The time has come for the Queen’s Tournament. This is a very special occasion for the Crescent Moon Pack. The next queen’s heir will finally be chosen, and many girls were eager to take Isaac’s side for the next generation of lycan leadership.

Daine has joined the crowd as they cheer for the girls lining up. She’s by herself this time, as Shadow was not interested in such a hassle of an event. But Daine had to come. One of these girls is going to take her brother away from her, and she needs to know who it will be.

She immediately notices someone in the lineup. It’s Elaine, the girl who often bullies her. Daine feels a pit in the bottom of her stomach. What if Elaine wins this tournament? If she’s placed by Isaac’s side, maybe she’ll convince him to stop caring about her. What if she makes Isaac hate her?

But there’s something strange about Elaine today. She looks scared, which is out of character for her. She has quite the cheer squad though, as a woman can be heard hollering in the crowd.

“YEAHH, THAT’S MY GIRL!” Daine looks over her shoulder and finds the source of the voice. Elaine’s mother and father were happily cheering for their daughter, her mother especially riled up. Interestingly, however, Daine didn’t notice Kane with them. In fact, she couldn’t spot Elaine’s brother anywhere. Upon seeing her parents, Elaine smiles widely. She happily waves back at them without making a sound.

“Greetings, Crescent Moon Pack.” A calming voice overtakes the crowd, a voice that makes Daine’s blood run cold. She turns her attention back towards the lineup of girls, and a man now stands with them.

It’s Zachary Orion, the lycan king.

“Welcome to our latest Queen’s Tournament.” The king motions towards the crowd, a gentle smile on his face. “The time has come at last for us to pick the queen’s heir for our newest generation. One of these competitors today will be taken in by the queen in preparation for their new, vital duty. They will be joined by my heir, to one day stand by his side.” He motions towards Isaac, who stares towards the crowd with his same, familiar smile.

“These ladies will compete in combat in the battlegrounds beyond,” he gestures behind the girls. “The queen is back there as we speak, prepared to oversee the contest. They will fight until they can fight no more, and the one left standing will have earned her place as a leader of our pack. After a word from the king’s heir, the competition will begin.” Orion steps aside, allowing Isaac to take center stage. He stands in front of the girls, and only has two words for them.

“Good luck.”

And with that, the girls are off. They run into the battlegrounds beyond, almost all of them taking their true form as they dive into the tournament. Elaine, however, remains human. She awkwardly runs after the other girls on her two legs. A strange sight, and one that had most of the onlookers doubting the girl’s chances.

But as the tournament draws to a close, it’s Elaine who is left standing. She’s much more energetic than before, cheering with the crowd. Quinn, the lycan queen, stands with her. She holds Elaine’s arm up in the air, both of them grinning from ear to ear. She did it. Elaine has become the newest queen’s heir.

While the crowd cheers on, Daine stares blankly. This was exactly what she was afraid of. Elaine becoming the next queen could only make things worse for her. The pack is going to hate Daine even more now. Even worse, Isaac has no need for her anymore. He stands next to Elaine, who looks up at him with a humongous smile. Isaac smiles back, shaking her hand.

Daine can’t handle this cheery air, and she retreats from the celebration. She runs away from the others and makes her way deep into the foggy woods. “What am I going to do now?” she thinks to herself. “She’s going to take Isaac away. I’m going to lose him!” She flees as far away from the crowd as she can. Every fiber of her being is fighting to hold back her tears. This is all too overwhelming, and it feels like the world is crumbling around her.

But she stops as she notices somebody. Up ahead, obscured by the fog, another girl is slowly making her way through the woods. Daine sees her from behind. She squints through the fog trying to make out the figure, and when she realizes who it is she’s filled with both surprise and rage.

It’s Elaine.

What is SHE doing here!?

The nerve. Is Elaine not satisfied with her victory in the tournament? Is she not happy that she won Isaac’s hand? She has to make a mockery of it all and run away from her own celebration!? It’s her new duty to stand up there with the other lycan royalty as her peers shower her with love and praise, and yet here she is, hiding away in the woods.

It’s all too much for Daine. The fury inside her has bubbled up to the surface, and she angrily screams out towards the girl.

“ELAINE!”

Elaine comes to a sudden halt. She stands there a moment, before slowly turning around. When Daine sees her face, her rage is momentarily interrupted by shock. There’s something wrong with Elaine. She looks beaten down, tears welling up in her wide eyes. But most surprising of all, an open wound has been slashed across her face.

That’s strange. Was Elaine injured before? Daine can’t remember seeing such a wound. But she shakes her head, ignoring the doubt in her mind. This was her chance to speak to Elaine one on one. If this bully is going to become the next queen, then Daine needs to give her a piece of her mind.

“Don’t think you can just act like how you have before!” she yells at the girl. “This isn’t a game! You’re the queen’s heir now, and you have to act like it! You have to take it seriously! We deserve a good queen, not a bully and a brute! By winning this tournament, you HAVE to change! You hear me!? You HAVE to become a good queen! You HAVE to!”

Breathing heavily, Daine looks up at Elaine waiting for her response. Elaine just stares at her, a blank and solemn expression on her face. Suddenly, she gives off a loud, choking sob. Tears start falling down her cheeks, as she’s unable to hold them back any longer. And as she starts shaking, her hair starts slowly sliding off the top of her head.

It wasn’t actually her hair, of course. It was a long, ginger wig. As it falls, it reveals the shorter, slightly darker hair hidden beneath it. The wig drops to the ground, and all has become clear. Realizing what’s just happened, the child gasps and desperately grabs the fallen hair. In a futile attempt to keep up the farce, they quickly place it back on their head. But it’s too late. Daine has seen the truth.

“...you’re not Elaine,” she says.

“NO!” the child screams, trying to secure the wig back in place.

“...you’re Kane,” Daine continues.

“NO, YOU’RE WRONG!” the boy desperately yells back.

“...you cheated.”

And with these words, Kane falls to the ground. He’s on his hands and knees sobbing, not even trying to keep the wig on his head anymore.

“Please…” he whimpers. “I’m sorry. We’ll be good, I promise. But please, don’t tell anyone… I’m begging you…”

Daine crouches down next to him. She gently places one of her hands on his. He darts his head back up at her, shocked. Daine just looks back at him calmly, a gentle smile on her face.

“It’s okay,” she says. “Your secret’s safe with me.”

Kane stares, trying his best to slow down his sobbing. Eventually the two children sit next to each other at the base of a nearby tree. Kane is slowly calming down, Daine gently rubbing his back.

“I’m sorry…” he keeps mumbling. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”

“What happened?” she asks him.

Kane takes a moment, trying to compose himself. After taking a deep breath, he starts to explain. “You’re right… we cheated…” he sobs. “I dressed up as Elaine and snuck into the tournament. I took her place while she was already hidden in the battlegrounds. I was her decoy, letting her sneak up on others and take them down.”

“But how did you get away with that?”

“Well, we’re twins, it was easy,” Kane says. “But it was only convincing if I was in human form. Our true forms have different fur patterns. We’d be caught instantly if I transformed. I couldn’t really fight back very much… I was a really easy target… but I did my best…” He smiles sadly. “And it worked…!”

“But why?” Daine says. “Why let Elaine put you through something like that?”

“Oh, no, it was my idea,” he responds. “I came up with the entire plan.” It’s with these words that he gives off a large sigh. “I’m never doing that again though. I don’t wanna look like her anymore. I’ll grow a beard, maybe build some muscle too. Then neither of us will think of swapping places again…”

“Why? Why did you do that!?”

Kane looks up towards the sky. He’s calmed down a lot now, and he takes a deep breath. “I’d do anything for my family,” he says. “We wanted to honor our mom and make her proud. And I will do whatever it takes to see Elaine succeed.”

“I see,” Daine says with a smile. “You’re a very good brother!”

Kane slowly looks back at her. He’s quiet for a moment, stunned by her behavior. “...you’re very nice,” he says. “I haven’t been very kind to you, and yet you’re being so nice to me…” Daine just continues to smile at him. Kane is at a loss. He simply can’t understand how Daine can show him such incredible kindness after everything she’s been through.

“...I’m going to listen to you, y’know,” he mumbles, averting his gaze. “What you said about being a good queen. I’ll change, I promise. And I’ll make sure Elaine does too.”

“I believe in you!” Daine grins.

Finally at ease, Kane smiles. He looks back at her. “I really am sorry about how I’ve treated you,” he says. “Maybe we can be friends someday.”

“Of course!” Daine happily responds. “I’d like that!”

The two smile at each other. It’s hard to believe there was ever such animosity between them. But their moment of peace would soon be broken, as a snapping twig is heard in the fog. Someone is coming.

Kane gets up with a jolt. “I have to go!” he quietly whispers, quickly retrieving the wig. He was lucky with Daine, but he couldn’t afford to have another person discover his secret. He takes a few steps, but then turns around. He quickly bows his head, and whispers “Thank you…!” before retreating into the woods.

Daine waves off towards the direction of the boy. After he’s long gone, she becomes alert to the approaching figure. The fog is still thick, and she’s unsure who might be approaching. She prepares herself for anything. And then, all of the sudden, a voice calls out.

“DAAAAAIIINE!”

She recognizes the voice immediately. It’s Isaac. The tension lifts from her shoulders and she gets up, excited to reunite with her brother.

“ISAAC!” She calls back to him.

“There you are, shortie!” he shouts, finally finding Daine in the fog. She runs up to him, and gives him a strong hug.

“What are you doing here!?” she asks. “You’re supposed to be at the ceremony!”

Isaac laughs. “Nah, I got bored of that. I’d rather hang out with you!” Daine is so excited to see her brother, she ignores her own hypocrisy. She may have been furious at “Elaine” for abandoning her duty, but it was okay if Isaac did it.

The two sit next to each other in the same spot Daine and Kane had been just moments before. Isaac can tell Daine is upset, and he tries his best to figure out what’s wrong.

“That ceremony bored you to death too, huh?” he laughs. “You had the right idea, getting out of there!” Daine looks at the ground, nervously twiddling her thumbs. “Hey, what’s up?” Isaac asks her. “What’s got you so down?”

“...you don’t need me anymore…” Daine mutters.

“What are you talking about?” Isaac grins. “I’d be useless without you!”

“But…” Daine stumbles on her words. “But… you have Elaine now…”

So stunned by her words, Isaac can’t help but snort. “Oh no, you don’t think she’s going to replace you, do you?”

“...maybe…”

He puts his arm around her shoulder. “You have nothing to worry about! You’ll always be the most important girl in my life, got it?”

She looks back up at him, relieved. “You mean it?”

“Of course!” he scoffs. “It didn’t really matter to me who won the Queen’s Tournament anyway. It’s all the same in the end.”

“Really?” Daine’s surprised. “But, this tournament picked your future wife! You didn’t care about that?”

Isaac just sneers. Unbeknownst to her, these words had gotten underneath his skin. He briefly thinks to himself, before turning back to her with a smile. “Of course not, you wanna know why?”

“Yeah!”

“It’s a secret, so don’t tell anybody, okay?” Daine nods enthusiastically. Isaac leans up towards her ear, hiding his mouth with a hand. He whispers to her, “It didn’t matter who won the tournament, because I’m already dating someone!"

Daine’s gasp is loud and sharp. “WHAT!?” she shrieks, making Isaac burst into laughter.

“That’s right!” he smiles.

“Who is she!?” Daine exclaims. “I wanna meet her!”

“Him,” Isaac corrects her. Daine is confused. She doesn’t understand what Isaac means by this. He chuckles at her reaction.

“I have a boyfriend, not a girlfriend,” he says, giving off an annoyed laugh. “I’m not really interested in girls like that.” Isaac looks at Daine intently. The two of them are close, but he hadn’t divulged this information to her yet. He wasn’t sure how she’d respond, and though he continued to display his usual smile, a part of him was scared of how his sister might react.

Daine stares off, processing what she just learned. Suddenly, she looks back toward her brother and hollers, “YOU CAN DO THAT!?” This wasn’t the reaction Isaac was expecting, and he couldn’t help but laugh. “DOES THIS MEAN I CAN DATE GIRLS!?” Daine continues.

“Of course,” he grins. “You can date whoever you want!”

“THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING!” Daine is jumping up and down, excited. Seeing his sister respond in such an amusing way brings Isaac both joy and relief. “Well then, who is he!?” Daine asks.

Isaac brings a single finger to his lips. “That’s a secret!” he smiles.

“Do I know him?” she continues, determined to get information from her brother.

“Not yet!”

“Huh?” This response surprises her. What did he mean, not yet? Isaac snickers, as if he’s in on a joke that she’s not. After some further thought, he decides to tell her more.

“I’ve got this other friend, you see,” he says. “He’s real smart, and he knows everything! And he’s told me a loooot of interesting things.” Isaac smiles widely. “He told me about someone that’s going to be important in your future, and of course I just had to meet the guy! I couldn’t help it!”

Isaac is laughing, but his words are just confusing Daine. This isn’t making any sense to her. “I met him because of you, y’know,” he continues. “But it’s too early for you to meet, so wait patiently, okay?”

He keeps on laughing, which only makes Daine more nervous. None of this made sense to her, and her brother’s words were creeping her out. But he continues to laugh, until a stern voice in the fog brings him back to his senses.

“Golden Hope.”

Isaac’s laughter comes to a screeching halt. Both of the siblings recognize the voice instantly. The figure in the fog comes into view, and a man with a stern expression approaches them.

It’s Orion.

“What are you doing out here?” Orion says with a cold anger. “I would think that the king’s heir would care more about honoring his duty at such an important ceremony.”

Daine stares up at the lycan king, terrified. Isaac gets to his feet, making direct eye contact with Orion. Frightened, Daine quickly stands with him.

“I was spending some quality time with my sister,” Isaac proclaims. He uses one arm to hug her close to his side, glaring up at his father with the same smile he always has. “Your daughter.”

“Daughter…?” Orion looks down at Daine. The sudden eye contact startles her, and she hides behind her brother, trembling. Orion gives a long, exasperated sigh, bringing a single hand up to his temple. “I don’t have time for this,” he groans.

He looks back at Isaac. “It’s unbecoming of an heir to show such disrespect to his duties. You will rejoin us at the ceremony now, and stop wasting your time with that child.” Orion turns around and speaks over his shoulder. “I trust you won’t disappoint me,” he says before disappearing into the fog.

Daine just stares as he goes. It’s been a long time since she’s had such a close interaction with her father, and her heart is beating rapidly.

“...heh…”

Hearing her brother’s laugh startles her. She looks up towards him.

“...heh…heheheHAHAHA!”

She’s never seen Isaac like this before. He's still smiling wide, but he's failing to hide his anger. The expression on his face terrifies Daine, as he continues to laugh.

“WOW!” he screeches through grinding teeth. “WHAT A TERRIBLE KING!”