Chapter 31 Message for Kharisi!

"Child, I hope this message gets to you safely. I have been incarcerated here in the dungeons with my sisters and my mate. Most of them are very weak; they have been tortured emotionally, mentally and physically. Their condition is stable for now but I will require your help, a woman will come to you. Her name is Sandra, she is tall, blonde, grayish eyes and freckled face. She knows the location of the dungeon where we are being held, it is cloaked with magic that it is impossible to see it with your naked eyes. She will lead you to where we are, child I know by now you must have already met Celestine and though you may not know it, she has already unlocked what she suppressed in you; your magic and your wolf. Forgive me for not telling you sooner but child, it was for your safety as there are people who would want to see you dead and it is my duty and honor to protect you. You cannot talk of this to anyone even Greta, at this point enemies are more than those that would be on our side. Follow Sandra, listen to her, and of course do not forget to consult with your newfound friend. He will know what you need to do; we will be waiting for you in two days' time from the moment you get this message. Do not worry about Celestine, my other sisters are taking good care of her for now, she is safe thanks to that young man. For now this is all I can get across to you using the pigeon, to reply just communicate as you usually do with your familiar? I will receive the message. Until we meet again my dear child, be safe."

By the time Alice finished watching her Camilla speak to her as is she were there with her, tears were running down her cheeks. Some were tears of joy for seeing her alive but at the same time she was crying for the condition her grandmother was in. The rest of the people with her were unfamiliar but they looked to be in worse condition than Alice was.

"Oh Camilla, I am so happy to see you well and alive. I thought that white haired man that calls himself my grandfather had killed you.

Camilla I miss you so much, that man brought me with him to the palace and they keep calling me princess. I do not understand why they would think I could be a princess but that does not matter. I will come and get you Camilla so that we can leave this place and go back home. I met my mother, she is so beautiful and looks like a very important person but Camilla, I have not yet met her in person. I met her in a place she told me is called a dreamscape. She said I was the only one capable of recalling her into the waking world because you were not around to do it and you are the only other person that could do it. I am scared Camilla, very scared of this place and the people that live here. I have started training with Zander, he is training me for something they called the challenge. The white haired man said I challenged him and so we have to fight, it will be in a few days. I have been training so hard because I do not want to be beaten by an old man. Promise me you will be there to watch me Camilla; I want you there so that I can avenge you. I will wait for Sandra to bring me to where you want me to go and I will bring Mizpah with me. I love Camilla and I miss you so much. Hold on tight, I am coming for you."

Angela opened her eyes and stretched her hand above her face; the pigeon landed on her outstretched finger, perched there for a moment, and then flew away.

"What a beautiful bird," she exclaimed.

"I take it that was a private message?" Greta asked.

"I have no idea what you are talking about, she said and started walking towards the palace. Her grandmother had told her to trust no one including Greta, even though she felt she could trust her. Angela wanted to go against her grandmother's warning but she had learned early on that whenever Camilla asked you not to do something and you went ahead and did it, the consequences were painful.

Greta did not push her, she understood perfectly the position the girl was in, her life was full of twists and turns that it would be difficult to ascertain for sure who was with her and who was not.

"Oh, I thought it was a carrier pigeon, my bad. Let's go get you ready for your training, she told Angela following behind her.

The training was going very well until Melissa, the top woman warrior made a comment about training a useless human girl who could never be a match for any werewolf in Grundolf. Angela, who never shied away from a confrontation ignored her comments and continued to spar with another woman warrior Zander had teamed her up with. Melissa not getting the reaction she was looking for from Angela, was not satisfied and came up to her and shoved her causing her to fall on her behind. Those that were in the training ground stopped what they were doing to watch Angela and Melissa.

Angela stood from where she fell and said to Melissa in a very calm manner that was unlike her, "I'm not interested in fighting with you."

"What now, the royal princess is a weakling afraid to fight. I have been telling you she is a fraud, just look at her; too afraid of facing a warrior like me because she knows I will crush her."

Some of the women and men laughed but someone from among them said, "Yeah, show us you are an Adolfo, or go back to your human world.”

Zander felt bad for Angela but this was a battle he could not fight for her, if she submitted to Melissa, she would lose her title of a royal princess even before she was officially announce as one. If she fought and lost, she would still be considered unfit to be a royal. He wanted her to fight, he knew she could do it and could not believe he was seeing a submissive Angela. Very little was always enough to set her off but now here was a real challenge, something that would be beneficial for her especially because of the upcoming challenge.

"I will not fight just because you want me to fight," she said as she prepared to leave. Melissa attacked her from behind but on reflex Angela avoided the blow causing her to stumble and lose her footing. Without waiting for her to regain her balance, she went on the offensive and struck a blow that broke her nose.

Melissa was angry, she had underestimated the human girl but that did not mean she was about to be beaten by a human. It would ruin her reputation as the top warrior; this was a moment to live or die for. She shifted into a large brown wolf and lunged at Angela's throat but the human girl was too swift for her. She went under Melissa avoiding the blow but grabbed her neck in the process. She turned while still holding onto Melissa's neck, threw her on the ground, and straddled her.

"You," kick... "do" kick "not" kick " disrespect" kick "your" kick"seniors" kick.

Angela was hitting her on the jaws from one side to the other, every blow rendered broke something, after a while Melissa's face was all bloody as were Angelas hands. She did not stop there, she stood up and picked Melisa as if her wolf weighed nothing and with a twist broke her neck and threw her on the ground.

She turned to look at each of the trainers that were watching, shock clearly written on their faces and said, "Anyone else that has a problem with humans?"

They all looked down ashamed, they had not expected Melissa to lose so dismally, she had not managed to land a single blow to Angela yet she was the best that Grundolf had. Zander was beside himself with pride for Angela, he walked to her and handed her a small towel that she used to wipe the blood from her hands. She seemed to be in a world of her own, Zander took her hand and led her to a rock and helped her sit. The rest of the trainers left the training grounds whispering and murmuring by themselves as they followed Melissa's body that was taken to the infirmary where corpses were preserved awaiting burial.

Word had spread fast and news of Melissa's sudden demise echoed throughout the kingdom. Howls of sadness could be heard as those she had served loyally, friends and family cried for their beloved daughter, sister, friend, and warrior. A sudden gloom had spread over Grundolf, Melissa had gone, but she went the warrior's way. As she sat there on the rock trying to make sense of what had just happened, a commotion was heard from behind them. A man came charging at Angela, he was Melissa's mate.

"Murderer, I'll kill you for taking away my Melissa's life," he shouted his eyes bulging and froth forming at the edges of his mouth.

Zander rushed towards the man and restrained him from getting to Angela, she stood from where she sat and looked at the man afraid of what he might do to him. Guilt had started to set in, she had never killed anyone but here she was; a murderer.

"Calm down Mike, she issued a challenge and you know the end. You cannot blame the girl, Melissa should have known better,” Zander said to her mate in a firm and commanding tone.

"Are you going to side with the human? She took my Melissa away from me" he sobbed into Zander's shoulder wrought with grief.

Zander handed him to two warriors and went to Angela who was sobbing uncontrollably, Hey, come here" he said as he took her in his arms.

"I killed someone, I killed her," she sobbed.

“Shhhhhhh… I can understand how you feel but it was not your fault. She asked for it and you did what you had to do," he tried to comfort her.

"But she is dead; I did not mean to kill her"

"Yes and that is because you are not a murderer but she would have killed you had you not killed her. It was self-defense," Zander told Angela.

"I killed her, look at my hands. They are full of her blood, I killed her," Angela continued to say wiping her hands on the towel rigorously as if she was trying to wipe the memory of what had just happened.

Zander realized that no matter what he said to her, she was already too distressed to listen. She was already in full panic mode and needed to be near Mizpah who could spread his calming essence over her. As if on cue, Mizpah came thundering into the training grounds to where Angela and Zander were sitting. The beast caused those that were in the training grounds to flee, as they feared for their lives. Mizpah knelt when he came before Angela and bowed to her level concentrating on calming her as her panic had started to cause the wind to start blowing abnormally even though it had not yet gotten out of hand. Zander watched as the winds stopped blowing gradually and finally when it was calm, Mizpah lifted Angela on his back, her grief of a moment ago seemingly forgotten.

"Take her home big guy," Zander said to Mizpah as he patted his flank. With a snort and a low growl, they left.