"Celia did you manage to clean your dress?" Her mother asked, just as Celia turned around. But Diane, her mother, could clearly see that the wine stain was still there. She smiled at her daughter, which surprised the latter, as her mother din not smile at her, even when the house was spotless.

"Ohhh, you. Look how careless you were. This spot is impossible to remove." She sighed and continued. "Well there is no way around it, I guess. I will call your brother, and tell him to take you home. You cannot walk around in this dress!"

Celia was truly surprised, her mother did not even suggest changing her clothes and coming back, although the ball was not even halfway finished. But she did not question it further. It was what she wanted also.

"Alright, I will wait for him in front of the yard." She affirmed unbothered.

"No! I think it's better to go wait by his car. What if someone sees you like this?!" Diane quickly said.

"Alright!" Celia immediately agreed, and directly walked away. She did not think it was that big of a deal, it was only a pinkish violet hue that remained spotted on the fabric as the dress dried. Blending a little with the flowers that decorated it, the dress did not look so awful that she had to hide, but if her mother felt embarrassed, then she would listen to her.

Arriving to the parking lot, her brother was also dumfounded that she was going home. In the past, his mother would have insisted for her to return because it would be disrespectful for them not to participate. Not to mention, it would be a pity if his sister did not find her mate.

"Are you sure you do not want to change, and return with me? What if you could find your mate tonight?" He asked, making sure she truly did not want to come back. It wasn't a problem for him to drive.

"Just walking around inside the ballroom, he should have found me by now by smell alone. Perhaps, he was not present. There is always next year." She replied certain of her reasons.

Because of her resolute answer, he no longer insisted. His sister knew he was not only asking politely. Well, she was a withdrawn person and did not like the crowd, so it was no wonder she refused to return to the ball.

The following morning, as always she set the breakfast table just as the members of her family descended the stairs.

They ate in silence, which was weird, not even one of the four people at the table had anything to recount from last night?

Even if she did not find a mate at the ball, her sister should have, she thought.

Her mother had been so certain of the future connection between the young alpha of their pack and Brianna, so she should be the mate of the Alpha, the Luna, by now. So why wasn't anyone saying anything? Brianna's shift age was perfect for her to become a Luna.

Perhaps, she was just the mate of another alpha, and so she did not find him last night?

She was interested about knowing what happened to her sister the previous night, but she knew that if something did happen, her sister would be jumping up and down by now and would have told her a million times about it already. But her sister was standing properly eating her breakfast, and she was not one to pry. She also did not want to hurt her sister's feelings by asking her.

As they finished eating breakfast, Celia rose from her chair and started to remove the plates with leftovers, to clean the table. But just as she was about to start cleaning, she was stopped by her mother who appeared to have something to inform her of.

"Celia, I have been thinking about what you told me some time ago. You know, about the training for the watcher initiation. And I feel that you are right." Diane sighed apologetic, her face full of regret.

"I know it's been hard on you all these years. I have been stricter with you than your sister and brother, but I felt that you, being the oldest, should be more mature. It was not right, I know. So I have been reflecting on it."

She stopped for a moment, observing Celia's emotions. As always her daughter was emotionless, she could not read her face.

"I already talked with Abigail this morning, and we called the Royal academy. Fortunately, the training for this year's selection starts next week. I even booked the flight for tomorrow, so you have time to settle in before the training starts.

So today, don't do any chores, just pack your bags. Okay?" Finishing what she had to say, Diane approached Celia, lightly hugging her.

Even though barely any expression could be seen on Celia's face, in fact she was stunned. She thought she had to wait for her sister to find her mate before talking to her mother again, but not only did she not hear anything regarding that, now she was even set to go to the Academy, without any effort whatsoever to convince her mother.

Something strange was truly happening. She felt like her mother wanted to get her out of the house. No, more precisely, out of the pack. For what reason, it was beyond her. Diane never showed such consideration to her before, even less to her wishes. But, regardless of the reason her mother wanted her gone, it was of no importance to her, as it wasn't anything to harm her.

As long as she could do what she had always wanted to, it was fine.

She could finally begin the road towards her dream.

"Alright. I am going to go pack." She stated quickly, then went away. She did not want her mother to change her mind.

"Mom, what just happened?" Daniel had never been more surprised, his mother would never in her life do something like this...she would never change her mind so suddenly about something she had firmly decided on. And also it was the first time hearing that his sister's dream was to become a watcher.

He knew her dream had been to be a designer when she was little, she even had the skills for it. But a watcher, a warrior... he had never even seen her shift. Was she capable of becoming the highest grade warrior there was?

She was capable of almost everything she had set her mind to do, about this he was certain. The highest grades at school, the clothes, chores, but regarding physical strength he was not so sure.

"What do you mean what just happened? Your sister asked me some time ago, if I would let her join the 6 months training program for the exam that grants access to the Royal Academy's watcher course.

I felt that she was not strong enough, that she had no physical aptitude for it, and I initially refused her. But, I thought about it some more, I mean she always works so hard for all of us and never asks for anything. It would be horrible from my part, if I do not grant her this wish." Diane explained, her eyes red and guilty.

"But I never heard her mention such a dream before. And a watcher... she has to be almost as strong as an alpha, if not stronger. Not to mention, I don't think there are any women watchers." Daniel stated, truly confused.

"No, there are not. We asked yesterday when we called, but there is no rule to not allow a girl to participate in the testing.

As I said, I don't think she will accomplish anything, but there is also no downside about it. At most, she just sticks with the training and 6 months later she comes home and resumes her life. Or perhaps, interacting with so many people she could find her mate."

Daniel thought about it and his mother was right, even if he felt there was more to his mother's actions, there were no reasons for his sister not to follow her dream. He had thought that finding a mate might alleviate the burden on her shoulders. But realizing her dreams, without interference from Brianna and his mom, was also alright.

Until her flight, Celia's time was full. Preparing to leave the next day for a trip that would last 6 months was not easy. She did not manage to leave the house, even for a quick run. Her brother was the one who went and bought other necessities she still needed.

She was aware nobody had confidence in her, but the fact they let her go to the Academy still warmed her heart. Perhaps her mother did not do it for an ulterior motive, she did talk with her some time ago. Her mother was not a fair person, but she was still her biological mother. Surely she would wish her well.

After only a brief sleep, having most of the time occupied by the packing, she was driven to the airport by her brother and mother. Strangely, she had not seen her sister since yesterday at breakfast, but she could not blame her. Brianna had never been separated from her for so much time before, so maybe she was upset with her for leaving. She would call her later to sort it out, she mumbled to herself.

She always took care of Brianna and sometimes she felt like a second mother to her. She would leave her alone for a while to sort her emotions. Brianna was already 20 years old, an adult. She needed to start taking care of her own problems.

"Take care of yourself, alright? And remember, we are your family no matter what. In 6 months, if you succeed in passing the exam and enrolling for the course, I will be proud of you. Otherwise, I will still be proud of you for trying." Her mother wished her, hugging her one last time.

The long flight ended and she arrived at her destination's airport. Grabbing all her luggage, she waited at the entrance for the car to pick her up. Her mother told her there would be an escort from the Academy.

Soon, a black SUV stopped near her. From it, a middle age man descended, and scanning the surrounding, as he could feel her wolf scent, he came directly to her.

"Hello! I am the designated driver from the Academy. Are you Miss Celia Blair?" The older man asked respectfully.

She nodded and politely greeted him.

Smiling, he grabbed the luggage from her hand, and helped her store it in the trunk.

As the man took the driver seat, she also ascended the car.

In all his years of driving potential watchers, watchers and teachers at the Academy, he had never seen a girl trying for the exam. Normally, a watcher was as strong as an alpha, and alphas were only males.

He was intrigued, when he was asked to pick her up from the airport. Was the person he had to drive a foolish one, someone who dreamed big, or did she have the actual capacity?

Although he did not show it on his face, he was amazed. The person in front of him actually exuded the aura of a watcher, not a potential one. She felt like a person who had already completed the education and was in fact a full watcher.

This happened because, unknown to Celia, she was starting to loosen her barrier and some of her actual power was now in plain sight. Experiencing the unknown pain for the last couple of weeks had taken its toll on her body.

Plus, back at the pack she always tried to suppress her power as she could not be as powerful as the Alpha. It would be seen as a challenge to his leadership, so from the age when she defeated the rogues she learned to create a wall around herself, hiding her power. This was also and advice Clarissa had given her, but now it was not necessary to do so.

Driving for a few hours, she silently looked outside the car. It was the first time she was in human territory. It felt strange seeing in real life the images she only saw on TV. She was nervous about the future, she knew she was strong, but what if she was not strong enough.

In complete silence, her mood kept swinging from joy to uncertainty and nervousness.

Arriving at the Academy, the driver stopped in front of its tall iron gates, and waited to be given permission. A guard in a black uniform with quite a big built approached the car and, seeing the driver nodded, before opening the gates.

The inside of the Academy was huge, she thought. From the front gate to the building she was supposed to arrive at, it took another 20 minutes.

On the way, different kind of huge buildings were aligned. There was a modern and old feel to them because of evident renovations. These were buildings that had been build hundreds of years ago, not one was new. The layout of the Academy had not changed since its construction, it was only maintained as the time went on and renovated as the technology evolved.

Exiting the car, she was greeted by a small secretary who helped her with the luggage even though she refused. The secretary led her down the corridors of a building that seemed like a dormitory, while explaining the selection that followed.

"Unfortunately, we do not have a dormitory only for females, so you will have to live with the other male candidates; there are more than 1000 this year. But don't worry, each of you will have separate rooms and bathrooms, so you will only meet in the common rooms or the kitchen.

The meals are at 7am, 12pm and 6pm. We provide the cooked meals in the common room exactly on time, so please do not be late. Other than that, you can do what you want in the free time until the exam. You can also read about the selection process if you feel you do not understand it from me." She eloquently explained then looked towards Celia to see if she had her attention, before continuing to inform.

"The exam begins at 8am on Monday and it usually lasts until one month later, depending on the total number of candidates and the exam choices. Every year the tests are divided in 4 parts, each taking place on the first day of every week. Each exam will only take place if you pass the previous one. You will be tested on strength of your wolf, intelligence, capacity to adapt and handle problems, and finally combat power.

The first exam is placing your hand on the Seer and checking your wolf's power directly. Please do not worry, this exam is confidential, and the teacher attending to it has the obligation to keep the secret of your rank and power. He also has a curse placed on him, so any leak of a wolf's power to another person, other than the king or the Council of Twelve, will result in his death.

The second exam is a written test that will determine your IQ. Any watcher has to have extensive knowledge which we will provide in the next two years, but we still have to know if one has the capacity to learn everything we will teach.

The third exam will be liberal discussions with the teachers. You will extract a note from a ballot, on it a situation will be written, to which you will have to give an answer on how to handle it.

The final exam will take place only if you pass the previous three. It will consist of free fighting with the other candidates. It will be a melee war. The last 10 men standing will become the new students.

Please keep in mind that there are only 10 places, no exceptions are granted. Placement in the first ten will result in your acceptance in the watcher course which will last two years, finalizing with your direct employment." She sternly stated.