Fall of a WereQueen (Book 2)

It's the day before our 15th year celebration. My twin brother, Adrick, and myself, Zivah, are bursting at the seams with excitement. Tomorrow is THE biggest day of our lives. We are to go in front of the head of the Family, Mrs. Davidson and her heir apparent, our Aunt, Cyrca and hopefully be judged worthy to join the ranks of the warrior class within the Family and go on missions with our mother Chana. We've looked forward to this day since we can remember. My brother and I want nothing more than to be like our Aunt Cyrca, Uncle Adams and cousin Edgar who went on missions and travel the world. We could even see our mother get excited at the prospect of going on missions to supervise us at first. We'd heard all their stories growing up and we couldn't wait. We trained really hard and our mother rarely let up on our learning, turning every spare time into an exercise. Our mother had started preparing for the celebration a year ahead of time. She'd sent out invitations to friends and Family across the ocean to make their way over and see her children be judged and to take part in the days events. She had the main Family castle buzzing for days now as the staff readied the castle and the rooms for the event and all the guests attending. There was going to be a morning breakfast and a small competitions among Family members. A way for them to greet and test each other. Mother and Cyrca were going to join in on the festivities and spar with each other. They were the perfect pair to test out their strength. Both were similar in strength and style as well as height and weight which made them a beautiful pair to watch. They both looked very similar as well with their long dark hair and golden skin. You would think they were sisters except our mom had beautiful green eyes and leaner features whereas Aunty C had dark piercing eyes and more curves. There was also the matter of the cats. Our mom was a Caracal, not native to our area but apparently very common across the ocean. She was a medium sized cat with a small tail and ear tufts. Aunty C was a mountain lion which was a larger sized cat with no ear tufts, however both had a reddish coats and great hunting skills. Before lunch there was also going to be a couple more matches going on simultaneously and some group competitions. It was a chance for others in the Davidson Family to stretch their muscles and test their strength for fun in the events of their choosing. After lunch was going to be the main event. Us. Then there will then be some down time followed by an evening of socializing and fun. Everyone was buzzing about their outfits and fussed over who they would dance with meet up with again after years of being apart. For them it was going to be a chance to let loose and possibly mate with the most allegeable Weres. As for us we just focused and worried about our event barely registering our mom sizing us for our outfits or thinking of our hair styles we wanted to have. My brother and I mostly bickered about who would be judged first and how our event would go. Our mom had apparently decided that fate and Master Davidson would decide by drawing sticks. Being held in suspense was driving my brother and I crazy. Apparently our match partner had also already been chosen for us but it was being kept a secret till the day of. I signed, it was useless to worry about it but it was hard not to. "Just focus on today" I kept telling myself and for today we still had to supervise the supplies at the docks. "Z!" Adrick came rushing at me with his wooden sword and I barely parried in time to get just a little hit. "Ady, careful! I have to be in one piece for tomorrow!" "I'm so restless I can't stay still! How can you zone out. I feel like I'm about to jump out of my skin" "I feel like I'm about to be sick more than anything else" "Who do you think you'll fight? I'm hoping I get paired up with a wolf. I can just predict their movements so well. I bet I could pass judgement without a hitch if I get a wolf!" He was literally bouncing all around me in excitement. "I hope I don't get a wolf, it's my worst pairing. I'd like a cat. Maybe one of the panthers. They don't like to taunt as much and their eyes give them away so easily" "Ooooo you got a panther in mind? Maybe a certain Neby (Neberu)?" "O shut it Ady!" I blushed and rolled my eyes at him. It was true I had been making an effort to train with Neby often this last year but it was because he was a really good fighter. He was a WereCat who could shift into a melanistic (black) Jaguar, who associated with the small panther social group. He had been judged when he'd arrived last year and was going on missions already even though he was year younger than me. He was dark and mysterious and I couldn't help but be attracted to his silent and stoic side. He'd come from somewhere in Africa apparently. Chana had helped smuggle him across the ocean to us in a rescue attempt. Apparently where he was from wasn't the best place for a Were like him. He didn't talk much so I didn't know more except that his skills were impressive. I had no idea if he even liked me but he never turned me away from a run or a training session so I kept asking. He was a hunk! As if I didn't have enough butterflies in my stomach that my brother had to add these as well. Well, the best idea I had to get rid of said butterflies was to sweat it out so I took a firm grip on my own wooden sword and swung. "Let's do this!" We chased each other up and down the dock, over barriers, containers and around employees. Many were humans so we kept our jumping ability to an acceptable human level. Being half WereCat we'd inherited many of the grace and strength of our heritage. Hearing and smell was also more heightened then a humans. We were supposed to keep a low profile around the human employees but my brother and I had figured that if we fought openly in front of them it didn't really make much of a difference as long as they believed we fought at a believable human level. If anything it made them fear taking us on and no rebellion had formed in the last couple years. We healed fast and properly so we weren't exactly afraid to give each other full effort from time to time which meant broken bones. I can just imagine the employees thinking that if we would bloody each other up then we wouldn't have issues doing it to them. I didn't mind their train of thought one bit. This also meant that our mother allowed us only the used of wooden sword for fear that we would kill each other. I'm sure the employees thought the same but as long as they did their job and didn't riot or want to kill us we couldn't care less. Something caught my eye. "Ady?" He stopped immediately and waited. His reflexes were sharp and fully under his control. I focused on something an employee was carrying. "Ady, that guy walking a box on the ship. Do we have anything from the Hudson company being shipped?" He turned to look at where I was pointing. "Weird" "Mmmhm" We both scrambled down from the top of a container and jogged lightly to the ship's brow crossing to board it. "Ady, stay here, catch him if he comes out" I was the best tracker between the two of us. He knew I could follow the scent even in the wooden ship with thousands of different smells. I focused until I imprinted the smell. It was the freshest and most recent smell within the door so I hoped it was his. I followed it to the ballast compartment. I must have just missed him. He'd gone down and climbed back up then headed away. Why would someone stop in the ballast?