"I am sorry your highness! Please do not be mad at Councilman Reynolds. It was my selfishness to be here tonight, but please believe me I did not mean any disrespect. I can leave at this moment if you wish for me to do so! Yvonne quickly apologized. Her blue eyes filled with worry. To show her sincerity, she was even about to rise on her feet and truly leave it seemed.

Normally, seeing such a beautiful lady flustered because of him, any man would react and tell the lady not to leave. Normally, but unfortunately Salas was not any man, he was not gentle at all with women.

Celia had expected him to help the lady and prevent her from leaving, but he did not say anything. Even though he had been nothing but courteous to her so far, to lady Yvonne he had not spared a single glance. It made a seed of doubt sprout in her mind about his intentions to her.

"Lady Yvonne there is no need for you to leave, if I say you are my date tonight. Right, your highness?" Intervened councilman Reynolds.

He was satisfied that Salas was finally showing interest in someone, but he still had to make sure that the king truly liked Celia and had romantic intentions towards her. As such, he could not let go just yet of lady Yvonne. The lady had done nothing wrong so far and she should be given a chance too.

She was also the prime candidate he had chosen from many others, and an heir born from her would be as strong as one born from Celia, so he prevented her from leaving.

Not to mention, she could be used to test Celia's feelings towards the king. The feelings of lady Yvonne could be seen clearly, but Celia's face was unfortunately, as expressionless as the king's. Salas showed some indication through his actions somewhat, but he could not tell from her so far.

Salas did not say anything about what councilman Reynolds said, so lady Yvonne ended up remaining at the same table as them.

For the first part of the night, Celia had greeted and was introduced to many strong alphas.

By being at the king's table, she was also included in conversation each time someone came to greet the king.

Her position as an alpha of a pack of watchers, made the alphas respectful towards her. She would be one who, one day, could possibly pay a visit to their pack. By establishing some friendly relations now, if there were some problems and investigations later, perhaps she could lighten their sentences or at least judge fairly.

She was also respected because she came arm in arm with the king, and the king was known to respect strength. Although some might have suspected a deeper connection between the two, most were in fact sure she came as the king's partner because she was the first female watcher.

It was not that they thought she did not suit him, quite the contrary, most alpha and luna pairs at the ball thought they were a perfect match. They made a beautiful picture together.

The problem was the king, he was already a hundred years old and he had never had a lover before. Perhaps they were accustomed to him being by himself.

"Celia, I believe your parents should also be here tonight. Do you want to go meet them?" Salas asked near her ear, when there was a moment of peace.

She flinched at the mention of her parents, she knew she had to meet them, but she did not want to see them yet. She had thought she would go briefly to their dormitory, but only to reject Rayan and quickly leave.

Thankfully, she did not see them for the first part of the night, because for one they were seated at quite a distance away. For two, by using her werewolf sight she could spot them if she tried to, but she did not want to.

Meeting them in the presence of the king, meant that she had to act civilized to them and actually treat them as her parents. She was not one to wash dirty laundry in public, so she would have to act courteous towards them. By doing this, would they take advantage of her again? Would they use her to get closer to his highness? Before she would have said no, but now she knew better.

Fortunately, it seemed they still had the decency to at least respect the king. They had attended previous balls before and knew of the royal protocols, one of the protocols being that they could not come to the king's table uninvited.

Only strong alphas, that had been leading packs for a long time, and had a previous connection to the king, could come near the table, without the king giving them express permission to do so. Her parents were betas, so they had even less right to come. Of course, it was another matter, if they claimed they came to meet their daughter.

"No, I do not want to meet them right now your highness. Thank you for asking! I will do so in a private setting later on!" Celia replied grateful.

Salas nodded and did not insist on it. He did not know how the relationship between Celia and her family was, but he could see in her eyes that she truly did not wish to meet her parents.

"Alright, if you change your mind let me know." Salas briefly said, then resumed talking with another alpha.

It had not been long after his question, when an uninvited person that did not seem to know of the royal protocols, still came.

"Sister?" A high cutesy voice called from a distance, making Celia frown. She should have known that, although her parents were still mindful of the place, there was someone who was not.

She looked towards the direction of the voice to answer. She knew that even if she had ignored Brianna, the latter would still come towards the table. And just as she expected, she did not even answer, when her younger sister was already close.

She also made it seem like only now she had spotted Celia and thus came near, conveniently forgetting the protocols.

"Ahhh... I am sorry! Please forgive me for intruding. I was so happy to see my sister that I forgot what time and place this was. Your highness, I am Brianna Blair, the Luna of New Moon pack and the younger sister of Celia." With red cheeks seemingly flustered, Brianna quickly greeted politely.

Even Celia would have been proud of the wonderful greeting her little sister gave, if she had not known what Brianna was capable of.

But now, Celia could only see a woman, not a little girl that was growing up. No, a woman who knew exactly what she wanted. In a few words, she managed to introduce herself to the king innocently and coincidently, to inform everyone around that she was a watcher's sister and at the same time that she, Brianna, was also the Luna of a pack.

Salas looked towards Celia and then to the person in front of their table. The petite blond person had her body bent in a reverence. He did not say a word to her and only gestured for her to rise.

Brianna did not wait a moment longer having gained permission and, proud of herself, approached even more the table.

She waited for a few seconds, thinking that his highness would speak to her, but he did not say a word, nor did anyone else at the table, for that matter.

Celia even less, thought to say something. She was thinking that if Brianna had the audacity to play a game of sisterly love, then she should play it by herself.

Having all the eyes of the high ranking wolves on her, she felt intimidated and quickly spoke again.

"Sister I have missed you dearly. I did not know you would participate at this ball, were you trying to surprise me? If so, I was truly surprised.

Really, you have not called home in so many months. We were so very worried about you!

Since you came to the Academy until now, why haven't you contact us?"

Brianna stopped for half a second, like she was choking because she was feeling overly emotional. Then she continued.

"I know that all that mattered to you always was to fulfill your dreams, even leaving before my Luna ceremony, but you should still contact us sometimes in your free time." Brianna stated aggrieved, with eyes filled with tears that were threatening to fall.

Just like always, Brianna was determined to gain the upper hand. If she posed herself as a victim first, then no matter what Celia said, it would only seem tacky. It would make everyone around her think that she was trying to make excuses.

Brianna was also trying to let everyone know that her sister was not at all the kind of person she appeared to be, having kept her participation a secret from her family.

Celia was still listening expressionless but, inside her mind, she thought that in the time she did not see Brianna, it seemed her acting rose up a notch. Well either way, she did not mind or get upset because of Brianna's ramblings.

Celia slightly coldly smiled with no affection on her face and was about to answer her sister, but Gabriel cut her words and spoke first.

"Were you very worried about your sister?" He asked surprised.

He was her teacher and was, along with her pack members, present every day at the Academy with Celia. He had never seen her receive any phone calls from her overly worried family.

One could say that, because Gabriel was with the students most of the times during classes, he did not know if she received phone calls during breaks. But Celia had been hurt and was in a coma for many days. If he included the exercise time in the count, then her family had not called her for more than three weeks. If one was truly worried about a person, then he or she would call first.

He had also heard a bit from Jake, when he pondered on whether to let her family know of the injuries, that Celia had a strained relationship with her family.

Jake had not said it in so many words, as Celia had not said anything bad about her family, but something was strange for sure. Jake told him that she had ended her vacation on the same day she went home, even though she was previously very enthusiastic about returning to her pack territory. So one could draw their conclusion from that.

And if those two reasons were not sufficient, then the reason Gabriel gave Brianna next, was sufficient enough, as he continued speaking not letting her answer the first question.

"Since the time she left home and until now, did your worry for your sister lessened or heightened in particular?" Gabriel asked cryptically.

Brianna frowned at the unknown man's intervention, but she knew that at the king's table there were only important officials and so could not ask him why he intervened. She could only carry on her act.

"Of course we were worried every day we did not hear from her. How could we worry more on a particular day or worry less?! We are her family, since the moment she left her home we were worried. It is just that ... we did not know when we could contact her, so we asked her to call us whenever she could, but she never did. Still, she must be learning a lot at the Academy, so we cannot blame her." Brianna replied smiling.

She figured that was what the man was trying to reason with her, the fact that they did not call themselves. So she said it first.

"Really now! Quite commendable of you to be so understanding." Gabriel said, also smiling like her.

"Still, one would think that, as a Luna and a high ranking werewolf, you must have felt the bond with your older sister slightly disturbed when the latter was attacked and hospitalized.

So knowing for certain that in that period of time she would not be studying, and Celia could manage to answer your calls, as there was no need to worry about disturbing her classes, considering she was not participating in any... you still waited patiently for her to contact you on her own. I mean she could call in her unconscious state if she tried a bit more after all. You are a real loving sister. Truly, quite commendable of you!" Gabriel said sarcastically, still smiling.

Maria sighed at her mate's intervention, the man could not sit still when dealing with sneaky two faced people. Well he really had a point, so she really applauded him inside her mind. As for the others at the table, of course they would not dare comment in the presence of the king.

Brianna froze, not knowing what to reply. Her sister was hurt but they, as her family, did not feel it. The bond had been weakened between them because of what happened at the Luna ceremony, so none of them felt it when she was attacked. The only one who was still close to Celia, Daniel, had not shifted yet so could not feel the bond.

Her answer of worrying equally each day was a wrong step. She should not have said that.

At this time, Salas did not speak at all and Celia was still looking expressionless as always. Like the discussion was not about her.

Feeling suffocated on what to say next, Brianna felt agitated and it made her belly hurt a bit. This helped her clear her mind.

"My sister was hurt?" She asked worriedly, placing a hand on her protruding belly. She also bent a little to show she was in pain.

Celia sighed, she did not know if her sister was truly hurting or not, but it was never her intention to hurt a child. She closed her eyes and opened them again, and finally spoke.

"Your highness, my sister is not feeling well. Can I go and help her to the bathroom and check up on her?" Celia asked Salas respectfully.

"Yes of course. Go and look after her!" Salas said gently to her, but no worry on his face about the other person could be seen. He had not looked in Brianna's direction since he permitted her to raise her head.

Having said this, he quickly rose on his feet and pulled her chair away to help her up.

Celia thanked him and excused herself from the table, walking in her sister's direction.

She lightly took her hand and really walked her to the bathroom.

They did not say a word as they walked. Celia was too disgusted with Brianna to actually talk to her. So after arriving at the bathroom, she only instructed a passing maid to inform Diane to come and help Brianna, then quickly left.

Brianna also did not say a word, she did not even look behind her when Celia walked away. She was frustrated that nothing went as she had envisioned. It seemed that she would have to use the other method.

Opening the door of the ballroom, Celia came face to face with Yvonne. She apologized and slightly bowed, making way for the latter and giving her priority to pass through the door.

Yvonne passed and did not even say a word of thank you, walking confidently ahead.

Celia was not one to mind such things, so she did not bother and was about to go inside the ballroom.

"Do you know of the event called Battle Royale, miss alpha?" Asked Yvonne, with a high screechy voice. It was a voice totally different from when she spoke to his highness. It was a type of voice Celia recognized hearing once before, some moments ago.

Indeed, her sister had the same change in the tonality of her voice. She changed so fast from sweet to bitter in a matter of moments depending on who she was speaking to, or depending on whether she needed something or not.

It was a character trait she had found cute when her sister used it when she was young, but nowadays it annoyed her quite a lot, as it made her seem like she was a person one could easily mock.

"Yes I do." Celia replied, as she turned around looking at Yvonne.

The unwavering look from Celia's eyes and the tinniest bit of aura she sensed from her, made Yvonne flinch a bit, although unnoticeable. But she still did not back down, she had done a lot to become someone worthy to be the queen of all werewolves. Just a small confrontation, after a long road that she had already followed, was nothing.

"And do you know what it implies?" Asked Yvonne again, with a small smile on her face.

"Can you please get to the point of why you stopped me from leaving?" Celia said sighing. She did not want to seem rude, but she was a straightforward person. Talking in a roundabout way was not her cup of tea.

"I will, Miss alpha. I just wanted to make sure you knew of it, because I wanted to invite you to hold the Battle Royale together with me tonight." Confidently said Yvonne folding her arms in front of her chest. She looked as though she was offering Celia an opportunity to make Yvonne herself shine.

Studying history and general knowledge at the Academy, Celia knew of the battle, but she did not understand why Yvonne wanted to select her as an opponent.

The Battle Royale was a fight in which, in the past, at the end of each year a single werewolf could challenge the king for his throne. But as the gap in ranking got wider, the battle was deemed futile. The difference of the first rank of the king was about 100 times greater than the second rank.

Which werewolf alone would want to battle away their lives to obtain the throne, when a hundred or more werewolves were necessary to defeat the king?

But as it was a tradition, it slowly transformed and gained another purpose. Nowadays, the battle royale could be held at the desire of two werewolves, and the winner of the fight could be granted a wish from the king.

Of course, there were certain conditions to ensure fairness. The first condition was that the opponents must hold the same ranking, but they could still have different sub rankings.

The second condition was that there were limits to what their wish could be. They could not ask the king to punish or kill someone, or grant them official titles. It meant that the wish had to be a reasonable one.

The third condition was that the wish should be the same for both opponents. No matter who won. the wish would remain the same, so they had to agree on it beforehand.

And the fourth condition was that it could not be a fight to the death. If the opponent that was about to lose surrendered, the winner would hold back and the fight would stop.

"I am sorry, but I am not interested!" Celia replied calmly. She did not want to make a show of herself or ask something from the king. Why should she comply with Yvonne?

"Well I wanted to ask you of your own volition, but it seems that you think you have the upper hand on me so you do not want to lose your advantage. Well even if you don't want to participate, you still will." Yvonne said confidently with a smirk.

"I doubt you could make me!" Celia stated unbothered and wanted to walk away. She was tired of such people like Yvonne and her sister, so she did not even want to think of what advantage she was referring to.

"Well I can and will. Do you know, you may think you are a part of your little Academy pack, but in fact technically you are still also a part of your previous pack until you graduate. So if your Luna orders you to take part in the fight in her stead you have to. And what a coincidence she already agreed for you to take part!" Yvonne explained laughing.

Celia did not respond, but her emotions were fluctuating slowly getting angry. Her chocolate brown eyes started to change their color, slightly darkening.

Really first her family, now even a woman from who knows where, thought she could use her how she wanted.