The Fifteenth Morning

Chapter 2: The Wedding Night

The wedding hall was empty. Only he and I.

Damon locked the door. His eyes were red with anger.

"You think you won, Elara?" He walked towards me. His Alpha aura was crushing me. "You killed my brother and now you trapped me."

I stepped back until my back hit the wall. "I didn't kill him. I loved him."

"Liar!" He slammed his hand next to my head. "The healer said his wolf stopped beating the moment you marked him. Your curse is real."

Tears burned my eyes. Three years. For three years I heard the same lie. That I was cursed. That I was wolfless and death follows me.

But tonight, something inside me snapped.

A heat rose from my spine. Not fear. Power.

Damon grabbed my chin. "Tonight you will sleep on the floor. You are not my Luna. You are just a punishment I have to carry."

That was the moment my wolf woke up.

My eyes flashed.

Pure silver light exploded from my body. The entire room shook. The windows shattered.

Damon was thrown back across the room, hitting the far wall.

"What... what are you?" He gasped, clutching his chest. His own wolf was whimpering inside him. Submitting.

I looked at my hands. They were glowing. Silver marks, like moonlight veins, were running up my arms.

For the first time in 20 years, I heard her. My wolf.

*Finally, Elara. You let me breathe.*

"Impossible," Damon whispered, his face pale. "You... you are wolfless. The pack said..."

I took a step forward. And for the first time, HE stepped back. The great Alpha Damon was afraid of me.

"The Moon Goddess blessed me, Damon," I said, my voice no longer weak. It was powerful. "She didn't curse me. She made me stronger than you. Stronger than your brother. Stronger than any Alpha in this continent."

The silver light grew brighter. A giant white wolf shadow appeared behind me. Bigger than Damon's wolf. Eyes like blue fire.

Damon fell to his knees. Not because he wanted to. His wolf forced him to kneel.

"What do you want?" he asked, his head bowed.

I smiled. A smile full of three years of pain, humiliation, and tears.

"Revenge," I whispered. "And you, husband, are going to help me take it."

I walked to the door, my silver glow lighting the dark hall.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"To meet the Elder who called me a cursed widow," I said without looking back. "I want to see his face when he sees the Blessed Luna."

Behind me, I heard Damon whisper, "The prophecy... it's true. The Blessed Luna has returned."

The great hall was silent. Two hundred werewolves stared at me as if I were a monster.

Alpha Rhys had not let go of my arm. His grip was iron, painful. He was dragging me, not guiding me, out of the hall towards the Alpha's private wing. I could hear the whispers behind us.

"Cursed widow..."

"Poor Alpha Rhys, forced to marry that wolfless thing..."

"She killed her first mate on the wedding night, what will she do to Alpha Rhys?"

I wanted to disappear. My cheeks burned with shame. My simple white dress felt like a costume.

We reached the Alpha's suite. It was huge, luxurious, with a massive bed in the center, a fireplace roaring, and windows overlooking the entire Blood Moon territory. It smelled of him - pine, snow, and raw power. It was intoxicating and terrifying at the same time.

As soon as the door closed, he threw my arm away as if my touch burned him.

"Listen to me carefully, Elara," he said, his icy blue eyes finally looking at me, but with nothing but disgust. "This is not a marriage. This is a prison. You will live here, in this suite, because the pack must see us together. But you will not touch my things. You will not speak to me unless spoken to. And you will never, ever enter my room without permission."

He pointed to a small door in the corner. "That is your room. It's a servant's quarters, but it's more than you deserve. My room is here. Do not cross the line."

I nodded, tears threatening to fall, but I refused to cry in front of him. I would not give him that satisfaction.

"Why?" I finally whispered, my voice cracking. "Why did you agree to this? You hate me. Everyone hates me."

He laughed, a cold, humorless laugh. "Do you think I had a choice? My brother, Alpha Kael, believes in alliances. Silverfang offered you as a peace offering. They wanted to get rid of you, and we wanted their southern border. You are nothing but a political transaction, a piece of land. Don't flatter yourself by thinking this has anything to do with you."

His words were like daggers, each one stabbing my heart. Piece of land.

"And one more thing," he stepped closer, so close I could feel his breath, his scent overwhelming me. "If you try any of your cursed tricks on me, if I die in my sleep like Jaxon did, I swear by the Moon Goddess, I will come back from the dead and kill you myself."

He said Jaxon's name with so much pain that for a second, I saw something else in his eyes. Grief. He had loved Jaxon. He was mourning his friend.

"Rhys... I didn't kill Jaxon," I whispered, finding my courage. "I swear, I didn't. I woke up and he was..."

"ENOUGH!" he roared, and the entire room shook. His eyes flashed, and for a second, I saw his wolf, a massive, black beast, snarling inside him. "Do not speak his name with your cursed mouth! You wolfless freak! You don't even have a wolf to swear by!"

I flinched and stepped back, hitting the wall.

He stared at me for a long moment, breathing heavily, trying to control his anger. Then he turned away.

"Get out of my sight. Go to your room."

I ran to the small door and opened it. It was indeed a tiny room, with a small bed, a single bulb, and no window. It was the storage room I was used to. I closed the door and finally, I let the tears fall.

I sat on the cold floor and cried. I cried for Jaxon, I cried for my lost life, I cried for being wolfless, for being cursed, for being alone.

And then, it happened again.

The pain in my chest returned, but this time it was stronger. It was like fire, burning through my veins. I gasped, clutching my chest, falling to the floor.

Elara... don't cry...

The voice... it was clearer now. It was female, soft, powerful, ancient.

Who... who are you? I thought in my mind.

I am you... I have always been you... They put a spell... they blocked me...

What spell? Who?

Suddenly, the small room was filled with a soft, silver light. It was coming from me. From my skin. My hands were glowing silver, like moonlight.

My back arched in pain, but it was not just pain. It was power. Immense, overwhelming power was flooding into me, breaking chains that I never knew existed.

Outside, in the main suite, I heard Rhys growl loudly.

"What the hell is that light? What are you doing in there, you witch?"

He banged on my door. "Open the door, Elara!"

But I couldn't move. The silver light grew brighter and brighter. And in the light, I saw her.

A giant, pure white wolf, with silver markings like stars on her fur, and eyes that glowed like the moon itself. She was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. And she was standing right behind me, inside my soul.

I am Lyra, she said, her voice echoing in my head and in the room. I am your wolf. I am the Blessed Wolf. And we have been waiting for a very long time to wake up.

My wolf. I had a wolf. I was not wolfless.

I was the Blessed Luna.

The door burst open, and Alpha Rhys stood there, his eyes wide in shock, staring at the silver light engulfing me, and at my eyes, which were now glowing pure silver.

"What... what are you?" he whispered.

I slowly stood up, the silver light swirling around me like a storm, my tears gone, replaced by a power I had never felt before.

I smiled for the first time in three years.

"Your worst nightmare, Alpha," I said, my voice no longer weak, but echoing with the power of two souls.

And his cruel alpha... was about to fall to his knees.