Living in a tiny house at the edge of a small village near a huge forest, a family of two happily lived their days. The house even though little, was enough for the mother and son.

Their life was not exactly easy, in fact it was rather a difficult one. To provide food for her child the mother had to work a small patch of land, that was not quite suited for planting vegetables, giving her a hard time taking care of them. The vegetables provided by her small garden, other than for cooking, also needing to be used to trade for candles, clothes and other necessities for the two.

"Mom, I am going to go gather some wood!" The little ten year old boy informed his mother. To ensure they had a warm home and fire for cooking, it was one of his daily chores.

"Alright, sweetie!" Acknowledged his mother, as the boy had already taken a basket and was walking towards the door.

The forest seemed intimidating from the first step a person would take inside of it. If one would go deeper and deeper along the trail it lost bit by bit its light, because of the ever growing tall trees clustering together tighter as it reached its center, making it even more eerie. The faint light of the sun, not managing to reach the ground at all, as green vegetation grew all around.

This dark scenery, accompanied by the sounds of owls, foxes and other small animals, not to mention, the rustling of leaves that stood in the way of the ever present wind, would frighten any adult out of entering the forest alone, much more a child.

Even so, the small child entered it with glee, walking on his usual path, unconcerned about such matters, and why would he? In the forest, one of the scariest of animals to worry about would be a wolf, but he would never be frightened of one.

"Hey, Fenrir!" A voice spoke cheerfully from behind, making the boy suddenly turn around with a bright smile.

"Hey, Vlad!" Greeted the boy looking up at his friend, who was standing on the trunk of a fallen tree, glad to see him. He was actually one of the reasons the smaller boy would never be afraid of entering the forest.

The older boy, a fifteen years old teenager, cheekily smiled, approaching him, after he had jumped down on the ground.

"Your sister Elena?" Fenrir asked surprised. Vlad was most of the time accompanied by his older sister, each time he saw them, but now looking around him, he could see Vlad was by himself.

Vlad sighed, remembering the ungrateful girl who no longer spent any time with him. She was always hanging around that man these days, and they would always be smooching or cuddling. He shivered at remembering such things.

"Ughh... she found her mate, and now she is always with him these days. I doubt you will be able to see her much in the future." Replied Vlad, still looking a bit disgusted. He was not at the point to think about finding his own mate, or at least hope for one yet.

"Mate? What is that?" Asked the small boy curious. Why would he no longer see Elena, if she found a comrade? The boy thought, not understanding the true meaning of the word.

"Well, a mate is the other half of a werewolf. The Goddess splits each wolf's soul in two and places the souls into two babies, before they are born. So the werewolves with the halves that manage to find each other will become mates, lovers. They will become the most important partner a werewolf will ever have. Apparently, even more important than your own baby brother." Grumbled the teenager at the end. That rotten girl was always with him, but now he would barely even see her shadow.

"Wow! Really? Will I ever have one?" Asked Fenrir, already imagining a beautiful girl made just for him. To make a happy family like his mom and dad, even though the latter was rarely around them.

"Hmm... I don't think so. You are a hybrid. My mother said that only full werewolves would have one." Vlad answered honestly.

He had befriended the small boy a couple of years ago, when he smelt him entering the forest, and curious about meeting a hybrid, had from time to time talked with him. It was for this reason, that whenever he learned something from the adults of his pack, he would also ask if hybrids would be the same as them.

The adults frowned at him, as a hybrid was something to be looked down upon, so they did not took lightly his questions and had also told him to never interact with one, but he still met Fenrir sometimes with his sister, regardless of their words.

"I will never have one?" Asked Fenrir shocked. He was aware that he was a hybrid, his father told him so, when Fenrir saw him turn into a real giant wolf, and asked if his mother could turn into one also.

Knowing from his father that he was a hybrid, he never put much thoughts into this before, but a feeling of inferiority, still sprouted inside his heart just now.

"No. Well, the truth is... a hybrid closely resembles more his other parent, rather than the werewolf parent. So you would be mostly human, not a werewolf." Vlad answered again, not realizing how shocking and life changing the information was for the boy.

He was so shocked, that even when night came he did not go inside his house, waiting to see if his father came to visit. He sat on the porch of his house, constantly seeking with his eyes his presence.

Coincidently, after waiting for several hours a big black wolf could really be seen in the distance exiting the forest. Normally, he would barely see him once or twice each year, so he had not told his mother that he was indeed waiting for him, as the woman would have not let him do so, knowing it could possibly be in vain.

He happily ran towards the wolf who, seeing him hurrying, had slowly started to shift into a human.

"Father!" The boy called, as the man had already hugged him in happiness.

"How did you know, I would come tonight?" The beautiful ebony haired man with blue eyes asked the miniature version of himself.

"I did not, but I hoped you would! Listen to this, Vlad said I would never have a mate and I would never be a werewolf!" The boy cried as he told his father his sorrow. The family had lived for years at the edge of the village because he was not a complete human, and they had to stay away from prying eyes, but now finding out that he was also not a werewolf, the boy felt lost, unaccepted by both worlds.

Hearing his words and sorrow, for the first time the man felt he had truly made a mistake.

Seeing his son cry for a mate he would never have, made his heart also shake from despair. But the sorrow was not only because of the uncertain future that he had created for the boy, but because of his unknown future also.

Being the younger brother of the heir to the throne, he had felt lost in life. His parents' focus had always been on his older brother. As such, he had continuously rebelled against the norms the werewolf society imposed, in hopes of gaining their attention and love, but it always had the opposite effect.

Reaching the age of seventeen and shifting for the first time, he had at least hoped he would have a mate and start a family with her, gaining thus a purpose. But years had passed and he did not find her. Angry, especially seeing his brother with his mate, and jealous of the attention the latter had gotten from everyone, he had lost his way even more.

Finding a beautiful woman in the forest one day, he had fallen in love with her, even though he knew there would be a mate for him in the future. And, regardless of the injustice he would make towards the future werewolf who would become his mate, the man had kept on meeting the woman, and even made a family with her. A fact unknown to the werewolf kingdom.

Several days ago, he had met his true mate, a girl who had barely managed to shift for the very first time, and only then did he understand why he had not met her before. The beautiful and lovely girl was the apple of her parents' eyes and a daughter of one of the king's councilmembers, her parents had dotted upon her since young.

The petite woman was thrilled of meeting him, happy to find him so early, but that was only because she did not know of what he had done. His regret of not waiting for her coupled with the regret of the lives he would destroy, were quickly sealed away, not baring to face the consequences of his actions.

So they were replaced by anger at the injustice of her late appearance and not wanting to admit he had done a horrible mistake, the man rejected his mate just as he found her. Even though they were in the presence of the king and queen.

His father, the king, had tried to stop him, there had never been a member of the royal family rejecting one's mate. But he did not listen, even when the beautiful woman fell wretched at his rejection. How could he tell them he already had a family? How could he say he mated a human woman and made a hybrid child?

Infuriated by his son, the king had done what no other did before, he exiled him from the kingdom even going as far as writing him off from the records of the royal family. Thus in the future, there would never be anyone knowing of the future king's younger brother. His father had even gone so far as to prohibit anyone from mentioning his name.

The man was upset at the father who never seemed to favor him, but he still never believed his exile would be forever. As long as his child would have royal blood, his father would be forced to accept his family, and he would finally take them to the royal palace.

"Don't cry, Fenrir. You are a big boy now. Don't worry, even if you are a hybrid you are my son, you would surely be able to overcome the human side, did I not tell you always?" The man assured his son, rubbing his head.

Only then did the boy smile, he knew that Vlad was speaking nonsense, his father had always told him he would become a strong werewolf, he only waivered for a bit because of the new information. But as expected his father knew best.

"Look, I have brought you a gift. See this rose, this is called a fairy's flower. It is from your grandmother's garden. Now as you can see it is transparent, but if one with royal blood would touch it, it will turn blue. Here, hold it in your hand!" The man joyfully said. As long as the rose turned blue, he would prove the king was wrong, and his exile would end.

Touching with cheerfulness the rose, the boy waited for its color to change, but the enchanted rose remained transparent. It did not turn to any color, not to mention blue.

Celia was still standing still, even though she did not like the feeling of his hand on her face, as the only one who had caressed her cheeks had been her mate.

In her current human form she could not do much even if she wanted to, as the man before her seemed capable of killing her at the slightest of mistakes. But, even in her fright she still understood the meaning behind his words. By associating her with the king, could this man know she was his mate? Why else would he say she was the strongest werewolf's weakness?

"I have no idea what you are talking about!" Celia feigned ignorance. There were not many that knew of her existence as the queen, as long as she denied it, this man had no way of verifying the truth. She did not want to become a bargaining chip in his hands.

The demon like man chuckled, at her failed attempt to hide the truth. The beautiful woman before him looked so innocent and pure, even in her solemn appearance, dressed in a black uniform. How lovely would it be if he had a mate, a mate like this woman before him.

"Really?" The man asked happy.

"Yes!" Celia firmly replied, still standing by her words.

"Hmmm..." The man murmured, thrilled at the woman who had not avoided his gaze and did not shriek from fright. As expected of the future queen, he thought.

He did not try to explain his words more, he only took his other hand from behind him, as if prepared for this exchange of words and provided the evidence of his claims.

The transparent rose, which his father had once hoped would turn blue at his touch, easily turned to a light blue hue as it touched her cheek gently. He looked mesmerized at the new color of the rose, but at the same time quite enraged by it. No matter how much his mad father had placed the rose in his hands, and repeated the word blue as if it were an enchantment, the rose never changed.

Seeing the blue rose, Celia quickly stepped aside. In one of her usual walks inside the garden, Salas had finally revealed to her the true meaning of the blue color. This man, who exactly was he? How did he know secrets of the royal family? A secret only known by Salas and the Council.

"Surprised, little queen? Don't worry the secret of our royal family is still safe, I never told anyone of the blue rose." The man said with a hoarse calm voice.

A little sad at the loss of touch, he had clenched his hand into a fist to preserve the residual heat. His cold hand had never been so delighted at another's warmth, like it had been just now. Perhaps, in the distant long forgotten past the touch of his "kind" mother had also felt like that, but it was too long ago to remember it accurately.

"Our royal family?" Asked slowly Celia. She was very frightened finding herself in this situation and of his presence, but to not know why someone had kidnaped you or for what reason, frightened her even more. She could not tell if he was only going to have a bit of a conversation with her and then kill her, or another larger plan had been prepared.

The man before her, was the only one who could shed light on where she was and why, even though ironically his heart and presence seemed as black as night.

"Being the older cousin of Salas, shouldn't I have included myself in the royal family?" He smirked, pleased with her confused expression.

As much as she had tried to deny it, the order of the king had to be obeyed by the reluctant Yvonne, who answered the questions one by one, causing herself to be submitted to a much greater alpha pressure from all those in the throne room, with each answered question.

She had tried to seek her grandfather's eyes in the beginning, but the latter avoided it, only showing an anger distorted face, so in the end she only looked towards the ground, who came closer to her as she talked more and more of her sins.

In the end, forced to speak even without her will, Yvonne had related to them what she knew of the one she had supplied information to, which unfortunately was not much.

She had also lost all her desire to resist, realizing it was futile, as it only hurt her more not to answer. But she could not understand what role Celia had in all of this, why talking about her to someone had incurred this much wrath from them. She was an alpha, and a watcher also, but why would his highness treat them in such a cruel manner and had made all the families submit to him and force the truth out of them, when he had never done such a thing in the past... just for her?

She had always been certain she would never be caught, by being a granddaughter of the king's official, so she had dared gambled for a better future. But why for only a fling, his highness ... wait, she had remembered what he said in the beginning, he had said nothing was more important than his queen. Could that alpha perhaps be the much awaited queen?

Was that why that man had also changed his attitude when she spoke of Celia? Right, that man changed his attitude at the mention of the garden, and he also expressly asked her the color of the rose.

Councilmember Reynolds had also changed his stance... seeing that woman touch the rose. If that man knew more than he let on, than she had indeed leaked a very dangerous information. It could not be compared with telling him the king was not in the palace that night, for him to abduct some students.

"What is going to happen to me?" She murmured slowly, a question more for herself rather than the others. She had dared conspire against the future queen, a ruler possibly chosen by the Goddess.

"It will all depend on how I find Celia, if she is unharmed, then you will only be exiled. Would she have even a small scratch on her body, your head shall fall." Salas said expressionless, hearing the question.

At this point, Yvonne was much too pale and frightened to even respond or have a reaction, she was so shocked that she did not react in the slightest when the guards carried her to the dungeon. She did not even try to plead or beg for a lighter sentence.

"I am going first. Gabriel gather all the men that you can find, and come..." Salas said, already getting up and wanting to go towards the doors.

"Wait, wait!" Gabriel exclaimed and immediately went in front of him.

"Step aside Gabriel, or I will make you myself!" Salas affirmed, already increasing his pressure. There was no time to wait, his little one must already be frightened on her own.

"You can't leave on your own! You will not save her by doing this. We must go together. Salas, please listen they want her alive, or they would not have gone through the trouble to get her out of the Academy. If you go now, you will get yourself killed. They have hunters, rogues, witches, who knows what else they have." Gabriel quickly stated, trying to convince him.

Angered, Salas did not listen to his reasons, and trying to not hurt his friend this time, like how he was about to do so at the Academy, with lightning speed went around him, to still walk out.

He did not manage to bypass his friend, when the councilmembers stepped in front of him and immediately kneeled. To oppose the king twice, they were already being traitorous.

Immediately Gabriel, then spoke with more convincing words, seeing him stop for a second. Really, this man, the only words he would listen to these days were those accompanied by a magic name.

"Celia... what would she do if you go and get yourself killed, do you think she would be happy? Do you think she would be thankful? You know how she is, she will blame herself for all her life. Have just a bit of patience, just two hours... no, an hour, to gather some men. We will all go together!" Gabriel said without even breathing, afraid Salas would already be gone before he got through to him.

Corroborating the information from Yvonne, with the missing cases, and the few leads they had barely managed to gather...

One, this man had under him quite a few underlings, of which they did not know much. Salas was indeed the strongest werewolf, but he was mentally weak now, his mind was too chaotic of worrying, so who was to say that just like last time, could possibly get injured.

Two, they were preparing something big, the analyzed twice as powerful wolfsbane and the missing people... they were most likely researching something, and had been preparing for a long time already. The werewolf kingdom had many strong werewolves, but this situation had caught them off guard. There were not so many in one place, so they could not just go to war.

Right now, Gabriel could only gather about two - three thousand strong werewolves, but would they be enough?