Misha the Beast Tamer.

It was the day before meeting the Conri's. I was halfway through my return journey to the academy. I was excited to see Ronin, Emrick and Rose again. The meeting would be taking place at a small tavern in the middle of nowhere in the late evening. It wasn't even on one of the busy roads that led between towns and cities.

I was to meet them at the Tavern which was around a thirty minute walk from where I was staying under the direct supervision of Stefan and the royal guards.

I needed to be creative in my escape. It turned out to be a lot easier than I had imagined. I was free and meeting my paternal Grandmother, great -grandmother, aunt and two other members of my extended family.

I arrived to find Ronin standing at the entrance to the Tavern.

"About time you turned up Princess. I was going to start looking for you."

"Where's Emrick?" I questioned him

"Inside. What, you're not even going to say hello, Princess?" Ronin asked, slightly offended by my snobbery.

"I'm sorry Ronin, I'm so nervous I can barely keep my mind on track." I apologised with my heart in my throat.

Ronin reached over and pulled me into his chest.

"You shouldn't worry Princess. You have one super powerful vampire and another two strong vampires supporting you. There's only five of them. Combined we out-match their power by a whole lot Princess."

I accepted Ronin's embrace.

We parted ways, I straightened my back and entered the Tavern. The Tavern was dark and dusty. Only a few candles threw their yellow glow around the room. When I looked around I realised that this Tavern had been abandoned a long time ago. No wonder, I thought. It was not on a main road and was hidden from the numerous travellers that used it, there was only one single faded sign, hidden behind an overgrown bush, with an arrow directing them where to go. I took in a deep breath and refocused my attention to the single table, where a group of shadowy figures sat motionless. It was eerie and slightly frightening. My footsteps echoed around the room, they were deafening compared to the silent gathering of shadowy figures.

As I approached the table the figures stood in unison. The lump in my throat made it hard to speak, I was relieved when a female voice echoed around the room.

"You must be Princess Misha, I'm Juni your Great Grandmother." She motioned to another female figure standing beside her to her right,

"This is Elsie, your Grandmother and to my left is Taghreed your aunt." Obviously you know Emrick and Rose

I extended my hand in greeting, none of my family reached for it. Juni sat back down and impatiently motioned for me to do the same. I awkwardly obeyed. Juni spoke in a professional and

"Misha, let's get to the point of this meeting shall we. The faster we start the earlier we leave. You smell of of my grandson Tristan, and you do seem to share some of his physical features. From what we have seen we now know that what Rose has said is true.

Tristan was the last pure male heir to carry on our bloodline. I'm sickened he choose to mate with a human female and now our once pure bloodline is polluted by human blood and you're the fruit of their union.

There is no denying that you Princess do have wolf in you. I can sense it and smell it. Alas, At the moment you are nothing more than a weak and helpless human. I feel embarrassed that you are the offspring of a Conri.

Nonetheless, I sense the werewolf power inside you is growing and if my predictions are correct, your wolf side will show itself in a little over a year. You'll be sixteen and you will know your primal power and it's affect on those around you.

In saying that, we will meet again when you've turned sixteen. I will know if your wolf side is worthy to be called a Conri. I will also have a year to decide what to do with you if you dont meet expectations. Farewell, Princess."

I sat gobsmacked at what had just happened. I wasn't expecting a warm meeting, but this was a lot cooler than I imagined it would be. Emrick waited until they left and pulled me into an embrace.

"That was harsh, but at least they know you exist now and you also know when your wolf side will wake. You have a year Princess, learn all you can and learn how to fight. These skills matched with your wolf power waking up, it should impress them enough to not kill you, at least. But they certainly don't like you at the moment." He said.

"Thanks, for your reassuring comments Sir Emrick. They've been very helpful." I replied, sarcastically.

I farewelled Rose and gave Ronin and Emrick a last tight hug. I sighed, it was certainly a lot to take in. All I took from this meeting was that my paternal family hated me because my wolf side hadnt developed and they were disgusted with my existence. I also learnt that I had a year for my wolf side to develop and that I also needed to be really good at using weapons and improve my strength to impress them enough to not want to kill me. Reassuring, I whispered to myself as I made my way back to Stefan and the royal guards who had accompanied me on my journey back to the academy. I hoped they weren't aware that I had left.

I arrived back and as expected they hadn't noticed my absence. I went to bed, another week of travelling and I'll be at the academy and starting my second year.