It was around noon and everyone found themselves a comfortable place to sleep. It looked utterly uncomfortable to me watching them sleep all over my room, wherever they found a free space. There was barely any place to keep my foot as I walked through my room.

It was a funny yet heartwarming scene, my bed had a place for only 2 people to sleep but 5 people cramped up with their arms and legs on each other.

On the sofa, 3 people sat down and slouched downed with one barely hanging by the edge and the other two slid down sleeping on top of each other. The rest of the members just found themselves a place on the floor, I had only one futon so everyone spread the blankets on the floor and escaped to their dreams.

They had been searching for us the entire night, even if asked to sleep inside the river they would do that happily.

I and Suzan were the only people awake, even though my eyes barely slept for 5 hours yesterday night. If Fang hadn't wasted my time, I would have completed my sleep. One of these days he will really get slapped by me.

I went outside, the sun was up in the sky with blazing heat fuming off the ground, Suzan was sitting alone on the desk.

"Should we bring something for everyone's lunch?", I asked her.

Her head turned to look at me as if I broke a beautiful daydream she was having right now, "No need when they wake up let's go to the restaurant, I promised everyone a pizza treat remember"

"Ohh yes, Sam had mentioned about some outside restaurant being opened here. I haven't had the chance to go there yet", I told taking a seat beside her.

"Really!", she exclaimed, "didn't Sam show you around the village!"

"Of course he did, but why would we go to the restaurant?" I asked.

From my house the entire village was visible. The land area was huge but it was barely habited by around 60 people. Winterwells was pretty urbanised to be called a village, but the buildings were only on a small section of its land, the rest of the village land was open for agriculture and training.

All the buildings could be easily seen from my house. Tallest was the Pavilion with a circular sitting area at the top - that was where the village elders and chiefs lived, that building also serves as the court.

There was a lush garden surrounding the pavilion and immediately next to it was a society, the main residential area where everyone lived.

The society had a set of 3 buildings inside it in a concentric circle, all the three buildings had ground plus three floors. The middle building had four duplex condos, one of which I owned, Dandeline must be waiting for me there.

"It is your release party and I didn't ask you what you like, Do you like pizza?", asked Suzan breaking the silence between us.

I turned to her embarrassed pursing my lips, "I know it is a very famous dish, but I never got an opportunity to taste it"

"WHAT!", she blurted, "everyone knows what pizza tastes like! Selene, you are an abomination to the werewolf community"

I laughed at her reaction, she was totally overdoing it. But in the past two days, I have come to know one thing - Suzan over does everything!

"Isn't that the restaurant?", I asked Suzan pointing at a two-floored building, it was facing the residential society and had an enormous wall-length glass.

"Yup!", confirmed Suzan with her mouth already watering, "That is the Chilli's, straight from America! they especially serve pizza in this particular branch"

"Ohh, so they are not famous for pizza?", I questioned.

"Actually Channing told me the chilli's that he went to, when he was travelling, didn't serve pizza at all!", stated Suzan, "But to answer your question, they serve amazing meat and tacos!"

Suzan was practically drooling at the thought of all the food that I was hearing about for the first time. It made me chuckle, I used to be like that as a child. But my mom would always tell me, a princess never shows what her heart wants.

"Let's have our dinner there as well!", beamed Suzan.

I smiled innocently, "sure, I'd like to have some meat tonight"

Suzan immediately replied, "That's what she said"

My eyes went wide at her statement, I knew it was slang used in the general public but this was the first I am listening to it. "Suzan!"

"What? It Just slipped", she said, hiding her face awkwardly. "Sam always punishes me up if I make any kind of such comment with the pack, but it is fun out of professional affairs"

I laughed at her, not being able to control myself. She looked like a small kid afraid of her father about finding out she cursed out for the first time in her life.

"What! Why are you laughing", Suzan talked like a baby and I burst out laughing louder.

"Hey, not fair. If you are laughing at me, at least tell me why", huffed Suzan.

"Haha, nothing you are just cute", I answered, continuing my laughter.

"Whatever!" Suzan rolled her eyes.

"Alright! Alright! I'll control myself", I said suppressing my laughter.

"It's okay you don't have to hold it in", said Suzan.

"That's what she said!" I immediately exclaimed and started laughing again.

Suzan joined me in this time giggling louder, "what-! Hahaha, no that doesn't go with it!"

"It does!" I responded in protest like an ill-mannered child.

"It totally doesn't", said Suzan laughing harder at my protest.

~*~

Everyone woke up in the evening so we went for "lunch" then and had our share of pizza, Suzan brought take away to keep at my rundown house. Even after denying she insisted that I keep something there to eat.

After we were done everyone walked back to my house even after my insistence that they should head home.

I saw Arina walking ahead alone so I caught up to her, "Hey Arina!"

She looked at me a bit startled, "Oh! hey...Selene, when did you come here?"

I giggled, "Why? I can't come and talk to you?"

"That's not how I meant it", she said clumsily rubbing her palms together, "everyone usually avoids walking with me"

"Why?" I questioned furrowing my brows.

"They say I talk a lot about stupid stuff", she was a little flustered.

"Really? I want to know as well!" It wasn't that I disliked people who talk a lot, it was more like the subject of her interest was my curiosity. Sam had stopped her from completing the story of Warchild, I wanted to know it all though I had read about it enough.

"Nothing really, You won't like it. They say I wreck the history when I talk, but I'm so passionate about it that I have even read the hidden archives from the war! I know the real truth which none of these will ever come across", Said Arina. I could already see her eyes glistening.

I was amused at how she got her hands on those banned books, "How in this world did you manage to read the hidden archives!? Aren't they locked away in the castle?" Honestly, even as a princess, I didn't have open access to the hidden archives.

She put a finger on her lips, "I promised I won't tell it to anyone, sorry Selene"

"Ahh... no problem!" I replied disappointed, I understood the amount of struggle she would have had to go through it. But that didn't mean I won't find that person out, who dared to smuggle out the hidden archives. "By the way, what did you learn from it?"

"A lot!", she beamed up as if she was waiting for me to ask that question. "It's a lot written in there, and so much unbelievable information! Anything specific you want to know?"

"Hmm", I held my chin thinking, there was nothing else, just my curiosity from the afternoon. "Today you were talking about the last name Warchild, you were about to tell why the Warchild's are so special!?"

"Yes, yes, yes!", she got excited again, "The reason is still kind of halfway in archives, but the answer exists in the publicly available history and rituals. You just have to read it with open eyes and open minds"

"Really?" I thought about it but nothing special apart from the fact that Warchild were all Alpha blood, as well as the result of a crazy ritual started by the late elders. "I never stumbled upon such a fact during my studies", I stated, not getting anything from my memory.

Arina answered, "This is specified only in recent books as the ritual started during our great grandfather's time. Do you know how in old history books werewolves had their soulmate accompanying them? With their soulmate by their side, they were stronger, would heal faster and enhance each other's natural abilities"

"Yes! I have read quite a lot of text specifying soulmates", I replied.

"Do you see anyone talking about soulmates now? Do you feel that attraction like in the history books?" Arina asked, totally ready to give me the answer.

"No I barely see anything like that anymore, in fact, love marriages have become taboo nowadays!" I replied a bit curious about the answer.

"Exactly! That is because the elders challenged the soulmate system, the great war initially started as a cold war. The elders wanted to be stronger, to create a generation of stronger bred wolves who didn't need a soulmate to enhance their supernatural abilities. This is where the cruelty towards love and soulmates started, the Alpha's do not have any choice but to follow the ritual!" Arina was a little sad talking about it.

It already made me realise that the information she was telling, I never stumbled across. There was a huge mess involved in this and I wasn't going to like hearing that!