"Okay. This is good. Right? We're making progress."
"Yeah. I think," I muttered. "I guess now we just keep trying to find more information. How to defeat the creatures, if that's possible. I guess."
"Okay," the others said in unison.
We split up our time for the rest of the week between the vault in the library and the forgotten ancient rooms in the castle. There were a lot more books than I'd thought there would be.
We all spent hours pouring over the ancient documents and recounts of how life was in the beginning.
The story of Queen Diana was eerily similar to my own. She was never meant to be queen or mate with King Aelfred. She was an ordinary commoner who ended up finding out she was the daughter of Artemis. Much the same way I did. In the time before mating, while we were still young, the brave Diana fought alongside King Aelfred to defeat the creatures that threatened the very existence of all wolf kind.
They fell madly in love and the King had her crowned queen after the Battle of Winter Lake.
Their wedding ceremony, which I suppose is now our mating ceremony, was the largest and most lavish wedding ever held. Guests traveled from all over the wolf realm to attend.
Her gown is the same gown that all queens and future queens would wear for their mating ceremony.
As the couple approached the third anniversary on the throne together Queen Diana fell pregnant with their first child. The Future King Edward. There were complications during the delivery and she died, leaving King Aelfred miserable and depressed until his death twenty years later.
It was shortly after this, when Artemis noticed the complete wretchedness of the king that she changed how we lived. She was moved by the love and devotion Diana and Aelfred had for one another. It was the same pure love she had for Orion. She remembered the way her heart shattered at Orion's death. This is why we mate for life. That is why we are able to find our mates starting at adulthood so we can know what it's like to have ourselves whole.
It's also why we die if our mate bond is broken by any means besides death.
The documents also described the hatred that Hera had for us. The number of times she attempted to destroy us, in the beginning, is really ridiculous. Between the great evil and the natural disasters she sent to our realm, Artemis was forced to put a protective forcefield around our realm. A force field that made our entire kingdom invisible to those on the outside.
If we're within our protection, how could Hera have found us?
She had the ability to shapeshift herself, though not into wolf form, she could into human form. After her first attack, Zeus forbade her from ever shifting into our form. She was supposed to obey the restrictions on not attacking wolves and those of us who shifted into wolves, but it seems she didn't listen.
As the days wore on, I felt a stirring within. My wolf whined as the full moon grew nearer.
I know. I've neglected you.
She wanted to run. She wanted to be free. I hadn't let her out in so long. None of us had. We were so distracted by the pending doom that we didn't let our wolves run.
"Hey," I called out to Edmond.
"Yeah?"
"Let's run."
"What?" He put down his book and looked up at me.
"Let's run. My wolf is whining. We're at the full moon tonight. Let's run before our ceremony."
He sighed and nodded. "Okay. Mine has been whining too. I haven't let him have control for a while."
"Neither have I."
We deserted our spots in the old castle and made our way to the lake.
"I've never ran here before," I said quietly.
"You'll love it." He smiled at me.
"I've never shifted in front of anyone before."
"Neither have I."
We watched each other as our bones crushed, fur sprouted, and our noses elongated into snouts.
His wolf was massive. He was a bit taller than I and much more muscular. His fur was a blackish blue like the night and spotted with silver. He looked like the night sky speckled with stars. His eyes remained the same beautiful hazel as his human form.
His wolf lips curled into a smile as his tongue hung out at the side.
My inner human laughed at the sight of the prince being a goofy dog.
'You're beautiful,' I heard within my mind.
'What! How can I hear you?'
'We're mates. We can hear each other,' he said.
'I didn't know that. We haven't mated yet though.'
He shrugged his big wolf shoulders, as much as a wolf can shrug. 'I don't make the rules.'
I laughed again as we started to run. The grass was soft beneath my paws. I had never really just ran before. At least not for fun. I let my wolf have full control. She ran as fast as she could. I could feel the muscles tighten and loosen with each step. Our heart beat harder than it ever had.
We finally stopped, panting hard, at the edge of the meadow. The forest beyond was dark and ominous. We smelled something. We didn't know what it was, but it was something.
My wolf whined, and paced in a circle, tucking our tail, waiting for Edmond.
'What is that?' I asked.
He sniffed the air, shaking his head. 'I don't know. I don't like it though.'
'It smells...like death. It smells like those things!'
'It's not close though. It's still far off. I'll tell dad and send a platoon of guards out.'
'I think that's a good idea.'
We turned and ran back to the castle. I didn't know how far I'd let my wolf run, but it must have been quite a distance. We grew tired only halfway back.
That lake is going to be great to jump in.
The scent of the water hit our nose first. It gave us the motivation we needed to run back.
Water!
As we neared the edge of the lake, we jumped, landing with a large, loud splash. My wolf lapped up the water as we doggy paddled around. The cool, clean, clear water felt and tasted so good.
I could hear Edmond laughing in my mind.
We turned in the water until we saw him standing on the edge of the water.
'Get in. It's really nice.'
'I see this.'
He took a few steps back before leaping in with me. We doggy paddled around, splashing and howling until the sun began to set.
"What on Earth...Is this what you two have been up to? Oh my Goddess! Guests are going to be arriving soon! Will you two get ready?" Queen Amelia shouted, stomping across the grass.
I emerged from the pond still in wolf form. I bowed my head and turned toward the castle.
"Ellie, your clothes?"
Right.
I hurried to the two piles and scooped mine up in my teeth before trotting inside. Edmond followed close behind.
"Elanor! Get yourself into that shower now!" my mother scolded. "Really child. Of all days for you to run off and play. Your mating ceremony day?"
My wolf rolled her eyes at mom.
"I know that's you rolling those eyes, Ellie."
"Some queen she'll be," Harmony said from behind me.
My wolf turned with a warning growl.
"Oh, real nice. Growl at me. Mongrel."
"Harmony! Go downstairs. I told you if you started, you were leaving. You're only here because Alex had to be here. Now go."
Edmond growled low as she passed him.
Mother sighed heavily and ushered us both into the bathroom quickly. "Just, shower and bath. Both of you. And not together. You're not mated yet!"
Edmond and I both laughed at one another.
As she shut the door we shifted back into our human form, seeing one another for the first time.