The Moon Goddess' Chosen

482 Lina’s Burden

Lina sat in the Waiting Room listening to the words of the commentators. The highlight of the first stage of the Royal Games had been at the very beginning… with Bree’s sudden and unexpected display of mastery over her other senses.

At the time, it looked like they stood a chance against the Lycaon pack but Cole had crushed all those hopes like they were nothing more than childish delusions.

This was similar to the games that happened four years ago. At the time, Cole had earned his infamous title ‘Steel Tank’… and he’d demonstrated the insurmountable resilience of his hide in a battle between him and Drake.

This same duel was the one that would decide the winner… And while Drake was a good fighter, bringing Cole down seemed next to impossible.

Lina was so frustrated that she couldn’t find the words to say. “Lina, I slowed you down… again. I’m sorry.”

The princess snapped out of her trance and stared at the delta who had her head bowed low. The princess was genuinely confused, “What are you talking about?”

Crysta raised her head to face her friend. To her surprise, the princess looked confused by her actions… this emotion was reflected in the mind link as well. There was no dismissing the princess’s frustrated feelings, but as it seemed, they weren’t directed towards Crysta like she’d thought they would be.

“I took too long to retrieve the item and slowed our team down… just like I slowed you down during the…”

“Oh! No, no… You haven’t slowed me down at all, Crysta. I actually believe you handled yourself well out there. After the stunt Cole pulled, it should have been impossible for you to find your item. Though I must say…

.....

A rubber duck! That was hilarious. The thing kept squeaking with every step you took,” the princess suddenly laughed.

“Wait… what?” Crysta turned red.

“You really couldn’t hear it? Had you really tuned out all the useless sounds that well? That’s impressive, Crysta,” Bree exclaimed.

“That’s one word for it. Still funny, but impressive. Now let’s get going. I haven’t got the chance to see where we are actually supposed to be staying. I also want to check up on Wyatt.”

“Okay. Where would you like to go first? From what I’ve heard, we get a day’s rest before the next stage of the games,” Crysta asked.

“I’ll start with checking on Wyatt.”

“Ahem…” the short man, who’d been silent this whole time suddenly coughed, “If I may, the three of you have to meet up with your opponents from the Lycaon empire and shake hands. It’s just protocol.”

“Yeah. Let’s get that over with,” Lina shrugged.

Following the man out of the Waiting Room and into the forest, the group felt the ground shift beneath them.

“Lina, what’s happening?” Bree suddenly screamed.

“Have you forgotten? The Great Arena was designed to be able to shift and change depending on what they wanted it to look like. It might not be able to achieve every landscape someone can dream up, but what little it can achieve is still nothing short of a miracle,” the princess explained.

The tremors rumbling through the forest weren’t violent enough to throw them to the ground but for someone that hadn’t expected them, there was a chance they would fall from the sudden shock.

The trees seemed to part away from the direction they were walking in, shuffling closer and further away from their destination as though to create space for them.

At the centre of the large forest, they found three men standing side by side. Crysta squinted at the hulking man at Cole’s right.

“I thought the picture was exaggerated. That’s a giant.”

“Tell me about it!” Cole groaned.

“I’m fine the way I am,” Kyle grunted, “Princess Lina, it would have been nice if I got the chance to go against her, don’t you think?”

‘Huh, princess?’ Lina paused at the title. The question had come out of nowhere and frankly, Lina was not ready to answer something like that. The short moment before she replied allowed her to think through the various possible intentions he could have had behind his question, “Why is that?”

“The blind delta was no fun at all,” the alpha shrugged.

“Cole, you might want to invest in a muzzle,” Lina replied through gritted teeth, “Let’s just get this over with.”

Cole walked up to the large man and stared him in the eye. Kyle was bigger than Cole but it was clear who was stronger of the two. “What’s—Ouch!!”

SMACK!!! Went a thumping sound of the king’s palm across the back of the beta alpha’s head.

The action had been so swift that only Lina had noticed it. Kyle had been completely still and even then, the pain registered a second after he’d been hit, “Behave yourself, Kyle. I won’t always tolerate those arrogant whims of yours,” Cole scolded the whimpering man.

“Yes, Alpha Cole,” Kyle sighed, humbling himself in front of his monarch. The transformation was like day and night. Only then did Lina realise that Kyle had meant no harm in challenging Bree and looking down on Crysta.

Just then, a pigeon fluttered through the trees and landed on the beta alpha’s shoulder, perching there comfortably. Everyone except for the wolves of the Lycaon pack found this peculiar.

“Good. Now apologize before you get on Princess Lina’s bad side,” Cole commanded.

Kyle groaned, rubbing his throbbing head as he walked past his king and made his way to the princess. Lina eyed the pair, wondering what kind of relationship had grown between them.

…Along with the bird that was perched on the man’s shoulders.

‘Could it be…’ the thought forming in her mind was cut off by Kyle’s words. The beta alpha bent in half, bowing to the princess, “I apologize for my rude words. It won’t happen again.”

“I hope, for your sake, that it doesn’t. For future interactions, I will gift you this advice. No one likes a pompous person. Save that for the people that really know you. Just this once, I’ll forget this little incident,” Lina said sternly.

“Understood,” Kyle replied before returning to the king’s side.

The rest of the short ceremony proceeded without incident. The players from both sides shook hands and went their separate ways. It had not been an easy ninety minutes and all the players needed to wash off and relax before the next game.

Lina and the Sirius contestants went up to their quarters where they got refreshed and changed into more comfortable clothes.

The first stage of the Royal Games had come to an end and thankfully without an injury. After watching Bree’s first turn, it had been expected that everything would escalate…

But thankfully, it hadn’t.

............…

The candidates for the royal games, along with Honour and Madeline had been placed in a set of four rooms, each capable of holding two people. At the intersection of these four setups was a common room.

Seated in the sofas were Honour, Bree, Madeline and Crysta. A comfortable silence gripped the room, interrupted by the sound of the shower coming from Honour and Lina’s room.

“Lina sure is taking a long time in there. You think she’s fine,” Madeline suddenly asked.

Honour turned to the bronze door that led into her room for a moment before turning back to the table between them, “Yeah, she’s fine. Lina’s… how do I put this? Adjusting.”

“Adjusting to what?” Crysta suddenly asked.

“I thought you’d all noticed. I guess not… None of you is in her situation. I noticed when she’d just come from the Trials. I’m sure the king and queen noticed as well since they took her away from us as soon as she returned. They noticed the look in her eye,” Honour replied, half to herself.

“You’re not making any sense,” Bree facepalmed, “Could you maybe speak in a language we can all understand? Madeline is having a hard time following what you’re saying.”

Honour scrunched her brows in deep thought, “Okay… Let me try explaining it this way. When you were out there, something happened and Lina couldn’t stop it. Am I right?”

The question was directed to Crysta but the delta was not sure what she was supposed to answer, “The fastest werewolf in the world should be able to save anyone in need of her help.”

“No… we were asleep when Wyatt…”

“That’s not the point, Crysta. The point is that Lina was the royal with you at that moment. You were her responsibility. During the Trials, the royals can’t ask for any help and can’t even visit the neighbouring packs for help. When I saw her after she’d brought you back from the Trials, she looked… paralyzed,” Honour tried explaining.

“So you mean she’s blaming herself for Wyatt’s injury?” Crysta asked.

“It’s more than that. Drake asked to step down from the throne. Katie is mated to the only heir to the Lycaon throne. If… if Drake steps down, it will leave only one person…”

Before Honour could complete her statement, a feminine voice interrupted the tense silence of the room, “You always seem to know what’s going through my head.”

“Lina! I…”

“You’re right, Honour. I-I might be the one next in line for the throne. I know what that means. I’ve always known what that means. My father has taught Drake and me what it means to be a royal. All the times we went on hunts with him and the time I watched my brother train with him.

I’ve even gone with him to visit other packs. But… when we were out there—in the Trials—, I found myself facing a side of royalty I’d never known. I don’t know why Drake is stepping down but he says he has a good reason for it. I also know that as the heir to the throne, my life is precious to the kingdom.

But so are the subjects I’m meant to lead. Wyatt was meant to be my escort… For a moment, I thought… ‘What if he dies?’ and the thought frightened me,” as Lina spoke her hand balled into a fist.

The princess walked up to the sofa and dropped beside Honour, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m better now. My parents seemed to know the problem as soon as they saw me and helped me through it. The battle of Lycaon…” she paused with a look of heavy sadness on her face, “Now that I think about it. All those lives that were lost were weighing on the shoulders of whoever was in charge…”

Noticing the dark cloud in the room, the princess shook her head violently, “Enough of that. Who’s coming with me to see Wyatt?”