I looked at the Alpha lying on the ground, bathed in his blood. Being pinned down by the Beta, all I could do was struggle through the pain. Beta’s canines made their grip stronger around my neck and I continued to quiver in pain.

“I will kill you first,” the beta expressed predatorily, “and then I will enjoy watching the Alpha struggle through his last breath, finally leave this world! Tomorrow after returning to the village, I will become the rightful Alpha of Winterwells! And I will make sure that just anyone from the lowlife doesn’t become a part of our pack”

His words were very much of a taunt towards me. Since I never mentioned my home was the castle itself, he must have assumed I come from indigent families just outside the kingdom.

I tried to break free but it was useless effort! I might have had a lot of practice matches in the castle but in life and death situations experience counts and Beta clearly had more of that.

‘No! No! No! If I die like this the pack will surely go in the wrong hands’ With all the strength I had remaining I howled a distress signal very specific for our pack, it was an absolute law to use it only when your life is facing a threatening situation and your pack makes sure to follow up on it!

The Beta was furious as he knew it won’t be long before the pack finds their way here, he had special abilities to hide the scent of his trails and probably even others. That was the only logical reason as to why a smell-sensitive creature like werewolves from our pack couldn’t find us yet.

But what about the voice signal? It was out now and the pack would be heading straight here. So the only remaining task was to stop the Beta till then.

He pulled at my flesh around the neck, as the wound opened it started bleeding profusely. Getting up he headed straight towards the Alpha with murderous intention spilling out of him, in my painful efforts I grabbed his hindleg to stop him.

He might have been a little hesitant with his attacks, but I was not! With all the strength I shook my head jerking and gritting my teeth on his slender bone of the leg. It broke off as blood gushed out of the wound, and he hobbled with pain.

It did nothing but add to his rage more and he turned around towards my helplessly exerted state on the ground, without hesitating he scratched my eye in an attempt to gauge it out.

I groaned loudly from pain and watched him continue his limping towards the Alpha.

‘He is killing the Alpha over my dead body!’

With a strong resolve I got up, my vision was restricted to only one of my eyes as the other was dyed red. Running towards our beta I pounced on him biting a huge chunk of his thigh muscles. He cried out with pain, before he could react I pounced again pushing him as far from Alpha as possible.

His retaliation followed obviously, but more than his experience my resolve prevailed! Pushing him further I dug my canines into his neck.

“You disrespectful kid! this is the problem with the new generation – they do not respect the old ways and end up just like your foolish Alpha dying there!” said the beta trying to fend me off of him. But my hold was stronger, call it an adrenaline rush but I couldn’t feel pain in my wounds.

“I just want to save our Alpha! If I am to die here, then I’m taking you with me!” I replied pushing him against a fence.

He kept wriggling under my hold trying to counter as I dug in my canines deeper and deeper, biting as hard as I could till my jaw closed and the taste of meat became evident to my tongue, with the huge chunk of his flesh resting in my mouth.

He couldn’t even whimper or make any sound, just squirmed in pain on the ground, he was bleeding heavily and probably wasn’t capable of any further attack.

I rushed back to the Alpha. I saw a piece of clothing lying on the ground and pulled it up on him covering his torso. He probably turned back to his human self after suffering from so many serious injuries!

Sitting down near his heavily built body I watched his blonde hair drowned in blood and his right arm torn halfway dangling by the elbow. There were lots of scratch wounds on his body and the breathing was becoming more and more unstable.

I howled our distress signal again, it was very tough as my neck impeded due to the injuries; but I howled, for as long as I could.

It was very rude of me but I bent down towards the Alpha hoping to give some comfort to his wounds and started licking the blood covering him, from his face down till his abdomen where he had a big slash mark draining blood rapidly.

As I was doing so I felt the chilly presence that crept from behind until he was way too close. Immediately pulling in the Alpha’s body under me to protect it I got ready for any incoming attack.

‘It’s okay if I die, but I’ll protect this body! I won’t let betrayal kill him’ I said to myself giving up all my hopes on any miracle. But God always has her plans!

Suddenly a new and unknown scent was filled in the air, a wolf that I didn’t recognize attacked the Beta, throwing him away from us as he fell down due to his loss of balance. I turned to see the unknown wolf who stood pridefully tall, anger oozing from his eyes.

His black and white colour made it evident that he must be an Alpha, the darker the colour the stronger the wolf and greater his superiority!

Running ahead he pounced on the beta attacking him repeatedly, it was a gruesome scene, as if done with the intent to torture.

The beta turned and twisted in pain unable to counter-attack or die, the unknown wolf kept scratching and biting till the beta finally succumbed to his death.

Those cruel piercing eyes of that wolf looked at me with blood all over his face and a hint of malevolent satisfaction, I was expecting him to attack me next as my body stiffened ready to defend, but he just turned and ran off to the opposite side of the fence.

He was from Waterwoods! They are sworn enemies of the village I had just joined disguised as an omega. It looked as if they had a hand in attacking our Alpha, but why did he let me and the Alpha be!?

Just then our entire pack arrived haunted by the scene – Beta was lying dead at a distance from us and my wounded wolf wrapped around alpha’s human form in a protective stance.

I was losing a lot of blood and it was becoming harder for me to hold my werewolf form any longer, seeing this the female wolves in our pack rushed in to pull me aside and surrounded my naked self. I was so relieved to see everyone, a piece of cloth was draped around me and Atlast we were saved! With relief, I gave in to my consciousness.

**~~**

Coming back to the present I sighed as Dandeline looked at me with a nervous yet thankful expression, “I am so glad you are safe ma’am, let’s go back to the castle! I don’t want to test any more of your luck here”

I chuckled at her comment, “You give up too soon Dandeline, don’t forget that the reason we came here is very important for my political marriage to take place!” I had never left the castle walls since I was ten, this was of great concern for my ‘to be’ father-in-law.

‘If a queen doesn’t know how to engage with her subjects, she is not worthy of the throne!’, I remembered his words and how they had cornered my father to finally let me out of the castle. But this mission, to end the age-old war between the two villages – Winterwells and Waterwoods, was my decision!

“Princess this is the task that not even the king was able to accomplish!”, stated Dandeline anxiously, her concern was genuine but that was the exact reason I chose to do it in the first place.

“It is just the start Dandeline, and I will warn you again to not call me princess!”, I talked warningly this time which was responded by her nodding, “Alright then, you go back to the house, it is better you are not seen around me”

“Understood ma’am!”, she responded as if accepting a command, “Get well soon ma’am, I will take care of your house till you return”

I waved gesturing to her not to waste any more time, and she left hiding her face, leaving me alone in the dull hospital room. I waited for some more time and pressed the call button in my hand paging the nurse to come inside.

Immediately a nurse rushed in and called for the doctor, as habitual as she was immediately checked my pluses, “Do you feel any pain?”

“No”, I shook my head.

“Okay, great” she continued, “can you tell me your name? And any relative living here? Actually, no one from your pack knew anything about you.”

That was obvious, I grinned, “I don’t have any living relative here, but the fees will be paid in full don’t worry. And umm…about the name, you can write it as Selene”

The nurse wrote the name and looked at me waiting for me to continue, seeing no response from me she finally asked, “can you tell me your full name?”

I responded with a smile, “It’s just Selene”