I dropped my bag immediately. Then she told me her name was Queen Victoria Luna. And she was my mother.
I had a million questions running through my head but the only one that escaped from my throat was a “Why?”
It’s a question Victoria has never answered. That gave me all the information I needed to know. My mother never loved me. Never wanted me. I tossed aside like old clothes. The only reason she returned to get me was to validate her lineage and to secure the place on the Luna throne.
I was a political pawn.
That and I was a political pawn without a wolf.
Victoria’s lack of love was further proved as she asked me questions about my childhood. Irritability at the full moon? No. A longing to run? No. An itchy, scratchy feeling in my bones? What the hell was she on about?
Then she told me I was supposed to be a werewolf. A being who could transform into a wolf on the flip of a dime. With super strength and hearing and all the cool occult abilities I’d read about in books. But I had none of it. I was exceptionally ordinary.
Another reason for Victoria to hate me. But that was when I learned her signature guilty look. The sadness that crept over her and melted itself onto her face.
It was burned into my skull as I left the room where Victoria threw the marriage candidates at me. I blinked a bunch of try and get it out of my head. It had slowly faded when I heard my name called and whipped around to see it again.
“Zora, please,” my mother pleaded. “You are the heir to the Luna throne. You need a mate. I’m trying to help you.”
“Help me?” I scoffed. “If you truly wanted to help me then you wouldn’t have abandoned me. You don’t want to help me. You don’t even want me here.”
“Of course I want you here,” Victoria replied, shoulders sagged. “I love you more than anyone, Zora. You are my first born.”
“If you love me then why did you leave me!” I snapped.
Victoria stood, silently. She ran her hands over her face before dropping them in a shrug.
“I was trying to protect you,” She said “You will learn—”
“I don’t want to learn,” I threw back at her. “Tell me.”
“It’s for your safety that I don’t,” she said.
She opened her mouth to speak again but I cut her off out of spite. “Is this why you haven’t introduced me yet? Have kept me hidden in this corner of the castle for the last six months? I haven’t had a chance to explore the place where I’m supposed to be from. To ‘protect’ me? If you wanted to keep me safe you would have left me alone!”
“Zora, please,” Victoria was beginning to break. “You will learn it all in time. Just know that I love you. I am your mother!”
“You’re my nothing,” I growled. “You are some random woman who is stumbled into my life six months ago and is using me for your own gain.”
Victoria paused. The hurt in her eyes was evident. I wish I cared. She swallowed thickly.
“You’re leaving tomorrow,” she said, quietly. “You will attend Lunaton Alpha Academy. If you graduate, I will tell you everything you want to know. You are free to leave.” She lowered her voice more. “If you wish.”
“I can leave?” I tipped my chin up to meet her gaze. “So, no marriage.”
Victoria grimaced. “If you wish.”
“I do,” I snapped. “And I’ll graduate your stupid Alpha Academy and I expect answers immediately. Otherwise, I’m gone.”
With that, I turned on my heel and left her glaring into my back.
It only took a week to get me enrolled in the “Alpha Academy”, whatever the hell that was. I packed what little I had back into my bags and set off in a car away from the castle. It was the first time I’d seen my country, all fading into a blur of green as I was shipped off to my next prison.
When the car rolled to a stop in front of the admissions building, I was left slack jawed. Alpha Academy looked like any other human college. It had older architecture but everything looked the same as the University I’d grown up next to. The people walking around looked like I did. No fancy clothes, no crowns. It was if I was suddenly human again.
I breathed a sigh of relief. This was easy. I could do this. I’d excelled in high school. Graduated with a four-point-oh. Did I have any friends? No. But, honestly, I didn’t need friends. I needed to fight my way through this school and come out with enough knowledge to knock Victoria off her high horse.
I stepped out of the car as the driver helped me with my bags. No one even gave me a second glance. As far as they knew, I was just another rich girl coming to learn. I wasn’t the disgraced heir of the throne. Suddenly, a weight felt like it had been lifted off my chest. I could do this. I could make it through.
I grabbed my bags and started towards the admissions hall. Just as I reached the stairs, a mass of black fur came into my peripheral. I was knocked onto the ground in a flurry of my things.
The weight that had just been lifted came slamming back into me like a ton of bricks. Then, I started to scream as every bone in my body felt a surge of electricity course through it like blood.
