Moonlight Princess

History lesson

"Ah... where do I even begin? Our Queen Anastasia was a beautiful woman. She was strong, but she never abused her power. She was fair and merciful. She knew when to be kind and when to be strict. She was perfection embodied. Some say she was more than a descendant... they say she was the incarnation of the Moon Goddess. She understood her people... she loved the people, and the people loved her. She was mated to the late King Edward, who is said to be from a branch of the royal family, and together, they ruled over this land."

"You speak of her with such fondness, but you said she died 20 years ago. All you know are legends, which may not be true."

"They are true. It's not that she died 20 years ago... it's that she died only 20 years ago. Our parents lived through that peaceful era. They're not legends. These are memories shared by our elders. Werewolves thrived under their reign. They made a peace covenant with the other species. The land which they ruled was peaceful."

"How many species are out there? I've only heard about vampires so far, but you keep using plural..."

"There's also witches, fairies, lycans--"

"Even fairies? Fairies really exist?"

"Not the fairytale ones. They're little blue creatures whose purpose is to nurture nature and take care of the animals. But they're very territorial creatures, and if you harm something on their land, they become bloodsuckers. Like literally... they will do anything to get to your blood and suck you dry."

Hope the kids never learn of this...

"And lycans are creatures similar to werewolves, right?"

"Not exactly... I see you've read a lot of tales, but they're very accurate. All tales seem to depict the species in a certain... light. But the reality is not so nice."

"Yes, well... I doubt humans would enjoy reading their kids about little blue bloodsuckers."

"True... but lycans are even more different. They're not just depicted in a different light but as a different breed altogether. You see, lycans are not natural. Werewolves, like you and I, were born this way. We are natural. Lycans aren't. They're... experiments. They're humans changed by dark witches with the blood of werewolves and vampires. I guess you could call them a mixed subspecies."

"That's truly unexpected. What was the point of that?"

"Assurance, I think? Witches consider themselves equal regardless of age or strength. And the dark witches wanted lackeys that could also protect them. Werewolves and vampires are the strongest species, so they wanted to create someone stronger using the blood of both species. But they failed. The humans became stronger, and they could fight against us, but they could never win."

"Why not? Statistically speaking, as hybrids, they should've been stronger."

"They weren't. They only took some of the features... they grew sharp teeth, and they had claws instead of nails, but there was no wolf form for them to shapeshift into. And they couldn't get the vampire's immortality either. They lived longer than the other species, about 300 years on average, but they still got old and died. They had to bite other humans to shift them, but very few survived the process."

"From what you're saying, humans knew of our existence before. So how come the supernatural became mere folklore?"

"There was a big war between species a long time ago. You will learn about it in the special courses, so I won't go into detail, but humans almost got exterminated back then, and that couldn't happen."

"Why not?"

"As weak and insignificant as they are, humans are a necessary means of survival for most species. Vampires feed on human blood, witches use their blood in rituals, and fairies use their life force to balance the energy in nature--"

"So humans are like... universal food?"

"Mostly, yes. And since we couldn't exterminate humans, we stopped interacting with them instead to avoid further bloodshed. And over time, our existence became a mere myth to them."

"Unbelievable. I never thought I would be so interested in history, but this all sounds so mystical. So what about werewolves? You mentioned that the elders lived in an era of peace, so I can assume that's no longer the case. What happened?"

"No one knows the exact details since they were concealed by the royal family, but father said it was all started by vampires. They broke the peace treaty and attacked werewolves. Our King took the army to subdue the vampires. He won, but he was also injured and died shortly after. Mates are very important to our wolves, and the Queen couldn't bear the loss of her mate, so she died a few months later from heartache. The Queen had two brothers. The second prince began investigating the case, and it was revealed to be a plot by the eldest prince. He was jealous of his sister taking the throne, and he wanted the crown for himself, so he orchestrated the attack on vampires, knowing they would retaliate. The eldest prince was captured and executed, and the second prince ascended the throne. He is the current monarch, King Andrew. But he is nothing like the late Queen. He doesn't care about werewolves or any other species. The accords have fallen completely, so now every species fends for themselves. They no longer care about peace, but the King does nothing about it. He only cares about himself... and the treasury. He established laws harmful to werewolves. He made packs pay for 'security'... The royal guards can do pretty much everything they want, with no consequence whatsoever. You can't even imagine how many fights between species they've started, and even between packs. We come from a prestigious and powerful pack, so we weren't affected that much, but if you were to see some of the smaller packs... they're struggling, to say at least."

"This is unfortunate. Didn't the previous Queen have any children to inherit the throne?"

"No. But I've heard she was pregnant when she died. But even if she had given birth, the child would've still died. And a more horrible death at that. The King is a cruel man. He didn't let anyone who could threaten his position live. He killed all the direct royal descendants."

"If he is so cruel, why aren't the other wolves doing something about it?"

"Because we can't. The King didn't inherit the throne. He took it. So he didn't have the authority of a king, even if he was called one. That's why he purged the direct royal bloodline. David just told you about our hierarchy, remember? Royals are the highest in command. The direct bloodline could've had a chance since King Andrew didn't have a king's authority, but normal wolves can't. Even if we wanted to do something, one simple command from King Andrew would bring us to our knees. As the last pure-blooded royal, he holds the highest authority. Our wolves obey him. We have no choice but to submit."

"That... sucks."

"Yes! You can say that again."

Until a few days ago, I was someone who looked up at the sky, counting the time as the day seemed to pass by at an awfully slow pace.

But I didn't feel the hours pass today. Sophie's stories were so interesting that time seemed to fly by and before I knew it, we were already entering the packhouse.

"We arrived just in time for dinner! Come on, let's eat."

"Hm? Oh, I'm not hungry, you go ahead. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Where do you think you're going? You need to eat."

"I already ate."

She looks at me as if I grew a second head. Sophie placed her hands on her hips while puffing her chest and sighed in annoyance. Is it strange that I find her attitude adorable?

"b***h, you've gotta be kidding me--"

"b***h?"

"Sorry, I swear when I'm irritated. But can you blame me? How can you say you've already eaten? I've been by your side the entire day. Except for class, but you're not allowed to eat in class anyway, so it doesn't matter. You didn't come down for breakfast. You only had like three fries for lunch and didn't even touch the meat or the dessert. You have gotta get something in your stomach before you faint! And how could you not touch the meat? A wolf needs protein! I understand you feel uncomfortable in a house full of strangers, especially with all the stares, but you can't avoid everyone forever. You will literally collapse if you don't eat!"

"Well, we can't have that, can we?" a woman's voice interrupts us

The woman comes up to us, and without any warning or reason, she embraces me. No one has hugged me since that day... the feeling feels foreign.

I was taken aback, and without even realizing it, I growled while gripping her hands to keep the woman at arm's length. I didn't even know I could growl...

Caleb rushes to her side and pushes me away while taking a defensive stance in front of the woman. His action felt threatening. If it weren't for David's interference, I might've attacked him.

"Calm down, Ema! She is my mother. She means no harm."

What was I about to do? I need to learn to keep my temper under control.

This could've ended terribly wrong... for me.

The stunned woman regains her composure and apologizes for startling me.

David takes my hand and guides me to the dining hall. I really wasn't hungry, but I found it hard to refuse him.

Especially after almost attacking his mother...

This place was immense, and there were at least thirty people at the table. All of them stopped eating and began to stare at me. I sat in between Davind and Sophie and tried to ignore the tense atmosphere. It was expected. I am an outsider, and I almost attacked their Luna and Alpha mere seconds ago. I tried to ignore their gazes, but Caleb's eyes still felt threatening.

Damn it. I made a mistake. This isn't good.

"You threatened my Luna. And you were ready to attack me as well. Is this how you steer away from trouble? I don't think I need to tell you what needs to be done next." Caleb is right. I should consider myself lucky he doesn't intend to make a bigger issue out of what happened.

"Father--"

"I'll pack my bags and be gone by morning."