How?

That is the one question that is on every wolf's mind.

How did he come back? How is he alive? How strong is he?

All the color leaves my face and my throat dries up, leaving a heavy feeling in my stomach.

The tension in the air is thick enough to cut. Kaceline and Kenneth look unaffected by it.

Kenneth's icy blue eyes meet my own of the same color. Mine show resentment and anger, while his show triumph and arrogance.

"You've grown so much, Chloe."

I growl at the bastard -excuse my French- but I don't attack yet. Kaceline is a powerful witch and Kenneth still possesses his bulky physique. Though I am 5 feet tall, he still towers over me.

"I have a proposition for you. You hand us the throne, or we take it?"

Forget it.

I jump at him and aim my paw at his throat. But he intercepts my move, dodges it and catches my hind legs before I reach the ground. He swings me around and tosses me a few feet away from him. I land with a painful thud. He gives me a sly smirk while Kaceline cackles.

I yelp in pain, causing the warriors to charge at Kenneth. Lorenzo stealthily runs towards an oblivious-looking Kaceline.

I swiftly get up on my feet and have another unsuccessful go at Kenneth.

This time, he gives me a shallow, humorless laugh. "You didn't think this was our plan, right?"

I look behind him and see Lorenzo and all my warriors frozen in place. The wolves are still in mid-run and Lorenzo stands motionless with his soundless growl and bared teeth.

Kaceline is nowhere to be found. Lorenzo's eyes are fixed at the spot she stood at, but there is nothing there.

I'm pretty sure the shock and confusion is evident in my face because Kenneth laughs again.

"My mate is in your, or should I say my, castle now. She's going to get that little scepter for me."

I shift back so I could speak.

"Where is Darcy?" I say through gritted teeth.

"Who again? Oh, the witch princess. She's alive."

"I repeat, Kenneth, where is princess Darcy?" I am seething with rage at this point. My eyes narrow and a low growl makes it's way out of my mouth.

"You'll find her somewhere over there," his eyes flicker to the west borderlands.

Without thinking, I shift and run to where he directed.

I'll deal with him later, I need to find Darcy. The entire witch kingdom is counting on me to find their future queen right now.

My ears perk up and listen for a human heartbeat, cry, sniffle or anything that may lead to Darcy. My nose picks up every possible scent, searching for the one that belongs to my best friend.

I run around the lands for the sixth time, tracking down any sign of her.

I softly whimper when I don't find her.

My sadness turns into pure rage and I sprint back to where I left Kenneth.

I can't believe that mutt lied to me. Well, I can believe it, but I'm still pissed about it.

Why did I trust him?

A faint grunt breaks me out of my run.

I slow down to a stop and turn my head to where the sound came from.

I slowly trod over to a small thornbush and I immediately whimper. Tears prick my eyes at the heart-shattering sight in front of me.

Inside the thornbush, a bloody, broken girl is squished inside. Her dirty hair sticks to her sweaty forehead. Her skin is covered in burn marks, scratches, bruises and fresh blood that seems to be her own; big ugly blotches lay here and there and her skin is paler than milk if that's possible. Her green eyes that are supposed to be bright are so void of life. Her face is almost unrecognizable.

I've never seen a living person looking so dead.

No, I've never seen the bouncy, carefree spirit called my best friend looking so lifeless.

I use my nails to cut up the bush and help the poor Darcy out of the thick thorns.

Her body tumbles out. I take note of how much skinnier she got. Her chubbiness is gone.

I start growling in anger. Anger directed towards the atrocious couple I call my aunt and uncle. I lift Darcy and place her on my back as gently as I could using my teeth and paws.

I start running back where I last was, with Kenneth. I run cautiously so Darcy doesn't fall off.

Why? Why did they torture a helpless teenaged girl? They definitely used witch hazel on her, so she was defenseless and vulnerable. How could someone be so cruel?

"Lawrence? Janet? Xavier?"

I try mind-linking my warriors, but I get no response. Who can I try mind-linking? I get the idea to try my mate.

"Lorenzo?"

Nothing.

Dread starts forming in the pit of my stomach. No one is responding, but I don't feel any of them in distress through the mind-link.

Silence almost never means safe.

When I reach the clearing, I feel relieved when I see everyone where I left them. Everyone except Kenneth.

Where is he?

Arg! I leave him here for six minutes and he's gone!

Wait, he said that he's after my scepter.

My scepter is in a secret compartment within the throne room.

I slide Darcy down onto the soft, clean grass and mind-link one of the pack doctors to come to the clearing as soon as possible.

I run to the castle, hoping that I am not too late.

The scepter is the number one thing that can fall into the wrong hands. Especially not Kaceline's.

It alone has the power to control every werewolf in the continent simultaneously. It also can alter a wolf's perception of reality and make them believe what the holder of the scepter wants them to believe.

That's why the scepter not be in Kaceline's possession. Who knows what will happen to my kingdom? All of the poor oblivious wolves.

I shift back and slip on an oversized t-shirt belonging to one of my warriors on my way into the castle.

I follow Kenneth's scent and like I expected, it leads to the throne room.

I find the two turning the place upside down trying to locate the secret compartment.

I smirk, knowing that they'll never find it since it's right behind an innocent table and needs my fingerprint. Who knew human technology could come so handy in an ancient werewolf castle?

"I smell her." Kenneth says aloud.

Shit. If only we had powers.

I do.

I step away from behind the door and into the room.

Kaceline scowls while Kenneth gives me an angry smile.

"Where is the scepter?"

I told my arms across my chest and raise an eyebrow. "You gotta be crazy if you're thinking that I'd tell you where it is.";

Kenneth takes three strides and next thing, he has me by the neck. He lifts me up by my neck and my feet dangle underneath me. His eyes swarm with malice and fury.

"What makes you think you'll escape this alive, huh? Are you that much of a fool, or are you too naive?" By this time, he is fuming.

"I don't know, I'm not stupid. I'm just really good at denying facts."

With that, I swipe across his eyes and knee him in the family jewels. His hand slackens and I drop down.

I stand up and get in fighting stance while he clutches his crotch.

From my peripheral vision, I see Kaceline continuing her search for my scepter.

I decide that she isn't a threat and return to pissed off Kenneth who is an actual threat.

He charges at me, but I barrel roll between his legs, then swipe my feet under his. He falls to the ground with a satisfying

He gets up and throws an uppercut I wasn't expecting. I fall to the ground and clutch my now bleeding bottom lip.

I let Kasey take control and fight him while I think of a way to get them out of the throne room.

"Found it!" Kaceline says in a singsong voice.

Fear and dread consumes me when I see the golden cylindrical object in her hands. The once blue alluvial stones turn white, like a rough cut diamond. I take control of my body and lunge at Kaceline.

If she says her spell, it could be all over.

But if I touch the scepter before she completes the spell, it will back fire on her part.

I reach my hand out for the scepter and it wraps around the shaft part, underneath Kaceline's own hand. I pull it towards myself, while she pulls it in the opposite direction.

The scepter emits a blinding white light like a literal sun in the room before everything turns pitch black.