CHAPTER 18

Analise's POV

Dressed in black workout clothes, I walked onto the training ground, feeling several eyes on me as they watched me curiously. Ever since training started, I never set foot here but after what happened at the meeting yesterday, I had to be here. At least today because I knew if I proved myself today, they would not bring this up again.

"So do we know anything new about the vampires?" My father asked the others seated around the table.

"We sent people out to check the perimeters but we found no clue." King Tarsal was first to speak. "However, we did find some places where it looked like people were living there before. There was remnants of bonfires and animal carcasses. We were doubting they were vampires."

"Are you sure they are vampires? They could be rogues." My father spoke.

"We are not sure. It might be that they are spying on us." King Tarsal replied.

"Anything else?" Grandmother spoke up.

"No. The nearby packs have not reported any sighting of vampires or any suspicious." My father's second in command spoke.

"We will never find anything like this. The search are not going well either." Someone voiced out. "Isn't there a way we can ameliorate our methods?"

"Who has any idea?" Grandmother agreed.

"Maybe instead of sending groups comprising of only one kind, we can group people of different kind together." I suggested. "This way, they will have different abilities. If there were werewolves in King Tarsal's group, the might have had picked up a scent or if there were witches, they could have traced any magic used."

"That could work." Grandmother agreed as well as the others.

"We will create new groups for the search." A leader said and I nodded.

"Since this is done, let's talk about training at the palace." Father intervened. It's been sometime now since training at the castle started. Alexander, King Tarsal and the leader of witches were responsible for the training. The best part is that all the creatures trained together.

They taught each other new tricks, all the while improving. They might now realise this but by doing so, they are actually creating a bond between them. It was one of the main reason Malcom forced me to train with the others at school.

Unfortunately, I was not following his advice here. I never trained with the others because Ivory, Rayna and Rayan were all training there. We would never form any bond. In fact, we would create rifts between everybody. If the others saw us- a family- fighting, why would they bother forming a bond with their enemies?

I have mostly spent my time at the cave, going on runs in the forest while training Crescent and practicing my magic. My training at school might have been short but it was surely effective.

"Speaking of training, we have not seen you at all Analise." I looked at Rayan who was looking at me with a little smirk. I felt everybody's eyes on me as they awaited an answer.

I did not know what to say since I actually had no answer. Before I could say anything, grandmother spoke up. "I have been training her. So don't worry." I let out a small breath as I gave her a thankful smile.

"But how do we know if it is the proper training?" Rayna asked, smirking at me.

"Do you doubt my skills dear?" Grandmother questioned.

"Oh no." She replied quickly. "I just want to make sure that my sister is going to be safe once the war is actually here." I nearly scoffed at her words.

"Why don't we test you?" Ivory spoke up and I glared at her.

'What is their problem?' Crescent exclaimed.

"You can fight me tomorrow." Rayan suggested. "This way we can know about your abilities and I could also help you improve if needed." I rolled my eyes at his fake, caring voice. He really thought he could easily take me out. "We can see your fighting skills and you wolf's abilities" With this, the colour drained from my face. I was not going to shift in front of them. Everybody would ask me questions to which I don't even know the answers.

"Fine." I said nonetheless. I was confident in my skills. Even if I was not in my wolf form, I could take Rayan out. He smirked at my response as if he won already.

"Tomorrow meet us at the training ground then sister." He said. When he said 'us', I already knew there would a crowd there. If he thought he could defeat me, of course he would do it in front of everybody so that he could  gloat.

I headed towards the center where training was already taking place. I recognised King Tarsal and Alexander training a group on one side while the witches practice magic on the other side. I was about to go look for Rayan for the fight but I froze in my spot.

Alexander and King Tarsal were sparring, teaching the others a few techniques. The reason why I was shocked was his glowing eyes. Usually, every leader has a distinct eye colour from their kind. For us wolves, the king had golden eyes and the other wolves had yellow eyes with brown line encircling their pupils. Even the leader's mate does not have the same eye colour. Only the leader's first born -his successor- got the same eye colour since he would be the next leader.

Just like every other supernatural, the leader of demons had a different eye colour than the others. Demons had black eyes but their leader had silver eyes just like Alexander's. The odd thing was that I also had silver eyes when my wolf tried taking over or when I shifted. It was not like my eyes were brighter or dull. They were exactly the same.

"How it this possible?" I said to myself. "Crescent?" She did not answer as I looked at Alexander, dumbfounded.

My life really did break every stereotype out there.

I was broken out of my trance when Evelyne came next to me. "What are you looking at like that? King Denver?"

I shook my head. "No. Just looking at their technique."

"Ana is there something you should tell me?" She asked. "Last time you were about to tell me something but then your mom interrupted us"

Realisation dawned upon me. I had totally forgotten to tell her about the whole mate situation. "Yeah. Thanks for reminding me." I looped my hand with hers as we walked to the other side. "But not here. Meet me in my room later."

"Cool." She said. "For now, best of luck. I know you will kick his ass. I have seen you fight and Rayan does not know that he dug his own grave." I shook my head at her comments.

"I have a feeling that it is not going to be that easy. I know he underestimates me but my guts tell me that there is something else that is going to happen."

"Well, whatever he does, he cannot do it during you two will be fighting since there will be rules set the by others and I doubt he would break those and risk being looked down upon."

"I think he would break those rules if it meant he would not lose. I have realised it only recently but they will anything they want for their own selfish needs. Cheating is like nothing compared to the countless other things they have done."

"All I know is that you are going to kick his ass. Even if he cheats, he will lose. I know it."

Finally, I saw the other leaders standing near a vacant training spot. A training mat sat in the middle as they all stood on one side, talking among themselves. My entire family was there, the other leaders, alphas and some who were training were here to watch.

"They might as well sell tickets since so many people are interested in watching you fight." Evelyne commented next to me.

"Your pack will never have a shortage of money." I joked. As they realised that I was here, the conversation ceased.

"Are you ready Analise?" Grandmother spoke and I just nodded. I addressed Rayan who was dressed in workout clothes. "Ready to help me brother?" I gave him an innocent look.

"Let's go." He walked past me onto the training mat. I followed him and everybody else stood around the mat, watching the scene unfold. I saw King Tarsal and Alexander join the rest. "Watch your back sister. You never from where the enemy can hit you." His voice held a threat and suddenly I did not feel so good about this. He must have something up his sleeve.

I did not respond to him as my dad's second in command came in between us. "The rules are simple. When I say 'start' you can start fighting but only in your human form. When I say 'shift' you can fight in your wolf form or continue in your human form. You cannot have any external help in this." He said as Rayan and I took our fighting stance. "The fight will stop when you yield."

"Start!"