Their first date was interrupted, shortly after it began. They had not walked around for half an hour, when Jake called Celia. Initially, Salas was a bit bothered by the call, alright jealous of it, but the importance behind the call, washed such feelings away.

So without either of them feeling regretful for the short date, they made their way to the Royal Palace, where they had agreed to meet with Clarissa, the one who made Jake call them.

The witch also had enough of fun playing with Jake in wolf form and released her spell on him, before leaving, having accomplished her goal.

She was anxious to see if the ring would work, Leeloo had told her that the ring was indeed capable of holding and transferring a spirit, but it had only housed a tiger's spirit until now, would it also work for a wolf's soul?

She was about to find out. Escorted by the guards who had been waiting for her by the gates, this time, Clarissa followed the normal route to enter a place. She was coming to the palace, so even if she wanted too, it was more difficult to breach than the dormitory building was.

"Celia!" The bubbly witch happily ran towards her friend, and as she got near her, jumped and tightly hugged her.

If one were to see them, they would no doubt think that Celia was the more mature of the two, but in fact, she was much, much younger than Clarissa was.

Celia warmly hugged the witch, happy to see her. Her lively presence was contagious.

They exchanged only a little bit of pleasantry, before touching the important matter, as it was what mattered the most. Celia had also not asked Clarissa why the witch helped her, as Clarissa told her she would reveal it to her some day on her own accord.

"Well here it is, my solution." Clarissa said happily as she presented the small box in the palm of her hand.

"This?" Asked Celia, looking at the box in which was stored a small silver ring with a ruby red stone embedded in the center of it.

"Yep. This ring belongs to my friend, a pureblood vampire. In it already resides a white tiger, but there should be enough room for another soul, at least for some time." Said Clarissa, hopeful of the solution.

But both Salas and Celia looked towards her not understanding a thing. How would the ring help Crescent?

The small cat at the side sighed, Clarissa was a nerd at whatever she was researching, and she was a genius at everything she did, but she had two major problems.

One, she had no sense of direction. The small cat doubted that she could even find her way back home, if she was not with her.

Two, she never explained to everyone's understanding. Being the genius that she was, she felt like everyone would understand like her no matter what words she used, without too many explanations.

"The ring in Clarissa's hand is a vessel, the small ruby at the center can actually host the souls of spirits who have lost their original bodies.

If one wears the ring, his or her soul can transfer to the ring, and effectively prevent them from dying, and as another person would wear the ring after the first person, her or his soul could possess the new body." Explained the small cat, instead of her ditzy owner.

"The original use of it was in fact to curse a person. At least that was its initial purpose, but in case of spirits, it can also help to store them.

You see, if a person who has three souls wears it, the ring would absorb first the weakest of them, and that would be Crescent soul, because for one, her power is lower of course, and for two, she does not belong to your body so she is the easiest to snatch in a sense." Continued the small cat.

"But Ebony, if Crescent transfers to the ring would she remain there?" Celia asked, scared of that happening, Crescent was a wolf, she was meant to have a human counterpart, a partner. What would be the difference between Crescent now who was dormant and being in a ring?

"No, she would not be able to. As Clarissa said, the ring already has a tiger's soul in it. We promised Clarissa's friend we would only use the ring to transfer the wolf's soul, and then return it to her. The tiger is very important to her and would get damaged if the two would stay in the same place. Something like what is happening now in your own mind.

The ring is meant for only one soul normally, just like the wolf's place in your mind is made for one wolf. One of the two would get hurt in the long term.

The purpose, essentially, is for you to wear the ring until the center stone turns blue. At that moment, Crescent would have successfully transferred to the ring, then we will have another person wear it and effectively transfer the soul to the new person." Ebony, the black cat explained. She was as smart as her owner, but had more common sense than the latter, and could explain what her owner could not.

"Yep that's the gist of it!" Clarissa added, as if she was the one who explained.

"To whom we would transfer Crescent, another werewolf?" Celia asked, she was a bit relieved, but not totally. Her most important wolf could not just be handed to another werewolf, and also the other werewolf would have to accept her also.

"No. The same problem would occur again, if we did that, one of the wolves would suffer. The person who could house Crescent would have to be able to host a wolf, but not have one already. Only a hybrid could have her." Ebony explained further.

"You mean, a being born from a human and a werewolf? But I do not know of any hybrids. There are none in the kingdom." Salas added, he was the king he would know, of course.

His words worried Celia again, but fortunately the cheerily witch resolved even this part of the problem.

"In the werewolf kingdom there are not, but we never said that it should be a crossing of a werewolf and a human. It can also be a crossing of a werewolf and a witch."

"Is there such a person?" Salas asked intrigued, it was new information to him.

"Yup. Yours truly!" Clarissa said cheerfully, pointing to herself.

"You?" Both Celia and Salas asked together surprised.

"Yes. After my father's mate died he met my mother, a witch, and this beautiful witch was created." Clarissa appreciated herself, proud.

"Yes, Clarissa should be able to have Crescent in her mind." Ebony also added, as the witch's words were not easily trustable. Not only because of Clarissa's childish face and bubbly personality, her proudness also did not help.

"But if she is a hybrid, how is she so powerful as a witch? She is the leader of the covens. Shouldn't her power be halved because of the mixed blood?" Salas asked, a little distrustful of this fact. In fact, he knew of the witch, and he was aware that Clarissa even if only recently became the leader of the covens, based on her power alone, she should have been made the leader a long time ago. But, interested more in research, the witch never wanted to take on something as bothersome as leading, as it would take too much time from the time she dedicated to her potions.

"She is mostly witch, because whenever a werewolf would breed with another creature the hybrid that would result would almost never be a werewolf, it would inherit the genes predominantly of the other creature. Just like Clarissa, she is mostly witch, but still having Crescent in her mind should pose no problems, as she has a wolf's place, but no wolf in it."

Only then did Celia finally sighed relieved. Handing Crescent over to Clarissa, other than her, she would not know of a better host.

"Alright, then shall we test the ring?" Clarissa asked.

Celia nodded and took the ring out of its box, before putting it on. Once she slid it on her finger, the ring magically resized itself to fit her size.

"Is it working?" She asked, turning the ring on all sides to check it.

"It will not work immediately. There are a few conditions, to it.

One, you will have to wear it until it turns blue, but this will happen slowly. It could take up to a month or two. The stone will begin to turn blue around the edges, until the blue color will reach the center.

Two, you cannot remove the ring until it turns blue, for any reason whatsoever. Her soul could possibly be torn apart if you do so.

And three, the most important thing to take notice of, in this time you cannot use Waning's power. It will interrupt the flow of magic of the ring and it will also effect Crescent state anyway. This could also cause Crescent to vanish." Ebony explained the graveness of the situation.

Celia nodded and looked again at the ring, a little tiny bit of blue could already be seen. It was only a little, and she could only see it because of her keen eyesight, but it was a hopeful solution.

"So then, we don't have more to do than just wait?" Asked Salas, already thinking of calling the Academy. He had to find a reason to limit the trainings the watchers did, to avoid Celia from using her werewolf power.

"Yes. When the stone turns blue, Waning can wake Crescent up and she will see some sort of portal, as Liselote explained. Once she jumps in the portal, the ring would have engulfed her all. Then Clarissa will wear the ring and will do the reverse process."

In some other place, at the same time

"Are you the hunter that returned alone from the royal forest, about a month ago? If my memory serves me right you informed your superiors that the king had returned earlier than scheduled, and had caught all of you off guard, right?" Asked the blond man, rhythmically tapping his fingers.

"Y-yes, my king!" Answered the hunter, already sweating. He was scared because he was summoned, just as he thought his lie had successfully fooled his superiors.

Barely escaping with his life from the savageness of that young woman, he had hidden the truth until now. How could he say that the entire group of hunters was single handedly decimated by one little werewolf woman? No one would have believed him. Even less, because of the fact that she had been shot that many times with wolfsbane bullets. Bullets that had been researched for many years, doubling their deadliness.

Would he have said that, perhaps he would have died by this man's hands at that time, just for announcing the failed research result, he thought.

Fortunately at that time, scouts posted outside had seen Salas's car enter the royal palace shortly after the attack, and the other hunters had mistaken him as the one responsible. Afraid, he did not contradict them, and even affirmed their beliefs.

If he had known he would one day be summoned by this man, he would've never lied. But now he could nothing than stick with his original story. Because if this man realized he had lied, he would die today for certain.

"So then why did I hear today that in fact your whole group was killed by one little werewolf female?" The man asked calmly.

"That is not... " The hunter trembling, tried to reply.

"Say another lie and you will lose your head." The king informed him. He really was in no mood to torture someone, and with his patience he was unlikely to torture him, he would kill him swiftly more likely.

Left with no choice, especially after knowing the king was aware of the truth, he recounted that day's happenings.

***

What an interesting woman, the king thought. As expected of the werewolf king's mate.

Indeed the old lady up in the sky favored the king of the werewolves, even his mate was perfectly engineered for him.

He really, really did hate her a lot. How partial was she?

He had initially thought that she had abandoned the king, and even left him without a mate, because of the distant past. A hundred years had passed and Salas had no mate, was it to make his mate even more perfect for him?

To ensure the chosen queen of the werewolves was flawless? But then why did Salas not announce her identity until now? Why had he not marked her, yet? If Salas did, then Yvonne would have known of it.

"Y-you said... you... would... not kill... me?" The hunter painfully said, these were possibly his last words. No, these were his last words, as his body fell lifeless in a pool of blood.

"I said you will not lose your head. Whoever said I will not kill you?" The king replied looking at the now dead body, upset his thoughts were rudely interrupted.

"Now then, I hope you will not have unfortunate news for me, like this gentleman here, doctor?" The king asked, wiping his bloodied hand on a handkerchief.

"Your majesty, although the hunter just said the alpha has survived the bullets of wolfsbane, I can assure you they truly are as potent as we promised. The captured werewolves proved so. Even the strongest the hunters caught, died after 2 bullets of wolfsbane.

The only reasonable motive for why she survived is her rank. Perhaps she is closer to the second rank. We've never tried it on such a powerful werewolf before." Explained the doctor. As opposed to the hunter from before, he was more composed. He had never lied to this man, and this man still needed him as well.

"I do not doubt that, doctor. Otherwise you would already be accompanying this hunter to the Netherworld. I am more interested in the other research. Time is pressing us, unfortunately."

The doctor stiffened a bit at his comment, but still answered coherently the question.

"In another year or so, the venom should be fully rid of all of its defects." The doctor said proud, it was a two full years earlier than what he had promised.

"Hmmm... at what percentage is it now?" The king asked tapping his finger's thinking.

"It is at 25%, one in four subjects survives."

"It's good enough. By the end of the week, I want 1.000 successful subjects."

"But your highness we do not have that many candidates available. We would need at least 3.000 candidates or more. At present, there are only 200 who survived the venom, and awaiting to be tested we only have two thousand more. We are still lacking a thousand candidates at least." The doctor explained confused, he did not understand why the man hurried. Not to mention he obtained two hundred successful specimens in a year, and the king wanted eight hundred more in just five days?!

The venom was ready, and there was enough of it, but how many were necessary to be sacrificed...

"You will not lack specimens, doctor. Just start with what you have first. Lucian, gather the materials the doctor needs! Also bring the witch you have left, she should still be of use, even without her sister." He commanded one of the two bulky men, who were also in the room.

"Yes, my king. But if I gather that many, I will not be able to do so undetected." Lucian said, already kneeling to confirm his order. They had moved almost undetected all these years, they had gathered strays mostly. A thousand missing people, would attract anyone's attention on them, no matter how skillfully they collected them.

"It does not matter. In fact, it would be better to leave some tracks. We need some hounds on our tracks!" The king dismissed his worries. He had used hunters and rogues until now, to mislead the werewolves, but there was no need to keep on tricking them, this would be the last time he used a diversion.

The presence of the king's mate, already changed the situation significantly. He would not give Salas time to mark her, and become even more powerful than now.

As always, confirming the order, the man named Lucian did not wait longer and followed the doctor out of the door, dragging behind him the body of the hunter. It seemed they could finally play to their heart's content, without fear. They would truly have some fun, the bulky man thought.

"Cain?" The king asked the other man, who was already waiting kneeled for the command.

"How long has it been since you last saw your brother? I think it's about time to pay him a visit, his real self has been sleeping for long enough already." The king said thoughtfully towards his most trusted aide. They were forced to move up they plans in light of the new information, but there were also bright sides to the situation.

"Indeed it has your highness. For you to permit his return. He will be overjoyed!" Cain bowed even more his head, in obedience. His brother had suffered long enough, thirty years had passed since they last saw each other, with his brother having his memory intact.

"I will be happy to have my third aide return as well. It has been like losing one of my limbs. Take the crystal with his memories with you. You can restore them at the Academy, there is no need to wait until you come back to do so."

"Yes your highness. Thank you!"

"My king, before I go. Can I be presumptuous and ask you something?" Cain asked humble. He had no fear of the king, as Lucian, he and his brother had been the longest with him, but nevertheless he still asked for permission.

"Of course you can." The king replied calm, and waited for his aide's question. He had even stopped tapping his fingers to pay attention.

"Why did you let the werewolf woman go? She has lost all her value to you. Why did you not tie the loose ends? She could pose a problem, if she talks of us." Cain expressed his worries, he knew his king never did something without thoroughly think of it, even if it did not seem so at times, but he still wanted to know.

"She told me that the two hunters that were captured were interrogated by Salas successfully!" The king gave a hint to his aide.

"But that is not possible. The hunters were under a spell, if they were to ever be interrogated even under torture they would only ramble a bit then kill themselves, before something usable would be extracted from them!" Cain exclaimed confused, this was one of the reasons they were not worried about the captured hunters in the first place, and never bothered to silence them.

"Exactly. It seems that Salas still has the complete loyalty of his Council." The king smirked coldly.

"Then she was fooled by her own grandfather? She was told fake information?" Cain deduced.

"Well perhaps not exactly so. They must have realized, when the attack took place, that we have some people on the inside. So everyone who knew of the king not being in his palace, other than his councilmembers, were fed fake information.

Whatever traveled outside from one individual, would help them determine the informant, most likely. Even the councilmembers' families are not excluded from this rule. Yvonne has failed her grandfather's test. We do not need to do a thing, her grandfather would take care of her. Not to mention, she doesn't not know too much of our origin, she never did.

She truly believed that I only needed her just to have an ally on the werewolf throne, nothing else. Poor thing, truly stupid poor thing. In fact, the information she told me over the years were enough a payment for the favor I did back then." The king chuckled.

"But even so, how would they know she told us? We have magical barriers all around, she did not have a single spell on her for them to trace her."

"Who knows? It did not matter that much to me to check. Now, if your curiosity is satisfied, go and prepare, at the end of this week you will meet your brother."

Cain nodded and rose on his feet to go rile up his men.

"Cain!" The king stopped him, just before he opened the door to leave.

The latter immediately turned around, waiting for his words.