Chapter 3- The tough battle with Alpha Amelia.

“Alright then! Get ready within half an hour and reach the training ground nearby, where the troops are being trained for the war. I will be waiting there too.” Alpha Gabriel was happy about her decision and marched towards the ground.

“She thinks I should be her daughter! But I don’t even know the way to my room. How would I get ready?” Ella wondered.

She called the maid who was cleaning the table towards her and said, “Can you just take me to my room? I have injured my feet."

“How will you command the army with your feet injured, Lara? I will accompany you to the room and heal you there. But why is your healing power not working, my child?" Mrs. Rolex asked, worried about her daughter.

“I have almost healed, mom. Just a little bit of pain is still left. That is, it, mom. You don’t worry. You know how strong your daughter is, right?” Ella said she was trying to sound as genuine as possible, although she was worried if Lara spoke in the same manner or not.

“Mom? But you always call me Mammy, right? I am finding your ways and methods a little strange. Has that witch done something to you?” asked Mrs. Rolex, worried again.

“Mammy, it was just a slip of the tongue. Just kindly take me to my room. It is already getting late. Alpha Gabriel might get vexed.” Ella tried to change the topic.

She was led inside the mansion by Mrs. Rolex. She was awestruck to see its beautiful designs and décor. The mansion seemed to have all the amenities that a high-class human mansion would have. She was taken into Lara’s room, which was a masterpiece of construction.

“Shall I help you get dressed?” asked Mrs. Rolex.

"No, Mammy, I will dress myself up. Thanks.” Replied Ella.

Ella knew how to get dressed for a battle, as her father was in the army. She was surprised to find that the werewolves wore the same camouflaged uniform as humans during the war. She wore light-weight body armor that she found in the dressing room, which would protect against bullets, and a soft vest of lightly woven laminated fiber to provide protection against handgun rounds, followed by the camouflaged uniform. Finally, she wore a helmet to protect her head.

She waved to Mrs. Rolex as she walked towards the training ground. So finally, you have arrived! You can give some guidance to your troop before we march to the battlefield. Remember that you will be fighting Alpha Amelia, since she is a woman as per the rules of the werewolf community, and I will fight with her powerful beta. If I find that you are unable to win, then I will reach out for your help.

She tried to give directions to her troop about the signals and ways that she would use during the battle so that there was effective communication between her as a commander and the troop. Thereafter, each troop marched in its fixed direction at the Alpha’s instructions.

She tried to be as confident as possible while leading the troop towards the east. She wasn’t even familiar with the forest and the path that she was following, but then she decided to follow the sun, and finally, she reached a spot where she could find a huge banyan tree. No sooner had she reached there than Amelia’s army had already started throwing gun powder at Ella’s troop.

She somehow escaped the fire and looked behind the banyan tree, where she found a lady commanding the army. She was much more muscular than Ella had expected. She seemed to be ten times stronger and more powerful than Ella. Her heart missed a beat. “I would seem like a mouse in front of an elephant if I fought with her, but still, I have no option but to fight.” She thought and moved ahead, and she was soon face-to-face with Alpha Amelia.

“Oh! So, you dare give me a challenge and fight with me? I will crush you within minutes, Lara! Did you forget our previous encounter? Haha... You almost escaped death. But I appreciate your guts. You still didn’t give up and wanted to die a brutal death! Good! I will enjoy the battle, I guess," exclaimed Amelia mockingly.

“I don’t know why I failed last time, but today I will defeat you and kill you mercilessly. You will crave forgiveness, but I will not grant you pardon. You better stop worrying about me and think about your own survival.” Ella warned Amelia.

“How did I gain sudden confidence? How could I speak like that to a lady appearing like a monster? Save me, Moon Goddess!” Ella prayed as she answered the first round of the sword-fighting session.

Ella successfully warded off several blows and managed to counterattack as well. “Never had I realized my inner strength. Perhaps I never had an opportunity to experience it.” She thought.

It was a backbreaking task for Ella to sustain in the battle against a werewolf. She felt that she would be easily overthrown, and she was just fighting a losing battle. She was already injured and bruised severely since she was not well trained in the art. But in the situation that she was in, she was quite complacent with the fact that she was able to defend herself, at least.

Baffled and irritated at not being able to defeat Ella, whom she considered Lara, Amelia was already in a towering rage and dropped her sword, getting ready for the second round of wrestling.

Ella was on pins and needles as she understood from Amelia’s actions that she was challenging her for wrestling. “You bitch! You fucking defended yourself well in the sword fight! But I assure you that I will not let you breathe during the wrestling round." She had defeated her human friends in casual fights several times due to her good physique and because she had it in her blood. But wrestling with a werewolf almost double in size seemed to be strenuous.

Amelia easily lifted Ella and banged her on the ground like a basket-ball player would dribble a ball. She held her aching hips and bruised elbows and tried to gather courage and strength enough to get up and counterattack. Amelia felt that she had already won the war and started rejoicing. But Ella hadn’t given up yet. “If I lose the battle, then my destination will move farther away from me. My aim is not to win the battle but to escape from the island, reach my city safely, and take care of my siblings.” Ella thought as she prayed to the Moon Goddess again.