I didn't sleep. I didn't want the night to end and dreaded as the sun slowly climbed in the horizon. The night was bittersweet and this was the absolute perfect moment.

I rolled over in bed and stared at Edmond as he slept. His chest rose and fell slowly. I reached over and brushed the hair out of his face, just watching him.

"It's not polite to stare," he said, his eyes still closed.

"Then don't be so damn handsome."

He opened one eye and smiled at me. "Nice bedhead."

I laughed lightly. "Yeah. It's kind of has a mind of its own."

"I love it."

"Can we just stay here forever?" I asked.

"I wish. But we do have to get up. Soon."

"Soon? Do we have time to, uh...." I waggled my eyebrows at him.

A devilish smile crossed his lips. "Of course.'

He sat up and pounced on me. We spent as much time rolling around in the bed, kissing, touching, and being as intimate as we could be until a knock at our bedroom door.

"Yes?" Edmond called out, panting.

"Uh, sir, your breakfast is in the living space."

"Thanks. You can just leave it."

"I have a message from the king," the voice called.

"Ugh." Edmond got up, grabbed a pair of his lounge pants, and went for the door. "What?"

I heard whispers followed by Edmond sighing heavily.

"Okay. Thanks. Please be sure Beta Alastair and his mate are made aware and to meet us here in twenty minutes." He shut the door and turned to look at me. "We have to hurry."

"Why? What happened?" I propped myself up on my elbows, the sheet slipping down the front of my body.

"There was another attack."

"What where?" I sat upright.

"Apparently everywhere."

"What do you mean everywhere?"

"These creatures, whatever they are, aren't stupid. They executed coordinated attacks late in the night in every pack's territory."

"What?"

"Yeah. They're locking down all of the territories so we have to get into the Blackpaw Howlers territory before the guards close off our roads."

"Shit."

I jumped out of bed and pulled on a t-shirt and leggings while scrambling for my boots. Edmond shoved clothes into a backpack while I did the same. We hurriedly drank a cup of coffee while scarfing down a breakfast sandwich.

"Ellie?" Ashley called while knocking on the door.

"Come in!"

"What is going on? I was told to pack and be here?"

"We have to leave now."

"Now? I thought we weren't going until later," Alastair said.

"That was before the coordinated attacks last night," Edmond answered.

"What? Where?"

"Across all of the packs. We have to go before the roads are shut down."

We grabbed our packs and hurried to King Orsand's office. He had the sword and bow sitting on his desk, ready for us.

"Good. You got the message. Andrew is waiting for you at the stables."

"Stables?" Ashley asked.

I nodded. "We can't take cars where we're going."

"I have to ride a horse."

"Yes," King Orsand replied. "The Blackpaw Howlers pack is not like the rest of us. They're a bit more primitive"

"Okay. I can do this. I've never ridden a horse before, but I'm a quick learner."

"Here are the sword and bow," he said handing them to me and Edmond. "Please, be careful."

"What about you?" Edmond asked. "Will you and mom be okay?"

"Don't worry about us. We will be fine. You two, make sure you are safe. You are the future of our kind."

He nodded and hugged the King. Orsand looked to me and kissed my forehead.

I wiped a tear off my cheek as we left the office.

"My dear," Queen Amelia said before hugging Edmond. "I love you. Be safe, my prince."

"I love you too, mom." He held her tight.

Once they released each other she cupped my cheek and smiled at me. "I love you, my princess."

"I love you," I whispered as she kissed my cheek.

"Be safe. All of you."

"We will," Edmond said as we turned to leave.

The stables were large and beautiful. They were part of the old castle that was still utilized. The stable boy brought four gorgeous horses from their stalls.

Edmond took the reigns to a large black stallion. A gold and blue saddle rested on his massive back. I was handed the reigns of an equally large white mare. My saddle matching Edmond's.

"We have the same saddle?" I asked.

"Yeah. My parents have matching saddles too. A weird thing that they do."

"Not weird. I think it's cute." I smiled.

Alastair and Ashley were handed reigns to beautiful chestnut stallions.

"Are you ready?" Andrew asked, walking from another stall with his own black stallion.

His was much larger than all of ours though. He looked like something that death itself would ride. He stomped a hoof and snorted like a large, angry dragon.

"What is that?" Ashley asked.

Andrew patted the horse's neck and smiled at him. "This is Drago."

"Of course, that's his name."

"Our horses are bred to be large and intimidating. It helps going into battle."

"Uh-huh."

He put a foot into the stirrup and swung himself up. "Let's hurry."

We followed suit and swung onto our horses. Except for Ashley. She somehow ended up sitting backward on hers.

"What are you doing?" I asked her.

"I have no idea! I've never done this before. How did I end up looking at his ass? This isn't right, right?"

Alastair shook his head and chuckled.

"How do I turn around on this thing?"

The stable boy ran to her and held onto the reigns as she finagled her way to facing the right direction.

"Okay. This is right!" She grasped the reigns as we trotted in the direction of the tree line.

Halfway across the meadow, the horses broke into a gallop as we rushed to get to the Blackpaw Howlers' town.

We rode for hours it seemed. Everything looked the same along the way. Trees, grass, creeks. It didn't take long for Winter Lake to vanish behind us as we climbed the mountain, before cresting the top and descending into a protected valley.

"We're almost there," Andrew called to us. "Our village is at the bottom."

"Where? I can't see anything," Edmond said.

"That's the point. We keep it camouflaged."

Had I not known that the village was at the bottom of the mountain, I never would have noticed it. The entrance was blocked by trees, there was space enough for a horse to fit through. Beyond the line of trees was a gate covered in ivy.

"What the..." Edmond gasped as the gate creaked open.

We followed Andrew in, surprised at the old-fashioned little village. A few shops and stores lined a very primitive cobble stone road with side streets leading to little cottages. Andrew led us further into the town to a large house at the end of the main street.

The inhabitants of the village stopped and stared at us as we rode through. Whispering amongst them, they didn't seem very friendly.

"Who are you?" a young boy shouted from the large steps house. "Why are you with my father?"

"Shane, enough. Fetch your mother."

The boy narrowed his eyes before running into the house.

"My son. He's not used to others coming into the village."

"You have a son?" I asked.

"I have three sons and a daughter. Shane is the youngest."

A tall, intimidating woman emerged from the house. Her auburn hair hung in a long braid. She smiled out at us as we slid from our steeds.

"Ang."

"Andy. They came?"

"Aye. They are here."

"Good. I'll gather the warriors to the training grounds." She turned and vanished into the house.

"Training grounds? Now?" Ashley asked.

"Yes. There is no time to waste."

"Is the battle happening tomorrow?"

"We don't know," Edmond said, pulling his bags that were attached to the horse's saddle off.

I slung the bow over my body and followed Andrew.

"I mean, we just rode horses for hours. And we're going right into training?"

"Yes."

"Stop complaining," Alastair said, following close behind us. "You wanted to come. We train."

She sighed heavily and hurried to catch up.

We led the horses to the back of the house to a small stable that was adjacent to a large arena. In the center of the arena were dummies and various obstacles. A group of men and women were emerging from cottages beyond the arena.

They were dressed head to toe in black, similar to Andrew.

"These are the mightiest warriors in our pack. While your training with us will be brief, you'll at least be a little prepared to battle whatever we may face."

"We?" Edmond asked.

"Yes. We will be fighting alongside you."

He nodded and put the bags down. "Let's get started then."

We followed Andrew into the arena where he introduced us to the dozen or so people. We were broken off into groups and jumped right into the basics of warfare. The five people I worked with seemed to be the experts on bows and arrows. They showed me the various parts of Queen Diana's bow and how to shoot it.

I hoped that Artemis was right and my inner Goddess and wolf would be able to give me an advantage.

I looked around as Edmond had already moved on to learning different ways to strike at the dummies. Ashley and Alastair worked with another group that seemed to be using a combination of weapons.

"Alright, Princess Elanor, do you think you're ready to try to shoot?"

"Yeah. I suppose I should try."

"Let me see your bow. I want to make sure the bowstring is strong." A tall woman held out her hand for the weapon.

I handed it over as she looked it over. Her eyes grew wide examining it. "This is old."

I nodded.

"Very old."

I nodded again.

"Where did you get this?"

"Long story."

"I don't think this type of tree even exists anymore. I have never seen this type of wood. The notch is quite unique. Is it made of gold?"

"Um, perhaps."

"Hmm. The string looks unique." She held the bow close to her face to get a closer look. "Is the string hair? Silver hair? Is this your hair?"

"No. Not my hair."

"Where did it come from?" she asked again, looking at me.

"It was found in the relics section of the vault in Winter Lake."

The woman closed her eyes slowly before looking up at me. "You didn't find Queen Diana's long-lost bow, did you?"

"You know of it?" I asked.

"It is a weapon that should be here. This should be my weapon. You can use my old one."

"No. That is mine."

"This weapon should be in the hands of a master. Not some princess."

"No. That is mine," I repeated.

"Well take this to Andrew. He will decide."

"I'm pretty sure as princess of the entire realm, I out rank Andrew, but yes, let's go discuss with him."

She turned her nose up and stomped away to Andrew, with the bow. I watched as she waved her arms around, yelling something.

They both returned, he was carrying the ancient relic.

"I will be removing Samantha from this particular group. Chris, please take over lessons." He handed me the bow. "Forgive her insolence, majesty."

"Oh, no worries. Thank you for clearing things up."

Samantha stomped away, yelling about princesses getting everything. I rolled my eyes as I turned to Chris.

"So, Chris. Shall we continue?"

"Uh, yeah. Yeah. So let's get practicing on shooting targets."

I listened as he instructed on how to nock the arrow and drawback.

I closed my eyes, focusing on everything I knew about the bow, how to draw back, and trying to channel Queen Diana. If she was a daughter of Artemis and I am a daughter of Artemis, we should have some kind of connection.

I felt a cold chill come over my body as I saw the shimmering form of a beautiful woman standing beside me.

She smiled and wrapped her arms around me, guiding my hands on the bow before releasing the arrow.

'I am with you.' I heard in my mind. 'I will guide you.'

I watched as the arrow hit center target.

"Wow. That was great! Do you want to try again?" Chris asked.

I nodded. He handed me another bow, and I watched as the woman guided my hands and arms yet again.

'Are you Diana?'

She nodded her head. Her silver hair flowed about it, almost weightless like it was weightless. We drew back the arrow, releasing it at just the right point. I watched as it once again hit center target.

"Incredible! You are a natural!"

"Uh-huh."

"Keep practicing. We'll move on to hand-to-hand combat in just a bit."

I nodded and watched as Diana stayed with me.

'Will you always be here?'

'No, child. But I will help for as long as I can.'

'Why is this happening?' I asked her.

'The hatred that Hera has for Artemis transcends just her. She feels that she must destroy everything that Artemis loves.'

'Us?'

Diana nodded her head. 'She has a particular hatred for us.'

'Us? As in me and you?'

She nodded her head again. 'We are the product of the pure love that Artemis has for us. I was the daughter of Artemis and her one love Orion before he became the stars.'

'You're her legit daughter.'

'I am. But you are as well. You were chosen to lead our kind through this difficult time. And your prince, he was also chosen.'

'He was?'

'Yes. It is no mistake that you two are mates. Your Prince Edmond is my King Aelfred. And Mother's Orion.'

'Wait...are we just the reincarnations of Artemis and Orion?'

'In a way. Yes. We are not them, but we are the essence of their love for one another. The purest of loves.'

'That is really romantic and sad.'

I picked up another arrow as she helped me nock and release. Each arrow hitting center target.

***

Ohhhh guys!

So do you think that Hera is influencing the people around Ellie to be complete buttholes? Could Hera be possessing those within the protective field of the wolf realm?

And Diana! OMFG! I wasn't expecting Diana to make an appearance, but here she is! The two daughters of Artemis!

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