The Luna's Cursed Echo

The pack house shook, a living body trembling in anticipation. My stomach twisted, a captive bird fluttering its wings in my belly. Today. The day I met him. My mate. I curled my hand around the thin material of my plain blue dress, rough cotton, a harsh reminder of the shimmering satins and elaborate laces of unmated females. I nibbled at a frayed stitch, rough texture, a small comfort in the wave of queasy terror sweeping inside of me. I never objected to posing and posturing, never accepted it in fact, but today a pathetic, desperate hope fluttered in my chest. Maybe, just possibly, he wouldn't find me…repulsive. "Gleeful whispers, slivers of glass eager to cut, cut at my ears. ".Elara…always so quiet…so plain." I huddled in on myself, wanting to disappear. My wolf, a fiery, defensive presence, quailed, a small, terrified creature in the face of an impending storm. Alpha Kaelen's booming voice shook the hall, a sound that shook me to my knees. The ceremony was beginning. Each name called was like a hammer rammed against my heart. My palms slicked up with sweat, making my dress cling to my body. "Elara," the deep, rumbling voice of the Alpha was heavy with…something. Pity, possibly? I took a step forward, my legs shaking. The surrounding corridor was a haze. I glanced around at the gathering, my heart a hummingbird in a cage, its angry beats a drum in my chest. And there he was. Liam. Standing tall, a god among men, his wide shoulders and sculpted jaw line a beacon of strength. I gasped for air. He was everything I was not. But his face…his face was twisted in disgust. Pure, unalloyed disgust. It contorted his handsome face, making it…monstrous. I heaved in my belly. That was impossible. Mates were meant…to fit. There was a spark, a pull, a recognition. His eyes, his usual warm, laughing eyes, were ice. They passed over me, a brief, dismissing glance, as though I was a smudge on a carpet, before sliding on. The buzz of speech ceased, a thick, heavy blanket of silence descending over it. The son of the Alpha, the next leader, had found his mate. And he was rejecting her. Me. "I, Liam," his voice was a monotone, a stone cast into a well, "reject Elara as my mate." The words hung in the air, each one a body blow. I stumbled, my knees going weak. I leant on a nearby table to support myself. The blood leached from my face, making my face feel cold, clammy to the touch. My wolf whimpered again, a small, heartbroken sound. I glanced at Liam, my face a silent plea. Please, my eyes begged. Please, no. But his face was set on the floor, his jaw tight. He didn't even look up at me. "Rejected," Alpha Kaelen said, his voice laced with…sympathy? Or contempt? Who was I to know? It was a brand, burned into my soul. I spun around, my legs trembling so hard I almost stumbled over my own feet. I walked, though every cell in my body screamed to get moving faster. I felt their stares on my back, blazing in a brand of disapproval. The whispers, unkind and harsh, chased after me. ".poor Elara…such a clumsy one…no wonder…." I stumbled out of the pack house, night air a relief after the heavy heat of the hall. I didn't know where to go. I just ran, blindly, until I hit the line of trees that edged the forest boundary. The old trees didn't provide comfort, their shadows looming over me like accusatory fingers. I collapsed to my feet in the trunk of a great oak, my body trembling wildly. Tears streamed down my face, silent and heavy, each one a witness to my shattered heart. I wept until my throat ached, until my eyes burned and ached. I wept for my would-be mate, for my stolen future, for the burden of rejection. The moon rode higher, a cold, unfeeling witness to my misery. I stayed there, shaded in the tree's canopy, until day crept in gray between the leaves. I was empty, a hollowness that swallowed everything in sight. The dreamy-eyed maiden yearning for love and belonging was a forgotten Specter. And in the empty, cold quiet of the woods, a lone sour kernel of bitterness took hold. But little did I know that I hadn't seen anything just yet.