Blake found herself sitting at her kitchen table, staring into her full cup of coffee that was now cold. She rubbed her thumb gently over the lip of the cup.

There could be no way that, the man upstairs, was her mate. She repeated over and over again that there was no way that she was mated to him. If so, the Moon Goddess was punishing them for their sins.

With a deep sigh, Blake pitied the King. She pitied him and her little brother.

"Oh man," Ross groan, walking into the kitchen while resting a hand on his back. "Why did I have to chop that tree?" he whined.

Blake didn't bother to look at her brother, "Because his highness isn't up to do it himself and we'll be needing that wood for winter," she said lazily

"You could have helped, you know. You're the one who kicked him into the tree."

"I should have kicked him harder," she glanced up at Ross with cold eyes. Eyes that could kill and Ross knew that. At least the boy was smart enough to know when to not talk back. Blake sighed once more when turning back to her cup.

What a mess.

"How is the King?" Ross whispered.

Blake closed her eyes, shaking her head from left to right, "It's a shame."

"He died," Ross spoke in disbelief. He made his way towards Blake to take a seat. His face paled.

And once he sat down.

"He lives," she said disappointedly into her cup.

"By the moon, Blake," Ross jumped from his seat, "What is wrong with you. He is your mate!"

"He's not my mate," Blake growled, glaring at her brother. She tightened her grip around her coffee cup.

"By the moon, he is. Even I feel the bond!" her brother yelled. "Why are you like this? Is he not what you expended?" He paused for an amount, then whispered, "Is it me? If so just tell me. You say all of this is for me but what about you."

"Let it go, Ross," Blake muttered.

"No! Tell me what it is your hiding! We used to be so close, and then I- I killed-"

Blake stood up so fast her chair fell to the floor with a loud bang. "Enough Ross," she ordered.

"It was my fault that mom and dad are gone."

"Enough!"

"Why are you punishing yourself for what I did!"

"I said enough!" Blake yelled at the top of her lungs while taking her cup and throwing it across the room. Her cup shattered into pieces on the floor, and a steam of black coffee run down the pale-yellow colored walls.

"Blake," Her brother sighed. For the first time, in a long time, Blake saw pure fear in her brother's eyes. Those same eyes he wore on that night five years ago.

Blake diverted her eyes away from her brother to find her nails erected. She glared at her nails, nails that belonged to her wolf, nails that she used to kill her prey. Running her tongue over her teeth, she found them to have changed as well. It took a moment for Blake to realize that she shifted midway into her wolf in front of her brother.

"Fuck," she cursed, making her way to the back door in the kitchen.

"Blake," Ross called. Blake only stopped midway through the door before peering over her shoulder. The two didn't say anything they just looked at each other as if words were not enough. As if words didn't mean a thing. And they didn't.

So Blake did what Blake did.

She left.

Taking a hard deep breath, Blake felt the pain in her shoulder blade. Her wolf's form was forcing its way through her, telling her to shift, but Blake wouldn't let herself shift into her weaker form. She hated her wolf. Couldn't stand her other half.

Her wolf form was wounded, weak, and broken.

Blake couldn't remember the last time she shifted. It could have been at least three or four years ago, ever since she lost contact with her wolf. All Blake could do was shift midway, making her look like a monster that came out of a horror movie. She couldn't ever shift to her full form anymore. It was the only reason she has never gone out for the pack runs or the pack hunts, she was ashamed of herself and what she had become.

Today, things were different. Blake had never acted like that towards her brother and never had she shifted halfway in front of him.

Wolves never shifted halfway.

Blake could feel her bones crack beneath her skin. Her bones popped and grinding together, shifting her body into the form of her wolf.

"No," Blake groaned, trying to stop the shift but it wasn't happening and she knew that. Clawing at her throat, Blake breaks the skin. Her fingers moved down to her shirt, tangled her fingers onto her collar, ripping her shirt. Blake held her screams back as much as she could. The pain from the shift was so strong that she felt like her entire body was on fire. She couldn't take it anymore.

Sweat covered her whole body, eventually, let out a heart dropping cry that slowly shifted into a howl.