Your Highness, it is time to wake up," the monotone voice woke her up in the middle of a great dream of her finding her mate.
Princess Serena rolls her barely open eyes in aggravation as George, her father's butler, pulls the curtains open letting the sunlight fill the room.
"I'm up. I'm up" she grumbles.
"You have a busy day today including training and a meeting with the Alphas in the kingdom. Your father is expecting you and your sister to attend," George replied. "You need to get up and prepare to attend training first thing," he informed her as he left the room.
Flicking off the covers and mumbling under her breath, Serena stood up stretching the soreness out of her body, heading over to her closet; she grabbed her training gear and began to prepare herself for training that morning. As she pulled her hair into a high ponytail, she grabbed her tennis shoes tying them tightly. Leaving her room she headed down the hall to go check on her sister and see if she is ready for training. Entering her sisters' room, she sees Ravenna moving around as she prepares for the day ahead of them both.
"Good Morning Ravenna. Are you ready for a fun-filled day of training and meetings?" The sarcasm oozes out of the question as she smirks at her sister.
Sitting on the bed, Ravenna finished tying her shoes. As she stood to her feet she looked at her younger sister smirking. Standing taller than the average female Werewolf at 5'8" Ravenna towered Serena who stood at 5'5". Walking over to her bathroom, she brushed her straight black hair and quickly it into a messy bun. Leaving the bathroom, she walked back to her bed and grabbed the sweatshirt she had laid out beforehand. As Ravenna grabbed it Serena couldn't help but notice a few new scratches and bruises on her sister's face.
"Ravenna, did you go to the Midnight Arena and fight again last night? Are you looking to get yourself killed?" She asked concerned about her sister's favorite pastime and how it could affect her health.
Sighing at the lecture she was about to receive, Ravenna looked at Serena, "look, it is something I enjoy doing and as long as I can keep the fact I'm a princess a secret there will be no issues!" Ravenna rolled her green eyes and started heading towards her bedroom door.
"Until Mom and Dad find out that is." Serena sarcastically remarked rolling her blue eyes at her sister.
Narrowing her eyes; Ravenna turned and glared sternly. "You will not tell them I am doing this. This is why I go to training daily, and it is a good way to make sure I can handle myself if the situation ever needed me to, so Mom and Dad don't need to know!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," she retorted rolling her eyes again at her sister's arrogant demand.
"Speaking of training, let's get this over with," Ravenna said walking out the door with Serena right behind her. Making their way into the dining room, the smell of bacon and sausage fills their noses as the cook sets plates on the table for them. King Alistair is in his seat at the head of the table while his mate Queen Marian is in her seat to his left eating her breakfast and talking to Ravenna's bodyguard and best friend Patrick.
"Good Morning everyone," Serena happily chirped as she started eating her breakfast.
King Alistair looks up from his newspaper smiling at his daughters, his black hair is styled nicely that day and his brown eyes are looking more focused than usual. "Good Morning girls, please remember we have a meeting with the kingdom Alphas tonight and I would like you both to attend.
"What's the meeting about?" Ravenna asked.
"The usual issues: inter-pack treaties, Rogues, and finances. But this is something you all will be doing one day, so I'd like you to start attending them," he replied.
The girls nodded and stood their feet. "Training is getting ready to start; we will see you later on at the meeting," Serena replied and turned to leave the dining room.
"Alphas will be coming in through the day, please keep an eye out for them as you complete your training. I don't want you to beat up any Alphas today Ravenna," King Alistair smirked at her while still trying to keep a straight face.
"That only happened one time, and Alpha Conner has forgiven me for that. Don't worry I'll keep an eye out Dad and ask before I hit anyone." She kissed his cheek and walked out the door with Patrick and Serena when they ran into Patrick's twin brother Kevin who was standing at the door waiting to begin his shift as Serena's bodyguard.
Leaving the house the four walked to the training field and took their positions in the lineup. As the head trainer Marcus, calls the remaining warriors to their designated places in line and calls a start to their training.
"I want to start with two laps around the territory. You can start ....." Marcus yelled. The end of his instructions was drowned out by the groans of the warriors as they all began to run.
The run around the Royal Pack territory was filled with jokes and bickering between a few warriors, filling the group with laughter. By the middle of the second lap, the group was starting to tire, but their interactions were still full of enthusiasm and humor. Hearing something out of the ordinary which almost sounded like crying, Ravenna suddenly jerks to a stop causing the group to forcefully crash into each other behind her. As they started to complain about their bumps and bruises, Ravenna held up her hand.
"Shut up! Do you all hear that?" She asked looking around the woods for the source of the sound.
"I don't hear a thing, are you hallucinating again?" Patrick snickered as he placed the back of his hand to Ravenna's forehead jokingly.
"You don't hear crying?" Ravenna asked frustrated at the fact they aren't taking her seriously.
As a few of the warriors groaned about the run taking forever and brushed by them and kept running. Still hearing the crying, she started to follow the noise determined to find the source.
"Wait! I hear it now!" Serena exclaimed as she, Patrick, and Kevin followed Ravenna towards the crying. "Let me link Marcus and let him know what is going on, we may need help." She stopped running and her eyes clouded over as she was using mind link to contact Marcus.
As the crying got closer, the smell of blood and Vampire became evident as well. Turning a corner, they came in contact with a young pup who was hugging the body of a man; the man appears to be wounded severely with a deep scratch down his chest and a slashed throat. As they walked closer to the child, the Vampire comes into view with a sneer on his face.
"Why, hello there Mutts, so glad you could come and join us!" He stated as he turned to face the newcomers.
"What the hell is going on here?" Ravenna demanded.
"That's Alpha Mitchell of the Blue Lake Pack." Serena gasped pointing to the man lying on the ground gravely wounded.
"Well, it's a simple explanation really, I just helped the dear Alpha meet the Moon Goddess." He smiled at them with an evil grin, "just as I plan to do the same for you."
Using his Vampire speed, he quickly ran up and punched Serena in the face. As she crumpled to the ground, he ran quickly and unnoticeably behind Kevin taking a small dagger and slicing him across the throat with it. Retracting the dagger, he was unaware of Ravenna's presence until she sent a right hook to his face. She quickly followed up with a sweep kick, knocking his feet out from under him. Dropping to the ground as she threw a punch to his face, the Vampire was able to dodge quickly and jumped to his feet as he took a punch to the face from Patrick. Quickly realizing this isn't going to be an easy fight, and hearing more Werewolves coming to help, the Vampire quickly retreated to the bushes.
"Thanks for the fun dear Mutts, I will be back to see you again soon. Also, King Lucius sends his regards." Cackling he used his Vampire speed and quickly ran away.
Ignoring the possibly broken nose and the blood oozing from it, Serena got up from the ground and quickly ran over to the child, as Ravenna ran and checked on Kevin.
"Alpha Mitchell is dead," she stated solemnly as she held on tightly to the little girl.
Throwing herself to Kevin's side, and reaching for his neck to see if there was a pulse, Ravenna looked at Patrick with tears forming in her eyes. "Kevin is gone." As the tears started falling down her face, Patrick came up behind her and put his arm around her comforting her while trying to keep himself calm.
"What happened here?" Marcus came up to the group followed by 10 elite guards.
"Vampire killed Kevin and Alpha Mitchell," Patrick answered pulling Ravenna close to allowing her to cry without an audience.
"Are you sure, we have a treaty!?" Marcus asked with a look of confusion and disbelief on his face as he looked at Patrick.
"That is my brother lying there dead why would we make this up?" Patrick replied furiously as his eyes started turning black. Placing her arms around him, Ravenna pulled him into a hug trying to help calm him down.
Scanning the surrounding forest, Marcus looked at the three of them and took a deep breath, and mumbled under his breath. "Take the rest of the day, Serena head over to the infirmary and get checked out. I'll follow up with the king and we can go from there."
Serena nodded and turned to look at the child. "Hello, my name is Serena, what's yours?"
"Kimberly," she sniffed.
"Kimberly, we are going to go back to our packhouse to get looked at by the doctor. I'd like you to come with us."
"Ok."
Serena grabbed Kimberly by the hand helping her to her feet. Bending down and picking up the inconsolable child, the group slowly walked back to the packhouse with her.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
The loud distraught screams are heard throughout the castle, the screams of a man losing the love of his life. Servants worked in silence, quietly sobbing among themselves. Their beloved queen is gone.
"Your Highness, we need to take revenge on the wolves! This crossed a line and the treaty should no longer apply!" Sampson the king's advisor desperately screamed towards to mourning king.
"We will hold a meeting soon. Please give me and my son some time to grieve." King Richard stated looking at a picture of his wife.
"Yes, Your Majesty," Sampson adjusted his glasses and left the sobbing king to his grieving.