Shadow of the Werebear King

Others' Expectations vs My Reality

---POV Damon---

“You have got to be kidding me. We may have approved of you, King Radavier, but we have no problem keeping your…daughter’s family at an arm’s length. I’m sure you could have another pup instead.” Why is this nonsense coming back to my mind all of a sudden?

“He’s not worth the title, your highness. His mother is a wolf with wiccan blood! It cannot get any worse than that!”

“Damon?”

“Dirty blood doesn’t belong on the throne.” I felt my teeth grind. Is it because I'm getting closer to my coronation that these thoughts are swarming in?

“Dude?”

“Throw him back to his pack. We don’t need him. He may be the grandson of the most favored king of a millennium, but I will not bow down to that spawn.”

“Damon!” My eyes shifted from the white screen slowly scrolling through one document after another while my beta and gamma looked at me like I had two heads.

Ha…. I think my mother is wearing off on me. “What?” I growled lowly.

“Are you even paying attention, brother?” My beta, Nate, chuckled, and I shook my head with a humorless smirk.

“Either way, paying attention or not, he’s supposed to be on a break anyway. Why are you two here?” Nate shot to his feet and my gamma, Isaiah, jumped to meet him.

“Your highness!” Isaiah breathed out in shock, bowing quickly. “We were totally not going against a royal decree. We were um….” That i***t cannot lie even if it was a life-or-death situation, but his fists will definitely do the talking. Therefore, I will not question his place as my gamma.

“For once, I’ll encourage you to bring him to that bar the group of you frequent. Just get him out of here. He’s starting to grow roots in his office chair.” Gramps scoffed.

I glanced over at the clock and rolled my eyes. “It’s only been a few hours since you all banished me from the office. I’m working on royal business anyway.” Well, I was until I remembered that awful party I was required to attend when Gramps declared me his successor. Just ripping the band-aid clean off.

“Break from everything, Damon.” Gramps pushed, and I sighed irritably before standing to my feet.

“Well, if drinking is involved, you don’t have to tell me twice. Let’s go.” I headed for the door while Isaiah and Nate scrambled after me.

“Have a good evening, your highness!” Nate called over his shoulder, easily making fun of Isaiah in the process.

The sigh of relief from the pair of them made my eyes roll. “Isaiah, you really need to learn how to talk to him.”

“Dude! He’s your grandfather, but he’s our king! He’s the reason why I got my brother back, man. Him and his daughter. Your mother! I have some serious respect for both of them.” Isaiah countered. He’s not alone either. Without my parents and gramps, many families would still be destroyed to this day, including Isaiah’s. However, he unintentionally reminded me of the gaping hole I’ll have to fill before the year’s end. The massive responsibility that, according to others, I am not worthy of inheriting.

Gramps was right. I need a drink.

----------

Werebears. I’m the next king of the werebears. Even in my mind, my looming position still seemed ridiculous. Next to lycans, we are the strongest supernatural shifters in our world. Where is this world, you may ask? Oh, that’s easy. It’s Bodhi Cora. A supernatural’s nirvana. The place my family and I grew up and an oasis for those who have nowhere else they’d belong.

As a child, I was raised no different than my brothers and I thought we were the same. I thought I was stronger and faster because I was the oldest, but on my eighth birthday, it was made known what I was to all species. It was confirmed. I was the next werebear of the Radavier bloodline. The eldest grandson, and now the heir to the entire werebear kingdom. Everyone was so excited, but I was still a young cub being blessed with an enormous weight on my shoulders. Wooo.

Especially since, no matter how many sparkles you land on how my family became as big as it is, I don’t believe in fairytales. The club was a nice distraction, but not for long enough. After we made it back, Nate and Isaiah found…bed warmers for the night, but I volunteered to head home in the wee hours of the morning.

I stared at my hands as I sat in the darkness of my room, hearing the laughter and the screams of the children running through the palace. Gramps was babysitting.

Let’s be clear. They aren’t mine. They are my brother’s.

The lucky son who found his mate at eighteen. The bunny that started popping out kids five months later like a damn factory. That brother. Sam and Johnathan are adorable together and let’s be clear, I don’t hate him for it. It just sucks. There are four of those little lycans now. One set of twins and two older children, just like my siblings and I. My twin brothers will turn eighteen in a few years’ time, and I’m sure the same will happen to them, while I’m still alone…at twenty-eight. As the oldest of the alphas’ children. Even Maicoh and Ravi have each other.

My fathers continue to tell me this is normal, and my siblings are the ones who are the anomaly. That they didn’t find my mom until much later in life, but I don’t want to care anymore about finding anyone. They were even two years younger than me when their souls became whole. The Moon Goddess isn’t going to just drop her in my lap in the middle of a snowstorm like mom had for our dads. Now that I’ll be crowned in a few short months, I have more pressing matters to deal with and it’s not finding a mate. If anything, my mind won’t let me focus on anything else. Until, of course, I’m left in my own silence. Then…it’s deafening.

Again, fairytales are for the previous generation.

Since my grandfather took over the kingdom, werebears far and wide have come back to our little piece of nirvana to find shelter away from poachers and hiding. They didn’t want to worry about humans and their horrid ways. They also didn’t want to worry about the darkness that is well…being a werebear. Out of all the different shifter supernatural creeds, if we are not part of a sleuth, pack, pride, or kingdom, we turn a new kind of feral. All the others are just anxious that they are not a part of a common group. Irritated that they have no one to follow. They are fighting their pack-like instincts. However, bears are a whole different story. With werebears, you wouldn’t be able to tell us apart from any other bear. I mean that in the most literal sense.

I guess that’s where we come in. If I was going to be thrown into a role I didn’t want, I was going to do it well.

Over the years, we started to see many werebears choosing that path. Choosing to blend in with the bears of their region or push poachers away from them and their cubs as they hide out in dens meant for animals. Safety in numbers and all that but that, unfortunately, is a double-edged sword. Fewer and fewer werebears are finding their true mate. Instead, they settle with reproducing with the strongest male. However, that means their cubs are at risk, just like any other bear in the wild, of being hunted by their own fathers. Let alone poachers. It’s sick really, but we are doing our best to figure out how to fix this problem. One of many on my plate.

Once I turned eighteen, I traveled the world with Gramps to find others who haven’t heard of the liberation. Who didn’t know there was another option. Prince Chaz, the i***t who’s family stole what belonged to my family, really destroyed the harmony within our shifter species on a global scale without even realizing it. Almost pushing us to extinction. Now, his name is used to keep kids in line for Goddess’s sake. As a fear tactic. Thankfully, we saved countless souls from deforestation, hunting, isolation, and starvation because of our hard work. Soon, I’ll be responsible for all of them. Whether they want me to or not.

Six months.... That's all I have left before I have to make my decision. Do I continue down this path of hardship or do I finally just disappear? Can I even make that choice? I know I can't. "Disappear to find our mate!"

I groaned loudly and fell back on my bed. "Is that really all you can think about?! We are about to rule an entire kingdom and your first thought always falls back to the mate that doesn't exist."

He growled lowly at my dismissive tone, but he couldn't fault me on my words. They were true. "She does exist. You just aren't trying hard enough! Buried in work and playing human while I'm suffering worse than death over here!"

That....was more melodramatic than usual. I blame it on the plethora of drinks still coursing through my system. I cannot get drunk even if I try, but I did my best tonight. Hey, I was on vacation.

I closed my eyes, trying to think about something else other than the weighted pressure on my shoulders. The pressure I haven’t forgotten for years. The one I initially ran away from.

It’s my job and like I said, I’ll do it well.

The only reprieve I can think of would be my mate. Trust me. I’ve tried other options. I’m almost thirty and I haven’t found her. I've been all over the world and I haven't found her. My bear can stay delusional, but I will not. Every year I get closer to my birthday, I find myself in this rut. I remember all of this pressure that normally sits deep within my mind because loneliness can take many forms. Now I know how Uncle Vince felt. “Damon?” Well, it’s been a minute since I've heard that voice. I raised my head as my mom’s voice rang through my mind. Why did she sound so nervous?

“Yes?” I called back gently. “Is there something wrong, mom?”

“I need you to get Edon and my father and meet us at the shelter. There are more bears that need your attention and asap.” She said hurriedly.

I furrowed my brow and stood to my feet. That’s not good. I guess I can't do anything else but welcome the next much needed distraction.