The Alpha Queen And Her Chosen Mate
Chapter 60

Kelly

“Okay, here is my plan.” I said, softly closing the door. “Keres has agreed to go wild on the Chupacabras so we can get the others out of here.”

“And you believe her?” Emmett frowned.

“She has never turned down an opportunity to kill before, plus there are far too many of them to do anything else. I mean for goddess sake, they are inside the palace! If ever there was a time to let Keres do her thing, the time is now.”

“Fair point.” He nodded, thinking it over.

“While she is keeping them busy, I want you three to go to the alpha wing of the palace and get the survivors out.”

“You shouldn’t go alone, Keres or not, there are many of these beasts, it would only take one to bite you and drain b***d.” Thorin frowned.

“Fine. One of you will watch my back while the other two get everyone out. Break through walls if you have to. Try to get them to the prisons or the training grounds, somewhere where there are walls and weapons to protect yourselves. I don’t know if there are any more of them out there, but I don’t want to chance setting all those people free just to send them off to their deaths.”

“What about the moon flower?” Jonas asked.

I hesitated half a second, disappointment flaring through me. “It doesn’t matter. Just get everyone out safely.”

“Kelly-” Emmett began.

“Is everyone ready?” I cut him off. “We need to move quickly.”

“I go with you.” Thorin nodded, taking two long knives out from behind him. Of course, he was prepared.

“Okay.” I nodded. “Ready Keres?”

“I thought you’d never ask.” She smirked before shifting us.

I had hoped that, since we were on the same page for once, that shifting wouldn’t hurt so badly, but I was wrong. It still sucked. Thorin quickly opened up the door leading to the hallway and she went barreling out, ready for b***d. At least I could count on her for that.

The first wave of chuparacabras had no clue what was coming. Most were caught off guard, and the few that did see Keres coming had wide eyes filled with fear before she ruthlessly ended their lives. I still didn’t understand how this happened. How did there get to be so many? How did they not only breech our patrollers, but also break into the palace? What happened to all of our warriors? Isn’t that why we have warriors? To fight our enemies? We were werewolves for goddess sake! All of this seemed odd to me. As soon as the palace was cleared out, and our people in a safe place, I would replace my father and speak to him about this.

“How are things from where you are?” I asked Thorin.

“Only few have slipped through Keres’ teeth.” Thorin linked back. “She is on her A game today.”

Great, because that was exactly what we needed right now.

– – – – – – – –

Jonas

“Ready?” I asked Emmett about thirty seconds after Keres and Throin took off.

He nodded and we quickly made our way down the hall, following in Keres’ wake of dead bodies. I felt oddly safe knowing she was ahead of us. Between Keres and Thorin, we shouldn’t have any problems getting to the Alpha wing. It took a few minutes, but we made it to the far side of the palace where the alpha wing was nestled in.

“It’s just down this way.” I whispered, creeping forward in the process.

“Can you handle this on your own?” Emmett asked, surprising me.

“What?”

“Are you capable of getting everyone out without me?” He asked a bit harsher this time. “I need to get the moon flower.”

“That’s a terrible idea!” I hissed.

“And letting it burn is a better one?” He growled back. “We nearly lost our lives for the damn thing! If it dies, the whole mission was for nothing!”

“Right, but you could get killed in the process too! Just help me get everyone out and then we can go back for the flower.”

“Fine.” He grumbled. “Lets just hurry up.”

We picked up the pace and went room by room, searching for people. I had a feeling everyone would be clustered together in the furthest room, but we were checking as many rooms as possible in case anyone got left behind. There were tons of dead bodies, both werewolves and Chupacabra. Emmett and I checked for a pulse on all of the bodies but found none. I wondered how many survivors we might actually replace here.

“Last door.” I whispered, slowly twisting the handle. I was met with resistance, which seemed like a good thing. “Hello? Anyone in here? It’s Jonas and Emmett, we are here to help!” I called.

“Hang on!” Kelsey’s broken voice called out. I could hear rustling and things falling on the other side of the door before it swung open and a hysterical Kelsey threw herself at me, sobbing. “It’s okay, we are gonna get you out of here.” I said, pushing her back inside.

“How many of you are there?” Emmett asked, looking around the room.

“Not many.” She shook her head, more tears falling. “Ten or fifteen of us.”

“And everyone else?” I asked.

“Dead or hiding.” She sniffled.

“When did this happen?” Emmett asked, moving further into the room and checking the windows. “I think we can get everyone out through the window here.” He said to himself.

“Three days ago, the day after our mom died.” Kelsey croaked out, her bottom l*p quivering.

s**t.

“What about your father? Where is King Carson?” I asked.

Her face fell and she choked out another sob before turning towards one of the doors behind her. I let go of her and followed her train of sight to one of the doors and slowly opened it.

“Kelly? Keres?” I linked.

“What?” Keres snapped.

“There is something you should see…”

– – – – – – – – – – –

Emmett

This is just turning out to be a real s**t show. I looked over Jonas’s shoulder to see what made him stop dead in his tracks and understood immediately. Like it or not, I was leaving to go get that flower. I had a duty to my king if nothing else. Jonas could manage without me just fine and I didn’t doubt that he had probably already linked Kelly to come over here.

That in mind, I snuck out while Jonas was trying to settle Kelsey down and get more information. I jogged down the hall, staying as quiet as possible in case of any Chupacabra stragglers. We had left specific instructions for Kylie to leave it in my plant room and I didn’t doubt that she followed through. Now I just had to pray that they didn’t light that room on fire, though if it were me, I probably would have picked that room first. It was the most separate from the rest of the palace, having been a newer build and was loaded with flammable items.

I made it there in record time, passing Keres on the way to booking it to the alpha wing no doubt. She didn’t seem to notice me, or maybe just didn’t care. Either way, my mission was left undisturbed. I turned the final corner that led to my clinic doors and could smell the smoke getting heavier. f**k. I tested the door handle first. It was warm but not hot. Throwing caution to the wind, I flung open the doors and ran inside, immediately being embraced by dark smoke.

Thankfully, I knew my office like the back of my hand, and was able to navigate through with ease even with the smoke. I had to dodge some flames on the way, but eventually made it to my plant room, which was almost completely in flames. Using my shirt as a mask, I took a deep breath and ran inside, frantically searching for the moonflower, or what was left of it anyway. The flames were getting worse and the smoke stealing what was left of my oxygen. This was getting very bad very quickly. Just when I was about to give up, I saw the flower pot we had placed it in when we were in Brazil and grabbed it, running out of the plant room.

I collapsed in the main hallway, tearing off my shirt that I just noticed was on fire, while also trying to put out the flames that were quickly killing the moonflower. By the time I was done, I had a crispy shoulder and a burnt stem, not more than an inch above the dirt. I wasn’t sure if it was salvageable or not, but I didn’t have time to think about that, a growl coming from behind me. I slowly turned and, before I even had time to react, a Chupacabra was leaping towards me, teeth barred.