The Moonbound Bride

Chapter 16

The Past

BLADE

The Moonbeam Kingdom was eerily quiet at night in the era of the 1800s. A mystical, magical bluish glow blanketed the sky, and a silvery tinge from the stars shimmered over the grand Astral Palace. Astral—a celestial name, but the ones who resided there were tigers. Shapeshifters.

Carnivores? Yes, absolutely.

The ruling bloodline was the Harlows-a family both revered and feared. The Harlows ruled over the smaller kingdoms, and the Moonbeam Kingdom held the highest rank among them all. Legend says the moon itself birthed them, which is why they were considered superior. No one truly understood their divine connection to the moon, or what purpose the moon had crafted them for. But no one dared question them.

Their king—me—was not like the others.

My name, once, was Marcus Harlow. Not Blade. Blade was a name given to me later—by you.

Unlike some of my subjects and family members, I was kind. Empathetic. Generous. And it was for those reasons that the moon chose me. I was not born with the thirst for blood that the others carried. The moon had placed a special gift in me-because I was pureblooded. No human blood flowed through my veins.

The Great Gibbous itself announced: "Marcus is the one. Born the purest of them all. His fangs shall never be stained by blood, and for that, he shall be granted immortality."

That night, I was crowned king. My title rose above the rest, though deep down, I knew not everyone was pleased. Some of them hated me for it—for my strength, for my grace, for my power. But I accepted it. I was born to lead, and I ruled with elegance and a still heart.

The morning after the coronation, the entire kingdom celebrated. Festivities stretched across the lands in my name. But among the sea of joyous faces, envy still lingered in the shadows.

Katherine—my stepmother—was never one of them. She was the sweetest soul I knew. She treated me as if I were her own, even more tenderly than she did her children, Noah and Amelia.

Still, my heart was heavy. My own family had not truly embraced me. My parents offered congratulations, but I had always felt like an outsider among them. Maybe it was my purity—my difference—that created the distance. They didn't hate me. But they didn't invest their love in me either.

And as I stood there, trying to swallow the ache inside me, I saw him.

Viktor Dumnorix.

My childhood friend.

The second I saw him, I knew the night would shift. He would lift my spirits—he always had. We had played together, trained together, grown up side by side. If no one else stood beside me, Viktor always did.

Without hesitation, I rushed to him and embraced him tightly. Before he could even return the hug, I caught a wide smile on his face. That smile—the one that made the world feel like it could be okay.

With Viktor's arrival, the party began to feel real. I found myself smiling, engaging with the guests, speaking with confidence. Just having him there brought me back to life.

And for the first time that night, I began to believe I could rule... not just the kingdom, but my destiny.

The kingdom was thriving. Everything was going well—until one day, while hunting wild animals in my jungle, just like in the dream you had... I saw you.

It was a beautiful evening, the moon bearing silent witness. It was massive in the sky, glowing with a divine brilliance. Everything felt surreal. I remember—I was in my tiger form. And there you were, standing still... unfazed. Your eyes bored into mine like you had known me forever.

I was mesmerized by you from the very beginning, even though I knew—humans and tigers could never be together.

I didn't want to hunt you. But you followed me.

To kill me.

I ran from you, not in fear—but because I recognized who you were.

Back then, your name wasn't Lyra Faxon. It was something else.

And then, at a halt—face to face—you said:

"How much longer will you run from me, tiger? You have to be tamed. By me. You can't hunt here. You need to calm the animal within. And I'm here to do just that—because I am the beast tamer. Lyra. Lyra Windsor."

I was drowning in the deep hazel of your eyes. You looked ethereal—like the moon itself had taken human form. You squinted at me, firm and unfazed, standing tall with a whip in your hand.

And then—I shifted. Changed my form in front of you.

"I think you didn't notice my royal necklace, Miss Lyra Windsor," I said, turning back, bare and proud in my human skin.

You froze for a moment when your gaze fell on the necklace. It gleamed with the symbol of my royal bloodline. Immediately, your eyes softened, and you stepped back.

I scoffed—but softly, a blush rising to my cheeks.

"I don't think I need a beast tamer. I'm already tamed... by my powers."

There was a flicker of embarrassment in your eyes. But I stepped closer, drawn in by your presence. Your scent was intoxicating, magical—it lured me in like a spell.

You were no ordinary woman.

You were the chosen Beast Tamer. A divine soldier of the moon itself.

When any creature—beast or half-human—fell into chaos or frenzy, you were sent to tame them. Not by force, but by divine essence. The moon lived within you. But you were no beast. No animal. You were a celestial entity, sent by the supreme light in the sky.

The moon's soldier. Its angel.

Days passed, and our encounters deepened. So did our bond.

We began playing hide and seek under the silver moonlight, our laughter echoing through the vast jungle like it belonged there—like we belonged there. We found freedom in each other, a kind of freedom neither of us had ever known.

But peace is often envied.

Someone in the palace caught wind of my meetings with a Beast Tamer. They couldn't stomach the idea of their King pouring his care, comfort, and affection into a human—into someone outside the royal bloodline. The whispers traveled like wildfire, eventually landing at Grandma Mildered's ears.

Still, we kept meeting. Every single day. Our friendship bloomed into something sacred. I began to crave your presence like air, and I could feel you were starting to feel the same. In the smallest gestures, in how your fingers lingered longer, in how your eyes searched for mine in silence... I knew.

Our conversations grew deeper—richer with every passing moment. We argued, we forgave. We grew, and finally, we confessed.

We were in love.

And we weren't foolish about it—we knew the world wouldn't accept it. But we believed we could change the rules. After all, we were both pure, powerful, persuasive. The moon chose us. Surely that meant something.

You had no family then—your only origin was the moon itself. You belonged to the divine.

And you accepted me... in all my beastly, royal chaos.

And I accepted you... in all your sacred light.

We loved each other so deeply that even death, in its cruel certainty, couldn't tear us apart.

Because we weren't just lovers—we were fated.

We were two souls chosen by something higher, bound by strength, purity, and the rarest kind of love—the kind that burns brighter than the moon itself.

One fine day, Viktor was set to return from his long journey. He had been gone for quite a while. When he came back, the three of us met again. I introduced him to you as my lover—my moonlight. That was the day we all became friends.

Viktor, being a beast hunter himself, never harmed me. He knew I was tamed, calm, and not a threat to anyone. Both you and he had the power to hurt or tame me, but neither of you ever did.

At first, our growing closeness seemed fine to Viktor as well. But he warned me—I couldn't love you. He said it was forbidden. Every time we met, he reminded me without fail. Still, what was done was done. We were already too deep in love. You didn't waver either. We even told him we would choose death over being separated.

But that day, when I insisted on following my heart, I saw something different in Viktor's expression. It told a story his words didn't.

I wasn't sure what he was truly thinking, but it certainly wasn't in my favor. Slowly, day by day, he started getting closer to you. I was naive—I didn't realize at first that he actually liked you.

It broke me from inside. The person I trusted the most had fallen for the same one I loved. But Viktor explained that his feelings were one-sided. You loved only me. So he claimed he was okay with it—okay with loving you from afar. And would never come in between us.

Weeks passed with those lingering feelings between us. You still weren't aware that Viktor had feelings for you. But then, unfortunately, Grandma found out about our love—how we were sneaking off to meet each other almost every day. She summoned us both for a meeting.

I told her that my love for you wasn't distracting me from my duties—neither to the kingdom nor to the subjects who believed in me. I made it clear how deeply I loved you and that I would never let you go. You weren't of noble status like us, but that never mattered to me.

Grandma scolded you for falling into this forbidden love, but you stood your ground. You told her just how much you loved me, without fear or hesitation. We held hands right in front of her, and it only made her more furious.

She was always against us. But still, we kept meeting—kept loving each other, even with every obstacle that came our way. Some other members of my family actually supported our bond. But even if they hadn't, it wouldn't have mattered to me. Because you were—and always will be—my happiness.

She explained to us that it was forbidden for a reason—animals don't interact with humans. And on top of that, you were a beast tamer, someone considered an enemy of the animal clan.

I argued, "Then why is Viktor my best friend, if that's the case? He's a beast hunter."

Grandma simply replied, "It's different. You're not tying bonds with him."

I didn't understand that logic, and I didn't care. I continued loving you with all the passion in my heart.

Days later, I had to travel to the neighboring Deer Kingdom—the most peaceful of all—to help resolve an issue they were having with the Bear Kingdom. I left in a hurry, without having the chance to tell you. You stayed behind, waiting patiently for my return.

You waited... for two whole days.

But before I could come back, you were taken as a prisoner by the Moonbeam Kingdom. You cried for help. You waited for me. You never let go of our love.

It was all Grandma's doing. She ordered your imprisonment and locked you away in darkness. And then, the night I was just about to return, you were taken to the sacrificial tomb... and sacrificed.

When I arrived and heard what had happened—that you waited for me, that you were imprisoned—I was consumed with rage. I transformed into my tiger form and rushed to the tomb. But I was too late.

You were taking your last breath.

You were drenched in blood.

With a broken heart and a shattered soul, I asked who had done this to you-my world collapsing with every second.

In a whisper, you revealed the truth: Viktor had killed you under Grandmother's orders. And then, you died in my arms, whispering your final words:

"I love you."

My wail echoed through the skies, and the heavens responded with thunder and rain.

I stormed toward Viktor and Grandmother, demanding answers, my voice trembling with fury. Grandma, without even a trace of remorse, said coldly, "She wasn't one of us. I didn't like her. She was just a human."

I was fuming. My body shook with anger. Every nerve inside me burned.

I didn't even glance at Viktor—I pounced on him, ripping his body to pieces and draining every last drop of his blood.

As I did it, I demanded, "Why? Just... why?"

With his dying breath, he answered, "I was offered a higher position."

"But you loved her," I growled through gritted teeth.

"She was yours from the start," he said. "Love wasn't going to take me anywhere. Power was."

He died in my grasp, and I felt... nothing.

No mercy.

No regret.

He didn't even get a chance to fight back, to try and hunt me in return. It was over before it began.

Grandma stood there, stunned and silent.

I shifted back into my human form, Viktor's blood still warm in my veins. I looked up at the moon—the very moon that had once blessed me—and saw it glowing with fury.

It had granted me my powers. It had deemed me the purest of them all.

But not anymore.

Not now that I had spilled blood with my fangs.

And so, it cursed me.

The moon took everything back-my powers, my immortality—and worst of all... it erased every memory I had of you.

I didn't resist. I let it happen.

Maybe forgetting you would ease the pain of losing you.

But truthfully... I died with you that night.