Chapter 1

The first time Solene Ashborne realized she wasn't wanted by her mother, she was eleven years old.

She was playing around the house's garden with her mother's jewelry when she spotted her mother.

"Mother!" She yelled excitedly, "Look how beautiful I look."

The smile on her face was wide and priceless.

Her mother never spared her a glance, the six year old ran to her mother, tugging at her gown to get her attention. Her mother looked down at her with disgust.

"What are you doing with my jewelry? The queen gifted me those jewels."

Before little Solene could explain herself, a sharp slap landed across her cheek.

She fell to the ground and scraped her knee. No servant dared to help, instead, they lowered their heads.

Fifteen years later, Solene stood silently watching as her mother adjusted her sister's necklaces and gown with a smile she had never seen.

She could feel the warmth that emitted from her mother just by looking at her other daughters.

Abruptly, her mother looked up at her, "You will take your sisters to the ball tonight."

Solene was tired, she wasn't in the mood for this. She cleaned up the whole house today and the last thing she wanted to do was take her sisters to the evening ball in search of their mates.

"I'm not going." She said flatly, staring at her mother blankly as she played with sisters hair.

Solene knew how much her mother despised her. Some said it was because her mother had her when she was young and naive so she was deprived of some things while some said she was just an illegitimate child, but to her, she felt like there was more to this.

She asked her father a dozen times why her mother despised her but he would just smile sadly and pat her back so she just gave up and came to a conclusion that her mother hated her for no reason in particular.

"And who said you had a choice to go or not?" Her mother gritted her teeth in anger as she spoke.

"Can you lend me your silver moon crested necklace for tonight's ball? I think it's going to look great on me." Rachael, the third daughter squeaked.

Solene's mother's demeanor shifted, it was like she went from evil to loving in a second. Her smile was so bright that it reached her ears.

"Of course sweetheart, you can take it if you like it but make sure you return it intact."

Solene rolled her eyes, she was too tired for this. As she began walking out of the room, she felt a strong pull from behind.

"And where do you think you're going?" Her mother's voice resounded in her ears.

Solene stopped in her tracks, anger was slowly building up within her.

She didn't turn around, she just closed her eyes and opened it in a brief second. Slowly, she faced her mother with a gentle smile.

"I've finished everything you asked me to do, including cleaning every wash room in the house," she started off quietly but her voice was gently building up, "I just want to rest, that's all."

Evelyne looked at her daughter and let out a mocking laugh.

"I told you already, you're taking your sisters to the evening ball."

"Mother," she said out loud as though it was the most irritating word in the world, "Last time I checked, I never attended the ball and I'm mateless. So what on earth am I doing there?"

Solene's wolf purred at the mention of mate.

Evelyne breathed in deeply, trying to control herself. She stared at her beautifully dressed daughters, giving them a reassuring smile before looking back to Solene with a disgusting look.

"I am not sending you there to look for a mate, you're being sent there to look after them."

The words struck harder than the slap Solene had received all those years ago.

She looked at her three sisters; Rachael, Sophia and Penelope who admired themselves in the mirror as though they never heard a thing.

They've learned the best thing to do whenever their mother and eldest sister had an argument was to stay out of it.

It has always been like this, whenever Evelyne smiled, it was for them but whenever she yelled or cursed, it was for Solene.

"I'm not going." Solene said again, for the umpteenth. Reminding her mother that no matter what happened, she was not going to the evening ball.

"If I had known you'd be this troublesome, I would have never had you."

Even if this was the 100th time she had heard this from her mother this week, it still hurt. Her wolf purred, but this time, more louder than the first.

Solene was quiet, she knew it would be better to say nothing than banter with her mother.

Evelyne sighed when she noticed her daughter wasn't going to say anything.

“Your dress is on the counter. Dress up and take your sisters to the ball.”

Solene’s eyes crawled to the dress on the counter. It was pale blue with little to no beautiful stones on it. But it still looked good. Solene had learned never to compare what her mother gave her to her sister’s.

She picked it up and wore it. It looked a bit more beautiful on her. Evelyne's eyes brushed all over her for a bit then she humphed and walked out of the room.

“Let's go girls.” She said with little enthusiasm. Her sisters skipped to the limo awaiting them outside.

When they arrived at the ball, the gentle music played into Solene's ears, making her wolf purr gently.

The girls giggled as they were picked for a dance. She watched as they twirled happily on the dance floor. Her heart swarmed with happiness when she noticed the huge smile that danced on their lips.

During the ride to the ball, a thought came to her mind. What if she escaped from here? Besides, she was never let out of the house, except for errands and things like this. This might be the only chance she'll have.

When she was sure her sisters were caught up with dancing, she made her way to the restroom when she bumped into a man.

“I'm sorry.” She said without lifting her eyes.

“No need to be. I was the one who never watched his way and bumped into you.”

The man's voice was so thick and captivating that she had to look at him. He was the Alpha King.

Her wolf stirred within her restlessly.

“Mate!” Sasha, Solene's wolf, whispered multiple times in a second.

Solene stared at the man who she just realized was her mate in disbelief. The Alpha King is her mate. Maybe not anymore, but he was.

“Would you like to dance?” He asked out a sudden and it made her jolt backwards.

For a moment, she was quiet before she stammered.

“I-i am supposed to b-be s-somewhere now.”

He creased his brows, “Aren't you here to dance?”

“No I'm not.” She answered almost immediately.

“My mother sent me here to keep an eye on my sisters. I don't really do well with crowds so I'm leaving.”

“Is this your first time here?” His voice came more like a whisper.

Solene nodded gently and he looked at her in disbelief.

“I'm sorry, I don't have time for this.” She said and took off even before he could utter any word.