"She's here again."

"The lady in the blue gown is here."

"Her mystery never comes to an end."

"Is it true that she glamours like a rare jewel when she lifts off her hood?"

"No one knows where she comes from yet she outshines everyone of us. I find that very disturbing and threatening, if you ask me."

"Wait, doesn't that make her a rogue then?"

"Oh please, the Alpha allows outsiders in balls only, besides . . . don't be so quick to judge by her cover. She might actually be someone the Kingdom knows, you may never know."

"Right, right."

Audible whispers swept across the room as the hooded lady made her way into the ballroom, the sound of her stiletto heels clicking majestically against the marbled floors. Her hidden eyes trailed across the incredibly grand room, looking for nothing and no one in particular.

Her stomach tightened when she noticed more people drawing near. Of course this always happened whenever she showed up, it's not a new sighting to her.

But instead of freaking out like the few times she visited, she held her head upwards and maintained her composure, holding up the hem of her gown gracefully as she walked through the parting crowd.

Beautiful.

The glowing moonrays that escaped from the golden drapes hanging at the ends of the walls casted its shimmering enchanting aura around the blue robes that flowed behind her, creating a dark, mysterious atmosphere with each movement she made. Including the nervous grin plastered around her lips when she tried to focus her gaze on the scene ahead of her.

Daring.

A few envious snickering reached her ears when she walked past three good-looking women in noble robes, forcing her to halt in her steps and snap her head towards their direction. Her eyes darkening under her covering as the three women looked away with nervous guilty looks.

"It's a shame royal bloods like you shudder at the mere glance of a commoner's eyes. I just wonder, which other feature makes you feel so insecure around such mere presence." Her calm beclouded voice shot through the layers of their souls, sealing the lips of the aggressive wolves within them and putting the musical atmosphere to a complete halt.

Bold.

"May I have this dance, my lady?" A blondie dressed in a black, expensive suit asked, reaching out to kiss the back of her delicate palm. He would do anything to feel her cool touch, but she would do everything to stay away from him.

To stay away from the crowd.

With a polite smile, she held back her hands and rejected his offer, turning down every other offer that followed after.

Not because she was proud, but because she wasn't ready for what comes after a dance.

Authentic.

"Miss, don't mind if I ask—but where does your heart lie in?" A red thick brow was raised when she didn't reply right away, "sports? Hunting? Music?"

A smile appeared on her rosy lips, her eyes sparkling at the delightful times she had in the forests when she was free for the first time in forever.

It was that first time that told her heart what she wanted.

"Well," She started, slowly pulling off the white transparent gloves on her hands. "I dance. And no, you don't play the music. I do."

The crowd suddenly gaped with surprise and admiration, while she blinked at them, completely oblivious that some persons had followed her to the other ballroom.

Kind.

"Hey," She tapped a man's shoulder from behind, bending over to pick up the red rose he had dropped during his hasty moments. "you dropped this."

Her silvery teeth sparkled through her grin when his eyes lit up with a familiar emotion she had come to learn about. Happiness.

"T-thank you, Miss." He swallowed back his shyness and gratefully accepted the rose from her hands.

"Can I da—"

"I'm sorry, but I don't owe any man a dance this night. Maybe next time?"

The young man accepted his fate, quite disappointed at the rejection and nodded with a brief sigh. "H-how did you know I was . . . looking for this then?"

She didn't answer for a while but then, she nudged his arm and nodded to the pouting lady sitting on a bench not far from where they stood.

"Tonight you might just get lucky again if you pour your heart into it." She winked at him and walked away, leaving him and his inner beast to contemplate on their actions.

Fearless.

When she was sure no one was watching, she exhaled deeply and leaned against the polished wall, her action permitting the moonrays have a peek at her flushed, freckled cheeks.

"Snow, are you planning to expose me?" She held her head and slipped her fingers through her long red hair. "I give you one chance. Just one! And you're throwing your throat to the royals—are you serious?!"

"Relaaax, my precious human. Besides, those dumdums didn't even reach my taste—what do you mean? I couldn't let you bore me with your self-conscious chats over and over again. I had to kick their stubborn attitudes back into them! No one talks to me—well, you, and goes away with it." The human's sapphire eyecolor melted into a glowing icy blue, signaling that Snow had now taken complete control over her body. With a smirk, her wolf continued. "You should try it sometime, it's awesooome being in control ya know."

The lady exhaled again, only this time her palms are slammed against her forehead. Her wolf, Snow, was completely different from her real self.

And she had made a mistake of letting her take over her body tonight, because she has refused to do the favor of returning back the control to her human self.

"Let me out, Snow. You're going to get us into trouble soon. I just know it!" The lady whined like a pup as she was now the one being suppressed at the back of her very own mind.

"Just one moooore then we out!" Snow giggled and clasped her hands as her glowing eyes wandered back to the buzzing building. "Just one more time, human. You know this opportunity comes once in four months, or even more than that." Snow blew out her cheeks and stared towards the abnormally large moon in the sky, smiling as it seemed to glow even brighter in response. "I want to be free, just for tonight. Then, that's it, no more nuisances. Umm, yeeees? Or naay?"

The lady sighed and looked over to the direction she was looking with a pang within her. She knew the pain her wolf would be feeling being caged in here for months with no reach to the outside world, and she didn't want to regret anything when the consequences would be weighed down on her.

With a small shrug, she nodded, feeling grateful that her wolf asked for her consent.

If it were to be other wolves, caring for their human sides was the last thing they'll ever attempt.

She shuddered, suddenly feeling the need to wrap he arms around herself.

"One more time, Snow. Just one."

She failed to hide a grin when a growl of happiness roared through the air.

Though her actions come with a price, she wasn't going to let anything come between her and this young night. And like her wolf said, this opportunity comes not twice but once in four to five months. Only during this time is she ever let out in the public.

Noticing the usual daggered glares from her supposed rivals, the mysterious lady—or should I say wolf forced a smile and blew an imaginary kiss to their direction, ending her shameful acts with a daring wink.

When let out in the open, she always loved pulling their tails as they loved pulling hers.

It's a win for a win.

But what could they do? The last time these women tried to harass her, the guards threw them out with a last warning notice from one of the princes in the Kingdom.

"Stop drooling about someone you've not even met, Snow."

"Oh, puh-please, this is my fair share. Shush now," Snow chuckled back to the human stirring within her and focused back on the pups in front of her. "I've some pups to play with."

The she-wolves growled angrily at the Lady's insulting remark, their eye colors; green and brown, twitching to amber waveringly.

And just when they began to approach her again, one of the hefty guards at the entrances turned his head to their direction, his eyes narrowing into a bored one.

He was tired of throwing women out of castles, and so was his angered wolf, Micheal.

"We should kill them henceforth."

"Nah. I'm too filled with drinks to even lift a finger right now. Maybe letting that blue lady finish them off is the best idea—I see the way she looks at them, let them be."

The look settling on his face was enough to send the grumpy ladies across the ballroom in a swift haste, and just like that, they raised their hands in surrender and bitterly left to hunt for their next victims.

With a thankful curtsey to the royal guard, Snow smiled behind her palms and approached what she always loved doing when the crowd started to look for partners to be paired with.

The music section.

Snow quickly held one edge of her flowing gown and used her other free hand to furiously wave at the stunned instrumentalists.

"Did you really have to do that when all the attention's already on you?"

A smug appeared on both of their lips at the comment.

Quickly recovering themselves, they immediately recognized her as the mystery woman that pulled off the music stunts before a group of commoners at the last two balls and gave more than enough room for her to settle in.

"Thank you," Snow whispered, avoiding direct contact with them as she sunk into the soft chair.

"You ready, Snow?"

Snow scoffed and mumbled within herself, "I got this, okay? Just need to breathe in and out, then I'll get to the perfect euphoria."

"Hmm."

Music they say, is the best rhythm to express one's feelings. And right now, Snow was expressing all of her feelings.

The pains she felt being suppressed and forced to fold from the reach of the wolves.

A loud striking note sounded from the strings of the violin tucked between her chin and shoulder, blending with the musical atmosphere around her.

The silent tears she shedded when no one was looking.

Two striking notes harmonized as one and bounced across the walls of the room, catching the attention of nearby dancers.

The abuses her human went through, just to keep her safe. Safe from the selfish claws of the wild wolves, including her own family.

Growl. A bliss of musical notes flowed through the tender atmosphere, slicing through the thick layers of many wounded wolves among the crowd and healing them within a blink.

"Wow, Snowie! You hit the perfect note!"

But Snow was too far from it to even hear the nickname and fangirling screams from the human at the back of her mind. Her energy and mind were all centered on one thing.

Freedom.

With every sob, she ran her fingers across the strings of the guitar laying situated between her laps and at the same time rubbed the bow against the tuned strings of the violin.

"Sweet cheese! She's amazing!"

"Yeah!"

"Lol, I can barely hold a pochette—it's just so heavy!"

"That's a big LOL to you, girl."

"Let's all give a cheer to this wonderful, beautiful shewolf! The lady of the hooour!"

"Lady of the what now?!" She blinked. Attention was one thing, but being stamped as the most important and attractive shewolf in the entire kingdom was another.

That's like saying she's now a part of the Kingdom!

"Snow. Stop this. Stop! Right. Now! We . . . we've to go home, it's getting very late."

Snow blinked with a frown upon hearing her human's demanding request. But she didn't complain nevertheless, she understood her human's motive.

Biting her lips, she growled lowly, "Shit. I smell him."

"SMELL WHO? This isn't the time for smelling people's privacies, Snow! Let me in now! I want control over my—our body." She fumed, wanting to do nothing but dash out of here again, just like the last times she had exited.

She was very determined to keep on making a 'Cinderella' exit, but this time in a slightly different style.

"Make way for ye highnesses, ye wolves of the lands!" A loud, booming voice announced, drawing everyone's attention including Snow's and putting the music once again to a complete halt.

"The highnesses?! Snow, we REALLY have to go now, please."

"Wait. Look carefully, human." Snow whispered, staring at the five expensive silhouettes approaching the grand room.

She complied and focused on her direction, her heart suddenly hammering in her chest when something in the air shifted. Perhaps the aura of dominance?

One by one, the people in the room began falling to their knees, their heads lowered to the ground for the fear of being suffocated by their rulers' authority.

"Snowie."

"Human."

"Let's go for a run." The lady gulped when she looked around to see that she was now the only one standing, the room filled with nothing but silence, except for the breezy sounds from the windows and the tapping of her heels against the cold, marbled floors.

Everything went silent.

Everything except for the sound of heavy breathings across the room. One from the Lady herself, and the other from . . . one of the Alphas.

"Human . . . I think we just made that hot stuff a little bit mad."

The Lady's eyes widened when the princes were already staring at her with curious eyes, surprised that she could dare defy their presences without thinking twice. Though they didn't look crazy about it, the one in the middle looked . . . pissed—like he was almost disapproving of her personality just by a mere glance.

"He's a hotstuff though, we just gonna lay down and—"

Getting back herself, she quickly looked down and unconsciously touched her veiled face, stepping back when the illuminance of their suits started to become vivid as they walked forward to meet the werewolves.

They had golden suits and pants on, a red rose tucked neatly in its side pockets, a pair of silvery gloves on both hands and had different masks on their faces—exquisite ones to match with whoever Luna Audrey matches them with.

After all, this was not just any ball. This was a Mating ball.

"OH MY GODDESS!"

"WHAT SNOW?"

"THE HOT STUFF'S MASK MATCHES OURS! AND I THINK HE ALREADY FOUND OUT! So like, the good news is that he's like reeeally hot . . . the bad news is that we just disrespected him . . ."

Without another word, she quickly turned around, making sure her back was facing their fronts before hiding the sides of her butterfly mask with both palms. Lucky for her, the King didn't see her as she tiptoed to the back of the crowds who were now slowly standing to their feet.

A man suddenly cleared his throat. "Thank you, Alphas of the land for your humbleness. Please, enjoy the night while you still can." His voice started to fade in the distance as the Lady briskly walked out of the room. "Be merry, for the night's still at its youngest. But always remember to look before you—"

Thump.

"Watch it, like yooo—oh my, shoot, I umm . . . ahem," She laughed nervously and quickly curtsied, cursing under breath for not peeling her eyes off him in the first place. "G-good evening, your highness."

She held her breath as he stood there, frozen, his arms folded behind his back as his hidden eyes glued to her flushed face.

"Who I'm I kidding? I'm very very sorry, your highness!" The Lady accidentally exclaimed out of fear and dropped to her knees at once, lowering her head to the ground and shutting her eyes as she continued, "I know you caught me looking, your highness—I really didn't mean to, I—I was, please forgive my manners and don't report me to the King, p-please?"

Then suddenly, the man in front of her chuckled and walked closer to her bowing figure. So close that she could smell the scent of honey and raindrops dripping off of his shoes.

"Get up." Her eyes widened, both at his command and at his—

"Say it. He has a deep, musky, sexy, sex-drippi—"

"Shut up!" Realizing what she just said, she quickly tried to cover it up, "Shut up! Our masks are identical."

His eyes narrowed into a darkened glare and his lips pursed into a frown. He did not like that tone of hers.

"Umm, have fun, I'm going on a short break."

The Lady gritted her teeth and took a deep breath, "Sorry, I'm usually not like this, trust me." She quickly added his title when she noticed his deepened frown, "y-your highness."

"What's your name?" He suddenly asked, finally breaking the corner of his lips into a small smile.

"Qtyplwzlqmhf DID HE JUST SM—" She was immediately thrown into the deepest part of the Lady's mind, where she'll never, ever be able to embarrass her again.

"I, umm," She was nervous and kept looking behind her with every chance she got. What if someone got to see her here? With him?

"Looking if the King catches you out here?" He rose a dark brow and wore a smug as her face turned redder than normal. For a moment he took it as an amusing reaction, but seeing the fear in her half-hidden eyes, he realized something. "Are you trying to run away? Especially after disrespecting him yourself?"

The Lady almost choked on her spit when she heard his words. "E-excuse me?"

Pleased, he replied with a smirk. "I'm the King, little one. The King of this Kingdom and right now, you're challenging my title."

The King expected her to say something, or maybe even react shyly like the rest of the women he has met tonight, but here she was, shaking and staring at him like he was some sort of scary creep.

He knew he was intimidating, but not . . . intimidating enough to scare a lady away.

"T-then who were t-those, y-your highness?" She finally found herself and slammed her thighs together when she noticed his eyes have been staring at the ends of her gown. He seemed, displeased?

"My brothers." He answered, slightly confused by the Lady's agitation. Did she have something with them in the past? He wondered but didn't dare ask, he simply didn't want to care. "I'm the crown prince if that makes you any better?"

And yes it did make her a bit better, but remembering he was the crown prince, her eyes widened again. And this time, she did something a little irritating.

She began to step backward, clutching the hem of her gown like it was the only defense she had.

Realizing this, the King's eyes narrowed into a dangerous glare, his lips curling back to release an angry growl of warning.

She flinched but still compromised with his warnings, her hair slightly giving away the birthmark on her neckline.

His eyes stopped at the tattoo glowing under the moonrays, his cold heart warming in realization.

Slowly, he looked up at her again and smirked when her eyes clumsily fell on his chest. His hard, beautiful chest.

And while she was at that, he moved closer to her, admiring how her red curls selfishly hugged the curves of her chest and swayed under the gentlest breeze. The blue dinner gown she had on also fitted perfectly with the swirl of blue in her eyes.

To him, she looked like a Goddess. His Goddess.

He bit his lips and failed to stop himself from tucking two strands of hair behind her right ear, attempting to steal a glance of what her full eyes looked like.

But sadly, all his attempts failed as she turned her face away shyly, only giving him a quick preview of the nervous sapphire eyes underneath her silvery mask.

"You're beautiful. Have anyone told you that?" His words brushed against her ears, and before she could cover her face again, he held her hands, urging her with gentle strokes to look him in the eyes.

With a shaky breath, she slowly looked back at his face, watching as the black color slowly melted into a dark shade of golden hazel, which indicated that his wolf has taken over now.

Suddenly, his strong hands grasped the shuddering girl, pinning her on the wall by his front so she couldn't find any means of escaping.

"Mate." He whispered, darkness and possessiveness seeping into his tone as he spoke. "But why can't I feel your wolf? Are you . . . human?"

The redheaded Lady didn't respond but tried to wiggle out from the sudden grasp. Not only was his grip strong but painfully traumatizing.

She was very positive that there would be a beautiful tattoo encrypted into her flawless skin.

At this moment, all she wanted to do was run away from this festival. From the King and his subordinates.

"I-I'm sorry, please, permit me to leave, Alpha." She pleaded, lowering her eyes to his feet for she could not stand the huge wave of authority oozing from him.

Involuntarily, she sucked on her lips when she noticed how strikingly gorgeous he looked. His long dark hair fitted the sharp curve of his jaw—eventually kissing it and making it look so ethereal and silky under the moonrays. For a moment, she was curious of how it would feel under her touch.

Her mind then wandered to the soothing ache impacted from the man's gloved hands and how his current eye color blended beautifully well with the colour of his hair. And even though she knew it was something that said 'back off, I'm danger', she couldn't help but get trapped in his beauty.

To her, he looked like a  God. Her God.

Suddenly, her mind recalled his last speech, a lash of fear and shock evident on her face.

He can't feel her wolf, but he feels like they're mates?

"There she is!"

She gasped and got away from the man's arms when he turned to the crowd that was now storming their way into the hallway that they were standing in. There was only one thing she could do in a moment like this.

Run!

"Let me go, please! I beg of you, your highness! I promise you I'll never make a show in your kingdom again." She continued wailing, struggling as his hands got hold of her arm again, tightening against her will.

Then, suddenly, out of nowhere, the words left her lips, faster than she could comprehend.

"Mate."

"Mate?" He cocked an eyebrow in surprise, repeating her statement in a softer tone. The redheaded girl instinctively shuddered in pleasure, but soon goes pale at this new discovery.

"Alpha, don't let her get away! She's that girl that kept using her sling to knock out the poor guards at midnight!"

She can't let any of these happen.

Let alone let her stepmother find out about her escapades. She just wanted to have fun—not the other way round!

The King's eyes darkened and he took a step towards her, while she took three steps back. She watched as his hardened countenance changed to longing and hurt and felt a guilty pang within her soul.

But there was no bloody way she'd render her life to a bloody Alpha. If he found out that she was a rogue then she'll done for.

"Who are . . . you?" He whispered in a dark, sultry voice. He couldn't really unmask her scent but his wolf could tell that she was a strange shewolf. He couldn't even sense her wolf, which made him even more confused as he was sure she wasn't human.

"I . . . I . . ." She walked backwards, clenching and unclenching her sore fingers as the crowd drew closer to watch the drama that was about to unfold. She looked away and facepalmed, "I'm sorry . . . but we can't . . ."

The King's face changed to that of a hardened one again. He had waited ten goddess-damned years for his mate and now that he has eventually found her she was going to slip away from his fingers.

Not on his watch.

He walked closer again, hungrily staring at the fucking mask on her face. "You're not from this kingdom, are you?"

Her eyes widened in fear, but she said nothing.

"It's okay, I personally invited wolves from the nearest kingdoms to partake in this." He seized the opportunity to hold her hand, savoring the sparking feeling that ran down his spine. "We can just summon your pack to live here too and then everything would be—"

"No!" She snapped, and immediately regretted it. "I mean, thanks! But I already promised you that I'd never return here again." She gulped and tore her hands away from his. "Once a wolf, his mate, makes a promise to an Alpha, it should never be broken."

As soon as she pronounced that, the duo's face melted into an expression of hurt and agony.

"Are you fucking rejecting me?" He asked, emphasizing on the word 'rejecting'. Her eyes widened when he cursed, in the public.

Realizing his explicit words, he growled, "Do you think your beauty and desires are no match for me? Is that it?"

She struggled within herself before letting the words leave her mouth, "Nay, Alpha. I think it is you who's just too beautiful for a mere girl like me."

Before he could say anything again, she continued with fear, "I'm in no terms trying to reject you either but . . ." She mused.

"Then what?" He sounded desperate and vulnerable, and for once she almost fell under his spell.

She shook her head twice, fiddling with her veil when she got hold of the London clock at a building, its hands ticking with heavy tick-tock sounds as if to remind her of what awaits her.

00:01.

She was one minute late already. What a bummer.

"Good morning, Alpha. See you when I never see you." She whispered against the wind that was suddenly blowing from the open windows and was ready to vault over the high backed window behind her.

She needed to run back home before anyone noticed her absence—she needed to maintain her supposed dignity as a slave.

And most importantly, she needed to stay away from the one pack that killed her parents.

In her absentminded state, the left hook of her mask began to get loosen and eventually slip off her face, giving a perfect preview of the girl behind the mask.

The only relief was that her back was against his hard chest, her chest blending in with the rhythm of his heartbeats.

There was no going back now.

"What are you doing, my King?" She gritted through her teeth.

He chuckled, quite amused at the sexy nickname she had given him. "This isn't over, mate."

His dark chuckle sent pleasant shivers down her spine as she managed to unwrap herself from his reach . . . their reach, and land into the safest region of the castle grounds.

The recreational grounds.

Ignoring the loud tickings of the massive clock and the sore aches in her joints, she elevated her eyes upwards to the roof ground she had jumped from, hoping that he had gone out of anger and forgotten all about her, but she was very wrong.

He was staring at her, visibly gripping the rail before him with pains and longing.

With tears trickling down her cheeks, she completely pulled up the hoodie behind to cover her head and made some twirls and tumbles across the grounds to get away from the approaching guards, and worse of all, the engulfing night.

"Not even a mask can conceal your identity, my Queen. I'll find you, even if it means searching within the depths of the earth." He growled, clenching the silvery mask in his fists.

This was the only thing he had gotten from her. Not even a locket or an object that could disclose her darkest secrets!

Just a fucking, sexy mask.

What did this look like to her?

A cinderella tale?!

Not only had she spat on his face but that of his ego—including his wolf, Grayson. His wolf was going to suffer this little insult the most and he hated it.

"Take this to the west wing of this palace and place it in the enchanted glass case." He commanded the silhouette behind him, not peeling his eyes off the disappearing figure on the distance. "I've a strong feeling that it'll find her out before she does." He grinned, knowing fully well that he always loved games like these. Especially ones where he'll stop at nothing to be the one to declare the game over.

____________

Do you think this young King-to-be deserves a chance with this red headed?

Would she end up being Cinderella?

Most importantly, would her hide and seek games be 'game over' soon?

Note to remember: This is a prologue, and this book is the first in the At The Strike Of Midnight Series.

Drop your thoughts down! I'd love to hear them as this is my first STANDING werewolf story in the history of Wattpad 😂