The Royals

Prologue

Prologue

The four year old girl sat silently on the carpet, her small legs folded beneath her, her back straight, but her head tilted downwards, staring at a book in front of her.

For a four year old, the book she was reading should've been like reading a foreign language for the first time, however for some odd reason, she understood it. Well parts of it.

Her finger traced under the line of words she was reading, following them at the same pace she was speaking them. The words were soft spoken, a ghost of a whisper on her lips as she tried not to be heard.

"A werewolf's main goal is to find a mate." She recited from the book, her words slightly louder than before as her uncertainty left her - clearly understanding the words below her.

A smile graced her features as she looked back over how much she had read. A total of two hundred and three words. Two paragraphs. Despite it not being much, for the girl it was amazing. Most people her age were still reading children's books, well mainly looking at pictures.

Pictures bored her, she much preferred words so she could imagine what was happening herself and wasn't restricted by the images.

Footsteps sounded outside of the room and her head shot up, instantly looking towards the door where the footsteps had stopped. The door was slightly ajar, she had left it that way as she had forgotten to close it.

"Charlotte? Did you leave the library door open?" A man called from the other side of the door. The voice was familiar to the girl as she instantly clamped her hands over her mouth as if to quieten her breathing. After the man received no reply, the door was pulled shut and the girl assumed that he didn't know she was in there, otherwise he wouldn't have left her in there with the books.

After realising that nobody was going to find her in here, the girl moved from her hiding spot in the corner of the room to onto the comfortable chair near the centre.

As she began to close the book, getting bored of the content inside of it, she noticed something jutting out of the book.

It was a picture. One of her parents and a complete stranger stood behind her mother, with his hands on her shoulders. There was something wrong with the man. His eyes...his eyes were like molten gold.

A bang from downstairs made her jump, and she quickly hid the picture back in the book before the door was flung open.

"There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!" The woman exclaimed before noticing the book in the little girls hands. She quickly took the book and placed it on the highest shelf before grabbing the girls hand and leading her out of the room.

"Mummy? Who was that man in that picture?" She questioned innocently as she gazed up at her mother. The woman refused to make eye contact with her daughter. "What picture?"

"The one in the book."

Her mother simply shook her head before heading into the living room, where a man was sat watching a football game on the TV. "She wants to know who's in the picture, Evan." She spoke.

The man patted the spot on the sofa next to him and the girl hurried to him and climbed on the couch, eagerly facing him.

"Well, my darling Riley. That is the Alpha King."