The Crystal Kingdom

Long ago there was a kingdom that was known for its powerful warriors and just rulers. What made this kingdom different from others was that it was protected by magic. This magic was generated from special Crystals that were kept inside the --appropriately titled-- Crystal Palace in the royal city Daimonia.

The neighboring kingdoms craved the power of the Crystals and frequently attacked the royal city. Never were those other kingdoms a match for the knights and warriors of Daimonia, but one day the attackers managed to breach the impenetrable defense of the city.

They relentlessly attacked the city until they reached the palace. Just as the Crown Prince was fighting the perpetrators off the leader of the opposing army somehow managed to reach the King and Queen. As the leader was about to kill the two rulers, the King activated the Crystals.

The King knew what effect this would lead to but did so anyway. He knew that he would die sacrificing himself in the process of protecting his beloved family and people. And at the moment he unleashed the Crystals power the people of the kingdom understood what would happen to them.

When the unstable magic was unleashed from the Crystals all the enemies were instantly killed and banished into the deepest parts of the nether world. The King died and the entire kingdom was enchanted due to the unstable power of the Crystals. Immediately woods replaced the immense structures of the kingdom and up sprouted flowers and other greenery. As the entire kingdom was transformed into a forest the Crystals broke and scattered it's shards throughout the land. The inhabitants took over the appearances of animals, and many lost their sense of being.

Many years later when the Crystal Kingdom was nothing more than a story a town was built on the outskirts of the enchanted forest; and years after that, another kingdom formed.

In this kingdom there were three sisters. They weren't ordinary girls, they were princesses. The eldest, Jasmine, was 18 and was known throughout the land for her musicality. No one, not even the ever performing gypsies, could sing as beautifully as Jasmine could. The middle sister, Arabella, was 17 and possessed beauty that every woman envied and a mind quicker than a fox. And the last sister was Aurora who was 16.

Aurora was pretty and clever but not beautiful and quick minded as Arabella. Aurora could sing and play instruments but never like Jasmine could. She was everything her sisters weren't. She was naïve and she was always curious.

Aurora was always sneaking out of the castle to go hangout in the town that surrounded the castle. Not one of the town's people ever knew she was the youngest princess when she went to hangout with them. She was just another village girl. Aurora loved that. She loved stepping out of the role of being a princess even if only for just a little while. She loved that she didn't have to act as a princess around the town's people, but as a normal teenage girl. Aurora craved the simple life that she knew that she could never hope to obtain.

On one cold winter day the King and Queen decided that it was time for their daughters to be married. So they called their daughters in to the King's study to discuss the matter.

"You have all reached the age where it's time to start families of your own," said the King. "You are to all be married to fine suitable young princes."

"You may pick your husband of course," the Queen added quickly throwing her husband a warning glance.

"Oh, why of course," added the King sheepishly.

The princesses pondered on this for a minute. True enough girls don't usually get married at sixteen to eighteen years old, but that only held true for normal girls. They were princesses and were expected to be married at a young age.

The three sisters knew that their parents were going to bring up the topic of their marriage any day now, and they already knew how to choose their husbands.

"Mother, father we wish to hold a ball," presented Arabella.

"A ball?" questioned the King, "For what purpose?"

"To choose our husbands of course," answered Jasmine.

"We wish to hold a ball with every suitable prince present," explained Aurora.

Arabella nodded to this and explained further. "If we are to marry, then we are to marry princes who accept each and every part of who we are. My sisters and I plan on showing them just that. Think of it as showcasing our talents."

Aurora was displeased with this idea from the very first time Arabella ever brought it up in their discussions. Aurora knew she could never oppose Arabella because Jasmine also agreed to the conditions, making Aurora out numbered. Aurora had no special talents. What prince would want to marry a princess with no talents what-so-ever? She knew all the princes will just flock to Jasmine's melodic voice and Arabella's beauty.

"What an interesting idea, I like it," said the Queen. The King nodded in agreement.

"It's decided then," began the King. "The ball shall be held in a fortnight, on winter solstice."

"Agreed," said the sisters in unison; one more reluctantly then other two.

A week after the discussion with her parents, Aurora decided it was time for another trip to the town. She was overwhelmed with all the preparations for the ball and needed a brake. At noon when everyone was busy decorating and sending out invitations for the ball, Aurora went out to the stables; which were located at the back of the castle.

She made sure to change out of her royal gowns and into something that would help her blend in with the town's people. Aurora tied her long auburn hair up and left the stable where she kept all her village trinkets at.

For the rest of the afternoon Aurora traveled around town, bought herself lunch and chatted with some people. While she was talking to the owner of the Bakery she over heard some people talking about the upcoming ball.

"Look at those princesses throwing another ball," said some man passing by.

"Yea they're always having a ball of some sort," replied his companion. "But," he added, "I heard this is not an ordinary ball, but one that will determine who the princesses will marry."

"Is that so?" said the first man.

"Yea but only princes and other royalty are allowed to go."

"Well, geez, they don't even give us normal guys a chance."

"Yup well that's royalty for ya'" The two men were out of hearing range now and Aurora couldn't hear the rest of their conversation.

"Miss, are you ok?" asked the baker who was trying to get Aurora attention for some time now.

"Oh! I'm sorry, what did you just say?" apologized Aurora.

The baker sighed, "Young women these days. Well never mind what I said it's getting late, your parents will be worried sick over you, especially with the talk of wild animals going around lately."

"Wild animals?" mused Aurora.

"Geez missus, don't tell me you haven't heard of the animals from the woods wandering into town?" Aurora shaked her head to this and the baker sighed and explained further. "Well there's been some talk of wolves coming out of the forest and picking off the livestock of some of the villagers."

"The wolves don't live close enough to the town though. I thought they just stayed to themselves and their pack in the center of the forest." said a shocked Aurora.

"Yes well I guess they're running low on food. Someone better get rid of those mangy creatures before they start attacking the villagers!" concluded the baker.

Aurora thanked the baker for informing her of this, paid for her bread and was off. While walking back to the palace Aurora's mind was off wondering about the wolves. They never caused any trouble before and even helped out guards patrolling the forest a few times before. This puzzled Aurora and before she knew it she was back at the stable in the castle.

She changed out of her villager clothes and back into her royal gowns. She walked back into the castle and while still deep in thought, bumped into someone.

"Oh my apolog—" Oh my God. Aurora thought to herself. She bumped into probably the single most handsome guy she has ever laid eyes on.

"I'm sorry milady." apologized the mysterious gentleman while he bowed to Aurora. He had the most peculiar hair color. It was bronze and slightly misshapen but in a way that looked natural. He had alabaster skin and—whoa. Aurora thought. Are his eyes a-amber?!

It wasn't until the mysterious gentleman gave her a curious look did Aurora realize that she was starring at him.

"I'm sorry!" flushed Aurora and she quickly walked away from the man who probably was no older than 19. As Aurora practically ran away, the man thought to himself what a strange girl shrugged and continued walking down the corridor.

Another week flew by and it was finally the night of the ball. Throughout the whole week Aurora acted strangely, thinking nothing but of the amber-eyed man and the wolves. She was rebuked by her sisters countless of times during the week because of her mishaps while preparing for the ball. Jasmine and Arabella gave up on their younger sister and dismissed her from setting up the ball. Not that Aurora didn't mind, it was that she had nothing to keep her mind off of the handsome man and the strange behavior of the wolves; which made her behave even more strangely.

It was minutes from their entrance and Arabella was talking to her sisters.

"Jasmine stop fidgeting and Aurora will you please stop playing with your dress." admonished Arabella.

"I don't like this dress!" exclaimed Aurora. "I think it's hideous and plus its PINK!"

Jasmine stopped fidgeting and laughed at Aurora's remark. "Well maybe if you stopped daydreaming about who-knows-what this week, you could've picked out a dress you liked."

Aurora huffed at this and Arabella smacked her over the head. "Don't make that face. Come now the ball's starting." at this Jasmine and Aurora brushed themselves off and waited until the doors of the ballroom opened. The sister walked out and the ball started.

Aurora was surprised at all of the princes that showed up. They were all different shapes and sizes. Some men were tall and gallant looking others were short and fat. Some even a mixture of all four qualities. None of these men piqued Aurora interest until she came across a familiar face.

It was the amber-eyed man from last week. Aurora was shocked to see him here at the ball and was too slow to turn her gaze away from him as he turned around and caught her stare. He smiled her way and walked over to where she and her sisters were standing.

"Good evening milady," he greeted and took a deep bow.

Aurora was about to reply to him when she realized that he was not talking to her. He was starring right at Arabella. Arabella wavered for a split second, taking in his presence and then replied while slightly blushing:

"Good evening."

He asked Arabella if she would like to dance with him and she quickly replied with a yes. Aurora was completely exasperated by this occur in events. Later on, while Arabella took some time away from chatting with the princes, did Aurora learn from Arabella that the prince's name was Adonis. And by the looks of it, thought Aurora, Arabella liked him a lot and vice versa. Aurora was very upset that by the end of the ball both of her sisters found someone to marry and yet she was the only one who didn't.

Aurora was jealous of Arabella because Aurora herself liked Adonis, but she knew that it would never work out between him and her. She was devastated that there was not a single man at the ball that she found attractive.

The next day the girls' parents called them in to talk about who they choose to marry. Both Jasmine and Arabella had someone but not Aurora. Her parents questioned her as to why she didn't find a prince and Aurora answered truthfully that she didn't like anyone; which was technically a lie because she liked Adonis but gave up on ever marrying him.

The King and Queen talked to Aurora alone on the matter of finding a prince and told her that they were going to pick someone for her since she couldn't find a prince herself. Aurora was furious.

"I refuse to marry someone I don't have feelings for!" yelled a very angry Aurora.

"We gave you the opportunity to find someone and you failed to do so," replied the King in an equally harsh tone.

The Queen sighed and said gently to her fuming daughter "Your father is right, sweetie, we are just going to have to pick someone out for you."

Aurora refused to let this happen and ran out of the room. She was devastated by her parents' decision and knew she couldn't stand to be in the castle any longer. She ran into her room and took the thing most precious to her; a necklace with a single crystal. Her grandmother gave it to her when she was little. She was the only person Aurora was ever able to relate to. It's been passed down from generation to generation always to the youngest daughter. Aurora cherished this necklace and every time she wore it she could see the jealousy in her sisters' eyes. The necklace was the only thing her sisters could never hope to obtain.

After she took her necklace Aurora ran out of her room and was out the castle with her sisters chasing behind trying to stop her. Their attempts failed and Aurora ran into the forest.

Aurora ran so deep into the forest that, unbeknownst to her, she ended up in the center of it. The center was the darkest part of the forest that contained gigantic imposing trees with huge branches that blocked out the light from the sun. It also contained the fiercest of animals.

Aurora was so angry that not until the sun disappeared behind the immense trees did she realize where she was. It wasn't until it got eerily quite did she realize what part of the forest she was in. It wasn't until something growled that she realized she was somewhere that she wasn't supposed to be. And that something sounded big.

"Well look at what we have here." came a voice from the right of Aurora in the shadows, "A little princess that came to play."

At this, Aurora sharply turned to the direction of the voice. She was in no mood for games. "Who's there? Show yourself!"

The voice chuckled. "You're in no position to be giving orders, girl. Or do you prefer formalities, princess?" the voice added sarcastically.

Aurora deduced that by the deep voice that this thing, whatever it was, was male. "Which ever you prefer my dear sir." her voice laced with venom in each and ever one of those words.

What ever that was in the shadows jumped out and into Aurora's view. It was very displeased by the tone of her voice and was visibly angry.

"You got what you want, girl; happy now?"

Immediately after he jumped out of the shadows, Aurora was struck in fear. Never in her life had she ever seen an animal so immense. It was a wolf that much she was sure of. At least appearance wise it was a wolf. That thing is bigger than a horse! Aurora thought to herself.

"What are you?!" Aurora asked in fright.

"What does it look like?" asked the wolf sarcastically. When he spoke other animals started to appear from behind trees and out of shadows. More wolves, cheetahs, birds, bears, in fact there had to be so many different animals there that Aurora didn't know where to start. Aurora was surrounded by the animals in no time. She didn't know to be afraid of the fact that most of the animals were bigger than her or that they all looked like they wanted to eat her.

"You don't have anything to say now? Funny because a couple of minutes ago you weren't so shy." said the wolf challengingly.

Aurora wasn't about to back down. She stood up straight and looked the wolf right in the eye. She wiped all traces of fear from her visage. I'm not about to have some wanna-be-Alpha-Male wolf intimidate me. She thought. Aurora stood her ground against the animals even though in her mind she was completely frightened. She didn't let her fear show and slowly turned around in a circle and looked every animal in the eyes. After this she starred into the wolf's eyes; who she now assumed was in fact the leader.

"What's that you flea bitten pup?"

The wolf gave an angry growl and lunged himself at Aurora. He knocked her down to the floor and hovered above her.

"I have every right to rip your head off right now." he growled.

"Why don't you then?" taunted Aurora.

The wolf didn't answer to this but just glared down at her. He turned to a couple of wolves and they nodded. He got off of Aurora and walked away. Aurora was confused by this but not for long. The wolves that he somehow communicated to went up to Aurora and by biting her sleeves picked her up and dragged her after the leader.

Two days has passed and still Aurora remained in the forest. When the wolves took her they brought her to the biggest tree in the forest. The tree was the home to all the animals under the Leaders command. To Aurora surprise, when they entered the base of the tree, it was hollow. There were roots that winded up like stairs and some branches connected to other trees that surrounded this one. Aurora assumed that those trees must be hollow like this one.

Aurora was placed into one of the rooms near the top of the tree. The animals never paid her much mind. They acknowledged her presence but that was about it. The wolves that guarded her door would sometimes answer her questions but she was always asking questions.

"When are you going to let me go?" asked a somewhat annoyed Aurora.

"…"

"Ugh! Fine don't answer me then!"

Aurora was getting tired of getting no answers from these animals. No one ever told her what she wanted to know. She was about to yell some more when the leader came in.

"Will you stop yelling already it's getting annoying, girl!" he yelled.

"When are you going to let me go?" Aurora asked again.

"Whenever I feel like doing so."

"Listen—uh, you… what's your name?" now that she thought about it, Aurora had no clue to what the wolf's name was. He was surprised by her question.

"It's Rae." He answered.

"Oh, well my name is—"

"I already know what your name is." Rae snapped.

Aurora didn't know what to say to this and just replied with an okay. She turned around and sat on the bed; if you can call it a bed. It was a soft pile of many different types of animal furs that was actually quite comfortable.

"Get up." ordered Rae.

"What?"

"We're going out, now get up."

Aurora didn't have time to protest to this since Rae started nudging her to get up with his muzzle. So she got up and followed Rae out of the tree. She followed him and in a little while they arrived at a stream. Aurora sat down near the edge of it and Rae surprisingly sat down next to her.

"Why did you run into the forest?" Rae questioned after a couple moments of silence. "Didn't you hear the rumors of the animals that live here?"

Aurora was taken aback by his question but answered him truthfully, "This is the only place that I knew that my family or the palace guards won't come to look for me in. Plus I'm not afraid of a couple of animals."

Rae was confused by her answer. "So you're running away?"

"Well…yes I suppose I am."

"Why? Don't you have everything you could ever want at the castle?"

"It's not about that… it's a long story."

"I've got time."

Aurora was surprised by Rae's response and turned her head to look at the wolf. He kept starring ahead of him and nodded for her to start her story. At this Aurora told him why she ran away. She told him about the discussions with her sisters about choosing husbands, she told him about meeting Adonis, she told him about the night of the ball, and she told him about the argument with her parents. Rae listened to all of this.

"And that's how I ended up in the forest." Aurora concluded.

Rae was silent for a moment, thinking about everything Aurora just told him. "Come on," he finally said. "Let's go back to the Grante, it's getting late."

"The Grante?"

"The tree," Rae explained.

"Oh."

They walked back to the Grante silently. When they reached Aurora's room Rae said something that surprised Aurora greatly.

"Aurora," he started. "You may stay here for as long as you want." After he said this he walked away.

Aurora was shocked by this. Actually she was shocked that he said her name. He never called her by her name before. It was always 'girl' or sarcastically 'princess.' When she got over that Rae called her by her name that she realized what he said. He said that she could stay in the forest! Wow, Aurora thought, I guess he's not so bad after all.

For a month Aurora and Rae went to the stream everyday. They talked about a lot of things. Actually at first it was only Aurora talking and Rae asking the questions. After over a week of that did Aurora start asking him the questions. She asked Rae about all the animals that were under his rule, she asked about how he could talk (since normal animals can't talk), and she asked him about himself in general. Rae found a way around a lot of her questions in the beginning but after a while started answering her truthfully.

"Let's try this again. Why can you talk?" Aurora asked for the billionth time.

"Well why can you talk?" Rae countered.

"Ugh! Why must you be so difficult! Animals aren't supposed to be able to talk."

"I wish I could say the same for you humans."

"Hey!" Aurora playfully hit him when she said this.

They've both become very close with each other so when she hit him, Rae pushed her into the shallow stream. Aurora fell right over into the stream. She immediately got up and started to chase Rae for pushing her in. She yelled for him to get back here and fight like a man and he reminded her that he was a wolf. After a good hour of this Rae let Aurora catch him and with Aurora's impact of tackling him they fell to the ground.

"Can you get off me you're very heavy," said Rae teasingly.

"Oh is the big-bad-wolf so weak that he can't stand having a mere human girl sit on him." countered Aurora.

"Only when that human girl weighs a thousand pounds," joked Rae.

Aurora huffed at this and didn't get up. When Rae realized she wasn't going to get off he just simply stood up causing Aurora to fall to the floor.

"Hey not fare!" Aurora said.

Rae laughed, "Come on, lets go back to Grante the sun's setting."

Aurora got off the ground with help from Rae and they started to head back to Grante. When they got close to Grante the sun had just set and the moon was coming up. Rae told Aurora to stay close when it got dark. Just as he was telling her this there was a rustle from the bushes behind them. Rae started to growl and his fur stood up.

A pack of five wild wolves, much smaller than Rae, emerged from the bushes and attacked. They headed for Aurora and Rae immediately went to protect her. The wolves jumped on him and Rae started clawing and biting at them. The only sound that was heard was snarls, growls, and bones being broken.

"Aurora run!" Rae screamed between snarls and bitting.

Aurora, even though she didn't want to leave Rae by himself, ran. She knew the way back to Grante by heart now so it was no trouble finding the path there. Just as she thought she got away from the other wolves something growled behind her. Aurora sharply turned around and there stood one of the wolves. It lunged at her and the impact knocked her out. The last thing she saw was teeth coming down on her neck.

"I can't believe I let this happen. Twice already did I fail to protect someone dear to me!" yelled a deep voice.

"Stop putting your self down, she's fine. You didn't fail at protecting her." said a softer voice, perhaps female.

"But look at—"

"No buts," said the female voice. "She's fine and that's all that matters. I've never seen you lose your composure over some girl like this before."

There was silence for a minute. Then the male voice spoke.

"That's because I love her." There was a short silence then he said, "She can't stay here, she'll just end up getting hurt again."

Aurora awoke from the strange dream she thought she was having, about a mother and a son arguing. The dream ending when the son said he loved someone.

"I see you're awake." said a female voice.

"Where am I? And where's Rae? Is he ok?" Aurora asked.

The other woman laughed. "He's fine don't worry about him. Just worry about getting yourself better."

"So I'm not dead?"

"Heavens no! Rae killed the wolf before that wolf could do any harm to you."

"Oh, I see."

When Aurora looked at who was speaking she realized that it was a lioness. Up until now Aurora didn't see a lion before in the forest.

"Who are—"

"Mother you can leave now." interrupted Rae as he walked into the room.

Aurora eyes bulged. Mother?! But she's a lion and he's a wolf? How is that possible? Rae's apparent mother nodded and left the room. When she was gone, Rae finally spoke to Aurora.

"How are you feeling?" Rae asked.

"Fine, but you must be in worse shape than I am. You took on all those wolves at once I can only imagine how wounded you must—" Aurora looked over the wolf. He didn't have a scratch on him. "How are you not wounded at all?"

Rae ignored her question. "Good, now you can leave."

"What, leave where? Rae what are you talking about? You didn't even answer my question." as Aurora said this she got off the bed. Rae was glaring down at her.

"Need I simplify this? I said get out."

"I d-don't understand."

"I'm tired of you being here, you annoy me. Now get out. I never want to see you again and don't think of ever stepping a foot into the forest again."

Aurora had tears in her eyes as Rae said this. "But Rae, I lov—"

"Get out!"

Aurora ran from the room and just as she was about to run down the branch-stairs she yelled back at him, tears streaming down her face.

"I knew you could be sarcastic and if you had to firm. But never were you cruel and heartless!" She ran out of Grante and as fast as she could out the forest. She ran back to the place where she never wanted to step foot in again. She ran back to the castle.

As Aurora was going through the castle gates the guards spotted her and called for her parents. In no time the King and Queen came running towards Aurora with her sisters behind them.

"Aurora where have you been?" her father started to say and noticed her tear streaked face. But his wife got to that before he did.

"Honey what happened to you?" her mother said and pulled Aurora into a tight hug.

Both her sisters had questions for Aurora too but knew they should save them for later when they saw the state their little sister was in. Jasmine told everyone to get inside before someone catches a cold and Arabella went to get one of the maids to fetch something warm to drink.

After the royal family was inside the castle in a warm room, did all the questions begin. They asked Aurora where she's been for the past month and what she's been up to. They all apologized for whatever they may have done to her. Her parents especially apologized for this and told her that she didn't have to get married anytime soon. That's when Aurora spoke.

"No don't apologize. You were right and you should go ahead and pick my husband." stated Aurora.

"You were so mad before about this idea, what's brought this—" her father started to say but her mother nudged him hard in the ribs when she saw her daughters reaction.

"Whatever you want, sweetie. We have the perfect prince in mind." Said her mother. Aurora's father whispered to her mother that no they don't and his wife smacked him across the head.

Aurora just nodded and told her sisters and parents that she had a rough day and wanted to go to sleep. They all agreed to this and Aurora went to her room. Before she went to sleep she took off her crystal necklace that appeared to be glowing but Aurora brushed this off as the moon's light reflecting off the crystal. She went to bed and cried herself to sleep.

"Rae will you please stop moping around, it's been three weeks since you kicked that poor girl out." said his mother.

"Leave me alone," responded Rae.

"No I won't, and look at your people!" began his mother. "They need food and when was the last time you went hunting? I don't care where you get it but go find some food."

Rae knew that if he didn't go out and hunt for food soon, his people were going to starve. He agreed to go look for food, gathered his pack and went out to look for food. Their hunting spot: the castle town.

It was the day of Aurora's wedding. Three weeks have passed since she's seen Rae and for three weeks she's felt tortured. The prince that she was going to marry was someone name Emmett and it turns out that he was a relative of Adonis. For the pass two weeks she's been busy getting ready for the wedding, picking out her dress, sending out invitations, and other minor details.

Little did Aurora know that on that very same day a certain wolf was very close to where she was.

Rae and his pack didn't usually hunt in the daylight. If you could call what they were doing hunting. They went to the village and were about to pick off some farmers animals when Rae over heard a conversation.

"Today's the princess's wedding." said a man.

"You're right, today's Princess Aurora's wedding day!" replied his companion.

Rae ears twitched when he heard that name. He stopped advancing toward the animals and hid himself so that he could hear the conversation.

"After her disappearance it's funny that she's getting married before her sisters." said the first man.

"I heard that she wanted to get married as soon as possible. Not even in a church! It's being held in the castle." replied the other.

That was all that Rae needed to hear he started to run to the castle where the wedding was being held. There was no way that he was going to let Aurora get married. Not to some other man at least.

Aurora was finishing her vows. She looked up at the man that she was about to be married to. He wasn't ugly but definitely not has handsome has his cousin, Adonis. Emmett was very tall and muscular. He had an air of strength around him. He seemed nice enough but Aurora just couldn't get her mind off of Rae.

"Does any one have objections to this marriage? Speak now or forever hold your peace," said the aged priest. Aurora thought that the priest was about to fall over dead any minute due to old age.

Just as the priest was about to announce Emmett and Aurora husband and wife a loud howl was heard throughout the hall. After the howl ceased, someone, or something, barged though the double doors of the palace.

It was none other than Rae and his pack. Everyone one in the hall screamed and moved towards the walls. Aurora was furious by this.

"What do you think you're doing here?" she shouted at Rae.

"I'm a tad upset that I didn't get an invitation." Rae said sarcastically.

"No animals allowed," retorted Aurora.

"You're not getting married to him." Rae said annoyed.

"Why not? At least I know he's not going to kick me out."

That struck a chord in Rae. He looked down. "I had my reasons for that." he started to explain.

"Reasons? Meaning you wanted to hurt me. Well you succeeded in that!" yelled Aurora.

"You're wrong!" screamed Rae. "I was scared. I-I was scared of you getting hurt again. I never wanted to put you in a position where you could wind up hurt or even worse."

Aurora started to walk down the aisle towards Rae. "And you thought I would be better off without you? I love you, Rae."

When she spoke these words her necklace glowed. The crystal's light blinded everyone in the hall and she was forced to close her eyes. When the light died down and Aurora opened her eyes, the Rae that she knew was no where to be seen. Instead of the huge wolf there in his place stood a man.

He looked around the age of seventeen and was extremely hansom. He had bright blue eyes and naturally tan skin. His hair fell across his shoulders and was jet black. He was so handsome that his beauty could even rival Adonis's.

"Where's Rae?" Aurora asked frightened that he might have left.

"What are you talking about? I'm right here duh." said the man who was standing in front of her.

"R-Rae?" Aurora's eyes widened in shock. The man and the wolf that grew to love had the same deep voice and manner of speaking. "It really is you!" as she said this she ran into his arms.

Rae went to catch her and realized that he had arms. In fact he had a whole human body. Not just him, but his whole pack too.

Aurora asked him how did this happen and Rae was just as confused as she was; until he spotted her necklace.

He asked her where she got that from and Aurora explained that her grandmother gave it to her and it's been passed down from generation to generation. Rae told her that her crystal was no ordinary one but one that was apart of the powerful magic Crystals. Aurora said that that story was nothing but a fairy tale and Rae assured her that it wasn't.

Rae explained how he was turned into an animal and how his whole kingdom was turned into a forest. He explained that they've been looking for all the pieces of the Crytals for years now. They both walked out of the castle and sure enough there was no more forest. Instead there was a huge city with spiraling towers and a huge palace in the center.

"Aurora I never told you how I felt about you." Rae began. "I love you and I was a fool to ever let you go."

After he said this he proposed to her and of course Aurora said yes. They got married immediately after (since the priest was still there).

Rae's kingdom was restored along with his people and he and Aurora got married. They both merged their kingdoms into one and it became the most powerful to ever be known. Aurora sister's got married too! And everyone lived happily ever after.

THE END