Kiara looked at her reflection in the mirror, scanning the pink dress as intensely as her eyes could allow. Her face had worn a slight frown—the type only she noticed. It was a little protest every now and then. The thoughts she didn't dare voice but let's get real, we all get tired of being ridiculed at some point.

"The dress is beautiful," her aunt said to the modiste with a bright smile.

"It's a bit ill-fitting," Kiara muttered,her voice respectably low.

Aunt Lydia sighed hopelessly before she spoke,running her finger down the lace on her back.

"Jacques is a busy tailor. Try to at least appear grateful."

Kiara pulled her face into a fake smile as her aunts fingers patted her back,a gentle sigh to shut up.

She took in a deep breath but it didn't make it down to her lungs. The corset made sure of it.

"Apenas puedo respirar'' (I can barely breathe),"she complained in Spanish, a futile effort to show that her disagreement wasn't an act of rebellion.

"Kiara, just thank the tailor; we don't have all day." Aunt Lydia shot back at her.

Jacques eyed Kiara's face to catch her expression. He must have been hoping for an intriguing sight so he had his own story to tell about the time he meant the legendary Kiara Whitman.

There were rumors out there...he wanted to know for sure what the hybrid was like.

"Thank you, Jacques," Kiara replied politely but the note of solid sarcasm lingered in each syllable.

That might be considered rude, but it wasn't enough for a good story.

He decided to taunt her a bit.

"I think the only reason the dress doesn't fit is because you have gotten...fat."

Kiara's hazel eyes shoots at him in god-like speed, her eye brows arching into a deeper frown. Her lips parted to say something she would regret.

Then, all of the sudden ,she stepped off the pedestal and headed to the dressing room chanting a "Not today Satan" mantra, loud enough for both of them to hear.

Kiara yanked the crown of her head and tried to take another deep breath but the damn corset was still ensuring she gets no such pleasure.

Carlotta gave Kiara a sad look before she started helping her loosen the strings of the dress.

"What did they do to you?"

"Aunt Lydia prefers that I die in a beautiful tight dress Jacques made than look comfortable and good in something I choose." She replies through gritted teeth." And Jacques said the reason I can't fit is because I'm fat. In the normal world his actual response should have been.. 'I'm sorry Princess, I should have paid attention to your measurements.'

Carlotta fingers pulled dutifully pulled the lace our of entanglement.

"You know he's just trying to get on your nerves, right?"

"Its working."Kiara gritted.

Carlotta paused to look at Kiara's face through the mirror.

"Don't give him a show."

That was Carlotta's way of reminding Kiara to be a respectful Princess.Not that the respect will ever be reciprocated but the fault shouldn't be from her side--ever.

"Jaque has a good reputation.We cant afford to upset him,right?"

Kiara's eyes narrowed at her lady-in-waiting, and Carlotta bit into her lip to suppress her laughter.She was literally mimicking Aunt Lydia at this point.

"Whose side are you on?"

Carlotta chuckled in the mature and ladylike way that she does as her finger pulled the last lace out of place.

With that gone,the privilege of breathing returned to Kiara's needy lungs,she sighed blissfully and sat in front of the mirror to let Carlotta restyle her hair. The hair got messy just because they tried to remove Aunt Lydia's interpretation of a well fitted dress over her head.

As Carlotta worked on putting the French curls back in place,the mind of the young princess began to daydream into the dark alley of wrong possibilities.

Heres the context :For the first time since...her existence,if we are being honest, she was invited to 'The Grand Courtier's Ball.

You might now know it now but it's an important event and you had to be a pure bred elite to get an invitation

The usual attendees were the filthy rich royals, the councilmen, the generals, their sons and daughters..basically everyone with a name,a title and money to spare on lavish events.

All except her, and never in history has someone decided to willingly disgrace themselves by going there uninvited...Except for her, of course. It had happened five years ago, and she had assumed the reason she hadn't gotten her invitation was because there was a mistake, not because she was a hybrid.

She was a filthy rich royal, a Whitman for that matter—one of the highest orders of the Werewolf Royalty—and was at the right age too.

Long story short, she was denied entry and labeled a desperate outsider who wanted to force her way into nobility.

"This is going to be me at eighteen all over again." She mumbled the last word under her breath.

"That was five years ago;"Carlotta said yanking her hair as a method of pulling her to reality."Times change; you changed. Stop dwelling in the past."Carlotta said in her usual monotone as shs ran the comb violenty through her hair."Although, for the sake of pride and dignity, I will advise you to stay home this year."

"That's even more pathetic," Kiara said, letting out a sad laugh.

But Carlotta wasn't all wrong. This time she was invited, but she had this unnerving feeling that it was going to be a deja vu scenario and something worse would happen.And to make it worse, the humiliation may come to her in a vibrant pink dress that is so tight that it could rearrange her internal organs. That would make a good addition to the gossip article for sure.

Her aunt happily encourages her to go because she might find a suitor.After so many mating seasons it was clear as day that Kiara Whitman did not have a mate.

That's another thing to add to her countless flaws because obviously it's her fault the Moon Goddess forgot to grant her a mate.

The clock was ticking. If her answer isn't given by the next sunrise, her invitation will be canceled.There was no right answer in this situation.

"I will consider all possibilities first;"she said finally."I can't be too hasty with it."

Carlotta perched the diamond tiara over the finished hair and stood back to admire her work.

Her face beamed with satisfaction and returned to the topic of discussion.

"Let's look at this rationally.Why now?"

"Why not now?"Kiara replied,shrugging. "I'm a Princess,I'm of age,it's tradition."

"You were all those things last year.You didn't get an invitation then,did you?"

That was a good question.

Good,logical questions were hard to answer.Carlotta was not the type to dwell in delusion.She faced every thing the boring way--logically.

A loud knock hit the door before Kiara could speak.It was the three-one knock.Code for an emergency.

They exchanged silent glances before heading to the door, only to be startled by Shadrach, the ex-royal wizard.

Kiara was about to soak into formalities Shadrach cut in with an air of duty.

"Princess Kiara,The King wants to see you,"he said breathlessly.

His presence caused an unpleasant stir. He was supposed to be one of the King's escorts in a 24-hour sermon done before the Grand Courtier's Ball.

Another annual event to ensure that the Kingdoms were at complete peace and there would be no bloodshed at such a fabulous event. The twenty-four hours was supposed to be ongoing right now. If Shadrach was here,it meant her father was here.

That was not normal.

Kiara rushed to her father's quarters and immediately furrowed her eyebrows when she saw how calm her father looked as he drank his whiskey.

"Bella," he called, extending his arms.

"Why aren't you at the conference?" she asked, walking to give him his hug anyway.

"I was there," he said, breaking the hug. "Did you miss me?'

"Why aren't you there now?"She asked, still perplexed.

"Kiara, one might think you are not happy to see me home."

"I am always happy to have you here,its just weird that you are here.i thought the meeting ends tonight."

Denzel Whitman became stern quickly.

"Fine,There's trouble.Your friend..Reya?"

"Yes?"

"She killed Lilith and then killed herself."

Kiara blinked rapidly as her knees grew weak.

"Lilith and Reya went swimming on the night of the full moon,"he explained further "there was some rampage or something but General Xhao was pretty angry about it."

"That cant be true."Kiara choked as the emotions plagued her chest. Reya was her business partner turned friend.

She had opened an institution for rejected hybrids and convinced her to be a partner.

Lilith was the rebel daughter of a great vampire general who donated a portion of her inherited lands to the Hybrid's Foundation. They were all good friends; the whole story made no sense.

"Her siren side took over and she had no self-control; it was an accident, but Lilith's father has concluded that such is the behavior of all hybrids and therefore shouldn't be nurtured. He plans to take back the land his daughter donated and get rid of the children." Denzel sighed sadly.

"And you spoke against it, and so they asked you to leave."Kiara assumed...wrongly.

"Not exactly" The Alpha walked majestically to his office desk and sat, leaving Kiara watching him with perplexity . He heightened the suspense even further as he poured himself a drink and drowned it in one gulp.

Kiara walked over to the desk "Why did you leave then?"

He gave a pained chuckle before he spoke.

"They wanted me to give up Mount Isabel if I wanted to save the Hybrid Foundation."

"And you refused?" Kaira asked, her voice getting high-pitched.

"Don't make it sound like that, Isabel-" He choked before he resumed in a more solemn tone."Your mother was beheaded on that mountain for our love."

"And hundreds of children are going to be beheaded if you don't give up the damn mountain; it was vampire territory in the first place." Kiara screamed.

"Those children are--"

"Dangerous?" Kiara asked.

"Maybe, I don't even know them." Denzel shrugged poured himself another glass and braced himself for his daughter's comeback.

"Wow," Kiara gasped and paced around the room. "All those children, all those hybrids—those children are me, dad. Me, but without a king to protect me. Do you think this is what my mother would have wanted? Mass murder of children like me."

Denzel shrugged. "Kiara, I'm not debating this any further."

"You know this is all a set-up.Do you really believe that story? That I may just randomly attack you?"

"If you keep on missing your medication, yes."

"I missed three days of healing sessions. It's not like I have lost control."

"Yes, but you may lose control and end up like---Reya."

Kiara scoffed lightly and rubbed her forehead. "Reya did not do it,they are framing her."

"You're not a child anymore, Kiara.We cant keep having this vague arguments."

"I'm not-" Kiara repeated as she was about to argue but stopped mid-sentence, suddenly realizing that Mount Isabel only belonged to her father until she turned eighteen. She wasn't a kid anymore; she was twenty-three years old.

Mount Isabel legally belonged to her. She could give it away if it pleases her.

She regulated her breathing and adjusted her tiara that had fallen an inch or two out of place when she was arguing .

"Excuse me," she said politely, and she left the room.

Carlotta stood right outside the room with pale eyes.She had obviously heard the yelling. She swallowed, looking worried.

"Is everything alright?"

"Yes, it looks like I'm going to the ball after all. I have business there."

* * *

"The reply came; she will be in attendance"Hendrix said,walking into the library with the confirmation letter in hand. "She is a predictable one."Adriel said coolly,like it didn't matter his biggest plan yet had began working so smoothly.

He was too invested in the book he was reading to care.It wasn't any ordinary book though.It was the book of scrolls by Valha.A compilation of all his prophecies.

Adriel has been carefully studying it since he discovered Kiara Whitman was the famous first hybrid.

"Lets celebrate,our plan is in motion."Hendrix added.

Adriel nodded ,finally raising his head."The timing is perfect,"

"Precisely my point."the younger Valerian brother yelled merrily. "Its like the gods themselves are giving us their blessing."he smiled,pouring them both glasses of their favourite drink.

A tannic mix of blood and wine.

"To another successful mission."Hendrix cheered,hitting his glass with Adriel's.

Adriel glanced into the book for the last time before shutting it.

"Let the games begin.'