"Tch, tch, tch! Today is her highness's coronation. It is not nice of you to wail and scream near the garden!" A small witch scolded Brianna, as she approached from the air the ground on her broom.

"You!" Diane was startled by the familiar appearance of the witch, while looking up. Making Brianna also look up, showing her still shaken and angry face.

"Hmm?" The bubbly witch murmured, as if to inquire what Diane's problem was.

"You're the witch that predicted my daughter's future!" Diane realized, she would never forget the witch who told her the future. Her appearance was too unusual to be forgotten.

"Am I?" Clarissa asked, tilting her head. She did not remember the woman's face, but the question cleared for her the doubt of who the woman in front of her was. She had only ever predicted the future for Celia's sister, so the duet from the tragedy play in front of her must be her family.

"She is?" Brianna inquired, looking at her mother. The information surprising her, making her forget for a moment what she had gone through, as her fury was redirected towards the witch.

"You are the reason for everything. You predicted my life would be beautiful and accomplished as a Luna!!!" She once again screamed, as her mother nodded her head, affirming the Clarissa was indeed that witch.

"And?" Clarissa asked, unaffected by the werewolf's anger.

"You are a liar, a fake!!!" Brianna shouted, blaming her for her misfortune.

"I am not. Earlier an alpha came towards you, he was your mate. If he had accepted you, you would have had a beautiful life! How did I lie?" Clarissa spoke like it was the most natural thing in the world. She had indeed predicted the future to Brianna, to try to refrain Celia from having another life, other than her fated one. But in the end all the choices had been left to the women on the ground.

She had not forced their hand to do the things they did in the past. Because even if Brianna had not created these problems, and had waited for her rightful mate, she would have thought of something else to prevent Celia from becoming Rayan's Luna. She would have never obligated Brianna to intervene, if the latter was an innocent werewolf or not.

"Your mother asked me about your fate, and I told her you would have an alpha mate as your partner, but I never specified who that was. I only told her the truth. You were the one who decided her own path." Clarissa said, and sighing she continued, as Brianna and Diane were loss for words.

"Do you know, usually when a witch knows a person's future, if she is close to that person, she would never tell her about it. Because whenever someone knows their future, they are likely to get influenced by it and perhaps even alter it, they could make it better or worse. So a witch would never ever tell the future for their closest ones.

That should be the case for your parents also, even if I gave them your divination. They should have not informed you of it. And anyway, even if I did tell them, it was still your own choice in the end." Clarissa said, and did not wait for their reaction or response, quickly moving the broom in the direction of the ballroom, as a familiar bubblegum smell hit her nose.

Barely collecting themselves from the ground, the mother and daughter did not speak more. What would be the point?

Even if Brianna wanted to argue with Diane of her ill-fated life, what would she gain from it? It seemed that her sister and she had the same life in the end, they were both rejected by their rightful mates.

The sound of three cars which stopped at the entrance of the massive ballroom, made her snap out of her thoughts, realizing that she was still in a location where she was not permitted to mope on her problems. What if someone saw her and laughed at her? She already did not have good connections with the other Lunas.

The others had not stood her presence, since the ball five years ago, when she demanded a date from his highness. Her haughtiness was not accepted by them, coupled with her arrogance, she did not have a single Luna friend.

"Is that her highness?" Diane exclaimed, holding the arm of Brianna, which made the latter look towards the cars.

With frightening heavy auras, nine men descended from the cars. Dressed in formal black clothing the alpha ranked werewolves looked like a beautiful yet fearsome painting.

Immediately after they descended, one of the alphas opened the back door of the middle car, and from inside the car, a small slender hand appeared. Slightly bowed, the werewolf held the hand, helping the beautiful dressed woman to alight the car.

Brianna and her mother, could not see the woman's face, as the latter had a veil on top of her head, plus they were also at a considerable distance away, but it was surely the queen. Because as soon as she stepped with both of her feet on the ground, the other eight men also bowed their heads, and only raised them, when the woman waived her hand for them to rise. And with the same bowed posture, some dozen maids were waiting in front, to receive the person, raising their heads as well, when she waived her hand.

Afterwards in and orderly fashion, four men walked in front of the woman, and four men behind her, as the man who helped her alight the car was still holding her hand, guiding her towards the stairs, with the maids behind them. It was indeed a long procession of people.

It was only a minute or two since the woman appeared until she disappeared behind the opened doors, walking through the hallways, but it was enough for both Brianna and her mother to remain in awe. The queen exuded nothing but royalty, indeed the king had hidden her to shield her from the outside world.

Snapping out of their thoughts, they hurried towards the backdoor that led to the garden, walking back to the ballroom, to wait for the ceremony to start. They could not afford to miss it, and disrespect the two royals. They did not realize that from one of the cars Daniel had also alighted, as they had been too entranced by the sight of the queen, to better observe her surroundings.

***

Helping the queen towards the waiting room, for her to meet up with Salas, who had come ahead of her to check for himself the preparations, the watcher pack finished their duty.

So Jake smiling let go of Celia's hand, which Salas gladly took.

Afterwards the men bowed their heads, and retreated from the waiting room, to also take their seats inside the ballroom.

"Hey there, cocky wolf!" A voice called from behind, just as Jake was about to enter the ballroom with the others.

"Hey there, annoying little teenager witch!" Jake sighed, replying to Clarissa's greeting.

"You, you!!! How can you call your mate that? And also, you know I dislike it when you mention my age!" She retorted immediately upset, with her cheeks pouting.

"Yeah, yeah. Alright, little witch. There, there, don't be upset!" Jake coaxed her, gently petting her head. He quite liked to infuriate the witch, as his mate looked the most beautiful when she puffed her round cheeks.

"How much longer will you call me little?" Clarissa said upset, before pouncing in Jake's arms, and placing a kiss on his lips.

Her actions made him flinch, as Clarissa quickly jumped down, and running a hand through her curly hair, to remove the strands from her face, walked towards the ballroom, not waiting for him.

"Dude, you've got your hands full with the little one!" Marcus stated, as the men had all along been near Jake, watching the interaction, with the rest of the men whistling in agreement.

"Shut it!" Jake ordered embarrassed as a tinge of red appeared on his ears. Then after placing his hand on his mouth to cover a small cough, hurriedly went inside the ballroom to follow after Clarissa.

***

Inside the ballroom, all the people took their seats, as the maids had announced that soon the king and queen would be in attendance.

They all settled down, but small murmurs could be heard throughout the gigantic ballroom, massive enough to hold inside of it thousands of people. They were all excited to finally meet the queen, for whom they had waited for the longest of time.

"You finally showed up. You really are a good for nothing, embarrassing me always. Take your seat already, her highness will come soon!" Rayan said displeased, as Brianna quickly sat on her chair. She did not retort his words, as they were a common occurrence, and only looked towards the door the king and queen were supposed to enter from.

Diane also took her sit near Brianna and her husband, with whom she also did not have a good relationship these days. The man had been influenced by his wife, and now their entire life was messed up, so frustrated kept blaming Diane for everything.

In the past, he had a good relationship with Rayan's father, but now with Rayan, the current alpha, things could not be worse. He was also about to hand his beta position to another, and it would not be to his son, as he had dreamt he would. Daniel had left home and followed his dream, even without their agreement.

"All rise and bow! Their highnesses are now in attendance!" The two doormen shouted, making all the sounds in the room quiet down.

Waiting for everyone to rise the doormen stood still, and after a few moments each one approached his side of the doors, and concomitantly opened them.

"Are you ready, my love?" Salas asked, Celia kissing her hand, as the door were opening.

She inhaled a deep breath and nodded, by now the veil was no longer covering her face, as she was about to be officially introduced, and her identity did not need to be hidden anymore.

Smiling gently at her, Salas slowly guided her through the doors and then towards the two thrones that were placed at the very front of the ballroom.

He helped the petite woman sit, then also sat himself down, the both of them putting their hands on the arms rests. Of course, as Salas always preferred to hold her hand, the two thrones had been crafted in such a manner that the middle armrest was the same for the two thrones, so they would have no room to place their hands side by side. As such, he gladly covered her small hand with his big one, gingerly holding it, to assure and calm her emotions.

With the both of them finally seated comfortably, only then did Salas let the people inside the massive room raise their heads.

"You may rise!" Salas's voice powerfully boomed inside the ballroom, before anyone dared to look up towards the front.

Small gasps could be heard all around, as the multitude of werewolves finally saw the hidden queen of the werewolf race.

With a beautiful grey dress that shimmered with tinges of golden lights, with a small beautiful face that exuded an elegant nobility no lesser than Salas's, coupled with the small diamond tiara, the queen was a sight to be seen. She was indeed a perfect match for the man on her left side.

Midst the werewolves, there was also four werewolves that were shocked, but not for the same reasons as the others were. The appearance of Celia, on the other far end of the room, seated elegantly on the throne, was a sight that they never would have expected.

Their minds kept spiraling in thoughts, but tried as they may they could not comprehend why she was seated on the throne, where the queen should sit.

"" Salas said using his alpha voice, after the werewolves only caught a glance of her. It was in a sense a means to prove her supremacy over them. It was not part of the custom, as the queens from the past had not held the king's rank and thus could not override his command. But Celia had the same rank, she could do so.

The werewolves were confused because of this. The custom was for the king to order them to bow again, and for the queen to tell them they could rise. In this way she would also receive their obedience, but by using his alpha voice what was the king trying to do? She could never make them rise now.

Celia's voice was heard inside the ballroom, although she also used her alpha voice, her tone was mellower than the king's.

The werewolves immediately rose at her command, creating another wave of gasps inside the ballroom. For the queen to override the king's order she would have to be the same rank, the first rank.

"You can take a sit now, please be at ease we are between family!" Salas ordered, as they all took their seats.

With robotic movements, the werewolves at the table for Celia's old pack, also took their seats.

Diane was too emotional to say anything, or think anything more, as her husband was also. Celia already had a mate, but now she appeared as the mate of the king, and she also held the same rank as him, the both of them could not comprehend what happened. How did she come to be the king's mate?

Rayan was at a loss for words, but tried to not think more of what happened, firmly closing his eyes, there was nothing he could do. The night of the ball all those years ago... he had never told anyone how the king confronted him then, but now seeing Celia as the queen, he could understand why the king was so possessive of her. How it came to be he did not know, but at this point it was useless to think about it.

The only one who was still not resigned, digging her fingernails in her palms to the point that blood would seep through her hands was Brianna. Why did always Celia got to have the best?

Everything she did from childhood until now was the best. No matter how she tried to step in front of her sister, even stealing her mate, and Celia was still the winner! Why, just why?

Time quickly passed, as the alphas of the most important packs offered their allegiance, in front of the new queen one by one.

An allegiance that Rayan's pack and other lesser packs would not have the privilege to give. There were too many packs, so from long ago only the one hundred most important packs would come and be presented to the queen, the rest could only stare at her from afar, as they were not allowed to exchange even a small word with her.

Finishing the loyalty oaths, Salas spoke again for all.

"You have met your queen, and in the future you will see her again. Unfortunately, now she will retire for the rest of the evening and will not participate at the following dinner. My mate is currently carrying the heir to the throne, so please be understanding! I hope you have a pleasant evening, a lot of delicious food has been prepared!" Salas asked of the werewolves, or better said informed them, and had already risen on his feet, taking Celia's hand in his own, after once again shocking the people in the room.

Celia's mother and father, also quickly rose on their feet, and ran between the tables to get to their daughter.

At this time, Brianna still did not utter a word. What could she possibly do now, other than live the life she had mistakenly chosen for herself... this would be her punishment for desiring what was never supposed to be hers.

Some might say, this was a small retribution for her actions, but living a life near a person who did not love you, surrounded by people who only flattered you for the mask you would put on each day, having things that no longer brought you joy, carrying on each moment in this way and seeing the person you had scorned at, having the life you could only dream of... were this not already heavy punishments?

Finally reaching near the front of the ballroom, as Celia and Salas were already about to exit through the door, the two parents were blocked before getting close to them, by the men who had escorted Celia inside the ballroom, her pack.

By now the men knew just how her parents had treated her like, Daniel had told them all about it, as he became friends with them, so they would never let her parents near her. Especially Marcus, who had regretted having informed them of her location, when her parents came to the Academy looking for Celia.

"Move out of the way. Celia, honey!" The mother called, trying to catch a glimpse of her daughter, with tears in her eyes. This time, true tears were flowing, as Diane had realized just how much she had wronged Celia. She had always felt that Brianna was like a real Luna, she had always thought she was perfect. But seeing Celia on the throne just now, she did not look out of place at all.

The girl who she had hoped would at least find a beta to be married off to, the daughter she never expected to be anything special, was in fact the perfect queen for an entire race. But this was not what was the most important now, she had only wanted to talk to Celia, missing her daughter and realizing just how much the oldest child always did for all of them.

"Members of lesser packs do not have the right, to address her highness directly. Please go back to your seat, or you will suffer the consequences!" Jake firmly informed.

"She is my daughter, I just want to see her! I just want to talk to her!" Diane said, with her husband agreeing.

"I am sorry, her highness is the queen of the werewolf race. You can only speak to her if her highness wishes to speak with you first!" Jake once again denied, without a hint of feeling sorry for them.

Diane finally broke down crying, why would Celia ever speak to them first, when all her life they had done her wrong. She would never do so. They would never have the opportunity to right their wrongs.

This was their punishment, never taking part in any way in the life of the daughter who had always loved them. The one who had never disobeyed them, would be the one they would never reach again.

Outside the hall, Celia and Salas heard her parents' voices, but neither stopped to turn around.

By this point, Celia would never believe the cries were sincere. They never were in the past, why would they be now?

"Do you want to return?" Salas asked gently. He knew she would not, but still asked the petite woman, letting her decide.

"My close family is only you and our child!" She said with the same gentleness.

He smiled at the woman, placing a loving kiss on her lips, before resuming their steps.

That was right, their family consisted of only the three of them.