Chapter 9: The Games

I am getting married. I am in a white dress walking down a white carpet in a garden. There is a bouquet of purple irises in my hand, my family is seated and smiling at me and Gerald is under a flower arch waiting for me. I am in front of Gerald, he takes my hand and then he isn’t in front of me anymore, my white dress is now covered in ash and I am alone in the garden. I look up and there is a hooded figure, it stretches out its hand almost like it is calling out to me. I take a step towards it and the guide appears. She looks really old this time “Cave!” she screams. The Figure is in front of me.

************

REALITY

Good, well at least I know I should be wary of an ambiguous hooded figure, thanks guide. It is the morning after the opening ceremony, last night was amazing all the teams were presented to the current Sedes Lycaonis and Gerald was the flag bearer for his team he looked amazing in his Blue and gold uniform, Blue is Peraethus colour but all the houses have gold added to their colours this year. Aegaeon pack is white, Charisius pack is Grey, Eumon pack is purple, Heraeus pack is red , Lycius pack is black and Nyctimus pack is green and all their uniforms have gold included in it. Greg gave an amazing speech and the rest of the night was filled with dancing, eating and a lot of laughing. This morning all the teams leave to their designated campsites. Anthony volunteered to be a supervisor so he will be going into the woods too, his job is to give live updates to Greg’s team that would remain on the palace grounds. I am going to be stuck helping Alyssa prepare for the pageant along with Mirena. I get out of bed and I am careful not to wake Alyssa up. I pick up the tassels I made for my brothers and Gerald; it’s a mini tradition I started with my brothers when we attended the games for the first time. I make a tassel with their initials on it and give it to them before the games start, it’s my way of wishing them good luck.

At 08:00 all the teams begin to match into the woods, I wave goodbye to Gerald, Noah and Anthony and I join Greg and his monitoring team. The first task is for the teams to find and set up their camp as quickly as possible and hunt down a wild boar. Six boars have been released into the woods and the team that doesn’t catch one would be going without any dinner tonight. “This is so exciting” I say out loud and all the members of the monitoring team nod and agree with me. A gunshot is heard and soon we hear Anthony’s voice through our headphones. I look up at Greg and ask his permission to announce it, he passes the microphone to me and I speak “The hunt has begun” there is a loud cheer throughout the palace. The excitement is building up. 

A few minutes pass and then we hear someone from the Charisius pack say they can smell the hog “looks like Charisius isn’t going hungry tonight” Greg announces and there is laughter everywhere as the laughter dies down a feeling of dread suddenly erupts inside me, before I can say something we hear Anthony’s voice he is saying that he can smell blood. Someone from the Nyctimus pack says they just found a dead wild boar soon the communication lines go silent. Greg is trying to reach Anthony and every other person on the monitoring team is pressing buttons and trying to figure out what is going on. There’s a scream and we hear Anthony’s voice over the comms before it goes dead and everyone is paralyzed with fear when we hear the word “Rogues!”

*************

“Where is she Niovi, where is the child?” Calix screams. He has clearly lost all his patience but the thing that has him really agitated is the feeling of defeat that he just can’t shake. Niovi is making it worse by giving him that look; it’s pity, how is she the one pitying him when she is bound? “Don’t make me do this please” Calix says looking at her, “give it to me”  he holds out the dagger. “I can not give what has already been given” Niovi says and with that Calix cuts her with the dagger but nothing happens she looks at him with an expression that reads “you see”. Calix moves away from her but turns back and plunges the dagger into her heart and nothing happens still. Panic is evident on Calix’s face, he releases Niovi and holds on to her body 

“No”

“No”

“Please Niovi, Please” he cries.

Chapter 8: Approval

“this has to be the place” Leah says to Malcoy as they near the entrance of a cottage. There are selenite crystals hanging around the house and each has the same symbol carved on it. After a month of searching for the moon shaman the both of them feel a surge of relief; they might be getting an answer soon.  Then the door opens and  a woman with a blindfold comes out “took you  long enough” she says.

************

They say time flies when you are having fun and I believe that is the only logical explanation for how fast the three months leading up to the  games flew. Alyssa signed up for the pageant and was chosen as one of the representatives for the Heraeus pack, each pack had to present two she-wolves and she was picked. I, on the other hand, spent a lot of time in training. Of course my brothers didn’t allow me train but with my parents gone to visit a relative I had to stay with my brothers and that meant being with their team while they were training. My dreams continued with the guide repeating the same word “cave” and I still hadn’t figured out exactly what I was supposed to beware of. The highlight of my three months however was Gerald. He had gotten a lot stronger and some people had even began to suggest he would be a prime option for the Beta of the Peraethus pack, of course he always made sure to silence such talks he was really loyal to Hunter. 

“Well someone royally chopsticked up” I say holding up a sign for the Peraethus team that had a lot of mis-spellings on it. “Why do you do that? you just say a random kitchen utensil” Gerald asks me, he leans against the table and looks at me. “Well when I was four, Greg accidentally cussed in front of me and I thought he said fork” Gerald chuckles “hey don’t laugh, I was four” then we both start giggling “afterwards he and my dad tried to explain to me that he said it cos he was upset, so I thought I was supposed to say my favourite cutlery when I was upset, so I used to yell teaspoon” Gerald is laughing really hard now. I continue “I’m older now and know he didn’t say fork but I still call out the first  cutlery or utensil that pops into my head” I put down the sign and Gerald reaches out to me, I take his hand and he pulls me into a hug. “You know we can wait till after the games” he whispers to me; Gerald asked me to be his girlfriend and I said yes but I still haven’t told my brothers and I know it would be a smart thing to tell them as soon as possible so I can’t wait till after the games. Opening ceremony is tomorrow I plan on telling them after because my parents would be back by then and so the entire family will be updated all at once. As I am explaining this to Gerald the door bursts open I hear the words “Ah! I knew it” and in come my brothers.

“Explain yourself youngsters” Greg says to me and Gerald, the three of them are standing in front of us and have assumed a very intimidating posture. After about five minutes back and forth Anthony tells me to excuse them, I look at Gerald and then my brothers then I leave. A few minutes later my brothers call me back and Gerald is the one to excuse us now “Ursi are you sure about this?” Greg asks me and I nod. “Well He is a good man” Anthony says “and strong too, but if he tries anything” I laugh and hug my brothers “I promise I will tell you” I say to my brothers. “Look on the bright side though, he and I could give you really pretty nieces” I say, Noah raises an eyebrow “one for each of us? Cos I want my own personal niece” he says and we all laugh. Gerald returns to the hall immediately and we all turn to look at him “Your parents just arrived” he says.

************

the figure watches as the family is reunited and sees the mother hand over the bracelet back to the girl. It glows as soon as she puts it back on but no one else seems to notice. It turns back, it must report the new update.

Chapter 7 : Invitation

“Restraints exist for a reason young one” the guide says as she caresses my face like a mother. It’s soothing then she stops, moves away from me her eyes darting back and forth like she is looking for something “cave!” she says and begins disappear, I open my mouth to call out to her but no words come out

************

REALITY

I come to and I am in my bed holding my favourite plushy. Sun rays are sneaking into my room through the little space in my curtains; it was all a dream again at least this time I did not end up in some weird place. “No” I hear my father’s voice, he is downstairs and he has company I take in a whiff to determine who it is and it is my brothers and Mirena (Anthony’s girlfriend) I jump out of bed to go out to meet my brothers and immediately my legs hit the floor I fall face down “Argh!” I scream and I hear footsteps running up to my room. “Just how many bones do you plan on breaking, young lady?” I hear my dad say and then I feel someone lift me and put me back in bed, it’s Greg. My mother sits on the bed beside me and puts the back of her hand against my head then my father says “that’s good to know” (okay show offs, we get it). I can sense that there’s a question hanging in the air and so I ask “what happened?” Noah is the first one to speak up “funny I was going to ask that, what did you do to Plankton?” the wooden dummy? It wasn’t a dream? It actually exploded? How is that even possible? I start hyper-ventilating as these questions start swimming in my mind. My mother tries to calm me down and Mirena walks into my room and whispers something to my dad and Anthony that makes them look even more surprised. What is it this time? My dad walks up to the opposite side of the bed and he holds me “it’s okay sweetie, it’s fine” he kisses my forehead and then my mother nods, great everyone is communicating with each other and no one is telling me anything. 

This is another thing you most likely got wrong; how fast do werewolves heal? Well faster than humans but not at the hyper unrealistic rate that is usually projected by the media. If it’s a pureblood, a small scratch would heal in less than an hour, a deep cut wound would heal in a day and broken bones, give or take two to three days. A half blood would heal a broken bone in about seven days and it would take a regular descendant maybe two weeks. So faster than humans, but not that fast. By some miracle, I have no broken bones, however I did manage to sprain my ankle so I have about nineteen hours left to heal. I don’t want to be stuck in my room all day so Noah carries me downstairs to the living room where the rest of my family is discussing plans for the games; It seems like that’s all everyone can think about now. This year’s games are being hosted by the Aegaeon pack and my family has been specially invited because last year’s champion was the Heraeus pack led by Greg. As part of tradition, the opening ceremony for the games will have Greg returning the trophy and placing it on a white marble pedestal then he will give a speech encouraging the contesting groups to be courageous and fair (the whole shebang) and when he is done he lights  the ceremonial torch and the games begin. 

My family is now discussing transportation and housing arrangements for the games, it’s in three months but these people like to plan ahead and yet they wonder where I got my overachieving brain from. “Can I join you in training for the games?” I say to Noah and immediately Anthony and My dad say “No”. I look at my mum and Mirena, I am trying to convince them with my eyes to help me. My mum smiles while Mirena shakes her head at me, almost like she’s saying “you’re on your own kiddo”.

“You visited the academy one day and landed in the infirmary” Anthony says 

“And then look at what you did to Plankton” Noah says.

I take in a deep breath then finally looking at everyone I say “you know if I can make my opponent explode merely by touching them, I think that makes me a valuable asset to have on your team” there’s a long pause and then Mirena starts laughing soon we all join her. “You little troublemaker” Greg says and he and Noah try to grab me, I bolt from the couch and run to the kitchen where my mother is. I am still giggling when I notice a shocked look on my parents face and soon realisation hits everyone else; it hasn’t even been up to two hours and my ankle is healed.

Chapter 6: Mates

The mating bond is one of my favourite topics mostly because it’s amusing how humans get it wrong all the time. I’ve read books that claim that when a wolf meets their mate there’s an instant surge between them like electricity but I think the one that really kills me is the theory of smell. That the male wolf smells something sweet like vanilla or lavender and the female smells sandalwood or the scent of an old book, that’s ridiculous. We don’t smell different scents, we do not have a mate ordained for us by the moon goddess, we don’t just meet and get mated five minutes later (do you not see how irrational that sounds?) we choose our mates. Sorry to disappoint you, but we are very human in that regard. A mating bond is only as strong as the marriage is; if it is a bad marriage nothing would grow, things will get toxic and eventually it would crash and burn if the two wolves involved don’t put in the work on time to fix it. On the other hand if it’s a good marriage, the connection between the two wolves can be so strong that their minds are literally linked. Yes that’s the only difference between us and humans, when two wolves are deeply connected and have a great healthy relationship they unlock a gift that further bonds them. For my parents that gift is telepathy.

Oh and one last thing, marking your mate is a deeply personal thing, it is a lot like making love. So we do not go around advertising our marks. It’s almost like going naked in a street just because you want to tell people you’re married.

Alyssa, gaia bless her is now fantasising about when she and Yuj Nereus Lycian become mates. I am looking at her and nodding but I zoned out of this conversation five minutes ago. Alpha Nereus has been the song on a lot of women’s lips since he assumed his new position as alpha at 28 years old and unmated a year ago. He is apparently a beauty to behold and is also really wise but at this moment I really couldn’t care less as my heart is now fixated on a beautiful wolf of my own. “Aren’t you supposed to be in orientation with the new first years” Greg suddenly says bringing me out of my daydream, Alyssa looks at her watch and gasps “oh my goodness I so sorry, I forgot” of course she did, one mention of Alpha Nereus and her brain stops functioning but of course I am not going to say that to her, I am just going to think it. “I’m headed there anyway so I will take her” Hunter says, I feel a pang of disappointment because that’s really not who I want to accompany me however, I try my best not to show it. I get up from the couch then I hear Hunter say “Gerald you coming?” and I can feel my heart doing a happy dance in my chest.

Gerald walks beside me while Hunter leads the way, I am looking at the ground and smiling like an idiot. Hunter then instructs Gerald to let the rest of the Peraethus pack know that they will be having a meeting soon to discuss this year’s games “The Peraethus pack?” I ask Gerald as he is sending out a text because I am confused “I thought you were Eumon” Gerald smiles “My mother was Eumon, My Dad is Peraethus” he says “I’m sorry about your mom” I tell him, he shrugs and tells me it fine. I find out that Hunter is a Beta in training while Gerald is a Gamma and not a third year like I originally assumed. They leave me at the entrance to the auditorium where a Praefectus (like a captain in the military) is addressing the first years, I join the first years and after the orientation I meet a few new people and the rest of the day goes by without me seeing Gerald again.

Greg returns me home; I have a conditional admission and overprotective parents so I am not allowed to stay on the academy’s campus for now. When I get in, I run upstairs to change into my workout clothes and then run into the yard so I can practice some moves before dinner. I am using a staff and trying out a mixture of Anthony’s and Samantha’s moves  on a wooden dummy my brothers use for practice whenever they come home when I begin to feel pain in my arm leading up to my chest again. I know it is ridiculous, but I take off my bracelet and I drop it on the old tree stump in the yard and the pain ceases almost immediately. I am too excited to focus on that information “okay let’s try this again” I say to the dummy, then in a swift motion I turn around and hit my wooden opponent and immediately the dummy explodes, my staff snaps in two and the force from the explosion sends me flying and I hit the ground in a loud thud!

************

Nereus; Alpha of the Lycius pack, is making his way to his chambers. He has just gotten back from a meeting with the remaining members of the Sedes Lycaonis; a meeting which should have been an email in his opinion. Suddenly it feels as though he has been hit by a gust of wind. He takes a quick look around and none of the windows are opened. He feels a tingle in his spine and then he sees that his family heirloom on his chest is glowing.

Chapter 5: Announcement

“Can you describe what happened to me?” the sweet looking nurse who had been talking to Anthony and Greg earlier asks me. She is sitting in front of me now and her name tag reads “Violet”. “Well I was up fighting, then my arms felt numb then i-I, I woke up here” I respond and I see Anthony smile and shake his head. She picks a sudden interest in my bracelet and starts to inspect it, then she asks “were you wearing this while you were sparring?” I nod and tell her I wear it all the time and Greg chimes in saying I only take it off when I sleep. She continues to look at it intensely and finally she puts my hand down and advises that I should take it off next time I have to spar. That’s ridiculous, is she really trying to insinuate that the heart wrenching pain I felt was because of a crystal bracelet? Of course I am not going to challenge her logic, I just nod and tell her I would do that. A guy with dirty blonde hair who looks around the same age as Anthony walks into the infirmary towards my bed where my three brothers are hovering over me and the nurse, he calls out for Anthony and when he sees us he says “The games have been announced”.

************

Violet watches the girl leave with her brothers, when she is alone, she picks up her phone and sends a message that reads “found it”

************

I hurry after my brothers Anthony and Greg, they are talking to Hunter; the guy who came in to tell us about the games. Alongside me is Alyssa who can barely contain her excitement. “The games” is an annual werewolf event that lasts for 14 days, for seven out of those days seven teams representing the seven packs are created and presented before the reigning Sedes Lycaonis, then participants are tested and pushed to incredible (and if I might add unnecessary) physical strain; every werewolf sense and ability is tested and at the finale the last two remaining teams each provide a champion for a final duel. The winner gets to keep a fancy gold trophy and also gets to dance with the winner of that year’s pageant. Oh yeah, while the games happen for the first seven days, the remaining seven days are filled with Galas and luncheons and a pageant but for a lot of people, the highlight of the event is the first seven days so that is why it is popularly referred to as “the games”. “Stupid games” I say everyone pauses and look at me, Hunter is about to say something when Anthony tells everyone “don’t mind her, she’s just upset because she doesn’t qualify for this year’s games” I look around and respond “It’s a stupid rule, why do I have to wait till next year?” my ceremony is in six months, I am practically eighteen “Didn’t you just pass out mid spar like two minutes ago” Alyssa says and everyone chuckles. I look at her “wow, thanks for the support sis” I say, Noah puts his arm on my shoulders and says “you could be twenty five sis, there is no way Mum and Dad” “or Us” Greg cuts in “will let you anywhere the games”. I look at them in disbelief and they all begin to laugh again.

We enter into an office and as my brothers are discussing with Hunter the details of this year’s games, I notice Alyssa in a corner excitedly texting someone. Gerald walks up to me and sits beside me “hey Princess” he says, I smile “I thought it was warrior Princess” I ask him, “still a princess regardless” he responds. “Can I ask you something?” he says, I nod then he says “why are you in such a hurry to do everything?” I find myself unable to answer the question then he continues “no matter how your ceremony turns out to be, you’ve already proven yourself to be exceptional, you have an amazing family” he points towards my brothers “so you will be fine, better than fine even”. There is a short pause between us then he breaks the silence “stop focusing on everything you aren’t allowed to do Celeste”. It’s probably because I am attracted to him but everything he just said makes a lot of sense, he gets up to go join my brothers in their conversation “Gerald” he stops and I have his attention again “am I allowed to have your number?” I say, he smiles at me and gives me his phone so I can put in my number. I am still smiling when Alyssa walks back to me and sits in the position that Gerald was in. Then excitedly she asks me “bless me gaia have you heard?” I have a puzzled expression then she squeals and says “The young alpha of Lycius apparently has plans to pick a mate from this year’s pageant”.

************

a phone rings and it is answered by a hooded figure “keep a close eye on the girl” the person on the other end of the line says. The hooded figure nods and the call ends

Chapter 4:Warrior Princess

“is the child ready?” the sacerdos asks and the mother nods. This was the final assembly of the Aetheria, the child looks up to her mother and says “I am scared” tears well up in both their eyes her mother responds “it has to be done child”.  The child is then brought before the Sacredos who is standing in the middle of the congregation “child, you understand how important this sacrifice is?” the sacredos asks and the child nods “And you know the role you must play?” once again the girl nods. The girl is given a rock that has a rune carved on it then the sacredos yells “let us pledge by blood and by the moon” the entire assembly take out crystal daggers and scream after the sacredos “By blood and by the moon”. They all cut themselves and energy begins to flow out of them into a crib” the mother takes one last look at her daughter “when the time comes, you know what to do” she says then she cuts herself too.

************

Present Day

“Okay you’re making a big fuss over nothing” Alyssa says as I frantically try to put my hair in a bun in a way that covers the scar “you started it” I say “I fuss over everything cuz” Alyssa responds. Although she’s not a student, Alyssa knows almost every corner of the academy because she has been coming here with her father ever since she was a little girl. We get to the training grounds and it’s being utilised by the third year cadets in the middle of the group there are two girls sparring. “Can we go now? This is boring” I say to Alyssa. Unfortunately I say it loud enough for a few people to hear and that happens to include the Commandant (cursed werewolf hearing). Everyone freezes as the Commandant walks up to me “boring?” he asks when he is finally in front of me, I can’t even bring myself to utter one word. I am staring at him blankly, unsure of what to do; I look at Alyssa who looks up like she is just noticing the sky for the first time then the commandant says “Don’t look at her, she can’t help you” then he calls out to one of the Cadets “Gerald, hand over a staff to the young lady here” my eyes are fixed on the commandant so I don’t even notice the person who gives me the staff. Once the staff is in my hand however, the commandant gestures to me to move to the middle of the field and calls out for a girl named Samantha to step forward. Samantha steps forward with a smug look on her face then the commandant says “well go on and show us what an interesting fight would look like, and Samantha go easy on her will you?” Samantha smiles then responds “I will try my best sir” but it doesn’t sound genuine at all.

“Sweetie now is your time to back down” Samantha says in the most condescending tone I ever heard, we begin to circle each other and then she strikes at me catching me a little off guard and that makes me lose my footing, she takes that as an opportunity to launch out an assault on me. Samantha repeatedly attacks me and keeps me on defence. The aim is clearly to intimidate me and force me into yielding. As she continues to rain attacks on me I begin to notice a pattern to her movements and I find that I can predict every move she is going to make but I need a distraction so I open up and let her hit me. She hits me smack on the head and gets a little carried away by that. Then I move in a speed that’s surprising even to me and hit her back in the head and her knees. She buckles to the ground and tries to trip me with her staff but I see that coming and do a backflip avoiding the attack. Everyone around us including the commandant looks surprised and in my head I am very surprised too at how fast I was able to do that. Samantha recovers and charges towards me, I also run towards her, in a flash I disarm and flip her; she lands on her back to the ground and gasps as pain envelopes her. I stand over her, point my staff at her neck; this is the part where she says the words “I yield” but before she can say anything, I feel pain shoot up from my right arm and spread throughout my body. I gasp as the pain makes my entire body go numb then everything goes black.

I open my eyes and they are immediately assaulted by a bright white light then I hear someone say “praise Gaia, she’s awake” it’s Alyssa’s voice and I can hear the relief in it. My eyes begin to adjust and I find myself in a bed in what appears to be an infirmary, I try to get up and I wince as I feel a little pain throbbing in my head and in my arm. Noah walks up to me to help me sit up and beside him is a guy who looks familiar. “What happened?” I ask and Noah shrugs indicating that he has no idea; I can see Anthony and Greg talking to a nurse. I keep staring at the guy standing beside Noah, finally they both notice and Noah introduces us “sis, this is Gerald, and Gerald this my little sister Celeste” Noah says putting extra emphasis on the “little”. Then I remember, Gerald is the Cadet who gave me the staff. I didn’t even so much as glance at him when we were on the field but now that I see him, he is beautiful. He is slightly taller than Noah so I am guessing he is about six feet two inches tall, he is dark skinned with beautiful hazel eyes so he must be from the Eumon pack; the ones affiliated with the Yoruba Obas and Kingmakers in Africa. I don’t really know much about them but I’ve heard stories of how gorgeous the women are and seeing Gerald, I can only imagine how divine an Eumon woman would look. I stretch out my hand to shake Gerald’s, he takes my hand in his, looking me straight in the eye and before I can get a word out he says “nice to meet you warrior princess”.

************

in the cottage Shaia is shaken out of her meditation as the rock in front of her vibrates and glows. She smiles and is filled with relief as she traces the scar of a crescent moon on her right thumb

Chapter 3:The Academy

Niovi and Athanasios turn around as Aithan and his son Elias step into their private courtroom. With them is Laos; he is Gamma to Athanasios and Christos, the Beta to Aithan. “Thank you for coming” Athanasios says to Aithan and they embrace, “Calix has grown and he was able to create the dagger” Athanasios says “we need to perform the ceremony now” he continues. “It would be an honour to pledge my life to you my friend” Aithan says and gets on his knees along with his son Elias. Niovi signals to Laos and he presents a box, Niovi takes out a bracelet and a necklace of selenite from the box along with a vial of blood. She nods to Aithan and he speaks the oath swearing his bloodline to be the guardians of the princess then he cuts his hand and so does his son. Their blood is put on both the bracelet and the necklace and Niovi pours the blood from the vial over the necklace and the bracelet. The crystals glow and the blood disappears.

************

Present Day

As we drive away from home and make our way to the academy, Greg and Noah continue a conversation that seems to have begun before I joined them. They mention that we will be meeting up with our oldest brother who is with our Uncle; The current Alpha of the Pack (yes my father’s older brother is the current alpha while my mother’s family is the Gamma line. So yeah we are pretty Important). This is how rankings in every pack works;

The Alpha: king of the pack, his word in his pack is final.

The Beta: the second in command to the Alpha; if for any reason the Alpha is unavailable, the mantle of leadership falls on the him.

The Gamma: third in leadership and commander of the pack warriors; think of him as a commander in chief of the armed forces.

Pack Warriors: elite werewolf soldiers; they have gone the most grueling werewolf training.

Omegas: basically foot soldiers.

I find myself fiddling with the bracelet on my right arm; it is a pale blue selenite crystal made into a band and that was the only other thing wrapped into the blanket with me the day I was found. My mom gave it back to me when I was seven years old and this may sound weird but it seems to be growing as I am growing; I’ve worn it everyday since it was given to me and it has never been too big or too tight, it has always fit. “hey Ursi” I hear Greg say, he is using his nickname for me (it means little bear), “You lived with us long enough so believe me, the fight is in your blood” he continues “yeah you’re going to be amazing” Noah adds. I smile at both of them and we arrive at the academy.

The Academy is more like a military base than a school (yeah the name can be misleading), the Heraeus pack has produced the best warriors of all the seven packs so all the alphas, betas and gammas of every pack Including the Lycius pack which happens to be the biggest of all seven packs come here to train and today I begin my training as a pack warrior in the most prestigious werewolf academy in the world. Usually wolves wait until after their full moon ceremony before making the decision to train as a pack warrior, In fact the academy normally would not even consider admitting a werewolf unless they had gone through the ceremony. However, given how important my family is and how exceptional all three of my brothers were in their sets and as pack warriors, My Uncle pulled some strings and got me a “conditional admission”. In my pack, I am already known as the excellent over achieving last child of Leah and Malcoy Eques so it wasn’t difficult for the Academy board to be convinced. My true motivation for wanting to join up the academy so early however, is my fear of how my full moon ceremony would turn out, my plan is a simple one; If it turns out I am not pure blooded enough I would already be such an excellent student that the academy board would overlook that issue and have me join up with the army ranks of the Sedes lycaonis. We get out of the car and I follow Greg and Noah, we get into an office and Noah says “look, we brought you a surprise”.

Anthony turns around and I run into his arms, he lifts me up and I find myself giggling then he wraps me in a bear hug. When he releases me he asks  “ I was gone for just one year, what have they been feeding you?”  I laugh again. Just then Alyssa, our cousin, the Alpha’s daughter and only child walks in and says “looks like someone’s favourite brother is back” Noah scoffs and asks “what are you talking about? I am her favourite”, “ you wish” Anthony retorts then Greg butts in “boys we all know who Celeste’s fav is” gesturing to himself, everyone in the room looks at me and thankfully my Uncle walks into the room at that moment (what a life saver). It’s been a year since I have seen uncle Harold too, he and Anthony embarked on the retreat (a special bonding exercise that Alphas share with their sons to prepare them to take on the role of Alpha) after he chose Anthony as his heir because he has no sons and Alyssa has no interest in being a part of the Sedes Lycaonis (although, even if she was interested I doubt the current council would make it easy for her). After greeting me, Harold turns to Alyssa and asks her to give me a tour of the facility because he has something to discuss with the boys.

Alyssa walks up to me, loops her arm in mine and leads me out of the room. she is talking excitedly about the orientation exercise when she notices my new scar “what is that?” she asks, I explain my little sleepwalking mishap which occurred in the morning to her and she has a puzzled look on her face then she says “it looks like you’ve had it for months now, how did it heal that fast?”.

************

“Sire the Luna is missing” Laos says relaying the report of the pack warriors to Athanasios, Laos continues “If Calix has her you have to break the theca now” . Breaking the theca could mean putting both her and the child in danger and Athanasios can not bring himself to do it. “If I do it she dies Laos” he says “If you don’t, we all die, the princess is lost and all this was for nothing” Laos responds and hands over the box to Athanasios who sighs and then they both make their way to the temple. Athanasios walks to the centre of the temple and recites the Incantantio as instructed by the priestess and Niovi, then he opens the box, takes out the orb and breaks it. A bright light fills the room and as it dies down Athanasios said “I will find you”.