Rejection to the Alpha King's Daughter

CHAPTER 2 The Outcasted Princess

　　"Crystalline you are uselessly slow. Why is it so hard for you to be faster?!" My father growls out in frustration as I cross the finish line once again for the umpteenth time. Leaning against a pillar for support, I try my best to catch my breath and look at the clock on the wall. Shocked to see it reads ten thirty at night I internally groan realizing it has been three hours since father made me run laps.

　　"Father, I am trying my best but its been three hours. I am exhausted and need a break to be able to get faster." I plead, hoping to reason with the mountain of a man before me. All he does is growl, his anger radiating off him and towards me, but I stand my ground as the chain with the moonstone orb sways slightly from my neck. Being the only child and without any sons, Alexander has forced me to train for years on end to be a strong heir to the throne. But this treatment only makes my hatred and resentment to him grow stronger.

　　"Don't you dare talk back to me Crystalline! It is unbefitting of a Princess!" A hand connects to the left side of my face sending me to the ground as the pain radiates across of my face. Holding my hand to my cheek in hopes to stop the stinging, I keep my head down as Alexander begins to rant about my purpose in life is to find a proper mate and produce proper male heirs, heirs he always wanted but the death of my mother prevented that. Even his multitude of pack w****s never produced an heir for him.

　　"You are a disgrace but the only heir I have. Had you not gotten your mother killed, you would have been sold to some Alpha long ago already." He scoffs. I want to yell back, to fight and argue that had he not been f*****g that pack w***e, he would have been in the family room with mother and I watching the movie when the rogues attacked. He would have been on time to protect my mother and stop that rogue from ripping her throat out. Instead the guard showed up just in time to stop the rogue from killing me. I keep my head down, waiting for his rant to end as usual, for his anger to dissipate.

　　"You're an outcast among this pack and no one likes you. If you weren't my daughter, you would have been thrown out long ago." His words sting but I am used to this abuse. I just hope he leaves soon so that I can run and hide away in the forest for a while. One thing is for sure though, because of my father's disdain for me I am the outcasted Princess. With a final look of distain, my father turns away in a huff and walks out, leaving me alone to catch my breath. Rolling onto my back, I stare up at the moon roof in the sky, the full moon shining down on me. Closing my eyes and wrapping my hands around the moonstone orb on the silver chain, I think of my mother, of joining her in the Goddess's realm and ending the misery that is my life. With a sigh, I slowly climb to my feet and leave the training grounds in the direction of the northern peaks limping and using the walls for support until my healing kicks in. I want to be deep in the forest alone in the cold snow. One day this pack will realize that they needed me more than they thought and my father will regret the way he treated me.

　　Stepping out of the training room, the bitter winter wind hits me first, making me shiver but invigorating me to keep walking. The forest is my safety, the snow a reminder to keep fighting to stay alive. Walking deeper, I feel the pain in my body lessen, each step becoming steadier until I no longer need support to keep moving. But my journey is short when I come across the river I like to sit beside, the water surprisingly warm due to the hot springs it flows from.

　　Taking a seat by the waters edge on a patch of green grass unaffected by the cold weather, I quickly remove my shoes and dip my feet into the flowing warm water, relishing in the warmth that travels through me.

　　"Hey Crysta!" A voice calls out. I smile, turning my head in the direction of the call just in time to see my friend Matrix walking out from the tree line and towards me. The guard in training giving me on of his famous easy going smile.

　　"Hey Trix." I call back, watching as the fifteen year old takes a seat beside me and pull out his Swiss Army knife to whittle away at a piece of pine wood.

　　"What brings you out here?"

　　"Nothing really. I seen you exit the training grounds and thought you would like some company." His answer has me smiling as a comfortable silence settles between us with only the sounds of his knife scraping away at the wood. My best friend always knows what I need when I needed something, and right now his silent company is definitely what I need. Watching the changing sky above me, I lean back on my hands and focus on the stars, wondering if I will be one of them one day. And then I see is. Shooting across the sky in a brilliant silver light is a shooting star, the light twinkling and with a trail like fairy dust being left in its wake. Closing my eyes I make a silent wish - wishing my life will change for the better.

　　Opening my eyes just in time to see the star disappear, I smile, turning to Matrix wanting to go back to the palace and get some sleep. That is when pain like hundreds of knives heated to one-thousand degrees stabbing through me wrecks havoc. My mouth opens in a silent scream as I curl into myself, tears streaming down my face with me being unable to form any words.

　　"Crystalline!" Matrix calls out, dropping the wood and knife to cradle my body. His worried gaze searches my one before moving to my body. I watch as his face goes from tense with worry, to soft with relief as he lets out a chuckle. This i***t has the gulls to laugh while I am in pain.

　　"Try to take a deep breath Crysta. The pain is you shifting for the first time." He reassure me, running fingers through my hair as he coaches me into breathing slowly. The pain lessons, but I am still left curled into a ball feeling like death is clawing at me, ready to take me away.

　　"Breath Crysta! You just have to let the shift happen. Fighting it will only kill you." Matrix advises. I whimper wondering what he expects me to do while my insides feel like they are being ripped apart by burning claws. I want to fight this pain, to prevent it from hurting me but his reminder that fighting will kill me causes me to close my eyes and focus on breathing. I feel my bones snapping, my breath catching in my throat as the pain causes me to scream. I feel pin pricks through my skin as something grows out excruciatingly slow. My face elongates, my jaw snapping without warning causing my scream to turn into a gurgling mix between a howl and a whimper. Finally the pain eases its deathlike grip on me and my breath comes easily. My body feels heightened, the scents in the air stronger to the point I can pinpoint a hare ten metres away by the old pine tree I love to climb.

　　"Crystalline!" Matrix gasps forcing me to open my prismatic eyes to stare at him with confusion.

　　"You…you are a white wolf." My tail thumps happily. A white wolf is rare, only reserved for those with royal blood line. It means we are closely related to Alpha Spirit, the first Alpha King.

　　"You don't get it Crystalline. You're a white runt!" Worry and fear is evident in his voice as the seriousness of the situation settles. A runt is the worst thing anyone can be in the pack. It is cause for instant banishment if not death. My father will kill me if he finds out his useless daughter is a runt.