The Alpha's Silent Mate

The Moonbeam Pack's ancient castle hummed with the usual morning bustle, but for Princess Chloe, it was a cacophony of duty and expectation. She sat hunched over a heavy textbook in her study, the words blurring before her eyes. "Ugh, more sappy poetry?" Kasey, her wolf, grumbled in her mind, a familiar, unwelcome chorus.

Chloe sighed, massaging her temples. Between endless homework and rigorous training, she was perpetually drained. Just then, the door creaked open, and Mia, her Alpha Regent and guardian, entered, looking disheveled but ever-present. Mia settled into the chair opposite, her small, chocolate-colored hands resting on the mahogany desk. "There is just a lot to be done before your coronation, dear," Mia began, a familiar weight settling on Chloe's shoulders.

Their conversation drifted to the past, to Chloe's murdered parents, and then, a jolt. A warrior's frantic mind-link sliced through the calm: "Your majesties, there's been a breach in the castle! Our warriors are mysteriously dropping unconscious... powerful magic!" The link abruptly cut off. The castle went eerily silent, a prelude to chaos. A single, unsettling scent lingered: rogues. But only one or two. As Chloe and Mia dashed out, the unsettling quiet intensified, the silence before a storm.