Page 5 of Simon

I sat back down, and she continued to laugh. I put my hands on my lap and tried to contain myself, but the further away we got from the Cerulean Moon Kingdom, the more things I saw and wanted to explore.

A month living in the palace, visiting the local pack houses, playing around in the marketplace wasn’t enough time to get acclimated. Especially before I was thrown into an area like the Monktona Woods that hadn’t been explored at all.

Of course, the orcs have explored some of it, but they weren’t great at writing. The shifters accompanying me are strong and very capable, but they had their reservations about going into the Wood alone. Orcs had alpha-like personalities, as if they are on high amounts of steroids like King Kane—Kane, I reminded myself. Kane and Clara don’t like to be referred to by their titles often, and since they said they were more like family to my father and me, we were to address them as such.

Kane was nothing but raw power. He was a beast. His nickname suited him. The Beast. When he transformed into his animalistic body, he was a gigantic wolf-beast creature that stood up on two legs. It was by far the most horrifying thing I’d ever seen, and thankfully, he didn’t see me gasp in horror when I watched from my guest room window as he sparred with his warriors.

He sparred and taught them. He wasn’t a king who sat around the palace doing political things. Kane was very much a person and had a sweet personality that many do not see. He was loving and caring to his wife—mate?—and their daughter.

Now that we are traveling to a land with orcs, with more personalities like Kane, the possessive, grunty sort, I could only wonder what conflicts might arise. These alpha orcs had trouble being around each other, and we would have two traveling with us. How will that affect them and the shifters who were reluctant to be traveling into the Wood?

All these guys are just full of testosterone.

I nervously tugged at the delicate fabric of my dress, feeling the smooth texture between my fingers. Simultaneously, I gently scratched my neck, relieving an itch that had been bothering me.

Great, now I’m gonna get a rash.

Now that we were getting closer, I was rethinking everything.

“Hey!” Elmira grabbed my hand and pulled it away from my neck. “You keep doing that and the vampires will come out of the forest.”

I gasped and slapped my neck with my hand.

My actions threw Elmira into a fit of giggles. “Honey, I’m kidding you. They don’t eat humans. Well, not anymore.”

I felt the color drain from my face.

“Okay,” she drawled. “I think you’re overstimulated. How about you hop in the back of the wagon and shut your eyes, hmm? Get away from the males?”

I frowned. “My father told you about that?”

She sighed and had me lean closer. “Your father said you weren’t used to being around a lot of males. Said it was his fault. This trip is to help you. Every male here except for Dutton is mated to one of the females here. Dutton is just a flirt, but he means you no harm. I promise my life on it.” She patted my knee and took both reins again.

There were five males, five females, so that must have meant that one female was not mated. Mated pairs stuck together; they couldn’t be apart for long. “Are you not mated?”

Elmira’s smile widened, her canine fangs dropping into a mischievous grin. “No, I’m not.”

When we arrived at the wall that the entrance of the Monktona Wood lay beyond, it was a sight I didn’t think I could everimagine on my own. It was such a massive difference from the forests we had come across so far, that my brain couldn’t process.

Thick, large leaves resembling dinner plates, possessing a waxy texture that not only appeared green, but exuded a mesmerizing blue hue, creating a captivating twinkle in the fading light. As my gaze delved deeper into the woods, a surge of excitement ran through me.

Darkness has already enveloped the surroundings. The air was dense with the scent of foliage, as bushes, underbrush, and towering trees, surpassing even the redwood forests from Earth, dominated the landscape.

I sat on the wagon in awe. The shifters were changing back into their human forms as a precaution, while Elmira clicked her tongue for the gigantic horses to move forward. They did hesitantly, with jagged trots and jerking heads. Their movements were not as graceful or smooth as during the first part of our journey.

They sensed this place was different, too. I was glad it wasn’t just me.

“Stay close, Lucy. None of us have been here. The king and queen said to be vigilant. As long as we stay in this clearing, right on the other side of the wall, we should be fine. I’d rather wait for our guides to arrive before we venture any further.”

I nodded while we entered through the wide opening of the broken wall. It was ancient, maybe even thousands of years old—no one could know for sure. No one had dared to cross it or fly over it before, because they thought their ancestors had a good reason to keep whatever was in the woods there. So, it had lain forgotten.

Discovering the orcs was a consequence of the war. The enemy tried to hide in the orcs’ lands, and the orcs were not happy about it. The war in Bergarian ultimately concluded with theorcs joining the fight and bringing a hard-won peace to all kingdoms after years of conflict. The wall was mostly in ruins now, crumbled remnants of stone and magic that set apart two worlds. The orcs were free.

This land contained a lot of history, and fortunately, the kingdoms maintained impressive records of their past wars. I’d spent the past several nights of our journey sleeping under the stars and using the firelight to dig deeper into it, reading all I could about it.

“Stay here. I’m going to unhitch the horses and get them to the troughs.” Elmira left no room for argument when she gave me a condescending glare and hopped off the wagon. I would not argue. I felt like an ant around her and everyone here.

The rest of the shifters came up behind the wagon, now clothed, thankfully, and pulled sleeping pads, food, and tents from the wagon. While we were safe to sleep under the stars while we traveled here, we were warned to sleep inside the tents in the Wood. We weren’t sure what animals or insects we would cross, and it would be best while we were awake to be on the lookout and sleep well into the night.

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