"We'll be leaving tomorrow," Nate says as he gets under the covers as we're heading to bed.
"I can't wait to get back. I miss everyone," I say, getting under the covers too.
"We're not going home."
"Where are we going?"
"It's a surprise."
"A surprise?" I ask, giddy.
"Yes."
"Where could we be going that would be a surprise to me? Hmm."
"You'll see tomorrow," he says, smiling.
"Okay, good night," I say, kissing him.
"Good night, mate," he says when our lips finally part.
***
The following morning Nate and I leave very early. We spend about two hours in the air before landing. We're in the car on our way to a place only Nate knows what or where it is.
I look away from my window when I hear the driver talking to someone. I look ahead and realize we're in front of a huge iron gate. It's as big as the gates of the vampire king's castle.
"State your business here," the man inside the security post by the gate asks the driver.
"The Alpha King has arrived."
"Oh, forgive me, my King. I'll open it immediately," the man in the security post says and hustles to open the gate.
The driver takes us into a huge compound. It's bigger than the vampire king's.
"Nate, where are we?"
"We're home," Nate says, smiling.
"Home?" I ask, confused with how this strange place is our home.
"Yes, home. Come. I'll show you around," Nate says, stepping out of the car when it comes to a halt. Nate walks over to my side and opens my door. In front of me is the biggest castle I've ever seen. The vampire king's palace cannot even compare to what's in front of me.
"Nate," I say, looking at him confused.
"This is actually where we're meant to live. It was getting renovated, which is why I was lodged with the other pack. However, renovations are now complete, and we can return home," Nate explains as we walk toward the castle entrance. The guards bow immediately once they see Nate.
"So, you're telling me you had a castle all this while like a real king?" I giggle.
"Yes."
"Wow, this place is beautiful," I say as we walk into the palace.
"I know," Nate says, smiling.
Nate shows me around the castle; words can't describe how beautiful it is. We're walking toward the training grounds. This is where Nate trains all the werewolves for combat. I see a non-werewolf in the midst of werewolves and smile. I leave Nate's side to greet my dear friend.
"Hello, Ekaterina," I say, smiling as I pull her into a hug.
"Hello Liz, how are you doing?"
"I'm great, and you? What are you doing here?"
"I'm wonderful. I'm helping the werewolves train for the upcoming war."
"You're not a vampire. How can you help with the training?"
"She might not be a vampire or a werewolf, but she's a witch. The witches have joined the vampire king in the war. We need a witch while training our soldiers to prepare them," Nate answers my question before Ekaterina can.
"Oh, thank you so much, Ekaterina."
"You're highly welcome, Liz."
After speaking with Ekaterina and saying a few words to those wolves in training, Nate and I walk back inside our castle.
***
The following morning, I wake up early so I can train with Ekaterina and the other werewolves.
"Where are you going?" Nate asks as he walks into our bedroom. He just got back from running in human form.
"I'm going for training with Ekaterina."
"Why? You don't need it," he says, taking off his shirt.
"Why would you say I don't need it?" I ask, as I try my best to not stare at his body as he continues to take off his clothes. His chest has sweat dripping down it, and as much as I should be disgusted, I'm super turned on. The way the sweat drips down his abs is just making m—
"Elizabeth!" Nate says, waving his hands in my face.
"You were saying?" I ask, swallowing saliva as I watch Nate take off his workout pants.
"I said you don't need training since you're not going to fight in the war."
"Why won't I fight in the war?"
"Because I don't want you to."
"Why don't you want me to?"
"Because the kingdom needs you to rule if I die."
"You're not going to die, and I'm fighting in the war," I say, my teeth grinding.
"No, you're not Elizabeth."
"Nate, you can't stop me from fighting in the war because you want me as some sort of safety net to rule in case you die. This war is as important to me as it is to you." If only he knew I was the reason this war was even happening.
Hopefully, if the plan I've been thinking about works, this war won't happen, and Nate and everyone I love will be safe.
"I can't let both of us go to war. Who will rule if we die? The werewolf kingdom will fall if you're not there to rule it."
"Please stop saying if you die. You're not going to die! Please stop saying it!" My voice raises a few registers in panic.
"You know there's a high possibility of me dying, even if you don't want to accept it. Please listen to me. Please don't try to go to war," Nate pleads with his deep voice and beautiful eyes.
"I'll think about it." I want to fight because I'm responsible for this war.
But Nate is also right. If both of us die, the werewolf kingdom will fall into chaos. We can't afford that if the vampire king survives the war.
"Thank you," he says, kissing my forehead before he walks into the bathroom.
"I still want to go and watch the training if you don't mind."
"I don't."
"Thank you," I say and leave.
I walk outside to the training grounds. Ekaterina is getting ready to start training. I wonder how she helps the werewolves train. My plan is to just stand by the sidelines and watch, but a werewolf notices me.
"Good morning, Luna Queen" he greets, and every werewolf around does the same.
"Good morning. I didn't know you were joining us," Ekaterina says as she walks up to me.
"Actually, I'm not. I came to watch."
"Join us instead. I know Nate said you shouldn't train because you're not going to war. It still won't hurt to learn how to fight against a witch. You never know when you might encounter one," Ekaterina says. I think hard about her words. I haven't decided yet if I will follow Nate's wishes and not fight. It won't hurt to train while I'm deciding.
"Sure, why not."
"Great, let me walk you through some things before we begin training. Witches don't have speed and claws like werewolves and vampires, but we're still a challenging match in a fight because of magic," Ekaterina says and releases a ball of fire in one hand and water in the other. "We can cast spells with one of the four elements of the world, which makes us a formidable match in a fight against a werewolf or vampire."
"How?"
"I can stop the flow of blood in your body with my water spell, and so can any witch gifted with water magic. I can make you feel like your body is on fire from within using my fire magic."
"Wow, if witches can do that, do we have a chance against them?" I ask.
"Yes, you do."
"How?"
"First, if you see a witch, never shift. In wolf form, it's easier for them to cast these spells on you. Also, all the spells I just mentioned are forbidden spells. A witch would have to take control over your mind to be able to control within your body."
"Is it easy to take over the mind of a werewolf?"
"No, it's not because every werewolf has more than one mind. You have your wolves as well as your own consciousness. If a witch were to take over your mind, she'd have to fight the wolf too. That's why it's easier to take control if a werewolf is in wolf form. Your wolf is free, so it's only the human mind that's left to take over. So, never shift in front of a witch who practices dark magic."
"Noted." I nodded.
"Good. The witches who are helping the vampire king all practice dark magic. They will try to push you to the limit, so you are forced to shift into your wolf. I know werewolves are stronger in wolf form, but don't shift, no matter how beat up you are in human form. The moment you shift, your life is gone."
I nodded, wondering how I was going to survive vampires in human form if I couldn't rely on my wolf to come out and fight.
"Alright, since I've explained everything, I think we can begin training. We're going to fight in human form and remember—"
"Never shift," we all repeated.
"Yes, let's begin."
I take a step back from Ekaterina. Once we're a reasonable distance apart, a bell goes off and she attacks me. She throws a ball of fire my way, but I duck before it reaches me. I run toward her to grab her neck, but before I get too close, she freezes my legs to the ground.
"That's cheating," I shout as I try to break the ice around my leg. It's cheating is because if she were a regular witch, she would only have one element to use and fight against me. I use my free leg to hit the block of ice as hard as possible to get my leg free.
"It's not my fault I'm gifted with two types of magic," she says, smirking.
I crunch down as I see another fireball come my way. I make sure to stay low, so it'll hit my frozen leg if the fire hits me. The flame Ekaterina is using isn't hot because it's training. If it was a real fight with another witch, I'd have been on fire the moment it touched my skin.
"Thank you," I say, as the ice on my leg begins to melt. My plan worked.
"I should have seen that!"
"Too bad, you didn't," I say, smirking. I run toward her on the other side. She throws balls of fire at me. With my werewolf speed, I can dodge all of them. I'm about to grab her neck when a massive wave of water suddenly appears above my head and pours down on me.
"Ekaterina," I scream as water continues to pour on me.
"Oh, my, I can't," Ekaterina says, laughing.
"I'm going to kill you!" I say only when the onslaught of water stops. "Where did you get so much water from?" I ask.
"There's a river behind me," she says, and I look. Ekaterina likely used more than one hundred gallons of the water in the lake across on me.
"I think that's enough, the both of you," Nate says as Ekaterina and I are about to continue fighting.
"What did we do?" we both ask at the same time.
"You aren't fighting. You're just testing your skills with one another."
"No, we're fighting," I say.
"Really? In a real fight, would you ask your witch where she got the water she's using to drown you?"
"Well, no."
"So, I thought. Ekaterina in a real fight, would a werewolf allow you to almost drown them and not rip your throat out as your hands are above the air?"
"No."
"So, I thought again."
"Sorry," I say, feeling embarrassed that Ekaterina and I were playing more than training.
"Sorry too," Ekaterina says.
"Come, let's get you dried up," Nate says, grabbing my hand. "Ekaterina, you may continue training the others," he says before pulling me with him inside the castle.
As we walk inside, I can tell he's disappointed in me because of how Ekaterina and I were training. We didn't plan to make the fight seem more fun than serious. It just happened like that.