Stubborn Princess

Starting Over Again

  Weekday morning and Calie was dressed in comfortable jeans, and white button up shirt mover her white camisole, and some white sneakers. She brushed her hair and then went down to the kitchen to make her son some breakfast. But when she got to the kitchen, her niece Zari and nephew Zander was there already plating the breakfast.

“Good morning.”Zari and Zander greeted in unison.

“Good morning. Why are you two cooking breakfast?”Calie asked.

“We heard that it’s your first day in your volunteer work so, we cooked breakfast as our support to you.”Zander chirped.

  Calie smiled.

“Thank you. So where’s my coffee then?”Calie asked.

  Zari and Zander smiled, and then from under the kitchen counter Ivan appeared with a cup of coffee.

“What are you doing there? I thought you are still in your room getting ready.”

“I helped Zari and Zander mama. Surprise!”Ivan exclaimed.

  Calie chuckled.

“Well thank you. Let’s eat that breakfast then.”Calie said, and then the four of them sat on the high chairs and began eating the breakfast they prepared.

  Calie somehow felt nice that she was able to have breakfast with her friends again. Ivan also looked happier that she is slowly out of her depression state. Also Zander would joke around and make everyone laugh.

  After their breakfast, Calie took Ivan to school. And before they went inside the school building, Calie crouched down to her son’s height.

“I’ll be doing a few volunteer works. I’ll be helping Miss Kelly with the children. Are you okay with that? Mama will be around here all day?”Calie asked Ivan.

  The boy smiled and nodded to his mother. Calie smiled and ruffled Ivan’s hair, and then she stood up. She took his hand and went inside the building.

  After Ivan went inside his classroom, she went to find Kelly. When she saw her she just sent the kids she was looking after into their classroom. Calie approached her after the last of the children went inside the classroom.

“Kelly Bourn?”

  When the auburn haired girl turned to Calie, she immediately realized who was in front of her and bowed her head.

“Princess.”

  Calie waved her hand.

“You’re Kelly Bourn right?”Calie asked.

“Yes, your highness.”Kelly said.

  Calie sighed.

“Call me Calie, because from now on we’ll be working together with volunteer work.”Calie told her.

  Kelly looked surprised with what she heard from the white haired princess.

“Come on, let’s have coffee.”Calie said and grabbed Kelly’s wrist and dragged her towards the small coffee shop.

  There Calie ordered them some latte and sat at the farthest corner of the coffee shop. While drinking coffee, Calie would observe Kelly’s behavior. She kept her head low while sipping her own coffee. While watching the she-wolf, she noticed two bands on her ring finger. They don’t look like wedding ring, but promise rings.

“How did you do it?”Calie asked.

  Kelly was startled and looked at Calie.

“Do what?”She asked.

  Calie sighed and leaned back to her chair.

“How did you manage to get through the pain of losing your mate?”Calie asked.

  Pain flashed through Kelly’s eyes and tears visibly brimming around it. Kelly sniffled and looked down on her coffee.

“It was really hard and painful. Losing a mate when I just found him made me want to end my life and die with him. I tried to kill myself honestly.”Kelly paused, wiping her tears.

“But then my baby girl cried so loud as if she was stopping me. That’s when I realized I am not alone. I have my little Juliene with me, she’s a part of Jeff and leaving her alone is like abandoning Jeff too.”Kelly cried, and Calie offered a napkin to her.

  Kelly took the napkin and wiped her tears.

“It’s hard to raise Juliene alone, and she reminds me so much of my mate. But I need to be strong for her. She needs me more than I need someone to be with me.”Kelly added.

  Calie took a sip of her coffee and sighed.

“I was amazed that you were able to pull out of that depression on your own.”Calie said, and Kelly looked at her.

“I heard of what happened, I’m so sorry for your loss princess.”Kelly said.

“I’m sorry for your loss too, but please call me Calie.”She said.

“I heard of what princess Zab did –“

  Calie cut her off by raising her hand.

“I was weak with my own loss. I admire you that you were able to pull yourself out of that abyss, while it took my sister to challenge me and all my siblings to pull me out. I am weak compared to you. I have a son, but I didn’t care that time. Zab had to drill the reality to me for me to snap out of my little bubble.”Calie told her.

  Kelly gave her a warm smile and she squeezed Calie’s hand on the table.

“We’ll get through this; we have our angels to think of.”Kelly said, and Calie smiled back at her.

“You are right. So how does this volunteer work, well work?”Calie asked.

  Kelly leaned back.

“Well usually after taking the kids to school, I would help with other things in the orphanage such as cleaning, cooking and sorting out some stuff. But today I will be shopping for the stuff they need in the orphanage.”Kelly said.

“Well, let’s go then.”Calie said.

  They left the cafe and went inside Calie’s truck. Calie drove away, and while driving she asked Kelly would usually buy the stuff she needs.

“I usually buy them at Houseware Superstore.”Kelly answered.

“Why there? It’s almost in the outskirts, beyond the protective line.”Calie said.

  Kelly gripped the seatbelt across her body.

“That is where I found Jeff, so I like going there and just remember that sweet day. Also it’s cheaper there.”Kelly explained.

“Okay.”Calie said and drove towards the superstore Kelly said.

  They drove a good few minutes before they arrived at the grocery store. When they got there, they grabbed a huge cart and went inside. Kelly pulled out a long list with her and they began navigating the aisles for every item in the list.  

  While grabbing items, Calie noticed that Kelly was only taking smaller packs.

“Why don’t you get the bigger packs?”Calie asked.

“The orphanage is tight with budget since there was an increase in numbers of orphaned kids.”Kelly said.

“The council haven’t increased the orphanage’s budget?”Calie asked.

“Miss Shiela already requested for the budget increase, but it’s still in process.”Kelly explained.

“Put that tiny pack and grab the big one. I’ll be paying.”Calie said.

“B-But –“

“No buts. It’s for the kids anyway.”Calie cut her off.

    Kelly sighed in defeat and then she smiled and did what Calie told her. As they moved from one aisle to another, they began taking larger packs. Calie even grab a few snack and treats for the kids.

  After getting all the things on the list, they went to the cashier to check them out. As promised, Calie paid for all their purchases.  And after paying, they went out the building and began hauling them into Calie’s truck.

  Calie just hauled the last box into her truck when Kelly took the carts back to the entrance. While waiting for Kelly to comeback, Calie pulled her phone and saw a message from Zab.  Her sister said that the council is now open for Elites recruitment, and she needs to screen them.

  Calie sighed and put her phone inside the truck. Then suddenly she caught a whiff of a scent.

“Rogues.”Calie hissed.

  She turned around and followed where the scent was coming from. Her nose took her towards the back of the superstore. There she saw four rogues beating a man after robbing him.

  Calie was about to intervene when Kelly appeared and she went to rescue the man. Calie watches as Kelly fought the rogues that are bigger than her as the man flees. Seeing Kelly fight, Calie was somewhat impressed. The she-wolf knows some fighting moves, and she’s also very fast. Her petite figure gave her the advantage in speed.

  When the rogues shifted and attacked Kelly, she shifted into her auburn colored wolf and dodged their attacks. And then she managed to slide through one of the rogue’s legs, she bit his stomach and kicked him off. The rogue whimpered as it crashes to the dumpster.

  The other three rogues attacked Kelly, but she was able to jump over them and manoeuvred her body on air and then she bit on one rogue’s scruff. Despite its weight she was able to throw him towards the nearby tree.

  But then one rogue sneaked behind Kelly and bit her leg and a sickening crack was heard. Kelly howled in pain, but she was able to bit the rogue’s ear and ripped it off. The rogue growled and attacked Kelly but she managed to avoid his attack despite her broken leg. Kelly limped away from the rogue, but the other one attacked her and had her pinned on the ground. Kelly whimpered, and the rogue was about to bite her when he was thrown on the ground.

  Kelly confused of what happened, looked up and saw Calie walking towards them.

“Are you alright Kelly?”Calie asked.

  Kelly nodded and tried to stand, but Calie stopped her.

“You’ve done well. I’ll take care of this.”Calie said.

  The rogues growled and attacked Calie, but the white haired princess just blinked her eyes and the rogues stopped midway their attacked and began wheezing.

  They heaved as if they are chasing their breaths. Then Calie held her palm up while looking at the rogues. As the rogues dropped on the ground one by one, a ball of air began to form on Calie’s palm.

  In a matter of few seconds, the rogues are all dead as Calie siphoned every air in their bodies. Once Calie can no longer hear their pulse, she walked towards Kelly. She inspects her injured leg, and then she looked at Kelly.

“Can you shift?”She asked and Kelly nodded.

“Then shift.”Calie ordered.

  The auburn wolf shook as its fur slowly disappeared, and bones realigned. Kelly shifted back to her human form, naked. Calie took off her button up shirt leaving her in camisole. She gave her shirt to Kelly to wear.

“Your bones healed but not aligned properly. I have to re-break it and aligned it.”Calie said, and Kelly nodded.         

  Calie then grabbed Kelly’s injured leg and began feeling the bone, and then without any word she snapped it in two.

“Aaaaahh!!!”Kelly screamed in pain.

  Calie worked fast, realigning the bone as the Kelly’s healing process is quite fast for a she-wolf. Kelly panted and beads of sweat formed on her forehead as she began to heal.

“You were pretty badass earlier, taking on four rogues.”Calie said, watching the she-wolf heal.

“When I saw them beating that man, I saw in my mind that it was Jeff when he was killed. Since I never got the chance to save him, I thought I can save that man in place of my mate.”Kelly said.

“Well, you did save him.”Calie said.

  Once the healing was done, Calie helped Kelly stand up.

“You were pretty courageous.”Calie paused, and then she helped Kelly towards a bench.

“You stay here, I’ll be back.”Calie said and went back inside the superstore.

  Calie purchased clothes and she immediately went back to Kelly who was quietly waiting. When she got there, she gave the paper bag.

“You need to change.”She said.

“Thank you.”Kelly said taking the paper bag, and then she went behind the dumpster and wore the clothes. It was just jeans and shirt and some flip-flop.

  Once she was done changing, they went back to Calie’s truck and drove away. While driving, Calie cannot help herself but ask Kelly.

“Where did you learn to fight like that?”

“My parents were once proud warriors of the pack but they died when I was fifteen. They taught me how to fight and protect myself, and I attend trainings once in a while. But since Juliene came and volunteer work, I wasn’t able to go back to training.”Kelly explained.

“You fight well, and you are fast.”Calie said.

“I pride on my wolf’s speed.”Kelly said smiling.

“Your wolf is incredible.”Calie said.

  After they brought the stuff they bought for the orphanage, they went back to the school to pick up the kids. Then they went towards the ice cream parlour as Calie treated the kids with ice cream and milkshakes.

********************************.

  After Calie’s volunteer work, and she brought Ivan home she went towards the council building.  She went straight to her mother’s office. Her unannounced visit surprised Camilla that she stops signing documents that Katya handed to her.

“Calina, what brings you here?”Camilla asked.

“Hello mother, aunt Katya.”Calie greeted.

  Katya smiled and Camilla looked at her daughter.

“How was your first day in your volunteer work?”Camilla asked her.

“It was fine. I came here to expedite the process of the additional budget for the orphanage. They needed that budget.”Calie said.

  Camilla narrowed her eyes on her daughter.

“What else happened?”Camilla asked, and Calie sighed.

“A few rogues tried to cause trouble but Kelly fought them. She’s pretty much a good fighter and her wolf was fast. I want that kind of wolf. That brings me to my next request.”Calie paused and walked closer to her mother’s desk.

“I want Kelly a spot on the next Elites recruitment and training.”Calie added.

  Camilla stared at her daughter looking through her memory of what happened the whole day. When she was done scanning, she turned towards Katya.

“Send a word in the finance department that the budgets for the orphanage is a go, and tell Philip that Calie will taking part on that recruitment process.”Camilla said.