“Hera, are you okay? I heard you screaming so I came to check on you” Mark says as he stares at me worriedly and I shake my head before I come down from my bed and head for the kitchen to get a glass of water to wet my parched throat.

“I'm fine Mark, don't worry about me,” I tell him but he squints his eyes and shakes his head at me.

“I don’t believe you. You look like a huge mess” he says as I turn on the tap and watch the water pour into the cup beneath it. The glass gets full and the water begins to pour into the sink but I don’t notice it. I don’t feel the cold water pouring on my hand because I’m thinking about the dream I just had; wishing it would stop already and the demons haunting me from the day our pack was attacked would stop whispering demeaning words to me in my head.

Mark rushes up to me and stands on his tiptoe to lock the tap then he takes the glass of water from my hand and drops it on the kitchen counter before he yells out my name and I jolt; coming back to my senses and I look at him.

I dip my hand into my shoulder-length red hair and sigh deeply before I force a smile at Mark then take the glass of water and drink the whole content at once.

“Hera, what’s wrong? You look like a mess” he says and I just shake my head at him.

“I’m fine mark, trust me” I try to convince him as I squat to his height and look in the eyes before I place my hands on his shoulders and gently rub to soothe him.

He’s way too young to worry about me. I’m his older sister and worrying about him should be my thing while he lives like every other normal kid so I can’t let him know if anything is wrong with me or bothering me. I have to mask it and show I’m fine until I do whatever Alpha Luggard wants me to do then I'll get him back and we'll be free. Hopefully.

“I hate when you do not tell me things. You know that right? I'm not a kid anymore and I deserve to know if something is bothering you” he protests but I just pull him in for a hug and dip my hand into his soft curly locks.

“I'll always let you know if anything is wrong Mark, just trust me okay? Please” I plead with him and I hear him let out a breath. 

“Okay, if you say so. I trust you” he replies and I let him go from the hug to look into his cute grey eyes.

“So tell me, what do you want for breakfast? I'll make them get it for you”

“Are you sure about that? Those people are really scary” he laughs out and I can't help but join him too due to how contagious his laughter can be at times. 

“Of course. I'm the princess of the fang pack, I'll make them give my brother whatever he wants for breakfast” I reply and he grins at me.

“Then I want chicken. The toast they gave me yesterday was way too dry” he says and squeezes his face in disgust while I chuckle.

“Chicken you'll have then,” I say cheerfully and we fist bump before I leave my squatting position and stand up then check my wristwatch and it's just 5 am. That's way too early for Mark to be awake.

Bang bang! A knock comes on the door loudly and it breaks my heart to see Mark jolt from the noise so I hit him again and raise his head to look at me as he holds onto me, his arms around my waist.

“They won't do anything to you okay, I'm the one they want so don't worry” I assure him and he nods then I let him go.

“I'm going to go for my training now but I’ll make sure to get that chicken for you… You should go back to sleep” I add and kiss him on the forehead then watch him leave for his room with a smile on his face.

I head for the door and open it and it's Chris, my trainer.

“Be ready in five” he orders and walks away while I make a face at him and close the door loudly before I go to my closet and take a pair of my training clothes then I change and leave for the training ground.

It's still snowing and it's pretty cold but thanks to my ability to generate warmth, I use little of my wolf energy to make myself warm as I head to the training ground.

I arrive and everyone is already busy training. Their skins are glistening with sweat already and I can’t help but wonder when exactly they wake up as I stare at them. My eyes catch some of their eyes and they're all glaring at me but I know why. I won one of their own yesterday when they didn't expect it… Next time, they wouldn't underestimate me just because I'm a princess.

“Like what you see?” A gruff voice behind me asks and I turn around immediately to see who’s speaking and it’s Chris. He’s staring at me, the corner of his lips are turned up and I’m wondering what’s so funny as I glare at him.

“No thanks, I’ll pass. He’s not my type” I snap and he chuckles. The sound only pisses me off but I don’t say anything to him.

“So what are we doing today?” I ask him as I try to change the topic so we'll begin training and he shrugs.

“You’ll fight the guy you were staring at” he replies and I look back at the guy who's immersed in the fight he's having with a lady.

Hell! He’s built and he’s huge too, probably twice my size. How am I going to win that hunk of flesh? I know he’s just testing my patience but I’m already strategizing in my mind because I'm definitely not backing down. I'm not going to let them label me as the weakling princess, I'm going to show them that I didn't train since I was fifteen for nothing, I will instill fear in their hearts.

I’m going to only defend until he lets his guards down then I’ll knock him out with one strike… just like my father taught me so I look back at Chris and smile at him which makes him frown back. I’m sure he was expecting me to panic and tell him I can’t face up to the unknown hunky man that's twice my size but I’m smiling instead and I bet he’s wondering what I have up my sleeves.

“Fine. If I win, I want you to get my brother chicken and a large pack of juice for breakfast” I say and Chris chuckles again.

(nothing is funny… Stupid Chris) I say in my mind and roll my eyes before he speaks up.

“Okay then. It's a deal, win the fight and your brother gets chicken or whatever” he says and calls for the man.

“Hey, Luca over here” he calls, and the hunky man whose name is Luca stops fighting with the lady and comes over to us.

His light green eyes meet mine and he smirks as he looks me over but I only feel disgusted. 

He's good-looking and all, with his curly shiny hair and his build but he doesn't give off a good aura. I hate everything about him already; because he seems like a player and mostly because he's from this pack… The pack that took everyone I knew away from me.

“You're going to duel with princess Hera here until one knocks one out and emerges the winner,” Chris tells him and Luca smiles at him, it's like like they are communicating through their minds and I decide to be alert while fighting Luca because they may be plotting something I know nothing about.

“Piece of cake,” Luca says as we head to the dueling ground, the same place where in knocked spindly Stephen out and I take a stance before I face him. I know he was trying to rile me up with that statement but I decided to ignore him and make him riled up instead so I'll have a chance at making him lower his defense faster.

He takes his stance too and we stare heatedly at each other, waiting for Chris to give us the go-ahead before we begin. Chris stands at a distance and the warriors begin to gather again to watch the fight unravel. I know they all expect me to lose to hunky Luca but they don't know what I have coming for him.

“Begin!” Chris's deep voice cuts through the air and Luca charges at me first... Just as I expected.

I quickly dodge his punch with my fast reflexes and slide back. He comes again and keeps on trying to throw punches and kicks but I'm quick to dodge most of them except for two times when he got me and it hurt so bad.

I feign I'm getting weak and put on a tired face so he smirks and turns to his fellow warriors who are chanting his name.

I quickly stand up and take my position for my best kick which always knocked out my opponents when I was still in the Fang pack.

“Luca!” I yell out his name and he turns to face me. I twirl at three sixty degrees, my right leg in the air before I jump into the air and smack him hard unexpectedly on the face with my leg and I land gracefully while watching his now unconscious body slump to the ground.

Everywhere goes silent and I'm sure they're hoping Luca would get up but he doesn't. I look at Chris and smirk while he glares back.

“Your brother will get his chicken” he growls before he stomps off.

I won.