10 years ago
Warning: The following flashback contains content that may not be suitable for all audiences members, especially the younger ones. Reader discretion is recommended.
I was 15 years old the last time I saw my mother's malevolent side, Mother had caught me at the stables again and she had forbidden me from horse riding. She had told me that horse riding wasn't an activity proper for a noble lady, right after she had slapped me across the face.
I went to my room, hoping to escape into one of my favorite books, only when I got there, all of my books had been ripped from the shelves and had the pages ripped from them. I only had a few books because the times where I had been able to slip into the local village's bookstore were incredibly rare, which made every book I had owned a precious treasure.
My mother would never let me have any friends among the village folk or among any of the nobles. In fact, other than with Hildy, my lady's maid, I never had any social interaction with people that weren't from Sicilia. It was a very lonely existence.
There was a knock at the door, a specific knock that told me my mother was on the other side of that door. "Come in."
She looked at the mess and said, "Daughter, don't mourn so about books, they can always be replaced. Besides, it is unattractive to be reading so much. Anyways, you need to come with me."
I got up and followed her into a room that I would remember for the rest of my life. My mother pointed to a table and said,"Rose, sit down on the table."
"Why, Mother?" I asked. I had never seen her like this, there was a gleam in her eyes. A man walked in, he was my mother's sorcerer. Just his presence gave me the creeps, so I did what she told me to do. He went to grab some things and I saw the look on her face.
I realized that the gleam in her eyes, it was madness. My mother had gone mad. She was mad as a box of frogs.
The sorcerer came back with three jars, one had something in it that looked disturbingly like blood. He started chanting and I started to feel sick only something was keeping me from throwing up. There was something inside me that started to fight back against whatever the sorcerer was doing to me. Then there was a smell that was so foul, it caused my stomach to go into even more of an uproar.
Black spots began to dot my vision before I mercifully fell unconscious.
Third Person POV
I was walking through the hallway when I heard my mother talking about me. I immediately stopped and hid behind a corner where I could eavesdrop.
"Arnold, you and I both know that this should have been done years ago. She can't be allowed to continue on like this, at this rate, she will never have an heir." my mother was shouting.
"Margaret, you did say that she met someone last night." Father pointed out.
"Yes, but meeting someone is not getting betrothed to them. I don't care if she met the crown prince himself last night." I smirked at that. Oh, how little do you know Mother. "If she meets her mate, we will lose control of the mutt inside her and we will never get it back."
I always figured my mother didn't like me, but to hear it confirmed was worse than if she had slapped me. I couldn't listen any more so I went back to my room as quietly as possible. When I got there I just closed the door and sat down hard, sobbing.
Hildy came over to me and said, "My lady, what happened?"
"I heard my parents fighting, the only reason they want me to marry is because they want to control me and my wolf. My mother doesn't even love me."
The look on Hildy's face was beyond angry, it was royally pissed. I could have sworn I heard her snarl. "Rose, pardon my language, but that bitch doesn't deserve to have you as a daughter."
There was a knock on the door, an oddy specific knock that I had never heard before. I got up and opened the door to see a werewolf that I had never met before. He was quite handsome and the way that Hildy reacted when she saw him told me everything I needed to know. He was her mate.
I smirked and said "Hildy, you've got good taste." I turned to face the wolf and looked him straight in the eye, "And you, mister, had better be treating her right. You've got a gem of a woman."
He smirked and said, "Yes my Luna, I do. Unfortunately, my mate isn't the reason I am here. My Luna, I have a message for you, from my Alpha."
I looked at him warily and then noticed his clothes, the colors signaled that he worked in the palace, and they were fine clothes. He wasn't just a messenger. He was someone of prominence in the palace, and my wolf knew that he was a beta. "Tell me something, why would The Alpha send his Beta just to deliver a message?"
"Hold on." Hildy said, "Luna? My lady, who is your mate?"
"He said his name was Jared." I told her.
"As in His Royal Highness, Crown Prince Jared, my love."
"Lady Rose, that makes you the queen of all Lunas. Every wolf, she wolf and pup in the kingdom will have to submit to you, except for your mate." Hildy said.
"These thoughts have occurred to me, Hildy." I said with a sigh. I just found out I was a werewolf last night and now they expect me to be their queen.
"My Luna, you should read my king's message to you. If it requires the Beta to personally deliver it then, it must be incredibly important." The Beta said.
I took the letter and began to read it. My eyebrows rose and I read it again just to be sure.
"Shit, by the goddess, I hope he's wrong but if he's right, then we need to leave now."