"Why would the Goddess give a ruler to the lycans?" Ebony asked confused. Normally, the small kitten was one who easily understood things, but this time it still slipped passed her, the wish, the intentions of the higher being.

"Lycans... they were made by foolish werewolves, but they themselves have done nothing wrong by simply living. But even if they have done nothing wrong at the beginning, and also their consequent killings and destruction are also without their fault, they should still be controlled.

Though their existence is still at the border between the supernatural world and the human one. So who of the two worlds could accept them, where could they continue to exist? And most importantly, who could give them a structured hierarchical society?

By doing this, she has made a compromise to give a home to them. And that compromise is the existence of Celia.

Celia holds the power to command them, because the Goddess' taboo only mentioned killing the werewolf, and not the lycan who was made by his sin.

As the lycans were not creatures under the Goddess' rule, they could very well rampant everywhere without punishments, consequences for not abiding the laws previously. But now, she made a compromise to accept the army of lycans as part of the supernatural world, and at the same time constrain them.

Also if other werewolves were to try to make lycans again it would be for nothing, as the new lycans would also be under Celia's rule, and could not arbitrarily be used as a weapon." Clarissa affirmed, after some moments.

Ebony was surprised of the insight Clarissa had given her, but even more surprised that the latter had explained to her in so many details. Usually, the explanations of the bubbly witch would be so succinct that they would confuse you more, than enlighten you.

The werewolves were shaken to their core, the newly appeared lycan transformed herself into a wolf, and easily made them kneel. How could it be possible? How could they so easily succumb to her power?

The only werewolf that could make them submit by only using a howl, the only one with this amount of aura was their king, but thinking a bit more about it, with their thoughts spiraling in all directions, they realized that another werewolf could also hold this power, the person they had come to rescue, their queen.

If it was her, than their act of submitting was only natural.

All of them were shaken to their core, as the awareness of the identity of the powerful person that stood upon the wall traveled to all of them. Even the few ones still confused grasped the situation, when Salas mind linked the whole pack and confirmed her position.

"." Salas ordered them. Celia had went ahead of him, anxious to stop the fight as soon as possible. And seeing her aura, her real power for the first time, and also quickly grasping her dual role as the leader of both races, he had agreed to her wish.

Exiting the fortress and coming near Celia's wolf, Salas's midnight wolf approached his mate's face, caressing it with his own, confirming for all the present werewolves, the new wolf was indeed his queen and removing all doubts of her legitimacy, if there were any, considering to how easily they had submitted to her.

The two wolves, one next to the other with contrasting colored furs, black and white, total opposite, would normally seem as different as night and day. One seemed soft and elegant, while the other solemn and stern, but in their eyes they were like the two pieces of a whole. They completed each other, like the night sky and the moon.

With the confirmation that the lycans were under Celia's complete control as was Fenrir, Salas mind linked the werewolves, ordering them to return. Many of them were injured and tired. So considering their presence was no longer needed, they could leave to their homes. The explanations would come a bit later, after they sorted the situation with the lycans.

The werewolves immediately left, at Salas's command, although they were curious about the new queen and had wanted to see her real face. The only ones who knew of her real identity were Gabriel, the councilmembers, Celia's watcher pack and several werewolves from the Academy, but those were under the command of a higher ranked werewolf and they could not spread information about her even to their families, much less other werewolves.

Moreover, to have a queen so strong that she even had dominion over the lycans, who wouldn't want to know about her? But of course, none would voice their opinion in front of the two royals.

They could only wait for the queen to be presented to them officially. Most likely, soon enough the queen would step up in her rightful place as the Luna of all the packs. Who would know that the king would not share their thoughts. And the "soon" presumed official presentation of the queen would happen much later, the petty king would not permit anyone to know of her identity and would hide her away in the Royal Palace for quite some time.

As the majority of the werewolves retreated, the only ones left behind remained the councilmembers and Gabriel.

Just like the rest of the werewolves, even Gabriel and the councilmembers had not expected this outcome, this peaceful ending, but what they least anticipated was for their queen to be such a special existence. They knew the identity of the queen, but none would have guessed her powers.

With almost all the werewolves gone, the only ones who remained on the snowed ground were lycans. The creatures were still in a kneeling position, and while the werewolves still had some confusion on their faces and a slight reluctance to comply to her words prior to knowing her position, the lycans' faces had no hint of emotions on theirs.

The two wolves who descended near them, did not feel their discontent, anger or fright, no feelings, a sight that unsettled Celia a bit. She was afraid that they had lost all their humanity.

Transforming herself once more into her previous almost lycan appearance, as she seemed inclined to think that was the appearance they would most likely listen to, she commanded the lycan that was the closest to her.

"Transform into your human self!" Celia had no knowledge of lycans, she did not know if the person could even transform himself or herself, but she still tried to verify it.

The lycan, with the same lack of emotions as the others, transformed into a beautiful human girl, and contrasting to the lycan form, the girl had tears in her eyes. Celia sighed in relief looking at the beautiful blue eyed blond on the ground, it seemed there was still hope for them.

They could no longer return to their lives in the human cities, but as long as they could transform into a human and converse with her then they would still have a future, as in the lycan form the could not utter the smallest of words

Exchanging some words with the girl, she learned that in the lycans form they felt compelled to rampage and destroy, but inside their minds their true selves were suppressed, so they could not fight against their instincts. She also learned that, normally, the lycans felt the need to change only when a full moon was present in the sky, or if their master ordered them to.

So with some commands from Celia, and her preventing them from their rampage on the full moon, they would be able to lead a somewhat normal life.

At this point, the councilmembers and Gabriel had gathered close to Celia and Salas, and as soon as she finished her discussion, immediately kneeled before her.

This actions, surprised Celia a bit. Earlier she had made all the werewolves kneel, but it was not done from her part to demand respect from them. But now the elders kneeled without words from her, making her revert to her normal personality, in the sense that she did not know how to react. She looked at Salas for guidance, but the latter stood silent. It signified that he was approving their action, and it also meant that Celia had to be the one to permit them to stand up.

"Y-you can rise!" Celia said, with a small tinge of red on her cheeks, losing a bit her composure. But the tactful werewolves only rose obediently at her command, and did not comment or say anything disrespectful.

At this time, Salas was savoring her appearance. He felt her fluctuating emotions inside his heart, courtesy of the newly formed bond.

"Your highness, we are so glad you are safe!" The leader councilmember said. The elder was truly happy, as she could see from his moist eyes.

The appearance of the stern councilmembers that she had previously witnessed at the opening ceremony could not be felt or seen in this moment, she did not know why, but they resembled more dotting grandparents, rather than fearless werewolves.

She did not ponder on these thoughts though, there were still things left to do. The most important being the fate of Crescent, she was anxious to know what had become of her.

Leaving some strict commands for the lycans, that included they were not to leave the fortress for any reasons, they were not to hurt anyone, and also imprisoning in the dungeon beneath the fortress the several rogues and other humans that were found by the lycans at her command, the ones that cooperated with Fenrir, Celia and Salas left rushing to the Royal palace where Clarissa would wait for them. The witch had already sent one of her doves informing them she would come and check the ring.

Before leaving the fortress, Celia and Salas also returned to the room where Fenrir was forcefully left kneeling. The reluctant man had given up on trying to free himself from her command, realizing his struggles were futile.

With no time to waste, Celia released her kneeling order, but imposed the same commands onto him, as she previously did to the lycans outside.

Although fatigued both mentally and physically, the two wolves ran straight to the Palace, not stopping until they reached their private quarters, where Carissa was waiting for them.

They did not stop even at the gates, Salas had only mind linked the guards and the latters had already opened the gates for them in advance. With the fastest speed possible, the wolves passed by them, as all of the guards were left in awe at the sight of the white wolf that was following closely to the side of their king.

The three people and the small cat did not exchange pleasantries, no one was in the mood so. Celia just quickly gave the ring to Clarissa to check it.

Turning the ring around to examine it for a bit, the witch did not see anything in particular with it, or felt something distinct in its appearance, which was not a good sign at all, as even the blue around the stone had vanished without a trace. It had completely reverted to its previous state, the stone looked exactly as it did before Celia had put it on her finger some weeks ago.

The sight of the red stone, sent shivers to Celia's heart, she had not dared to look at the ring until this, scared to even check its color.

Clarissa sighed, she seemed to had lost all hope of success, but still did the final check.

Shakily the witch carefully put the ring on her finger, raising her hand in the air.

They stood silent, not even daring to breathe, hoping for it to work. It was like they were waiting for the red stone to show some indication that it held Crescent, and the wolf could be transferred to the witch.

Although, inside their minds they all knew that for the ring to work they would have to see the reverse process that began when Celia wore it. It meant that the blue color had to return to the edge, letting the red color take over the whole stone again, but now the stone was already red.

Seconds passed, then minutes. Not one daring to say that indeed Crescent had passed.

Celia looked at the stone, with hope at first, then resignation, then sadness. Finally small tears started to slowly fall on her face. Seeing his sad mate, Salas put his hand on her shoulder and gently kissed her temple. He could not offer words of comfort, just be by her side.

Celia was at a loss for words, unable to admit the obvious, but still stood rooted in the same place looking at it. Salas, Clarissa and Ebony also did not move at all.

Ten minutes had passed, while they were still looking at the ring. but Clarissa still did not feel anything, not even a small magic.

At this point, she slowly raised her eyes towards Celia, the girl she had watched grow up had red eyes and was silently weeping. Her tiredness was evident on her face.

The power Celia had used, the emotions of being kidnapped and the entire experience that followed were evident on her entire being. She was moments away from collapsing, only being able to still not fall because she was waiting for results.

These facts made opening her mouth that much harder for the witch, knowing the words that she was about to say would surely shatter Celia, but it was better than keeping on straining her feelings further.

"Celia, Crescent... I..." Clarissa was trying to form her words, but found it difficult to say she was not inside the ring.

Steading her heart, knowing somebody should eventually still say it, Clarissa again opened her mouth, and with her chin slightly trembling as she was holding back her tears, hoarsely spoke.

"She is..."

But Clarissa's words were interrupted, when she felt a small portal forming inside her wolf's place. As she kept on looking at the stone, she had also kept focusing her mind on that place.

She did not continue talking, waiting to see what was happening first. She feared saying something rashly and renewing Celia's hope, so she focused all her attention on the portal to ascertained the sounds she heard.

"alive." Clarissa finished saying slowly, when a small murmur could be heard from beyond the portal.

"What?" Celia asked, fearing to dare believe her words.

"She is alive. I can hear her voice, she said for you to not be worried." The bubbly witch's mood completely shifting from sadness to happiness, evident by her huge smile.

Celia cried harder, wrapping her arms around Salas's chest, but her tears of sorrow had transformed in ones of happiness.

Her consciousness was barely hanging by a thread, so with the happy news, Celia finally succumbed to her weariness. Salas quickly strengthened his hold on her, feeling her weakness, not letting his beautiful mate's body fall to the floor.

***

Wrapping his arms around the small body protectively, Salas opened his eyes to check her sleeping face. The previous night had taken a huge toll on Celia, and he wanted nothing more to do but hold her in his arms, to feel her, assuring himself she indeed was safe.

This was his most fervent wish, but he knew that they had to deal with the aftermath, so even if he did not have the heart to leave her side, he had to.

His eyelids opened and he slowly traced her face from her chin going up. He loved it when he woke up before her, and had the opportunity to admire all her perfect features unhinged, only to discover that Celia was already awake, her big sparkling eyes were watching him sleep it seemed.

"Good morni..." He tried to say, with his lips already forming a small smile.

But his words were engulfed by her mouth that greedily covered his own. Wrapping his arms around her more forcefully, he happily returned the unexpected kiss that left them both breathless.

Feeling no more air in her lungs, only then did Celia remove her lips, as her chest wheezed trying to compensate for the previous lack of air. She had to be the one to take her lips away, because he did not show the slightest of intentions of removing his lips from hers even after moments passed.

Seeing the still close small face near his, his heart beat increased because of her unexpected boldness, her flushed cheeks, and her red cherry lips, but the words that followed made his heart beat sky rocket, his eyes widen in amazement, and his mind blank.

"I love you!" The small beautiful voice whispered. It was the first time Celia had expressed her feelings openly towards him, the first time she had uttered the word love with those lips, that were left plump and even redder than usual, after the slightly ruff kiss.

He had told her before how he felt, and even repeated it several more times when they cuddled together, but she never replied, only shily wrapping around her arms around him, hiding her face in his chest. The cute reaction filled his heart with happiness, so he never demanded to her to reciprocate the words. But hearing them now, he truly felt complete, and overflowed with happiness.

He now understood just how she felt when he had said those same words, and why she had not responded, her confession left him wordless. Wrapping more his arms around her in a hug, he moved his head near the crook of her neck, inhaling the strawberry scent. He also felt shy, and wanted nothing more than to hide his slightly red face. At the age of a hundred years old, he was only now feeling what true love meant.

"S-salas..." The small woman whispered, but he did not reply, and only waited for her to speak.

"I want ..."

Her words sending even more ripples to his heart, as she continued.

"you to mark me." Celia managed to say.

Waking up first, and seeing him peacefully by her side, she had kept associating the clean image of his present face with the bloody one from the previous night. Her heart kept squeezing at the thought that she had almost lost him. So when he finally woke up, she could not wait any longer... she did not want to wait any longer.

Her mark that could be seen on his lean neck, the proof that Salas was hers, was a proof she had also wanted. The undeniable evidence that she was his.

At the words that made him even more fulfilled, if he could possibly be, feeling her determination and the courage of the otherwise shy woman, Salas did not wait to confirm her words again. Celia was not a person who would ever say something she did not mean.

Not leaving his face that was already near the crook of her neck, he slowly opened his mouth, and with his already protruding canines, sunk his fangs in the tender skin.

"Mom!" Brianna shouted excited, walking fast towards her mother.

"What is it?" Diane asked expressionlessly, not sharing one bit her feelings, or having the curiosity for the news Brianna seemed to want to share.

"We have an invitation from the palace!!!" Brianna replied, unaffected by her spiritless mother.

"Oh?" Her mother worded, indeed her curiosity was a bit picked. It was summer now, usually the king only summoned them to come to the palace for the winter ball. Why would he summon them now?

She knew it was indeed a summon, even though the card had written on it in a gold color the word " invitation", because of course an invitation was a tactful more word than "summon". Although for the king, the two meant the exact same thing.

"Yes. Look!" Brianna opened the card, showing it to her.

Diane looked closer, checking the reason for the unexpected summon, her eyes widening in surprise.