Chapter 188

The next full moon finally arrived, and princess Anse could not contain her excitement any longer. After breakfast that morning princess Anse finally found a moment to announce that tonight she will be shifting with them.
“My darling granddaughter, why didn’t you tell us?” Queen Lana exclaimed.
“I tried but there is always something going on with this family,” Princess Anse laughed it off.
“Well then there is much to do before tonight,” Prince Vasili said, pulling his daughter in, and kissing her on the forehead.
“Dad!” she said, embarrassed pushing him away.
The whole day was about princess Anse and even though she was hoping to share this special moment with her best friend she soon forgot she even had a best friend her day was so busy. From pampering, to the lycan women welcoming her to womanhood, to shopping sprees and high tea, to a lycan ritual with a shaman to help her first shift to be less painful.
Princess Anse was presented to everyone an hour before the sunset, wearing a beautiful white dress, wearing a crown that every lycan woman at the castle has worn on the evening before their first full moon of shifting for the first time.
After being presented she was given a white robe and waited with the other lycans for the full moon to brace them with her presence. All the lycans formed a circle around her still in their human form. As soon as the sky was completely dark and the full moon in the sky they started to howl, still in human form, encouraging her to shift but princess Anse did not feel any different.
‘Perhaps we should shift first,’ Queen Lana mind linked the pack before shifting, the rest following her, all howling again, forming a circle around her.
By midnight it was clear that princess Anse will not be shifting tonight. Embarrassed, she ran back into the castle, straight to her room.
‘You all enjoy your evening I will go after her,’ Queen Lana mind linked the pack before picking up her robe in her mouth and running into the castle. Once in the lycan quarters, alone, she shifted into her human form and put on her robe before going over to princess Anse room.
Queen Lana knocked on her bedroom door, “My darling, can I come in?” She didn't wait for a reply and opened the door and finds princess Anse crying on her bed.
“Oh, my sweetheart. It does sometimes happen that we don’t shift on the first night, or sometimes not for the first year. I know a she-wolf whose mother was human, and this she-wolf only shifted for the first time at the age of 20 after she found her fated mate.
“Really? It could take that long?” Princess Anse asked, hoping that it won’t be the case with her.
“It took that long for this she-wolf, but it does happen,” Queen Lana said, stroking her granddaughter's red hair thinking about Zara.
“I feel like such a fool. What will everyone think of me?” Princess Anse asked.
“You are a princess with the strongest royal blood running through your veins, who cares what they think?” Queen Lana asked.
“You should go and enjoy your evening, I will be fine,” Princess Anse said.
“I know you will be fine because my blood runs through you,” Queen Lana leaned over and kissed her on her forehead before leaving.
After Queen Lana left there was a soft knock on the door before it opened a little bit.
“Who is it?” Princess Anse asked.
Princess Freda stepped into the room, showing her what she wrote in her notebook since she cannot talk, ‘I SAW WHAT HAPPENED, ARE YOU OK?’
“I am fine, I guess a little bit embarrassed,” Princess Anse said, sitting up straight.
Princess Freda scribbled on her notepad again, ‘ICE-CREAM?’
“Hell yeah,” Princess Anse said getting up from her bed.
Princess Freda almost walked straight into one of the hunter kids that was standing with a group of other kids and princess Anse’s ten guards, and quickly sidestep, managing to not touch him.
“I wonder what happened to her as it appears she is dead set on not touching anyone,” one of the hunter kids asked.
“Who knows,” the other respond, walking after Princess Anse and princess Freda.
The next evening princess Anse tried to shift again, and again nothing happened.
“Thank goodness this time I didn’t have an audience,” she said when midnight came.
“Besides us,” one of the hunter kids chuckled.
“You guys don’t count,” Princess Anse sticked her tongue out at him.
“Ice-cream?” one of the hunters asked.
“Definitely,” Princess Anse said, walking into the castle.
Over the next few months she kept on trying but nothing happened. One night she decided she was not going to try and went to bed early. At midnight she woke up and felt restless, so she sneaked out her room past the ten guards that were on night shift. ‘My grandmother will kill them if she sees them sleeping,’ she thought, smiling.
Princess Anse took a deep breath and concentrated, trying to will herself to shift standing alone outside, out of sight.
“What are you doing?” she heard the familiar voice of her best friend.
“Phoebe?!” she exclaimed, throwing herself into her best friend’s arms.
Princess Anse noticed the beautiful Egyptian-looking woman, “Who is your friend?”
“Meet my grandmother, Queen Zuberi,” Princess Phoebe introduced them.
“What are you talking about?” Princess Anse asked.
Princess Phoebe explained what happened and why she had to leave but left out the part about being a natural-born hybrid.
“Please don’t tell anyone you saw us; we are just here to rescue my father and his wife,” Princess Phoebe said, walking towards the dungeons.
“Phoebe wait,” Princess Anse said.
“We will see each other again,” Princess Phoebe said.
“Your father was executed, and his wife was made to marry prince Deacon,” Princess Anse blurted out as fast as she could.
“What?!” Queen Zuberi asked, shocked to the core.
“I am so sorry,” Princess Anse said.
“Where is princess Freda?” Queen Zuberi asked.
“Come, I will take you to her room,” Princess Anse said.
Queen Zuberi ripped the shaman necklace from Princess Anse’s neck before compelling her, “Don’t make a sound.” Queen Zuberi sinked her teeth into princess Anse’s skin and drink her blood, seeing exactly how to get princess Freda.
“Go now, don’t wait. You are all that remains of my son. Wait for me at our secret location,” Queen Zuberi said to princess Phoebe.
“No, not before I kill every last one of them,” princess Phoebe cried, regretting not saving her father the day she had the opportunity.
Princess Anse looked stunt at her words and knew she has to react, but she is still under queen Zuberi’s compelling.
“Phoebe, look at me,” Queen Zuberi took princess Phoebe’s chin and turned her to face her.
“We are greatly outnumbered. Tonight, we save princess Freda and live to fight another day,” Queen Zuberi said.
Princess Phoebe wiped her tears before speeding off.
“Don’t be here when I return to take my revenge,” Queen Zuberi warned princess Anse before speeding off.
Princess Freda was startled by a knock on the glass doors that lead to the balcony. Filled with fear she slightly moved the curtains away and quickly opened the doors when she selaw queen Zuberi.
“I know we don’t really know each other but my son would have wanted me to rescue you,” Queen Zuberi said, stepping into the room and was about to pick princess Freda up when she steps backward.
“You can not possibly want to stay here?” Queen Zuberi asked shocked at her behavior.
Princess Freda crossed her palms over each other to show that she is bounded.
“By a shaman spell? Why don’t you speak?” Queen Zuberi took the necklace that she grabbed from princess Anse and started to do the shaman hymn but princess Freda shook her head and walked over to her study table to write down.
“Enchantress?” Queen Zuberi asked.
Princess Freda shool her head, ‘Yes.’
The bedroom door opened and both women look at prince Deacon, not sure what to do.
“If you plan to steal her away then you better hurry up queen Zuberi,” Prince Deacon said walking over to his closet, dressed in a robe.
“You don’t object?” Queen Zuberi asked, confused.
“Of course not. Princess Freda, you are free to go,” Prince Deacon said as he alone has the authority as it was last given by wueen Lana to him as it was given to queen Lana by king Thorvald.
Princess Freda ran over to prince Deacon and gave him a hug.
“Take care of her,” Prince Deacon said as queen Zuberi picked princess Freda up and sped away.
Prince Deacon noticed princess Anse shaman necklace lying on the floor and picked it up, frowning.
Prince Deacom walked over to princess Anse room and found her guards fast asleep.
He cleared his throat, “Have any of you seen princess Anse?”
The guards jumped away from the wall, bewildered. One ran into her room, “Dammit.”
“Maybe she just went to attempt to shift,” Prince Deacon said, making his way out of the castle, hoping that she was ok.
“Over here,” one of the guards called out when he noticed princess Anse in the darkness.
Prince Deacon placed her necklace around her neck while doing the shaman hymn with her.
Princess Anse was about to explain what happened, but prince Deacon stopped her, “Not here.”
Alone in her room, prince Deacon talked to her and asked her to not mention that she saw anything.
“But the Egyptian lady said she is going to kill all of us, um, no, that was actually Princess Phoebe’s words,” Princess Anse said.
“Don’t worry your pretty little head. Get some sleep, they won’t be back anytime soon,” Prince Deacon said, wondering just how soon they will be back to take their revenge.
The next morning at breakfast queen Lana noticed that princess Freda was not at the table, “Where is your wife?”
“She is sleeping in, we took an extra-long run last night,” Prince Deacon lied.
Princess Anse bit her lip, keeping her eyes down, wondering why he was not telling them the truth.
“Any word on princess Phoebe?” was queen Lana’s next question.
Princess Anse just shook her head, ‘No.’
“I was not asking Anse. Princess Phoebe has been gone for months now and no one knows anything?” Queen Lana asked and mind linked the whole pack at once. Throughout the breakfast hall, it was clear that the lycans are having a meeting through mind links.