A trip

~SCARLETT ~

Everyone anticipated that Sophia would become queen especially if she married Nate. She had great fighting skills and powerful magic.

Before I arrived in Vadronia, she was the best female fighter at school and her magic was very powerful second only to Nate’s. When I arrived, I took that title.

I had even defeated my trainer, Master Cedric a couple of times in hand-to-hand combat breaking a few bones during our first encounter. Master Cedric was the wizard who trained the warriors in Vadronia. He had pointed out that defeating a tougher opponent required more than just brute strength.

I had tempered my strength, learned advanced techniques, and mastered the art of fighting with knives. I had underestimated the difficulty of knife combat. I had been feeling cocky because I had beat his ass a lot of times and I learned the hard way. I loved that he didn’t hold back during training, I learned it pretty fast. Wolves were physically stronger than witches and wizards and I was a white wolf, not just an ordinary wolf. However, when magic was involved, a witch or wizard was extremely deadly.

In Vadronia, leaders were chosen through an intense competition. Magic, intelligence, strength, and fighting skills were tested along with good behavior and good virtues. Everything about the candidates including family history was carefully scrutinized.

The competition format was established to ensure a strong ruler and was mandated by Hecate herself. Only married couples could compete in the competition.

Formerly, the goddess Hecate chose our rulers herself and then conveyed her choice to the elders who then crowned them. The chosen ruler could be either a queen or a king or both.

Our elder, Lady Gillian informed us of the new method of selection. The winner of the competition would still have to be accepted by Hecate before being crowned. An elder was a special witch who communicated directly with Hecate. Only a Varlett witch could be an elder.

The Varlett witches were only women. If a Varlett witch procreated with another type of witch, shifter, or creature and bore a male child, he would inherit the traits of his father’s lineage. However, if the child was female, she would be a Varlett witch.

Only one Varlett witch was chosen by Hecate to be an elder, the chosen one had the unique ability to communicate with her directly.

The others just had the powers of seeing visions, hypnosis, immunity, location tracking, the ability to touch someone and see their deeds, and mind reading. All Varlett witches recognized and acknowledged this chosen one.

The Varlett witches had been killed for practicing black magic and only a few had been innocent. The sisters, Gillian and Anna along with their children Lord Wendell and Matilda were the only ones that were not found guilty.

During the dragon wars, Matilda disappeared and was later found dead. She was the prime suspect in the theft that had caused the war because of her sudden disappearance.

I found the whole story about the Varlett witches suspicious but I kept my thoughts to myself.

After the dragon wars, Elder Gillian transported Vadronia to a magical realm, it was now accessible only to witches and or those invited.

“That lady is creepy”, Kaya mumbled.

I struggled with a fit of giggles. Elder Gillian was really creepy. She was so weird but I guess anyone would be too if you could see visions, see the past and present. She was probably stuck figuring out if she was in the past or present.

My thoughts drifted back to Sophia.

It was ironic that everyone said Sophia was suited to be the next Queen. Good behavior was one of the criteria for choosing the Queen in Vadronia yet Sophia was anything but well behaved.

She was a wolf in sheep’s clothing, good luck to them.

They would need all the luck they could get if she indeed became Queen.

I had been punished after the incident with Sophia, no one believed that she had been picking on me except my Aunt Levina and her best friend Lady Jasmine. They defended me when I was summoned before the council. Aunt Levina was fiercely protective of me, she had been rude to the other members of the council including the Queen. She was quickly reminded of her place by Queen Isabella.

I didn’t fault Queen Isabella for her anger, her precious daughter had been in a bad state when we were separated. She had been weak, bleeding with a suspected broken nose and more injuries. Not that I cared.

The bitch had it coming….

It was satisfying recalling the look of fear on her face when I growled and stalked toward her slowly after shoving her. Her fear had smelled delicious to my nostrils.

I smiled at the memory. Kaya snickered.

Sophia was Miss Goody two shoes, acting meek and sweet while being a devil behind closed doors. No one believed that she started it except our peers who were too busy licking her ass to speak up.

I didn’t expect anyone to believe me. After all, I was Scarlett, the stubborn untamed beast with a sharp tongue and hot temper.

My punishment had been manual labor and house arrest. I had finished the manual labor but was still under house arrest.

Aunt Levina had left for a meeting today leaving me home alone.

I had not gone anywhere all this while because I had nowhere to go.

It was amusing that they believed the house arrest was keeping me home. I preferred staying home over dealing with annoying people and participating in boring activities.

I was exhausted with life here. It felt stifling, so being at home for a while was a welcome change but today I was tired of even being home.

I was fed up.

I considered visiting my old pack lands. After all, the Legion was gone.

After my parents died, I decided to stay away from the werewolf world.

I had tried to leave the past behind for years, but how long could I keep running?

A little trip won’t hurt.

I could teleport back here if anything went wrong.

“I’m all for the adventure but your teleportation skills suck”, Kaya said.

“Shut up”, I replied playfully.

“You know I’m right”, Kaya said laughing.

“Well, let's hope it doesn’t suck today”, I replied grinning.

I had to leave now.

I dressed up quickly in a round-neck polo and free joggers then tied my hair in a high ponytail, nothing too flashy to avoid drawing attention.

Honestly, I had no idea what to expect. I grabbed my phone and texted my aunt.

“ I stepped out briefly, I’ll be back in the evening, love you”.

She would've never let me leave if she had been here. She had sworn to protect me. I thought of my old pack and tried to create a portal.

Despite all the training I had received, I sucked at creating portals. I hoped and prayed to the moon goddess that my skills wouldn’t fail me today.

A bright white light appeared and then immediately morphed into a blue portal.

I stepped through.