AVA
“Your Highness,” one of the warriors suddenly mindlinked. We were still on the way back to the
Blood Moon territory; but fortunately, we weren’t that far away. We could get Theo settled in the pack
hospital, and then all go after his parents.
“What’s happening, Jeremiah?” Jeremiah was one of the oldest Lycans that would go on to form part
of my Queen’s Guard when I officially took over on my birthday.
“We’ve got eyes on the Alpha and Luna.”
I almost squealed with excitement. “You’ve found them?”
“Yes,” he replied, voice low. “They’re at the bottom of a cave network. From here, we don’t believe
there are any rogues throughout the rest of the complex, but we can’t be sure until we get in there.”
“Thanks, Jeremiah. We’re taking Theo home; we’re driving because he’s in no state to run, and we’ll
be back at the pack grounds within twenty minutes. As soon as he’s settled, we’ll head your way. Can
you send me a GPS location?”
“Of course, Your Highness,” he replied. Within seconds, my phone pinged with the notification.
“Thanks, Jeremiah. It looks like from the pack hospital to your location is just under a two hour run.”
“Did you want us to start combing through the caves, Your Highness?”
“Can you do that safely, or do you need more paws on deck?”
“I don’t know, Your Highness. There’s plants growing around here that are messing with our sense of
smell, so we’re not 100% sure what we would be walking into.”
“Don’t take any unnecessary risks, Jeremiah. Can you access the entrance and first level?”
“I can, my Queen.”
“Sweep that, then let me know how you’re getting on.”
Once he promised to keep me posted, I closed the link.
“Noah,” I took his hand as I spoke. “Jeremiah thinks he’s found your parents.”
His face was an explosion of happiness. “They’ve found them?”
I nodded, smiling back at him. “Our warriors don’t currently know what they will be walking into, but
they are going to start sweeping the top level whilst we get Theo back home and settled.”
“So what’s the plan, my Queen?” Callum asked, glancing over at me to meet my eyes.
“We get home, get Theo settled in the hospital.” I turned to look at Noah behind me. “If you want,
Noah, you can stay here with Theo. If he wakes up whilst we’re out, it might be best if he’s got
someone with him.”
Noah nodded, giving me a smile. “Thank you.”
I smiled back, before turning back to Callum. “Once Theo is settled, you and I will run to catch up
with Jeremiah and the others. If the rest of the Lycan warriors have arrived, we’ll bring another two
with us. I’d rather be over prepared than get someone killed.”
He nodded.
“What about me, Ava?” Oscar asked.
“It’s very possible that Jacob and Amelia are going to be in no fit state to run home, and it’s a very
long run for us to carry them. I need you to follow us in this car, it’s the one that is going to be the
easiest to safely stash two unconscious wolves in.”
“Sounds like a plan, my Queen.”
Now to just find out if the Lycans have arrived…
“Alex, have the Lycans arrived?” I asked through the mind link.
“Not yet, Ava. I don’t know Alpha Michael to link him, so I can’t double check.”
“I’ll let you know.” I sighed, before reaching out to Michael. “Alpha Michael, when can we expect the
warriors?”
“Within the hour, my Queen.”
I thanked him, before swapping back to Alex. “Within the hour, Alex.”
“The Lycans aren’t going to arrive before we head off, Callum.” I sighed, tapping my fingers on the
dashboard. “We’ll have to go with the two of us. There are already a lot of warriors and trackers there,
so we should be golden.”
The last fifteen minutes of the drive felt like they lasted an eternity. But finally, we reached the
hospital. It was awful to watch him getting poked full of tubes, wires and being hooked up to
monitors, I felt like my heart broke a little more with each and every one.
“He’ll be fine, Your Highness,” the doctor smiled reassuringly. “He just needs bed rest, nutrients and
to flush his system of poisons.”
“Thank you, doc,” I tried to smile back, but didn’t manage to.
Noah turned to face me. “Go, Ava,” he gave a small smile. “You, Callum and Oscar need to get going.
I’ll let you know when he wakes up.”
I nodded gratefully, pressing a kiss to first his and then Theo’s head.
“We’ll be back as soon as we can. Doc, I’ll link ahead if we need beds for Alpha and Luna.”
Callum and I sprinted back out of the hospital, leaving Oscar to get the car ready to go.
“Jeremiah, we’re just leaving the pack territory now, how are things looking?”
“The compound is empty so far, my Queen,” he replied, but even through the link, I could hear the
scepticism in his voice.
“How far have you gotten?”
“First three levels are clear.”
“Perfect. We’ll see you soon.”
An hour and a half later, we reached the coordinates Jeremiah had given us. We moved through the
caves in Lycan form; the eyes really were a bonus.
By the time we reached them, Jeremiah and the others were on the fifth floor down.
“My Queen, My King,” Jeremiah dropped to one knee when he saw us, prompting the rest of the
group to do the same.
“Stand, Jeremiah, we’ve got bigger fish to fry than formalities today.”
He nodded as he stood, waving for everyone else to stand with him.
“How are we doing?”
“They’re on the next floor down, my Queen. Still no rogues, if anything, it looks like they were
camped out here and left in a hurry. We can smell the Alpha and the Luna, and we know they’re alive,
but we’re not sure yet what state they are in.”
I nodded, before moving forward to take point.
We found the couple fifteen minutes later. Alpha Jacob was sitting in the corner, head resting on the
wall. Luna Amelia was laying in the corner, curled up in a ball, dried blood around her head.
“Jacob, Amelia,” I called out. “Can you hear me?”
“AVA!” Jacob cried. “I’m so glad to see you.”
“You too, Jacob,” I smiled. “Fake-Jacob was a really bad copy.”
He smirked back at me.
“Is Amelia okay?”
“She was beaten this morning. I… I couldn’t do anything to stop them. I couldn’t move her because
she’s still healing, and I don’t want her bones to heal badly.”
“It’s okay, Jacob, we’ll get you both out of here. Oscar will be here soon with a car to get you both to
the hospital.”
I chuckled when I saw the gate was held shut with just a couple padlocks. Easy peasy. I filled them
with water, before using my power to freeze that water, causing it to expand in the locks, shattering
them.
Within ten minutes, we had Jacob and Amelia back out of the cave and in the car, ready to head home.
“Noah, we’ve got them,” I smiled through the link to him. “We’re coming home.”