Chapter 2-A Destiny Set in Motion

A distant time in past...

The King smiles as he looks down at his twin pups, Crystalline and Selene, in the flickering glow of the candlelight. His mate, Queen Luna, and his eldest, Prince Coro, looking on from a distance as Coro tries to get the attention of his exhausted mother. Luna had done a good job of giving birth to their pups, laboring from the moment the sun come up until the moon was high in the sky when the pups were born.

She had cause quite a stir with the maids in the stone walls of the palace when her water broke, the maids quickly helping Luna to the birthing chamber on the second floor. One had sent a guard to the training field where wolves sparred in metal armor or in wolf form to find King Spirit and inform him of his Queen’s birth, while another navigated the cold corridors towards the Witch’s tower to bring the midwife over.

King Spirit rushed to the palace after leaving his Beta in charge, making his way to the birthing chamber just in time to help the maids remove his wife’s large ballgown from her body to allow her more movement. It was a long thirteen hours of laboring, but with the light of the full moon bathing their twin daughters and casting the same magic their mother possesses onto them the moment they were born, the King and Queen both knew instantly that their princesses would have a great destiny ahead of them.

"Who came first?" King Spirit asks, turning to look at the midwife, a witch named Cassandra. Her red as blood hair and eyes as blue as the sky are such a contrast to her true age; no one would think this woman is two hundred years old already. But the Witch is the reason the wolves can stay hidden from the hunters that wish to kill them.

"Selene did, Sire. She has the same Goddess powers as her mother,”

Cassandra responds, pointing to the firstborn daughter, whose little hair already reflected like a prism in the small glow of the candlelight.

“Crystalline came next and the power in her blood nearly suffocated me. It is stronger than the Prince," The witch continues, a smile on her face as she looks at the white-haired pup.

"Well then, Selene will take my place as the Moon Goddess when the time comes," Luna croaks weakly, a happy smile on her pale face.

"What about Crystalline?" Coro asks, looking at his newborn twin sisters with distain. The King frowns. He knows his son had been neglected the last six weeks with his mother’s pregnancy coming to an end. But the King and Queen did their best to give Coro as much attention as they could while preparing him to become an older brother.

Coro pays no attention to Selene, already knowing that she will not be a bother to him with her inheriting their mother’s legacy as the next Goddess. But Crystalline will be the thorn in his side when it comes to what he believes is his rightful place on the throne. The young pup can already feel the power of the Royal Blood flowing through her and could tell that she will surpass him in everything as soon as her training begins. He does not want to lose the throne he grew up being told will be his. He likes knowing that all the wolves listen to him, and he can freely torture those who disobey the six year old. All this will change if his sister is in the picture.

"Well, Coro, Crystalline and you will both train as leaders. One will become my heir and the other will become a Beta to their sibling or an Alpha of their own pack. Only time will tell," King Spirit answers him absentmindedly, not noticing the malicious look that the Prince sends to his sister. Witch Cassandra notices this however, realizing the smart Prince with connections across the supernatural realm may begin scheming despite his innocent-looking face.

Fearful for the twin daughters of her King and Queen, the Witch steps forward and reaches into her pouch, pulling out two silver necklaces with moonstone charms attached, happy to have made these protection charms for the twins in advance.

She has treated many wolves the last year after they have been wrongfully punished by Prince Coro.

Of course, the King and Queen could not believe their firstborn to be so malicious and chalked it up to being a rambunctious pup, but the Witch knew better.

She knew one of the Princesses will be powerful and that the Prince would not like the competition. He already has it in his little mind that he owns the world, much to his parents’ teachings.

"My King, with the help of some elves I was able to create protection charms for the Princesses. The moonstone that looks like the moon will be for Crystalline, as a reminder that her sister watches over her as the next Goddess. The moonstone shaped like a snowflake will remind Selene of her sister down on earth where the Royal Pack sits, and winter comes early," she says quietly, seeing the concern on her King's face.

"But the chains are silver. Silver harms us." He states with worry, the urge to throw those necklaces away instantly building inside of him. Cassandra smiles at him reassuringly before she gently places the necklaces around the twins’ necks, much to her King and Queen’s looks of protest. But shock fills the two royals as the silver causes no harm, and Coro looks on in rage. He always loved the colour silver, but the scar on his palm from touching a silver coin reminds him that he is incapable of holding the material.

The twins open their eyes, Selene’s as white as the moon and Crystalline’s as colourful as a light reflecting off a prism, and stare at the woman who has now handed them a gift. They already like her, their hands reaching out to grab the edge of her sleeves.

"As I said, their blood is strong. I have seen in a vision that both twins are immune to silver and their Destiny will be great. Silver can become their protection from those that wish to harm them." The witch chuckles, allowing the twins to cling to her sleeves. King Spirit nods, looking at his Queen who smiles at him.

“We will start to prepare silver jewelry and weapons for them then,”

The King states, walking over to pick up Selene and bring her to her mother before returning to hold Crystalline. With the King’s promise, Cassandra bids her farewell to her rulers and takes her leave to allow the royal couple and Coro to bond with the twins. But worry still gnaws at her for Crystalline’s safety. She has a feeling her destiny will be altered soon.

A week passes with Cassandra praying to the Goddess of Destiny Morai to protect the twins, as the feeling of something horrible happening soon grows. She spends her days either in her tower praying in the altar room to her chosen Deity for the safety of Crystalline and that the pup may live a good life, or with the Queen and the twins, always chanting a spell of protection over the two pups in hopes to keep them safe from Prince Coro.

Word of his cruelty to Crystalline has spread.

Maids will find him holding Selene, bonding with her while Crystalline is left in the cradle, screaming for her needs to be taken care of.

A maid will walk away for a moment to help with Selene only to find Crystalline missing and after a few minutes of searching, will find the princess outside in the cold night slowly freezing with Prince Coro’s scent all over her.

These incidents of cruelty towards Crystalline have reached the King and Queen’s ears, making them more protective over the newborn pup and placing a harsher punishment on their eldest child.

It is evident that the young Prince does not like his sister and has been plotting something dark and sinister.

On a dark, snowy night, Witch Cassandra put away her leather-bound notebooks after writing her observations for the day. She had just spent her day making sure the twin princesses are healthy and ready to be introduced to their nation now that they are a week old. She sighs, the feeling of unease growing inside her when she sets aside her quill and ink in their rightful spot on her desk before climbing the stairs to her altar at the top of the tower.

She flicks her fingers, lighting all of the candles around the statue of a child dressed in a modest gown, then carefully lowers herself to her knees and wraps a rosary made of rose quartz, amethyst, quartz crystal and blue lace agate around her hand before starting her prayers.

She can feel a shift in the energy surrounding the palace and hopes that the prayers will dispel all the negativity she has felt throughout the day.

Little does she know that Coro has planned something no one expected.

While Cassandra continues her prayer to Goddess Morai, the feeling of something horrible about to happen grows, the air becoming heavy with negativity.

“Please, Goddess, keep Princess Crystalline safe.”

She whispers, a tear falling slowly down her face and onto the statue. She focuses hard, putting her magic into her prayer, hoping to reach her chosen deity.

As she prays, a guard rushes to her tower, fear and anger on his face. He opens the door on the first floor, realizing that the witch is not there as the urgency in his eyes deepens. He takes a deep breath, scenting the air in hopes of finding their only hope in fixing the situation the guards have found themselves in, and feels relieved to learn that the witch is up in her prayer room.

Without hesitation, he climbs the stairs in a rush, taking the stone steps two at a time in hope of making it to Cassandra quickly. Finally, the landing comes into view and he reaches for the handle. Bursting through the door and allowing a cold rush of air to extinguish all the candles except the red infused with the power of the sun and moon and used to pray to the Goddess of Destiny, the guard huffs and puffs, gasping for breath, fighting to get the words out.

“What is so urgent that you have to interrupt my prayers?”

Cassandra asks furiously, looking over at the guard who stares at her with hope in his fearful gaze.

"Princess Crystalline is missing. We need your help to find her, Witch Cassandra!"