Ceremony Preparations
1200 Words
Lyra's Pov
They're preparing me for a wedding that feels more like a funeral.
The morning of the ceremony, my room was filled with attendants moving like they were on a mission. They pulled me from bed early and started working on me right away. The dress they brought was stunning. White with a dangerous edge, elegant but strong. When they helped me into it, the fabric felt heavy against my skin. The neckline was designed to show the mark on my neck clearly. No hiding it today. Theron's specific request, Margaret had said.
I stood in front of the full-length mirror after they finished and looked at the woman looking back at me. She looked like Luna. Poised, beautiful. But inside I felt like an imposter. This was not my wedding. This was a contract. A political deal dressed up in white.
Margaret oversaw everything with military precision. She adjusted the dress, checked my hair, gave sharp instructions to the attendants, and then came to stand behind me in the mirror. "Alpha has reviewed every detail personally," she told me. "He was very particular about your appearance today. "
I watched her face in the mirror. "Has he said anything about last night?"
Margaret's face stayed carefully blank. "Alpha does not discuss personal matters with staff." But her eyes told a different story. Everyone knew something had happened. Doors had ears in this place.
The weight of it pressed down on me. I touched the mark lightly. It burned warm under my fingers, like a reminder that he was close. That he felt this too, even if he refused to admit it.
Elena arrived while they were still adjusting the final details. She swept in with a bright smile, carrying a small box. "I brought you a gift," she said sweetly. "Something every Northern Luna should have."
She opened the box and took out a beautiful bracelet. Traditional Northern
Territory jewelry, heavy and elegant. She fastened it around my wrist herself, her fingers cool against my skin. "You know, Theron and I were close once," she said casually. "Before he built these walls around himself." Before he became who he is now."
I kept still while she worked. "What happened?"
"His family," she said simply. "When he lost them, he changed. Closed everything off. Became the Beast of the North and stopped being the person underneath that". "Some of us kept trying to get through to him. Some of us eventually gave up." She gave me a pointed look. "Which one will you be?"
The question hung between us. She kept talking, voice light but full of subtext. "Contract marriages are common for Alphas. Convenient for both parties. Clean. No complicated emotions."
I understood what she was really saying. I was temporary. Not special. Just useful for now. Her final words cut deepest. "I've seen him look at women with desire. I've never seen him look at anyone with love. Not since before the coup."She tilted her head slightly. "I am not sure he is capable of it anymore. I think that part of him died with his family."
She left with a graceful smile, but the doubt she planted stayed behind. Even if Theron was my mate, even if the bond was real, could he actually love me? Or was I just another contract in his cold world?
Damon came to escort me to the ceremony hall a short while later. He took one look at my face and frowned. "What did Elena say this time?"
I hesitated, then told him the truth. "That Theron doesn't love anyone. That he is not capable of it"
Damon sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Elena's not wrong, but she's not completely right either." There is a difference between a person who cannot love and a person who will not let himself." He offered me his arm and we started walking. "Theron is capable. He is just terrified of what it costs."
His voice dropped a little as we moved through the corridor. "I have known him since we were children. Long before the coup, before any of this. He was warm then. Protective of everyone around him. When he loved someone he loved them completely, no holding back. That is exactly why losing his family the way he did broke him so badly. It was not that love left him. It was that love was the thing that hurt him most."
The words hit me hard. I could picture it. A younger Theron full of life, then everything taken from him. "How do I reach someone who will not let himself be reached?"
Damon looked at me sideways. "You already have," he said simply. "I have worked for Theron for eight years. I have never once seen him rattled. Since the day you arrived he has been rattled every single day. That is not indifference. That is a man in a panic."
His words gave me a small bit of comfort. Not much, but enough to hold onto. "For what it is worth," Damon added, "I think you are exactly what he needs. The question is whether he will let himself have it."
We reached the entrance to the ceremony hall. The massive room was full of hundreds of pack members. Northern Territory elite, council elders, visiting Alphas from allied packs. Everyone turned to look at me the moment I appeared. Whispers spread through the crowd. "The marked bride." "Contract only." "Wonder how long this lasts."
My nerves threatened to overwhelm me. I touched the mark on my neck for courage. It warmed under my fingers. Somewhere in this building, Theron was feeling what I felt. That small connection gave me strength to keep walking.
The music began. The traditional ceremony march. The doors opened fully. I walked alone down the long aisle. No father to give me away. Just me and this contract. Every step felt heavy. The mark burned hotter with each one. I kept my eyes forward until I reached the altar.
Theron stood in formal Alpha regalia, all black, perfectly fitted, making him look powerful and devastating. When our eyes met across the distance between us I saw his jaw was tight and his hands were fisted at his sides and his control was costing him something.
I stopped in front of him. The officiant began the formal words about duty, alliance, and contract. Nothing about love. Nothing about mates. But when Theron looked at me, I saw everything he was not saying. The conflict. The want. The fear.
The officiant asked if I took Theron as my contract mate, bound for two years, and I said yes. But when Theron's turn came, he hesitated just long enough for everyone to notice, and I wondered if he'd refuse me in front of everyone after all.
- Writer
