KATHARINA

I have not seen him yet, but I heard from my colleagues that he is someone you can't get close with.

The palace rarely opens its doors to anyone. Tonight, the new king of werewolves will be crowned after his first-ever shift into his wolf. I cant wait to see it.

My Father strictly forbade me to leave the house and our territory. He locked me in my room alone and threatened to punish me if I disobeyed him.

I do not know why my Father suddenly changed. He wasn't like this to me when Mother was still alive. Now, he's always mad at me without concrete reason and his punishment is beyond what I can imagine.

If only my mother were here, she wouldn't let this happen to me. She will definitely dress me up and guide me all the time.

‘They can't do this to me. I need to see the new king on the first shift.’I said to myself.

I want to be free sometimes and do the things I want to do. I want to experience living this life according to my own will and escape from my father's rope.

I grab my bag and put on some clothes that I need after my shift. I broke my glass window and jumped down from the fourth floor.

I know he will be angry with me and punish me when he finds out what I did, but I don't want to think about it right now.

I ran fast as soon as I shifted to my wolf.

I ignored every single thing that was playing on my mind. If I want to start to have a life of my own, I need to have the strength and will to do it without even thinking about what my father will do to me.

I knew he would tie me again to the tree of sin where he buried my mother's body. That tree reminds me of the saddest event of my life, where everything started to change.

I can feel the exhaustion filling my body as my legs become weak from a long run. The Kingdom is located at the center of all packs.

When I arrived at the celebration venue, I saw how many werewolves attended this event.

In front of the stage is the King, who will be retiring after his son Zeus starts to shift tonight.

I also see my father sitting in the first row with his beta and other Alphas with their betas and Lunas.

I shift back to my human form and put my clothes on.

A female wolf can shift on its eighteenth birthday. The male wolf shifts on his twenty-first birthday. But royal blood is different, they shift when they become twenty-five. They are strong even in human form.

I smile when I see his form as a human. He is really handsome from what I heard from the female warriors in the pack, who were trained in the palace. His presence makes me want to run to him and kiss him so badly, but I remember his reputation. He’s not the type of guy who will just allow anyone near him, even girls.

I shake my head. That thought is for my mate only.

I study him and he is not smiling at all. I wonder why.

Maybe he's just a snob. I said to myself.

"It is time, my son, the moon is at its highest peak. The Moon Goddess blesses us with her presence." The King said.

When the light of the moon hit the golden stage, the new king started to shift. Everyone becomes silent for a moment, it looks like they are holding their breaths.

I can see every inch of his body sweating while the transformation is starting. He didn’t make any sound like he was in pain. His bones started to move until the fur showed and he transformed into his wolf.

This is really breathtaking!!!!

The once handsome man changes into a huge midnight black wolf with a white half-moon mark on his forehead. That’s the birthmark of every king in their wolf form, but the color is not always black. The previous king was a brown wolf.

They are all shouting ‘hail to the new King, Hail to King Zeus.’ And I joined them from there.

I'm still shouting when I see my father looking in my way. Our eyes met and from that moment I knew that I'd be in big trouble when Father came back to the pack.

I shift back into my wolf and run as fast as I can back home.

I know he will punish me, he always will.

I reached the packhouse in no time and locked the door of my room. I know there is no escape from my father’s fury. Even the closed-door can't stop him from hurting me.

As if he heard my thoughts, the door harshly opened and my furious-looking Dad grabbed me by my hair and dragged me outside, into the sinful tree where all my pack members were already there and now witnessing this another embarrassment.

How can they come here so fast? I thought they would still stay for a couple of minutes to congratulate the new king.

"How many times do I have to tell you that you must obey me? How many times, Katharina?" He shouted while dragging me outside and tying me to the tree.

"Dad please, I just want to see him shift. That's all. No one saw me except you." I said while crying.

"I told you, you can't come to his coronation and yet you disobeyed me."

"Dad stops this. This will not help things to get better. Plus, there's nothing wrong with Katharina being there. We all needed to be there as respect for the king." My brother Sam shouted.

"You know what our law is. I am the Alpha and your sister disobeyed me. She needs to be punished."

"Dad, this is too much for her. The last time you punished her was because she talked to our visitors. She’s my sister and there’s nothing wrong with what she did today. We all need to be there."

"Samuel, are you disobeying me too? Why do you always take her side?"

"No Dad, but I want you to realize that she's my sister and your daughter too! I'm taking her side because I see nothing wrong with what she did.

"Sam, it’s okay, it's my fault, so let it be. I'm used to this." I said, looking straight into my father's eyes. His eyes were once full of love and happiness. His eyes, who were once looking at me like I’m his most precious child on earth, are now holding the whip that is specially made for me. It has the stains of my blood from my previous punishment last week when I went out of the pack and picked some roses in the garden and then a man approached and talked to me.

I didn't know that it would make my Father angry.

"This is for your disobedience, Katharina, and I hope this will be the last." And then I feel it. The kind of pain I've been receiving for almost eight years. Every whip in my back gives me the strength to not show any emotions.

I will not cry again because of this stupid punishment. I've had enough of this. I can take every blow to make him feel better.

"I hope this time you will learn your lesson," Dad said.

"Really Dad? Or this time should I realize that I am the one who you blame for my mother's death?" That's the last thing I said before I fainted.

*********

I saw a beautiful butterfly and I followed it deep in the forest. I'm all alone because Mom is preparing our food. I asked her if we could have a picnic near the river and she always granted my wishes.

"Kath?" She said, looking around.

I couldn't hear her because I was too distracted by this beautiful butterfly until I reached the cave where the bear lives. Dad always told me to stay away from this area, yet I'm here.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!" A bear suddenly appeared and attacked me.

"Katharina!" Mom shouted.

"Mommy help me! Help me!" I shouted back.

All of a sudden, my Mom shifted to her beautiful brown wolf and protected me from the bear that was trying to get me.

She knew she couldn't win because she was sick. In just a blink of an eye, the bear's claws hit her chest and blood came rushing.

"Kalisha!!!!!" My Dad shouted and all of a sudden a lot of pack warriors attacked the bear and killed it.

"Kalisha, don't leave me. I need the pack doctor now!" He shouted, but before the pack doctor arrived my Mom passed away.

My dad howled and I could feel his pain. He lost his mate. The half of his soul.

Dad asked me what happened and then I told him the reason. He looked at me and slapped me in the face. That is the day when Dad started to change.

Every time I made a mistake he would tie me in the sinful tree and whip me over and over until I passed out. That tree is where he buried my mother. It is where he would punish me every time he wanted to.