CHAPTER ONE
“You can Come out Melnyk, it is safe to come out now my sweet little boy,” His father called.
With the environment being tame, Melnyk jumped out of his hiding place in the barn. He hid behind the horses. With the coast being clear, he came running to his beloved parents. Melnyk could still see the humans riding away from his village. He turned and ran toward his parents
Melnyk’s mother hugged them and picked him up.
“You know you are safe whenever we are around, so worry not young one” she reaffirmed to Melnyk. Melnyk could see his mother's beautiful cupid face with agony written all over. His mother's slenderness made her drop him for she could not hold her child who was growing up rapidly. "Pheew you are heavy Melnyk," she sighed.
The curious Melnyk had a lot on his mind and couldn’t let it go for he was frustrated as to why he always went into hiding whenever they were visited by another species, especially the humans.
“Why do I have to run every time the humans visit us? why are we afraid of them? ” he mustered the courage to ask his father. His father an average good-looking Werewolf that had his glance fixed on his food, though his face was drooling in disappointment from what had transpired earlier.
One thing was certain, he had to address his son because the curious Melnyk will forever ask questions until he had soothing answers.
Frank, finally raised his head and looked in his right-hand direction, where his son was and said “It's a little bit complicated for a boy your age to understand” and ended with a smile.
Unfortunately, Melnyk was keen on knowing, therefore he continued hammering down on his Father and asked another question “We are werewolves, why don't we use our powers to fight back?” Frank knew the conversation will not come to an end if he does not admonish his Son.
He stood up from his chair and walked toward his Son. His wife continued watching the drama that unfolded before her eyes. Frank rubbed his Son’s head and said “Sometimes it is not only about fighting, someday you will understand, and remember I told you to stop asking these types of questions. Now eat your food, boy” Melnyk seemed satisfied with the answer, even though he wasn't but he knew he was not allowed to bring up questions about his family's history before his Father.
Frank detested being reminded of his past, the memories came along with grief and agony and he was always reminded about his late father's lack of will and his grandfather's failures. Melnyk had many questions that lingered in his mind, but he decided to take a bow and walk away from today’s conversation for there will be numerous opportunities to ask those questions.
Frank was a known warrior; he was a tall man that was blessed with huge muscles and green eyes that fitted his long face. He was the Alpha Lord of Dass; A village bordering the disputed areas around the Murky forest between the human kingdom of Burgundy to the east, and the werewolves to the west, making it a resting place for the humans.
Humans and werewolves inhabited some villages in the area. He had told his son, a long time ago how they ended up here. As a loving father, he revealed to his son the great dispute between his father, the king and his most trusted Alpha Lord alongside his Beta that ended a united kingdom. Due to trust, Frank’s father lost almost everything in his kingdom as a result of internal disputes and old age. Sadly after that, he was exiled to this village at the edge of the kingdom until his death. After his death, what was left of the entire kingdom descended into chaos with every Alpha Lord cutting a piece for himself.
***
"When I grow up, I want to be an Alpha-king," Zafira said to her father who stood close to the rock in their bailey, as he watched his marvellous Daughter train with her wooden sword.
"I always have the feeling Azuul has big plans for you, "He said to her as a proud father--with a pinch of a grin on his face.
After a while, he remembered what had brought him to where his daughter was training and said "Your mother wishes for your presence." Zafira pouted her lips and dropped her wooden sword and walked toward her Father, someone she saw as her hero. Lord Halalnik paid attention to his Daughter’s clothes and told her
"You know you are not supposed to dress like this; besides it's the job of the man to use a sword," as they walked towards the palace.
"But father, a woman should also be able to defend herself; when I become an Alpha-king I will empower women to be able to fight for themselves. Besides, why are you even running the errands for Mother" Lord Halalnik laughed Hysterically and said.
"Oh my God, Zafira, you are just a young girl, what do you know about Empowerment?, and for the errands, I was on my way out, just saw it as nothing to tell my lovely daughter that her mother has called " They both laughed together as he rubbed her black curly hair.
"I have seen the way you treat your subordinates, you pay more attention to the men than women."
"And you want me to treat women better?"He asked.
"Yes Daddy, "Zafira said with a smirk.
"When you grow older I believe you will understand why I pay more attention to the Male subordinates," he said as the father and daughter parted at the palace door.
Zafira’s Mother, a beautiful brunette who looked pale like she was ill, was already waiting impatiently for her daughter in the castle. Zafira's mother began to yell as she fixed her gaze upon her daughter.
"You are a princess, you shouldn't be going out the way you did." She said with all the breath she could summon from her diaphragm.
"But Momma I was in the courtyard," Zafira said as she gestured her hands pointing towards the door.
"Does it matter?" Her mother asked.
"But it is still within the walls of the castle," Zafira tried to argue her innocence.
"Young woman, do not argue with me" Zafira stood there numb, thinking maybe her mother was furious enough to pounce on her, anything she utters may trigger the mother, so she decided to be mute.
With her Daughter’s silence Zafira’s mother kept on ranting as to how her daughter was supposed to grow as a lady, she talked about the decorum and manners a princess is supposed to possess. She expressed how furious she was with the cloth Zafira had worn, and ended her ranting with."Go to your room; take a shower and dress like the princess that you are.
Deep down in her heart. Zafira wanted to tell her Mother she was training to be an Alpha, She wanted to tell her mother how she craved to be the hero and not the wife of a hero, but as usual, she knew she might be scolded or grounded within the walls of the palace and that will be no training for a long period. She decided to keep her mouth shut and walked to her room.
Walking through the corridor, Zafira noticed her favourite Maid Agatha, standing in front of what seemed like the door of her room already waiting for her.
"Why do you always like standing on your mother's Nerve?" she asked as Zafira got closer.
"I don't know, maybe because she hates me," Zafira answered with her head down as she opened the door.
"Why can't you just obey her and be on her good side," she asked
"She does not want to see the world from my perspective."
"But you know your perspective can be somehow ridiculous right,"
"Are you on my side or hers? " Zafira asked as she removed a purple gown from her wardrobe. That were the cloth she planned to wear after she had taken her bath.
"I am always on your side Princess, but then we should take a look at the situation on the ground," her Nanny said.
"I want to be the Alpha king,".
"But you know it is called King for a reason, right? Because it is for men."
"Is there Alpha Queen?" Zafira asked and Agatha laughed hysterically.
"There is someone called a Luna, she is the wife of the Alpha-King, why don't you make your way and be the wife of an Alpha."
"No," Zafira answered feeling irritated; she tied her towels around her waist and continued," I don't want to sit by the side like my Mum, I want to be part of something big, I want to be in control of everything," Zafira answered.
"You are supposed to give the order to control things the way you want, that is what your mother does. If you think about it," She knew Agatha had a point but Zafira’s major problem was that she had no intention of being normal, the small girl with a big heart wanted to be more than her Mum who was known to be a great queen all over the kingdom. She decided to keep quiet and just moved into the bathroom to wash the dirt away.
