CHAPTER 1

Pain, more pain, and even more pain. Her life in a sentence. They say tough times don't last, tough people do but Charlotte's life has been a constant battle between who will be the last man standing - Tough times or her tough self.

"Dad, I'm home!" Charlotte's sonorous voice echoed in the modestly furnished living room. She plopped herself on the gray couch exhaustedly, waiting for her dad to come to the living room.

Her eyes scanned around the calm room with soft beige walls, emitting a warm and inviting ambiance.

 The place that used to be her safe abode, which has just become a place of short rest for her. This is the only place she's at peace. She always looks forward to coming home.

Living a grueling lifestyle lower than that of an omega despite being the pack gamma's only child had not been easy.

"How are you, my little moonflower?" her dad muttered as he pulled her into a bear hug, his huge frame enveloping her in a familiar warmth.

"I'm good."

"Good?"

"Yes, I'm good and tired. Hungry too, I'd like to have a medium-rare steak and fresh mixed berry salad and mashed potatoes." Charlotte prattled on excitedly. Now that she's home, she doesn't have to keep her guards up so much.

 "I'll make all that for you, and we'll talk about how you've been over dinner." Bran said

"Okay?"

"Okay."

After a warm shower and a short nap, she was awakened by the sounds of the crickets close to her room. A normal werewolf would be irritated by that sound due to their intensified hearing but she, well, she isn't a normal werewolf. The cause of her unending misery.

She doesn't fit in the werewolf system and hierarchy, hence she has been a topic of controversy since her birth.

Mailed mysteriously to her father's doorstep, if she didn't have some resemblance with her father in some physical features, she'd doubt that she's her father's daughter.

Yawning and stretching lazily, she reached for her flute. Her second-best friend.

Since she didn't blend in so well in her own world, she's found solace and acceptance in the notes of her music.

She wishes to go to the human world someday and live a normal life. 

Bran buys her a lot of books on various subjects to complement her lack of formal knowledge, and the human world happens to pique her interest.

 She's sure she'll definitely blend in. No super strength or super speed or any werewolf quirks.

She always wondered why she didn't possess any werewolf characteristics. According to her dad, her mother isn't human, but he doesn't know what she is either.

The smoky, meaty fragrance with a hint of buttery undertones from the steak hit her nostrils, and she momentarily ditched her thoughts, running to the kitchen and grinning ear to ear like a kid that saw his own birthday cake. Her actions are very much inappropriate for a 21-year-old lady that she is, but she doesn't care.

 Rules don't apply between her and her dad. Her dad is very protective of her; he doesn't nag her, knowing that the world outside his home is very toxic for his little moonflower.

"I was about to call you."

"Thanks, I'm awake now. What's ready?"

"I made it the way you like it," he said fondly, passing a dish with a little mountain of steak to her.

"Thank you, dad."

Charlotte dug in eagerly, closing her eyes as she ate in relish.

"Oh my God, dad. You really should open a restaurant."

Her gamma father, who is in charge of training the warriors, is pretty much a stay-at-home dad since there were no wars like ancient times, another perk of civilization in the eastern country. 

He goes to the alpha mansion regularly and trains the pups, but it's not as intense, so he has a lot of spare time to do other things.

"Sure, and my pretty daughter will be my assistant."

"Yes, dad, just wait till I'm 22. I'll surprise everyone," she said confidently.

But deep down within her, she's not as confident. She has watched her hope shattered year after year.

Since she doesn't have the typical young werewolf appearance when she was little, her immediate community thought she'll become more of a werewolf when she turns at 11; she'll then be accepted with open arms and live a life that suits her status, but it's been another 11 years now. No changes, she just keeps getting outrageously more beautiful.

Modernity and the pack system made her known by the majority of packs in the country; being a huge place equivalent to a third of the USA, she's still well known by almost everyone.

"The hybrid

 Charlotte's father called out quietly.

"Yes, dad."

"I also earnestly hope there's a change this time, but if it doesn't happen, remember that you're awesome just the way you are, and you've got me, always."

"Thank you so much, dad."

"When will you be going back?"

"I bought you some cool stuff, and the Arabian golden flute you've wanted. You can take them along while you're going."

"I might just keep them here. Brittany will probably burn them the instant she sees them. I'll risk it with the flute though."

Unlike other elite werewolf kids that go to the Ivy League college after high school, where they're taught leadership, other languages, cultural arts, history, economics, and protocols amongst other things, she was pushed into the workforce doing random chores in the alpha's mansion along with the omegas.

Her dad did all he could to prevent it; he would have had his way, but other elites pressured the alpha and gaslighted him, giving him reasons not to heed to the gamma's request. Even a level-headed man like alpha Rufus finally gave in to the coercing of the elites. It's just a little matter anyways.

Brittany, the household manager, seems to have an issue with everything Charlotte does. She can barely hide her hatred for her.

After a sumptuous meal and a heart-filling conversation, courtesy of her wonderful dad, she went straight up to bed.

•••

Across the eastern wolf country Lyra, is the formidable northern country of primordial werewolves. Vicious, strong, keen-sighted, and of superior race and of medieval lifestyle.

Nestled amongst massive snow-capped mountains, Fristiais dominated by towering peaks of rugged terrain, with valleys blanketed in thick, pristine snow.

The crystal-clear glacial streams and dense ancient forest evoke a sense of awe and raw beauty.

Rustling pages of a book echoed in a royal medieval-style room void of light, save a glowing red eyes directed at the book.

The reader blends so well in the darkness like he was molded out of it but exuding a bone-chilling aura that is perceptible even in the darkest room is no one else than the mysterious alpha king of the northern continent.

Despite his father being the alpha king of the continent, he was denied his heirloom, so he had to fight for it.

His father was killed by his very own mate, Luna queen Shkie, a power-hungry female who had an erroneous belief that women should also be given the chance to rule, rather than being the support to the alpha and bearing the alpha pups.

Through a prophecy that had been passed down through generations, she was able to convince all other Lunas, the Beta mates, and the gamma female mates to join in her crude movement to exterminate their husbands so they could rule.

These crazed she-werewolves killed their husbands and even their male sons, leaving no chance of ever having a male ruler at any level ever again. It was a very dark time in the northern continent.

Fortunately, Aurelius could not be killed. He was only a pup when all this happened, as they didn't bear children until their old age.

Queen Shkie, despite her deep wickedness, couldn't bear to kill her own child whom she yearned for earnestly through the years, but she was far gone in her madness. She ordered a loyal female warrior to kill Aurelius and show her the dead body.

The female warrior, Rueda, knowing that the female ruling system would definitely favor her, couldn't bear to kill Marcus.

The queen was only interested in power, and this little pup would be their only hope in the near future. She respected the Alpha king and his system of ruling.

Rueda found a replacement for Aurelius and spared his life. She retired shortly after Queen Sheik took complete control of the throne and went on to live in a desolate place in the woods of Frigmoore.

There she trained Aurelius all by herself. He was a lovely child, always brimming with youthful innocence.

On the day he shifted, 14 years later, the warriors told him his story. He had to take revenge for his father and take his rightful position as heir.

He trained against his will for another ten more years. He wanted to go to fight his birth mother immediately after he heard about it, but the warrior was able to stop him every time he tried to escape. He was Fristia's only hope, and she couldn't let his adolescent emotions get in the way.

The ten years were spent learning about the real ruling system, battle tactics, and extraordinary patience.

He was finally able to leave the woods of Frogmore

Life was pretty tough for him at the onset since there was only one person he knew all his life, but he soon blended in. The Fristiahe saw wasn't like how his Mama Rueda sang about it to him at bedtime when he was a young pup. It was now a shadow of itself. Men from distinguished lines were now slaves to their pack.

He was finally able to enter the palace as a guard. When he saw his birth mother, Queen Shkie, his blood boiled. The woman who, despite her plans and ambition, still wasn't a true alpha. Her eyes stayed blue.

She resorted to more crude ways to stay in power since he didn't have the quality to be a leader. 

They say blood smells; Queen Shkie took a liking to her son and treated him better than others.

Aurelius lived always on the edge, thinking that the queen knew that he was her pup until she proposed an offer to him to bed her. 

He was disgusted to the core, but for the sake of the country, he had to play along to win her trust, though he never consented to sleeping with her. But the queen seems to be enjoying the game of chase.

The night that will change the whole course of the country finally came. He was summoned to the queen's inner chamber. The moment he wanted for so long.

He had just a simple plan. Kill her the way he killed his father, and when the cursed silver knife dipped in wolfsbane plunged into the chest of his mother, hell let loose.

He suddenly gained the power of the Alpha king, his eyes brimming like embers from hell and his fangs lengthened as an immeasurable amount of power coursed through him. With just one call of a howl, Fristia marched towards freedom.

Through the male guards all around the country who had previously sworn their loyalty to Marcus, they were able to usurp the female alpha rule.

Over the years, Aurelius has tried to keep the system of the whole country under check.

He appointed alphas all over the country; those who were able to kill the female alphas became the alphas in the country.

Not wanting history to repeat itself, he was against the alphas having mates, but that wasn't possible. If the position of the alpha could be open to anyone as far as they could kill the current alpha, it would be pretty chaotic and disorderly, so the birth system of the hierarchy had to stay.

Aurelius himself stayed celibate, not trying to find his mate. His inner wolf, Kiel, gave him a hard time, but his will and self-control were stronger.