The Alpha King's Mate novel Chapter 4

"Did you see that? I've never seen such a beautiful girl. Her voice was so angelic, her skin glowed, and her eyes were violet. She was scary, but boy, was she beautiful." John says. Fay nods and agrees with him.

"She summoned the wind and almost blew us away," Ed says.

"She did. She must be a Goddess or a Princess. Why would she tell us to get out of her forest? She doesn't own it." Fay says.

"Maybe she lives there? I've never seen her in any of the villages. I'd remember a face as enchanting as hers." Ed says.

They tell everyone in the village about what they have heard and seen, and a few of their neighbours believe them. A few of the villagers have heard her beautiful singing voice many times in the forest while harvesting food and hunting.

All the villagers refer to Maia as the Forest Princess, and children beg their parents to tell them the story of the Enchanted Forest Princess.

Maia

The following day I climb a tree near my cave and watch a woman holding a wicker basket. She kneels on the ground, plucks a few mushrooms from the soil and puts them in her basket. There goes my dinner. The woman, unaware of my presence, wanders off, and my stomach rumbles. I'm so hungry.

I reluctantly follow the woman, knowing I need food. After a few hours, we reach the edge of the forest, and I watch the woman, with her basket, walk through a grassy field toward a small hill. I freeze at the forest's edge, admiring the clear blue sky, the grassy field, and the small hill ahead.

"I've never left the forest before. I need to know where they're taking all my food," I tell Ember.

Taking a deep breath, I step into the field of grass and exhale. I had been nervously holding my breath.

"Okay, that wasn't so bad," I tell Ember. Ember steps forward. "No, Ember. You must stay here. If anything goes wrong, I don't want anything bad happening to you. Go home to our cave. I'll come back as soon as I can. I promise," I tell him.

I step out into the hustle and bustle of the market, blending in with the crowd perfectly. All the talking, trading, and haggling is quite foreign to me. I've never heard so many human voices all at once. Older women sit on wooden crates gossiping away, while young children run in groups after stray ducks, laughing, ignoring their parents who admonish them and demand they return to their sides. Adolescent girls giggle and gawp at groups of young men a distance away.

Many of the stalls sell fruit, seeds, herbs and mushrooms – products that have all come from my forest. Men in armour, presumably soldiers, fill wooden crates they are holding with these goods. A soldier shouts for all stall-holders to hear, and the market grows quiet. Only the barks of dogs and the quacks of the stray ducks can be heard.

"By order of King Fenris! King Fenris orders everyone to donate half their food to their sovereign again. These donations will feed his soldiers when we go to war against Alpha King Damon."

Most people in the crowd around me yell in protest, and it consoles me, knowing they feel how I feel, not having enough food to eat. So I watch on silently while crunching on an apple I pick from a stall.

"We won't have enough food for our children and ourselves if we have to keep giving it away to the soldiers!" A mother of seven small children, who cling to her dress skirts, cries.