PART A: CHAPTER 1

My eyes stayed on the painting right in front of me. I did not know when last I blinked but I could feel the moisture collecting in my eyes as they got sore from staring at the picture with such intensity.

I thought about what I was thinking but came up short as I did not know where my thoughts were at. It seemed as if everything had been blurred around me, as if I was taking a focused photo. My hands stayed where they lay on my thigh which rested on my other thigh, having crossed my legs.

My sore ears were covered by my headphones with Billie Eilish blasting loud. I felt like I could relate to her music as it was as dark as I was inside, nothing could fill the void that was deep within me and I had learned to embrace it.

The music stopped which meant it was seven on the dot. I took off my headphones, carefully placing them on the bed before grabbing the crown and carefully placing it on my neatly tied hair. I stood up gracefully, my hands flattening my long designer tight skirt, going just beyond my knees as per regulation of being presentable. With so many years of squeezing myself into these tight fabrics from hell, I still could not get used to them. It felt as if I was suffocating, someone just squeezing until I could not breathe.

Werewolves were animals of the wild, we liked being in nature; running and walking around naked, in all our glory but that was not the life for those in the royal court. There, we were more human than wolves, we had to be rational, use our minds instead of relying on our instincts like most werewolves did. I envied being in a pack. I envied those growing up with friends and family ready to lay their life for the next, living in the most authentic way in the wild. They had free will and mates, I mean, the word mate was not even in my vocabulary. I closed my eyes, willing all my feelings in; a princess never shows emotion for they are a weakness.    

I made sure my white shirt which was buttoned to the neck was tucked in properly because being neat was something that was drilled in me from the moment I said "mama" or was it "maid" I could not be sure.

"Your highness." My assistant Maggie bowed; my eyes flickered to her standing just next to the door where she always stood as I drowned myself in some Billie. She wore what she always does; a blue skirt, below the knee of course, a pair of pantyhose with her black granny shoes even though she had barely hit thirty. I envied her really, she seemed to do the work without even a hint of emotion, she followed the rules to the T with no complain or whatsoever. I did not know if it was loyalty or stupidity but I would lean more on the alter. It was sad that if I told her right then to jump off the balcony, she would do just that without hesitation.

"Good day." She proceeded as she stood straight and  I nodded towards her to carry on.

"You have been summoned to the throne room and everything after that has been canceled," She said having me to turn to her.

"When did this happen?" I asked perplexed.

"Yester night your highness, the king's messenger informed me yester night." She spoke.

I nodded as I walked out of the room only to be followed by my three personal guards. I shook my head, the word 'summoned' nearly having me scoff. Was it weird that I had not seen the king in two years? No, it was not.  To King Bad-wolf Furthrone, his sons were a means to carry on his line and for us we were just there for him to make more and more alliances, opening our legs and bearing kids to ensure those alliances. He may have seeded us, but that was that and nothing else. Last time I heard he was in Rockfield holding the front line on the war against the Vampires. It seemed to have gone on from generation to generation, well, mostly on our side because the same man my great-grand father was fighting was still the same man my father was fighting— King Vampir.

The elevator doors closed.

"Morning guards,” I turned to look at them as they said their greetings back.

"Alex, how is Stephie?" I asked, having been notified that his mate had come back with her life in the balance from Rockfield.

"She is still not responding your highness." He replied back, trying to hide away the emotions but I could see how torn up he was about his mate. His head would be rolling on the floor at this moment if anyone in the court had seen him show such emotions. I swallowed the lump in my throat, not knowing the pain he was in, but not wishing it on anyone.

"Come to get your two weeks pass from Maggie when your shift is up. You should be by your mate's side." I said as I looked back ahead with the doors sliding open.

"Thank you, my princess." He replied not being able to hold back his excitement. I nod my head in acknowledgement as we turned and went down the flight of stairs that led us to the throne room.

That part of the court was busy. There were lords and ladies hoping to get some time with the king, there was the help, serving people with refreshments and the guards standing by to make sure everything was in place.

"Your majesty," The men bowed their heads while the ladies bent their knees so low that you would think they would drop to the floor. I nodded my head in acknowledgement, knowing that they would not be able to rise, to stand straight, until I was out of sight so I did just that, making my way to the golden door.  Loads and loads of people gathered outside with no room to even breathe yet they had to find a way to squeeze even tighter because as per the rules, no one was supposed to be as close as a meter towards me.

"The Werewolf Princess Anastasia Nikita Furthrone, Defender of the Northern lands, Commander of the Lethal swords, Lady of Rockland." The man standing at the door, holding a list which contained names of those the king and queen would see this morning while the rest would stand there all day, waiting for their names to be called only to realize as the sun set that they were never on the list, meaning the king does not even want to hear them breathe next to him.

That was royal court for you.

The king himself was a piece of shit, sorry to say, and I didn't even want to get on the queen, that woman scared the shit out of me. I guess it was the fact that she does not talk, it's not like she is mute or anything but she never utters a word out of her mouth and when she does you would not live past the next second. Besides the fierce leaders, the court was filled with snakes that would bite you in the ass. No one was trusted with everyone having an agenda, skimming and lying to crawl up the ladder— snakes everywhere.

As far as I could remember, that was the sixth time I had walked into the throne room and that was a quarter of the times I had seen my parents in all my twenty-one years. I mean, to them I was just another subject, only summoned when something very important was needed of me, beside that, I think they even forget I exist.

I sighed, taking a deep breath and making my way in the large room that I could never get used to.

The throne room was the most expensive room in the whole castle. It was where balls were held. Where meetings were held and where the two leaders of the werewolf species in the realm met their subjects. It was to show the wealth and power to all those that came in, to show that they indeed were mighty. I had never wanted to roll my eyes and scoff as that moment but it was not the place so I held in my breath and willed my anger down, feeling it roll over me.

Head held high, no emotion or whatsoever, I walked further in the room where golden chairs were placed in front of the podium. The golden throne held both royals, so beautiful you would think they were statues. Their beauty was blinding, a way to will you in only for them to snap your neck without even blinking. The power in that room had me down on my knees, my head bent just as everyone in the room.

You could not stand in front of the ruthless leaders, I mean, who was I to stand on my two feet in front of the King and Queen? I literally crawled all the way to the front, passing all the people knelt on each side of the room, fully submitting to their royals. I hated that, my face was burning red with anger, hands balled to fists, hating how the king and queen used their power to make everyone kneel before them. It was crazy, it was tyranny, but who would dare point that out? Who would dare utter the word against his or her ruler? Werewolves liked hierarchy, they loved the fact that they blindly followed a certain person, signing their loyalty to follow till death.

When I could see the steps with my down cast eyes, I stopped moving, the cold and pain from the cold floor going unnoticed by me.

"My king," my body bent down even lower, my forehead touching the ground only to turn to the left and repeat the process.

"My queen," I heard my voice again, wondering how I was able to sound so firm and strong when all I wanted to do was scream and shout my lungs out.

"Tomorrow you are leaving to the Sacred Vampire kingdom and by the end of the following day you shall be bonded to king Vampir."