The Heart of the Forest

Prince Kota is half human and half shapeshifter, and from an early age he learns that people do no approve of him when a group of elite soldiers attempts to murder him. He spends the next fifteen years hiding away in an orphanage, and when he is finally requested back to the palace, he is not only completely unprepared for his role, he also has no desire to be the next king. It only becomes worse when he learns that the man who tried to kill him still works at the palace, and that everyone believes his side of the story, not Kota's. And when what appears to be a freak accident makes him king, all hell breaks loose.