You Rejected Me. Remember?
In Love With My Best Friend Chapter 24

Astrea

“So, what’s the plan?” I asked as the sun lowered itself, nearing the end of the day. My heart was hysterical and Ash seemed to be on the edge. To tell the truth, everyone was anxious, yet we had to face what was inevitable.

“I expect them to infiltrate the security at the border. I don’t know how they do it, but if their so-called secret weapon is going to be ready tonight, I expect them to do something if they are trying to defeat the current Queen, as Allan had said. So we will wait for an indication from our spies and then act,” Sir Elliot mumbled as he scanned through the rows of warriors who had gathered on the pack ground. Among them, Xander, who had completed his shift recently. Leo wasn’t allowed to join us, since he had not shifted.

“Are the old and sick moved to the bunkers?” The Queen questioned.

“Yes, Your Highness. At least two healers are in each bunker, to attend to them in case of an emergency. The minors and women who aren’t taking part in the fight are also in the safety bunkers,” I explained.

“And the infirmary?”

“Is on standby,” confirmed Sarah.

She asked us to check with the head healers if everything was ready and we did.

The light of the natural torch soon faded and we didn’t have to wait much longer. As the darkness of the night spread, the Royals received an alarming mindlink. The scouts who were patrolling the perimeter were falling down, unconscious onto the ground one by one.

“What in the world…” Sir Elliot gasped as all of us rushed outside.

“Quick! To the borders!” he ordered.

Soon, a massive army of wolves and lycans were dashing through the trees – an army which I was proud to be a part of. Some of us were in our wolf form while others were not.

When we arrived at the border, we were shocked to see several guards unconscious on the forest floor. They were completely motionless. Fearing that they were already dead or seriously injured, we hastened to attend to them. Upon checking their pulses, we found out that they weren’t deceased. They were just unconscious. No signs of external injuries could be detected, adding to our confusion. Yet, they were quickly taken away to be attended by the healers.

“Carry them to the infirmary! Quick!” The Queen ordered.

Some of our warriors obliged without wavering, while the rest remained, waiting for any orders. Before we could analyse what was going on, a distinctive and irritating scent hit our noses. The atmosphere tensed. I channeled my senses with those of my wolf and squinted into the darkness.

“Ash, be ready,” I called my wolf.

“Always,” she replied, allowing me full access to her senses.

Someone was there, and not just anyone. The rogues. We were right. They were here on the night of the b***d moon. I glanced at the sky. The full moon was already up in the sky. However, it was still silvery white, which meant that the b***d moon phase had not begun yet.

“Show yourselves! Cowards!” Sir Elliot growled, baring his teeth. All of us were on full alert.

Soon, a tall, buff man stepped out of the bushes, followed by an army of rogues. One by one, they revealed themselves. The tall man stepped forward. I could clearly see that he was strong. The silvery light of the moon highlighted his bulging muscles and well-toned body. An annoying smirk was plastered on his face as he glared at the royal couple.

“Calvin,” the Queen snarled. “How bold of you to step in front of us. You are a prisoner who has escaped from the dungeon. Aren’t you afraid that we might capture you or kill you on the spot?” She implored.

He chuckled.

“Still the same, eh? Arrogant and full of yourself. Five years have passed since we last met, dear Queen,” he mocked, deliberately pressing on his words as he addressed the Queen.

“I served you for three years before I was locked up. Where are the pleasantries?” he scoffed and glanced at his men.

“I thought I would have to sneak into the Palace and demand what I want from you all. But I guess you have made my work easier. You are here to see me,” he chortled.

The sound of his unsettling laughter made a shiver run down my spine.

“You never expressed your gratitude for my service… our service. The warriors do all the hard work yet you take all the credit!” He growled and scanned through the Queen’s army.

“Join us! I promise better days!” He bellowed. With an erratic heart, I glanced at the Queen, who was squinting at Calvin with a critical glare. Her fists were clenched and I knew she was on the edge of shifting to her lycan. What surprised me was when Allan, who was in his human form, stepped forward and faced the rogue leader.

“He lies! He will not give you better days. Your Queen takes good care of you. Don’t be fooled by his devious words!” He shouted loud enough for everyone to hear.

That seemed to have infuriated Calvin.

“Traitor!” His thunderous voice boomed, disrupting the peace of the night. His muscles bulged, yet suddenly he relaxed. His eyes clouded for a while and a sly smirk spread across his face.

He started to laugh. I shifted uncomfortably on my feet. The way Calvin acted was giving me the creeps.

“I doubt anyone would listen to a wolf who had lived as a rogue his whole life,” he snickered.

Silence followed until the warriors in the Queen’s army started to validate their loyalty to the Queen. Soon the whole atmosphere was booming with the heart-warming sound of their confirmations.

Calvin’s eyes widened, yet soon he composed himself. The Queen held her hand up, gesturing to her warriors to be silent.

“Not everyone is deranged and power hungry like you, Calvin,” she sneered.

“Whatever. Anyway, that isn’t why I was trying to sneak into your territory,” he stated. “I have come here to take what is mine.”

Once again, his eyes glimmered in an unnerving manner.

“Get real, Calvin. What you need to do is change. But I don’t see that happening anytime soon. So you need to get back behind bars,” Sir Elliot growled, glancing at his warriors. I knew he was about to command the fighters, so I prepared myself.

“Uh, uh” Calvin’s smirk widened.

“Before you do that, I think you should know that I have something very precious to you,” he snickered and snapped his fingers.

Two rogues who were standing beside him bowed down and rushed towards a bush. To our surprise, they dragged a limp body out of it. Her eyes were closed and her blond hair was tangled. There were red scratches and bruises on the visible parts of her body. She sure seemed to have struggled against them. Growls of anger rumbled throughout the Royal army.

My breathing caught in my throat. How….? My shock soon changed to fury. I felt my muscles stiffen as rage coursed through my veins. My face heated up in anger. All I wanted to do was rip that disgusting rogue apart, yet I would have to wait for the orders from our leaders.

“Zelda!” The Queen screamed.

“What! I thought she was in the bunker!” I heard Sarah gasp.

“She was…” I managed to growl in between my gritted teeth. I had seen her go into one of the bunkers. Danisha also confirmed that she was there. I couldn’t discern how she ended up with the rogues.

Anyway, that wasn’t the biggest concern at the moment. Why, and how would have to be answered later. My biggest distress was thinking of a way to get her back from those filthy scoundrels.

“Let my daughter go! You rascal!” Sir Elliot was raging. I had never heard him that angry. I literally felt the earth rumble at the force of his growl.

Clicking his tongue, Calvin tilted his head. He didn’t seem to be even a little bit intimidated. Or he was good at hiding it.

“Anger will get you nowhere, Sir,” he stressed on the word ‘sir’ as though he was taunting Sir Elliot.

“Your precious princess is too young anyway. I don’t want anything to do with her. Now give me what belongs to me, and I will return your precious daughter to you,” he demanded.

The Queen gulped. “What do you want?” She asked, clenching her fists.

Snickering, he pointed his finger in my direction. My heart raced.

“Her,” he signaled, and I felt as though the world stopped revolving.

“What?” The Queen hissed. “You are crazy!”

Xander stepped forward, while Sarah clasped her hand around mine. I could feel the heat of anger radiating from Xander as he stood beside me. After all, it was his little sister who they had held captive.

I was staring at Calvin in disbelief. Why did he want me? We never met, nor did we have any connection. I just couldn’t think of a good reason why he would want me in exchange for the Royal Princess.

“Give me what belongs to me,” he grumbled, and this time, he was looking straight at me. The hair on the back of my neck raised as I shuddered, yet I faced the perpetrator with all the courage that I could muster.

I heaved a deep breath and glanced at the Queen and her husband. They were undoubtedly troubled. They wouldn’t want to give me up, but it was their daughter who the scoundrels were holding hostage.

Nevertheless, I knew what I should do…

“I’ll go with you,” I stated firmly.

Xander glanced at me with wide eyes. “But… they… you…”

“We will try to trick them,” I mind linked him and the Royals. “I am a fully shifted alpha and Zelda is just a minor. I should go,” I told them via our link.

“Uh, uh. No secrets in public, my darling,” Calvin chuckled. He must have realised that we were mindlinking.

Narrowing my eyes at him, “I don’t care what you think. None of us does,” I scoffed.

“Feisty,” his grin widened. “I like feisty chicks.”

I felt like gagging.

The Queen walked up to me and held me at her arm’s length as tears brimmed in her eyes.

“Be careful,” her voice quivered. Nodding my head, I turned towards them.

“I will go with you, if you bring her to her parents. Now bring her here!” I demanded.

My stance seemed to amuse Calvin. He gestured to his loyal men, while the same annoying smirk was plastered in his face.

“You heard the lady. Take the girl,” he said. “But first, Elliot, step forward with my girl, so that we can exchange them,” he proposed.

I gritted my teeth. I wanted to scream. I was not his girl! It irked me that he kept calling me that.

Sighing, Sir Elliot held my hand. One of the rogues slowly picked Zelda’s motionless body up and sauntered over to us. Slowly, we also moved forward until we met.

My heart tugged when I saw how badly Zelda was battered. There was a dark spot on her forehead and fresh scratch marks on her arms. Since she was an unshifted lycan, she was generally like a human, hence her healing wasn’t accelerated.

I was prepared to fight as soon as they handed Zelda to her father. But as he handed Zelda to him, he mumbled something under his breath and blew into our faces.

I staggered back. Something wasn’t right. I was suddenly feeling drowsy. My eyelids drooped despite my efforts to stay awake and soon I was kneeling on the first floor.

“Now!” I heard a yell and then chaos. I glanced at Zelda through my eyelashes, who was now lying unconscious in front of me. Sir Elliot was in the same condition as I was. Regardless, he held onto his daughter, with whatever strength left in him.

I couldn’t focus on the mayhem on the field. The Royal army clearly outnumbered the rogues and I was sure that we had the upper hand.

My eyelids closed. I couldn’t help it. The force putting me to sleep was too strong. I felt myself being lifted up.

Who was that? I couldn’t detect the scent. Ash… where was she? I couldn’t hear my wolf. Maybe she was also under whatever spell the rogue had cast.

I tried to fight, yet, I had to give up. The spell was weakening me. All I wanted to do was sleep.

Yes… sleep. That was what I should do. I stopped struggling and slowly surrendered to the force that was putting me to slumber.