Chapter 1 - Coming of age!

Nadia

“NADIA! IF I’VE TOLD YOU ONCE, I’ve told you a thousand times! Be careful what you wish for, darling.” My father wagged his finger at me, and I rolled my eyes. “You might just get it.” I mouthed the words as he said them. I was incredibly blessed to have him after what I went through in those first days of my life.

“I know, father, but if I don’t shift today, I won’t be able to train as a warrior and who is going to kill those bastards, huh?” I knew my words would hurt him deeply. My father hasn’t gone through one day without remembering his father and his mate, and the pack that killed his family also killed mine! All I wanted to do was shift so that I could take all of them out!

Everything depended on my wolf being strong and brave. If I couldn’t shift, I wouldn’t be strong enough to fight with the vampires. My entire future … The future both my father and I wanted for our kingdom … Depended on me shifting. It was my sixteenth birthday, and it was a full moon.

My father had been planning my party for months! The excitement was electric all throughout the castle. The vampires spent most of the day sleeping and I just couldn’t sleep! I was very nervous. When the castle started coming to life, I rushed back to my room to get ready. I would be shifting, but my father still wanted me to get my make-up and hair done and he even bought me a special dress for the ball. He popped in as I was getting ready and I ran into his arms.

I needed his comfort. My father has been my rock all these years. I had no pack and no family besides the vampires. Since I would be shifting and the ball was after, I wore my yoga clothes to the party. My father and I were the last to arrive and we greeted our guests on the way in. They were all dressed in their absolute finest! We walked right into the circle of the ball room where my father greeted all of our guests.

They cheered as he told them that I would one day take revenge on those who hurt us all, and then he looked out the window. I was excited, but also incredibly nervous. If I didn’t shift, it would not only be a great shame, but it would mean that I would disappoint my father and our entire coven. I read about it happening sometimes. Not often, but sometimes. If you couldn’t shift, it meant you were human and there was no way that a human could live with vampires.

If you were born human and turned by a vampire, you could … My mind was drifting as it normally did. I felt the bright full moon shine through the window and kiss my skin. At first nothing happened and my heart started to pound and I completely forgot what I was thinking about! What if I didn’t shift? What if I had been born without a wolf?! I was just about to freak out when I felt the first bone snap. It was incredibly painful, but it was also a huge relief.

The bones kept snapping and breaking into their new positions and I fought the urge to scream out in pain as I slowly became a wolf. It felt as though it was taking forever to completely shift, but it finally finished and no more bones snapped. I didn’t even notice the crowd around me as I looked at my paws and I could just die of utter happiness. My fur was the exact same deep chocolate brown as my hair and I had one white paw. I looked up and waited with anticipation for people to cheer and wish me well, but everyone around me looked shocked. Why were they all staring at me?!

“Oh, darling! You look absolutely amazing!” My father cleared his throat. Okay, it was probably a shock for all of them to see me in my wolf form. It had to have been after what they had all been through! I didn’t want to upset anyone any more than I had to and although I knew they were all very happy for me, I knew that seeing me like this was probably not nice.

I looked at my father and he excused me so that I could get ready for the party. When I heard the knock on my door, I knew it was my father who had come to get me. I was dressed in my signature black dress, but this time, it was all sparkly. Before my birthday, I used to wear dresses fit for a younger girl, but tonight I was wearing a full-on ball gown in beautiful black satin.

My father had a beautiful tiara made especially for the occasion and I felt incredible! I shifted and that was the most important thing to all of us. As we walked into the ballroom a second time, my family cheered. My face was covered with a gorgeous black lace mask and silver dangly earrings finished off my outfit just perfectly.

My father led me out onto the dance floor a second time and the music started to play. My father was an amazing dancer and I knew we looked perfect. I had never danced with anybody else, and up to this point, most of our coven saw me as the little princess. Tonight was my coming-of-age party, and everybody knew it. I felt it. My father smiled lovingly at me and I knew everything was going to be okay.

I felt as if I could breathe for the first time in weeks. I could shift. I would be strong enough to take revenge on the people who hurt us the most. It felt as if my life could finally start!