The arrogant princess and her mate Tom

Maria P.O.V.     I opened my eyes, then gave a command to Arja - the intelligent home automation system - to raise the blinds. Slowly, light began to enter the room giving off a pink, beautiful glow. It was the middle of October. Autumn had just turned its most beautiful golden colors. I loved this time of year. In our area on warm autumn days it was about 17 degrees Celsius so it was perfect. When it was completely light in the room I looked around for my phone. It wasn't on the gold-plated designer nightstand. "m******e, where did I leave it again" I thought and started walking around the room. I checked the floor under my king size bed, the dresser, searched the armchair swamped with clothes (yes yes yes, princesses should be neat and tidy) and the bath room adjacent to my room. I tried to remember last night. I returned to my room after midnight. I shed my clothes in the bathroom and went to the dressing room to get a t-shirt to sleep in. Following that lead, I entered my huge dressing room and walked over to the rack of shirts. In one drawer I found a cell phone. I looked at the display. It was 4:30. "Great! I get up without an alarm clock. Too bad it's so early. I still have 30 minutes of sleep." I sighed. There was no point in going to bed anymore. Every time I went for short nap after waking up, I woke up more tired than before. I walked over to the sportswear closet and pulled out my favorite nike outfit. I put it on and went downstairs. There was no one in the kitchen yet. My housekeeper Asia was coming in a little after 6, and my father was usually away on business. He was more gone than he was in home.     I turned on the coffee maker and while waiting for it to heat up I automatically opened the fridge. I took out two avocados, a banana and spinach. Next to the fruit I put the protein supplement, and the bread. It was a hint for Mrs. Asia what I want for breakfast. Traditionally I had an espresso and headed for the garden door in the living room. The whole wall in the living room overlooking the garden was made of glass and the room was 5 meters high. I was a princess, but I didn't live in a castle like in the old days, but in a huge modern luxurious house on a guarded estate. My neighbors were the most important people in the werewolf kingdom. The Smith family from which came the beta line and the best advisors in the kingdom, Miller in charge of the technical department, Johnes well versed in the day to day law and finance and the 10 other most important families of the coven. The royal family with their advisors controlled the other werewolf pacts and headed one of the most influential ones themselves, the Hungry Wolves. The royal family was currently very small, just me and my father, which made some unrest palpable. Some werewolves wanted to get rid of the kings so they wouldn't have superiors over them and so they would have full autonomy. History has shown that when the royal families withdrew their control over the paths, it was quicker for them to fight. We were mediators of disputes and guarded the balance of territories. My grandparents died long before I was born in a bloody war between the paths, and my mother died at my birth. My father never recovered from that loss.     I walked out onto the terrace and looked at the forest in front of me. It was a private area of nearly 50 hectares, available only to the royal family and their guests. I slowly started to run through the forest. I had a favorite autumn route of 10 kilometers through different kinds of trees so I could admire the millions of colors that nature serves us. As a werewolf I loved the outdoors. Breathing clean air and looking at the world around me. My birthday was only a month away. I was suspicious and hopeful. The moment I turned 18 I was going to find myself with my wolf and my mate. Mostly I felt terribly alone. My father didn't show me any affection. He only spoke to me when he had to, when he was checking up on me. Because I have royal blood, I have more strength and speed than other werewolves. And my Alpha voice was said to be able to force another wolf to self-mutilate, or even commit suicide if the wolf was weak enough. Still, I trained five times harder than the others. On top of that, I had lessons in etiquette, family history, debate psychology, body language, and that, even though all my classes at school were at an advanced level. I slept 5 hours a day and it seemed insufficient to meet my father's requirements.     On my way home I ran into Tom Smith my future advisor and right hand man. He looked as insane as ever. He was 1.9 meters tall, had a beautiful athletic body of a quarterback with broad shoulders and narrow hips, thick black hair, slightly tanned skin. He reminded me of Nat Jacobs from the TV series Euphoria. I liked him physically, but I couldn't get along with him. Every time we tried to talk, we ended up arguing, which didn't bode well for our future relationship. It was partly my fault. I would quickly become frustrated when he admonished me, as his advice often sounded like criticism. Additionally, he had a wonderful family that I envied. At school, I stuck to group with future Alphas and he stuck with Betas and lower level wolves. However, we had almost all classes together as he attended advanced classes just like me. He saw me and pointed at his watch, to which I gave him the middle finger and went home. "Asshole" I took a quick shower, got dressed and went down for breakfast. - Good morning Princess - I heard Joanna's voice from the doorway. - Good morning, Joanna - I sat down in my traditional place overlooking the greenery in front of the house. After a moment the housekeeper served avocado toast and a protein shake - Thank you. Perfect as usual," I smiled. - The King told me to tell you that he will be gone for a whole week and he doesn't know when he will be back - said Joanna. - Nothing new. I accepted, thanks - I shrugged my shoulders and started eating breakfast. I could feel the housekeeper's eyes on me. After a while she stood behind me and started to stroke my long blond hair. - If you want I'll braid your hair for school - she said. I smiled and she nodded. I knew it was an attempt to comfort me. We had been doing this for years.     At 7:25 I stepped out in front of the house and sat on the porch, tugging gently at the front of my hair to let a few strands fall out of my tightly pulled braid. ,,f*****g Tom, as usual, had to admonish me with something." I was occasionally late but he still had to point me out. When he pulled up in his new black Porsche 911 GTS, I ran over and got in casting a quick glance at him. He had black Ray Bans over his eyes making it impossible for me to see his gaze. He didn't say anything so I wasn't going to start any conversation either. I couldn't say why, but I could sense that he was angry. "Something's wrong, as always. Unhappy with me as a father." I bit my lip and stared out the window the rest of the way. Not a word was spoken between us.