hesitantly let go of Kelsey and slowly walked towards him, afraid to look any further, but knowing I had to.

I peaked inside, fighting the gasp that almost escaped from seeing my father. Only, it wasn’t the strong alpha I had left. The man lying in bed looked like a hollow version of that man.

“Dad?” I asked as I kneeled down at his bedside.

“K-kelly?” He said, cracking his bloodshot eyes open.

“What happened?” I asked, looking over him. Only then did I notice his sheets were bloodstained. I hesitantly lifted the edge and covered my mouth when I saw one of his arms was missing.

“Your mother, she passed several days ago.” He coughed, b***d staining his teeth. “Her death nearly killed me.”

“I’m so sorry I wasn’t here.” I began to cry.

“Everyone felt her passing.” He wheezed. “The chupacabras. I knew they had increased in numbers over the past year, but I didn’t think much of it. They attacked the day after your mother passed away.” He struggled to say. “I was too weak to fight, but so was everyone else. Her death weakened the kingdom. It was hardly a battle, it was a slaughter. We lost many good men and women and even pups.” He said, a tear falling from the corner of his eye.

“Its okay, its going to be okay. We will figure out something.” I swallowed, the lump in my throat burning.

“I know you will, you will make an excellent queen.” He coughed.

“Me?” I choked out. “No-no-no. You’re going to be okay. We got all the ingredients for the Elixir. We can make it and you’ll be okay.” I cried.

“You and I both know I don’t have much time left.” He wheezed. “It is clear you are capable, more than me in fact.” He chuckled, breaking out into a coughing fit. “My only regret is not making you queen sooner. I thought I was protecting you from the hardships of ruling. And I worried about Keres, even after you got her under control. But obviously, I was wrong about so many things. I hope you can forgive me one day.”

“There is nothing to forgive.” I shook my head, wiping away some of my tears.

“I love you Kelly.” He smiled softly. “You will do great things.” He paused, taking a deep breath. “I, Carson Cook, Alpha Werewolf King of the Western territories, hereby surrender my title to you, Werewolf Princess Kelly Cook.” He grunted and sat up, reaching out to me with his other hand, which was covered in b***d, and grabbed my hand. As soon as we touched, I felt a surge of power wash through me. “All hail the new queen.” He said softly, before lying back down.

“Dad?” I croaked, feeling his hand go limp in mine. His eyes were fixated somewhere off in the distance and I watched as he took his last breath.