Chapter 2

"What do you want?" One of the palace workers came to me and asked, startled by the question. I paused for a minute before giving an answer.

"I'm here because of the announcement," I reply, and she scoffs.

"What announcement?" She looked at me from my head to my feet with a disdainful look.

I don't actually blame her; I shouldn't have come in here in the first place; it's ridiculous of me.

I look like a malnourished servant—basically, I am a servant in my father's house; this contest is not for she-wolves like me. I shouldn't be here.

"For the king's breeder," I say, and she bursts out in laughter, and the other workers soon join her. I'm honestly used to this; everyone in the pack knows I haven't shifted. 

They know that I am wolfless—a less wolf—so they give me this attitude all the time.

After some minutes, the palace worker composed herself and faced me again.

"I'm sorry, but this contest is not for the likes of you. We don't need wolfless beings; we need real she-wolves here, not you." She mocked.

She is obviously having fun; she is enjoying this.

"But the announcement said that all she-wolves over the age of 17 could contest; there are no restrictions," I tried to remind her calmly.

"Of course, there are no restrictions, but the contest is for SHE-WOLVES, not your type, but I have a suggestion for you. If you can show us your wolf right this moment, we can allow you to compete with the other she-wolves," she softly smiled. A very wicked smile.

I exhaled out loudly and took a step back at her suggestion.

I guess I need to leave then. I came here without thinking things through anyway; I only came here because I hoped to get chosen so that my father would acknowledge me. I can think of another way to get acknowledged by my father then.

"I'll take my leave," I announced and immediately turned to leave.

"Yeah, better; this is not a place for your likes," the palace worker chuckled, and the others around laughed with her. Even the male workers seem to find the situation amusing.

I know what must be going on in their heads; they must be wondering what gave me the audacity to come in here.

"What is going on?!" As I reached the palace gates and made to leave, I heard a voice question.

At the sound of the voice, the laughter instantly died down, and everywhere became calm, which meant that the owner of the voice was a person of enormous authority.

"My Lord," I heard the workers chorus, and out of curiosity, I turned to see who it was.

"I asked a question. Why are you all distracted from your duties?" The question came again.

I slowly looked up to see a very tall, good-looking male wolf with pretty broad shoulders standing at least 6'2ft tall.

The king's beta.

He is the king's beta; the realization brought chills to my body. The second to the king, he is one of the most good-looking male wolves in the world. He is known for his strict nature and his intolerance for laziness.

"My Lord, I have resolved the situation already and..." The palace worker tried to explain but flinched at the sharpness of the Beta's tone.

"I asked you a question." He took a step closer and then another until he was close enough to her. Seeing this, the worker fell to her knees and placed her forehead on the ground.

"She came to contest, but I sent her away because she is wolf-less," the palace worker quickly narrated.

The other workers have their faces facing the ground in fear of the beta; I guess he is that scary, but too bad I don't feel scared of him at all. I can feel his powerful aura, though, but it doesn't have much effect on me.

"And who gave you the authority to decide that?" The king's beta barked.

"I am sorry, but she is wolfless; her type can't birth the king's chi..."

"Take her away," Before she could complete her words, the Beta ordered the guards, and they immediately obeyed his orders.

"A month's punishment," the beta said to the guards as they took her away.

Wow, he's so powerful. I wish I could have that much power too, but I am weak and wolfless and also stupid.

After the guards had disappeared with the palace worker, I turned to continue my journey but paused once the beta's command came.

"Come here," the words came.

Huh? I turned back to see him staring in my direction.

"Me?" I asked, looking around to make sure there was no one standing behind me. 

The king's beta ignored my question and instead walked away; he entered the palace through the main entrance. Once he was in, a different guard approached me.

"This way," the guard urged me, and I followed without a choice. I can't turn away now; I came in here by myself. I must finish what I started.

I silently followed the guard as he led me into the magnificent-looking palace. This is my second visit to the palace, and I must say that a lot of things have changed since my last visit.

The first time I came here, I did so with my father. My mother had just passed on, and my father was doing everything in his power to cheer me up at that time. He brought me to the palace, and the feeling of being in the palace definitely did the trick. Well, all these happened before he got a second mate.

The palace looks more modernized, but I don't want to embarrass myself by staring at the expensive flooring and the unique paintings on the wall.

"This way," I heard and looked up to see a flight of stairs that led down to something that looked like a basement.

"The Beta is down there; I think he wants to see you, so I'll leave you here," the guard informed before walking away.

I looked at the flight of stairs carefully before starting my journey on them.

I hate stairs; I'm scared of walking on them, and I fear I may trip while walking and roll down, thereby embarrassing myself. Embarrassing myself is not something I want to do in the palace.

I came here to become the king's breeder; I don't want his first impression of me to be that bad. It will definitely be bad, but I don't want him to see me as a stupid wolf.

After carefully going down the stairs, I stopped to catch my breath before looking around to search for him.

This is some kind of underground basement.

"Come here," the king's Beta voice boomed through the entire space, letting me know where he was. He is standing in front of a table, holding a glass of wine. At that table, several bottles of red liquor sat, some half drunk and some still filled up.

"Yes, sir," I reply once I am close enough.

Without knowing that I was behind him, he turned at full speed and unknowingly hit me with the back of his arm; I collapsed on the floor at once due to the impact.

Why is he this strong? I feel like I have been hit by a moving truck. 

"What the fuck?!" He muttered curses under his breath and quickly bent down to assist me in standing up.

I noticed liquid coming out of my nose and took my hand to my nose to inspect it, but I ended up seeing blood all over my hand.

Horrified, I pulled my clothes up and struggled to stop the bleeding with them. My nose is bleeding. I can't bleed; no, I shouldn't bleed.

I shouldn't be bleeding—not here, not now, I thought as I desperately forced my clothes into my nose to stop the bleeding, staining my dress in the process.

I don't even want to remember the last time I bled; I don't bleed. For me, it's taboo to bleed because it causes so many misfortunes, and I really don't want to be unfortunate today.

I take extra care when handling sharp objects, so I don't hurt myself because, according to my stepmother, bleeding is taboo for me. My stepmother has warned me repeatedly; she warned me with so many slaps the last time I bled, and since then I never dared hurt myself again, no! No matter how clumsy and stupid I am.

I can't believe I'm actually bleeding right now. For one thing, I'm glad that I'm not at my father's house. This is the palace, and perhaps the palace will help protect me from any misfortunes.

When I noticed that my nose wasn't bleeding much again, I returned my attention to the Beta to see him watching me.

He looks horrified, but why? Why is he staring at me that way? 

He grabbed the roll of tissue I hadn't noticed from the table and gave it to me.

"Wipe that," he looked at me with a bit of disgust, but I surprised him by smiling sheepishly.

I kept smiling as I rolled out some tissue and cleaned my nose with it. He doesn't know why I am smiling, but I am gladdened by his kind action. It's been years since anyone showed concern for me.

He defended me at the gates and also gave me a tissue to wipe my nose; he is the first wolf to ever show me kindness in many years.

"Thank you," I tried returning the roll of tissue, but he waved his hand.

"Take it with you," he said and started walking to a door.

"Come with me," he said again, and I ran after him at once.

"This is the ballroom; it's where interested persons line up to contest for the position of the king's breeder." He explained, and I nodded in response. Nodding is my way of communicating most of the time.

"Join the other girls," he pointed. 

Looking into the ballroom, I see different she-wolves dressed in expensive gowns lined up in a single line; they all look like royalty in their dress.

"Hey there, are you for us?" The she-wolf, who appeared to be in charge, asked a question, causing everyone to stop and stare in my direction.

"Yes, ma'am," I answer.

"Then join the line," she said, pointing to the long line.

"Okay," I answered and walked to the end of the line. 

I can see the girls staring at me as I made my way to the back of the line, some appeared confused, while some simply mocked me with their gazes. They must be wondering how I got in here.

When I reached the back of the line, I stood behind the last person.

"Don't get too close to me; I don't want to smell like you," the last girl grumbled, and those who heard her busted out and started laughing.

I didn't try to argue; I did what she wanted and took a step back. I don't blame her; I think I smell from all that sweating. I haven't taken my bath today either; I have been going from one chore to another since I woke up; it's my routine anyway. My stepmother has complained that I waste too much water when bathing, so they only allow me to have a bath once a day at home.

Ridiculous, It's very ridiculous because her daughter uses more water than I do in the bathroom, but who am I to defile her? I will get beaten up if I don't do as she says.

Small talk filled the ballroom as the girls kept getting tested one after the other, but all activities came to a sudden stop when the king's mother suddenly rushed into the ballroom.

"Who is she? Who is the lady that came in last?" She shouted like someone who had lost her mind. I can tell that she's the king's mother due to her dress. She is dressed almost like a queen; I mean, she has always been a queen. She was the queen when her husband, the late king, ruled.

"Where is she?!" The queen shouted, and almost everyone turned to look at me.

"Is she in trouble?" A voice whispered.

"Maybe the king perceived the offensive odor coming from her," the girl before me grumbled.

Once she had identified me, the queen started coming to me but abruptly stopped in her tracks once someone else entered the ballroom.

Someone else. A person with even greater power. The person with the deadliest aura. The aura is so dangerous, it seeps into your body and weakens your bones.

When I craned my neck to see who it was, I realized it was the king. It was the king himself!

Everywhere became dead silent as the king searched the entire room with his eyes.

"Where is she?" His question came, and those words were the last thing I heard before collapsing to the floor. I can't help it; my legs can no longer carry me; he is suppressing everything in me. His aura is weakening even my supernatural being.

I can no longer bear it.

As darkness struggled to swallow me whole, I lazily watched in shock as the king and the king's mother rushed towards me. What is happening? Why is he carrying me? Where is he taking me to? What is going on?