The Moon Goddess' Chosen

473 Uncanny Resemblance

Crysta rushed through the colossal hotel in search of the exit, leaving Madeline behind to tend to the young goddess.

After getting lost in the facility so many times the day before, she now knew her way through the maze of corridors and doors and knew how to get out of the massive facility.

At times, she wondered how hard it had been for them back then… considering there were signs at the end of every corridor to guide them through.

However, after hearing Bree’s recollection of the trio’s first day in the Great Colosseum, she figured getting lost was normal for everyone.

Eventually, she made it to the exit of the Great Arena and rushed out, following Lina’s presence through the mind link.

The tournament was about to begin and they all had to be present for the announcement of the rules, but something had come up at the last minute. Something so drastic that the princess left her station and rushed out immediately.

Leaving Bree to follow the bullet-like princess, she rushed to call the others. That’s when she’d found Madeline frozen and unable to react to the news.

‘Dammit, we can’t afford to be this disorganised before the start of the Royal Games. We barely won the Trials as it was,” the girl screamed in her mind.

‘For goddess’s sake, what are you thinking, prince Drake?’

.....

.........….

Lina stood in front of a short-haired male holding her arms out and barring the way to the Marshland beyond the settlements surrounding the Great Arena.

The man was dressed in travel clothes with a bag on his back.

Drake was taller than her and looked that much stronger but that didn’t seem to stop Lina from standing up to him. Her fiery sapphire orbs stared intensely into the identical copy.

Despite Drake’s serious injuries only days prior, he looked perfectly fine now, “Where are you going, Drake?”

“I have something to do, Lina. Out of my way,” the prince replied calmly.

“Why won’t you talk to me? What are you going to do? Everyone’s here for the Royal Games… Do you… Do you think I can’t win? Do you also think I don’t stand a chance against him?” Lina yelled.

She was panting and beads of sweat had started to form on her brow from the early morning exertion… but that didn’t bother her. Drake looked taken aback by her words, “I didn’t say that…”

“Then where are you going? What could be more important than cheering me on like Mum and Dad? Not even our restless busy sister would do something like this. She watched me when I went against Liam at the reserve,” Lina stared him in the eye.

The prince’s neutral expression softened and he walked up to his sister, pulling her into an embrace.

Lina sucked in a deep breath, her thoughts racing even more. Frustration was replaced with curiosity, worry and fear, ‘Drake?! Hugging… What has he gotten himself into?’

“I’m sorry, Little Sister. This has nothing to do with you. I would have loved to watch you win against him in this year’s games. I know you can. I’ve watched you train and I know what you’re capable of,” he said in a soothing tone.

“Then why… why aren’t you staying to watch? What have you been doing these past two years, Drake?” Lina asked him.

The prince opened his mouth to speak and at that moment, his voice failed him… just like it always had. Countless times before, he’d tried this same thing.

To tell them everything he’d come to know about himself, but divine laws bound him from doing such a thing. Even now, he found himself testing to see if the laws still bound him… and they did.

Ever so tightly…

His only comfort was that he wasn’t the only one who had to endure this…

No, in fact, his own mate was in the same predicament, “I don’t know how to tell you, sister, but one day… I will. And when I do, I hope you’ll understand everything. I’m onto something. I can’t tell you what it is, but it’s important. And I have to see it through, so if you can find it within you to forgive me, please…”

Lina stayed silent for a while before she spoke up, “Mum and Dad didn’t bother following me. You know what that means, don’t you?”

“They are giving up… Yeah, I know.”

The prince flinched when his sister suddenly lightly slammed her fist into his chest, “We’d never give up on family. They have run out of options, Drake. Don’t ever think we’d give up on you… ever.”

The two royals finally broke their embrace and Lina stepped out of her brother’s way, “I hope you find what you’re looking for, Drake.”

“I will find it, Little Sister. If you don’t hear from me in a few hours, try calling me. I started using the electric telephone, you know,” the man smirked.

“You don’t have to use the whole word, you know. How old do you plan on sounding?”

“Older than you, Little Sister,” the smile on Drake’s face suddenly fell, “Take care of them for me.”

And with that, the prince turned his back on his sister and shifted into his white and black wolf before dashing from sight. Lina stood frozen at the spot clenching her fists in frustration… Drake had left, just like he’d told their parents he would that morning.

A disorganised rumbling of footsteps notified the incoming group of werewolves that had tried following Lina. In the end, they were all too late except for her. Guards and pack warriors wanted to know what all the commotion was all about.

A member of the Organising Committee approached the princess, “Your Highness, the games are about to start. Would you like them to be postponed?”

Lina was quiet for a moment before someone else broke her dazed state, “Lina, where is he?”

Crysta and Bree forged their way through the crowd until they made it to their friend.

With them around, Crysta’s reactions came smoother and her mind cleared much faster, “He left… He said he had something important to do but that he wouldn’t tell me what it was yet.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Is there anything more important than…”

“Crysta!” the princess stopped her rambling friend. The delta balled her fists in frustration and stared in the direction of the marshland. The random tufts of tall grass stood tall and opaque. The smell of damp soil assailed her nostrils.

Lina had run across this treacherous expanse of land like it was nothing. And that was only because of her abnormal abilities. If they had to go through this place without that to help them, she couldn’t even imagine what trouble they would go through.

There was no doubt that a multitude of horrors was hidden within the damp bug-infested swamp. Not to mention the cold that was bound to eat at someone little by little. And yet, the prince had dived right back into that cold hell. The scattered bundles of tall grass obstructed the view completely at some point, concealing anyone who was at least five hundred metres in.

If the prince was still nearby, they wouldn’t know, “Let’s just get back and get ready for the games.”

“But Wyatt…? he won’t be able to…” Bree started.

“I wasn’t planning on playing the games with Wyatt. He should rest… This time, Bree will take his place,” the princess announced, turning to face the members of the Organising Committee that were present.

Fidgeting with pen and paper, they began to note down the changes the princess had just made to her team, “Is Bree the same person you’d put on your list of potential candidates?”

“Yeah, that’s the one,” the princess replied.

“Very well. If the three of you would just go to the Sirius pack’s Waiting room, everything will be explained from there,” the short man politely suggested.

“Alright.”

...…..

The Sirius Waiting room, as it had been called was a room meant for the contestants of the Sirius Royal family to prepare themselves for the games. Within the room was a large screen that was split into six sections to show different parts of the arena.

Three lockers for the three contestants, access to changing rooms and showers for both genders. At the centre of the room was a large triangular table with three chairs set for the contestants.

The wolf sigil of the Sirius empire was drawn into the surface of the table and the walls were lined with blue ribbons as was the colour used by the empire at events like this, unlike the green of the Lycaon empire.

Lina sat at the triangular table with Crysta and Bree, her chin resting on her hands while they had a moment to gather their thoughts.

“Any of you nervous?” the princess asked.

“Of course, we are… we are going against the royals of the Lycaon empire. To be honest, I don’t like our odds,” Crysta said through gritted teeth.

“If you’re worried about having to face off against Cole, you can leave that to me. I’ll handle the Steel Tank of Lycaon,” Lina offered.

“No, we handle this as a team. Werewolves live in packs for a reason,” Bree cut in.

“You’re right… but we don’t even know what the games are going to be this year. Last time, we ended up witnessing a duel between my brother and Cole. It wasn’t pretty.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean. Cole doesn’t go down easy. If it comes down to a one-on-one duel, I don’t know what we’ll be able to do against him,” Crysta whined.

“Well, we won’t be able to do anything if all we do is worry about crossing paths. If we are defeated in our minds, then the battle is already lost. Look back to the training you’ve been doing these past years. We’ve come a long way since the last time we saw him.”

“You’re right as always, Lina. We can’t give up hope so soon. Still… I can’t help but fear our opponents,” Crysta tried, turning to the screen which had just sparked to life.

“AND NOW, LET’S LOOK AT THE CONTESTANTS WE’LL BE HAVING FOR THE GAMES THIS YEAR!” the announcer’s voice suddenly blared through the speakers.

“From the Sirius pack,” the top six portions of the screen suddenly flickered and showed three contestants with varying expressions.

The first was Bree, her amber eyes, while a signal for weakness in this tournament, held more determination than the spectators expected.

Crysta’s image barely looked at the camera and held a look of boredom, as though taking the picture was a waste of her time. Nonetheless, the prestigious green hue of her iris was one to be feared by those of the werewolf community.

And finally, Lina’s face held a blank expression. Normally her blue eyes would send a wave of fear through the audience but what had captured their attention now was not simply that, but rather the astronomical transformation of her appearance.

Her hair fell to her shoulders and with a neutral expression, she looked like a carbon copy of the Lost Luna, Luna Katie of the Lycaon pack.

Katie’s story was now known throughout the entire kingdom which meant everyone knew her face. Staring at Lina now, the resemblance was so uncanny that it wiped away all doubts of the Lost Luna’s identity.

The family resemblance was undeniable. After a short moment of silence, the crowd erupted in support of the Sirius pack.

However, what appeared on the screen next drowned out their screams in an instant…

“AND HERE ARE THE CONTESTANTS THAT WILL BE REPRESENTING THE LYCAON PACK…”