The Lost Queen

Ch. 1: New Beginnings

The young alpha hated Monday meetings.

Nobody liked Mondays to begin with, so to sit in an uncomfortable seat at the end of an ancient table, surrounded by even more ancient council members, wouldn't be a great start to anyone's week. Especially when her opinion to remove the older pack members was denied, and the only people she could bring in to join in on her meetings was Ronan, as her protector, and her family.

The urge to slump in her seat had never been greater until that moment, but she knew she couldn't. Not while the elders were talking and her father leveled his hard gaze on her whenever she'd look away from the conversation. Setting her jaw, she rolled her shoulders back and gave Elder Moors her attention for the last few minutes of the meeting.

His thin, withered lips moved in a frenzy, creating a stir among the rest of the council members as they grew more and more alarmed by whatever he was sharing. He pushed his alabaster braid over his shoulder with a sharp flick, irritated with the subject at hand. It wasn't until he finally stopped talking that Rayne Vance stopped daydreaming and pulled her alpha hat on.

"Our deepest apologies for the death of your livestock, Elder Moors," Rayne said, keeping her tone calm and serious. "My brother, Ezra, and Ronan will scout the area for any rogue animals."

"I don't think it's just a rogue animal, Alpha Vance," another council member, Elder Ryland, spoke up. Everyone's attention turned to the graying member. "We found another body this last week, didn't we? Without a scent to follow? That brings us to five Moonshine pack members dead since Tvnup."

Rayne fought the urge to close her eyes as the anxiousness rose with the chatter around the room. She wanted to remind them of all the positives they've experienced since the end of Tvnup, but she knew it would pale in comparison to the concern of rising deceased bodies that have shown up on the perimeters of their newly combined pack.

Due to two other packs losing their alphas, before and after Tvnup, Moonshine adopted more people into their growing pack. Despite the children adapting, and the adults and teenagers training, death was something that took precedence over any joyous occasion. Especially when five of her night patrol scouts had ended up dead in the last month.

"Our army is on the mend, council, and we're working harder than ever on distributing pack responsibilities. I promise you that our newly formed outreach group will get to the bottom of this, and we'll find who's responsible for our losses," Rayne said. "The bodies aren't drained, and the nail marks on their chests suggest an animal. If it's the same animal taking your livestock, then finding it will help with your problem too, Elder Moors."

Elder Moors bowed his head. "Thank you, Alpha Vance."

Elder Ryland, however, wasn't finished. "And what of . . . the body? Has it moved?" he hesitated, shifting in his seat. The attention moved back to Rayne on that one.

Her eyes sought her father's, and he offered only a subtle nod. She relaxed her shoulders just a bit.

"The body hasn't moved and is still under investigation. He's being watched as we speak, so we know it's not him," Rayne reassured the older man. "Ezra and Ronan are our best trained fighters aside from myself. While I meet with the king, they will be in charge of patrols, as I mentioned before. In the meantime, there's to be no extra patrols after dark, and no one's to be out later than eight until we get to the bottom of this. Ome?"

"Ome," everyone responded, bowing their heads. Ezra and Nashoba offered her subtle nods of approval, and her mother shared with her a tiny smile.

Rayne stood up from the council's table with her head held high, spun around, and left the room without another word, Ronan hot on her heels. She was anxious to get out of there as fast as her legs could carry her and wanted nothing more than for her day to be over already. Though she loved being alpha, she still struggled with solving other people's problems and answering questions she didn't know how to respond to. How could she know the answer to everything, when she'd only been alpha for a month? Sure, she grew up training for it. But training for the position and actually being in the position were two different things.