By the time Oriana woke up, she was already tied and gagged. She had no idea where she was, or how she got there.

The only thing she remembered was the silhouette of someone standing over her bed. Before she knew it, an overwhelming sleepiness had washed all over her, making it impossible for her to move, or even make a sound.

The Princess slowly opened her heavy eyes, and looked around in a daze.

She couldn’t recognize any of the surroundings. The place she was in appeared to be an abandoned shack deep within the forest. Inside, there was nothing but a bed with a closet next to it, and a table with two chairs in a small cooking area. Not enough for people to live in, but just about right if one needed to lay low for a while.

Suddenly, someone moved in the shadows.

— I see you’re awake, Your Highness. — A coarse voice spoke to her, revealing a stranger, clad in black.

Seeing the man approaching her, Oriana started struggling in panic, trying to free her hands from the tightly tied knot.

— Your struggle is pointless, Your Highness. You will only hurt yourself this way.

The Princess looked around, frantically trying to find anything that she could use to set herself free.
She had no idea who the man was, nor where she was. She was scared and confused. She wanted to be in the safety of the Palace again.

Somebody, save me, please!

Her eyes started to fill with burning tears.

Valeria…

As if reading her mind, the man laughed, and leaned over her, clearly amused.

— Nobody is coming to save you, Your Highness. Nobody knows where we are. It’s better if you get comfortable. It’s going to be a while before we’ll be able to move again. And don’t even think about trying anything, Your Highness. I was told to deliver you alive. — He leaned closer, and lowered his voice — Nobody said anything about unharmed.

Oriana felt the panic taking over her, triggering her fighting instinct.

She kicked the kidnapper in the knee with all of her strength, causing him to fall.

With her movements constrained by the rope, she struggled to crawl away to the door.

— Where the fuck do you think you’re going?! Didn’t you hear what I just said?! — he grabbed her by the collar of her nightgown, and forced her back into the corner.

Even though she couldn’t see his face, Oriana could tell that the man was fuming with rage.

The Princess curled up in fear.

— If this is how you wanna play, Your Highness, then so be it. — the kidnapper took out a dagger and started walking towards her.

Everything that occurred next, happened in a heartbeat.

The window shattered with a deafening burst, as a large white wolf crashed through it and toppled the man.

— What is this thing?! Aghhh!! — he grunted, his arm nearly crushed by the animal.
Terrified, he tried to reach for his dagger with his other hand.

He searched blindly for the hilt.

Finally, he felt it. Almost out of his reach, he pulled it closer with the tips of his fingers, grasped the handle, and took a powerful swing at the animal.

The wolf dodged back, and bared its teeth at the man.

— I have no idea what the fuck you are, but I will skin you alive you mongrel! — the kidnapper yelled through his teeth, emboldened by the weapon in his hand.

Growling, the beast threw itself at the man, pushing him against the wardrobe, and locking his armed hand in its jaws.

The struggle caused a huge jar of pickles to wobble and fall down, right onto the kidnapper’s head. It crashed loudly, sending ceramic shards and pickles everywhere, and knocking the man out.

The wolf jumped back just in time to avoid being sprayed by the pickle juice, and, staying a safe distance away, it looked at the unconscious kidnapper curiously.

All this time, Oriana sat quietly in the corner of the room, too shocked to move, and watched the entire scene unfold.

At one point, she realized that she was gazing right into the animal’s silver eyes. Resembling two full moons, they bore a surprising sense of familiarity.

To Oriana’s disbelief, the wolf suddenly started changing.

Before she knew it, in its place was instead, a human.

Her long, white hair flowed down her toned body, enveloped with nothing but the bright moonlight falling though the broken window.

— Vamhnmgha?! — the Princess mumbled through the gag over her mouth, unable to believe her eyes.

Valeria knelt in front of her, and gently untied the rope restraining the Princess’ hands, and pulled off the piece of cloth silencing her.

— Are you alr…

— WHY ARE YOU NAKED?! — Oriana yelled the moment she was able to speak again, cutting off her rescuer mid sentence.

The Commander looked at her with a blank expression.

— You have been kidnapped in the middle of the night, taken to a shack in the middle of nowhere, saw me shape-shift from a wolf to a human, and the first thing you do is ask why am I naked?

— YES!

— All is fine then.

Oriana watched in confusion as Valeria stood up and went to the wardrobe.

— What are you doing?!

— I’m looking for clothes, so you can focus on the dire situation we’re in.

Valeria took out a shirt, pants and a pair of shoes from the closet, and hastily put them on, before returning to the Princess, and helping to free her from the rest of the restraints.

They didn’t speak to each other in that moment. Instead, Oriana kept stealing curious glances at Valeria.

Eventually, the questions began weighing on her, and she couldn’t keep quiet anymore.

— What… Who are you?

The Commander sighed. She expected this question to show up sooner or later. Part of her wished it was the latter. She wanted to have at least some form of an answer prepared.

After all, an opportunity to reveal a secret identity wasn’t something that she encountered often.

— I come from Faolán. I’m a werewolf, the last of our kind. My real name is Eira.

DannyTheDaikon

I'm sorry I lied about the cliffhanger... There was nowhere to cut 

Technically done with Act I and going into Act II where all the juicy parts are! :D We'll be back after a short week of break (12-18.02) on Monday 19.02.

Thank you all for reading!