The glade

She stared astonished as Messe was twirling on the platform. Kyle was in a defensive position, arms in front to protect his head, and was taking slow, cautious steps away from her. Messe's style of fighting surely had to do with her unknown background. She was very volatile and seemed to be dancing instead of fighting, as gracious as a ballerina, giving off the pretense of being weak and naive. Kyal wasn’t fooled. He knew that the control she had came from excessive training and that there was strength concealed behind. 

 

Raïna watched the match unfold as Messe voraciously attacked and Kyal barely blocked her consecutive punches and kicks coming from various directions. Soon, Kyal was on the floor and Messe was helping him stand up. They both came to her and slightly bent down, acknowledging her position. She waved them out to the next training ground which had been made into another examination place. 

 

She had been assigned to test werewolves' abilities when they can’t shapeshift. It sure showed her how weak some of them were, which shocked her. Some of the favored werewolves who were repeatedly sent out on missions couldn’t do anything in their human form. 

 

“ How has it been going? “ Stephanie asked. Raïna turned, surprised. “You’re done?” 

 

“Yeah, they could all shift. I mean, there are werewolves, of course, they could. “ Stephanie shrugged and started to walk away, in the opposite direction she came from. Shapeshifting. Raïna didn’t understand why it was one of the tests until it percussed her: some of the recent members aren’t werewolves. They are spies. She shuddered at the thought, finally understanding why the branch needed restructuring. 

 

Sometime after, she had finished testing the day’s batch and noted down her observations and impressions, she headed for Edward’s office, where she entered and put down the document. his absence surprised her. Walking down the stairs, she smiled at the werewolves who showed her courtesy, a pair of white-haired girls, twins. That’s when she felt a sharp sting in her head as if somebody had shot an arrow of silver through her skull. She stumbled into the janitor’s closet and lay down on the floor.

 

She held on tight to her shirt, trying to calm her thumping heart as she felt dizzier and dizzier despite being on the floor. The walls closed down on her and she had difficulty inhaling air, which felt poisonous, causing her to cough harshly. And, as promptly as it came, it stopped. The walls were back to their original distance, air flowed in her lungs normally and her heart calmed down. When she sat down, she wondered what had changed, knowing something had, until she heard it, inside her mind.

  

"Can you hear me? " a tarnished and sick voice asked before coughing excessively. It certainly wasn't the flu, the person had been deeply wounded. She instantly felt anger towards the man on the other side, cursing him for the pain and panic he caused her. 

 

"Who is this?" She inquired rather doubtfully with a certain bitterness and bored tone. There weren't many people who would interpellate her. Her parents even if they were in excruciating pain, ready to trespass wouldn't let her in. And, he certainly had a reason for forcefully opening a mind link to her precisely. 

 

"It's me, Madoxe. ''She searched her memories for that man and didn't find any. Was she supposed to know him? She didn't know any male with this obnoxious name, she would have remembered. He seemed quite old, his tone grave and shaking as if he was scared. 

 

" Avenge us." She stare blankly at the different detergent and broom in front of her, shocked. The order came out of nowhere, so abruptly that she didn't promptly refuse. "But... First, you must know. " He was delirious. Why would she avenge them? And who were they? 

 

" You have the wrong person. " but a mind link is not like a cell phone number, it cannot be acquired without meeting the person first, so she must know him. If only she could connect the dots. If only she cared enough to try harder. 

 

" Uncle Max... " he managed to let out before groaning in dolor. What exactly was happening, she couldn't gather the will to ask. It may have been selfish, but if she knew, she would act, it's better she stayed in the dark. It's uncle Max after all, whoever that was. 

 

" I'm in a pinch. " shit. " You seriously don't remember... " 

 

Silence. 

 

" Milene is with me. '' Raïna fidgeted a moment before recalling a woman with brown hair, dazzling curls which swirled around the pretty smile she had plastered on her face. Finally a name she could put a face on, Milene, that maid who always watered her roses when she was too preoccupied to remember, or in too much pain to do it. But where exactly were they, and what kind of pinch were they in? 

 

" Milene's favorite place, come as fast as you can, she won't last for long. " And with another heart-shattering scream, the connection was cut. 

 

For sure she appreciated Milene, but was she going to risk her life for her, was she that generous? She was only a maid, one among the thousands of others her parents fostered. 

 

She understood every second she hesitated, Milene could be killed and Madoxe too. She raised and got out of the closet. Walking toward the entrance, she desperately tried to feel sympathy, to be emphatic toward both of them, remembering Madoxe's strained voice, visioning the pain he was enduring. But still, her heart kept bringing her back to the nights when she was in the same state, about to die, in pain and suffering, and nobody saved her. Nobody. 

 

Did she want to be the bigger one, to stop the circle of hatred? Honestly, no. She couldn't care less. Yet, something in the forest, in the glade kilometers away compelled her to come. It pulled her in. At that moment, Raïna didn't feel human, she didn't feel her wolf, and couldn't remember emotions. She started running faster and faster, finally understanding that she was scared of missing whatever was in the glade. Scared to not be human or wolf or werewolf if she didn't go.

 

And she ran even harder toward the glade.