CHAPTER 1

Outside of the dining hall door stood a young ten-year-old boy. The boy was small and had short brown hair and blue eyes and was wearing blue pajamas. He was Caeth's youngest son, Dahy. He had one ear pressed against the door listening to his father talking to the knights. Suddenly, he heard footsteps walking towards him and turned around and saw his older brother, Jarlath, walking towards him. He was sixteen-years-old and had dark brown hair and green eyes. He too, was wearing pajamas. Jarlath approached his brother.

"Dahy, what are you doing?" He whispered softy into his ear. Dahy silently stepped away from the door and gave him the 'what does it look I'm doing' look. Jarlath sighed and whispered, "You know we are not allowed to listen in on Father's plans. Come, it's time for bed." The young boy huffed and followed his brother down the candle-lit hall to their room.

Once they got in the room, Dahy climbed up on his bed and looked at his brother as he left his bedside. "Jarlath, Father is planning on taking over Cavan's kingdom!" he yelled. Jarlath sighed, turned around and gave his brother a hard look.

"Dahy, keep your voice down, you'll wake up Ryanne." He walked back to Dahy's bedside.

"Sorry…." Dahy whispered. The two boys sat and talked for a bit and then they heard a knock at the door. "Come in". Ryanne walked into the room. She was a young child of six, had blue eyes and long wavy brown hair; she was also wearing a light blue nightgown. She looked at her brothers and gave them a sad look. Jarlath sighed as she started crying.

"I don't want Daddy to leave," Ryanne cried out with tears flowing down her cheeks. Jarlath motion her to come to them. She walked over; Jarlath tried to explain to her that their father had to leave and that fighting is what he does, but that only made her eyes pour out even more tears thinking about the danger their father puts himself in. Jarlath picked his sister up and held her in his arms. Ryanne curled up in his lap and he started to hum a lullaby to her.

Suanmhar sìtheach go là

`measc na lilì`sna mblàth

Go mbeir-sea stòr

gantuirseganbròn

seoithìn seò uilleò lò, seoithìn, seò`stu mo mhaoin

The crying eventually stopped and she fell into the peaceful embrace of slumber and dreams. Jarlath carried her back to her room and put her back in her bed and walked out back to his room.
He looked at Dahy, then out the window and said, "I hope Father knows what he is doing…"

Back in the dining room, Caeth finished his meeting with the generals and knights and sent them away. As he walked out, he noticed Sorcha standing in the hallway. She was leaning against a pillar wearing a purple robe and her black hair came down to her waist. She smiled at the king and walked over to him, placing a hand on his bearded chin.

"How did it go my love?" she asked and he smiled.

"It went very well." He replied, wrapping both arms around her waist. "Now that my royal business is done, why don't we go have a little fun?" he asked in a sexual tone and the queen chuckled.

"As you wish my king…" she whispered back and he led her down the hallway to their room.

The room was made of mahogany wood and there were doors that led out to a small balcony. The bed was black iron with a soft mattress and pillows. The covers, sheets, and pillows were blood red.

The couple entered the room and Caeth closed the door, locking it. He led Sorcha to the bed and as she lay down, he laid ontop of her. "Now, let's see what you have under that robe…." He said, untying it and as it fell off, he smiled at the sight of his mate's sheer purple nightgown. "Beautiful." He whispered, continuing, "Now let's see what you have underneath…" The queen smiled and slipped off the gown, revealing her well-endowed breasts.

"Send me to the stars once again my love…." She whispered and he gave a sexual smile.

"With pleasure my dear." He said and began to massage her breasts. She let out low-toned moans as he twisted her nipples. He then began to suck one, while still massaging the other and his mate's moans grew louder. "Now for the real fun…." He whispered as he sat up, unbuckled his pants, revealing his manhood and lowered himself down again, slowly pushing into his mate. As the mating ritual continued, the king was unaware that deep in the forest, a pack of wolves were making plans of their own.

Back in the forest, Lightning and Thunder stand before their pack inside the cave. Lightning was stand on top of a large rock looking at the packs. Thunder stands on a slightly smaller rock pedstel. In front of them sitting in a semicircle audience, the pack members of Lighthing and Thunder sit listening to their Alpha Leader.

"Brothers and Sisters, we have called you here tonight because Caeth has betrayed the wisdom of his forefathers and advisors. He plans to attack our pack ally." Lighting stated as the other wolves looked at each other and mumbled amongst themselves.

Thunder raised his voice over the chatter saying "SILENCE EVERYONE!" Thunder turned to Lighting, "My pack will come with me and we will keep watch on the Caeth and his foolish men. Lightning your pack will stay here and protect Cavan's kingdom. You must be his pack's guardian."

Lightning jumped off his rock and the other wolves stood at attention as he paced in front of them, following his movements with their eyes. Lighting stands firm and says, "This will be dangerous, but we must do whatever they can to protect Cavan, his family, and the kingdom, so one day peace will be restored to our lands." A small ray of moonlight shine through the small hole at the top of cave. Lightning's pendant glows a beautiful blue green glitter in the moonlight.

"Brothers and Sisters it time to go may our ancestors watch over us" As Lighting's pack began to leave, Thunder said to his pack, "We will meet here tomorrow." He jumped off his rock and followed Lightning outside of the cave. Their packs went back to their caves as Thunder and Lightning followed behind them. As Thunder walked in the direction his pack had gone, Lightning called out to him, "Be careful. Ceath the Betrayer will kill you on site. Be safe my brother," Thunder nodded in agreement and raced off after his pack.

Lightning walked into his cave and saw his cubs playing with each other. There were seven of them, four females and three males. The females, like their mother, had light brown fur and blue eyes. Their names were Blaze, Terra, Kaze and Star.

Blaze was the oldest female cub. She had a dark brown stripe starting at the top of her head and went down her back to the tip of her tail. The collar around her neck was orange and had a red amulet. Star had a star-shaped patch of dark brown fur on her forehead. Terra had mostly dark brown fur, but her paws were a lighter brown. She also wore a red collar with a black stone amulet. Kaze was mostly light brown, but her legs were a darker brown.

The males looked like their father, but also had different markings. The youngest male, Patch, had a light patch of brown fur around one his eyes. Another male, Logan, was older than the other cubs. He was about the size of his mother and had a dark brown stripe going down his forehead to his nose. Kori, was another small male. He has the same markings as his father, the fur on the top half of his body is dark brown, the fur on the bottom part of his body is light brown.

Star, upon seeing her father, bounded towards him and as he sat down smiling at her, she jumped up at him, trying to get him to play. The other cubs ran over to join her, barking and yapping. Patch climbed up his father's back and tried to bite his ear, but missed and fell off. Lightning chuckled as Hawnu, his mate, appeared from the shadows of the cave. She was a smaller brown wolf with light brown fur and blue eyes. "Children, leave your father alone." The cubs obeyed their mother and ran back into the shadows of the cave to finish their little game.

Lightning chuckled again and said, "You've always had a way with them." She chuckled back at him, and nuzzled his neck. He rested his head on top of hers and she asked him "How was the meeting?" He told her everything Thunder had told him, plus what happened at the meeting. Hawnu sighed and looked up at him. He looked down at her and said "I have to. Protecting Cavan's kingdom is my job. My father passed it down to me."

She nuzzled his neck again. "I know just….please be careful." He leaned his head against hers. "Don't worry." He placed a paw on top of one of hers. "I will."

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