THE BLOODMOON QUEEN’S CONTRACT MATE

Aria’s pov "Finally, all set..." I said to myself with a pleased smile after I lit the lavender scented candle on the dining table, white roses arranged in the white vase, two wine glass for Cassian and myself. I cleaned the sweat from my eyes, proudly admiring the work I spent almost 6hrs doing. I sent the maids out as I insisted on doing it all by myself. Everything looked so perfect jus waiting for Cassian to get home. Tomorrow, I will officially become the Luna of Nightfang pack. I prepared a romantic dinner night for my mate, Cassian vengeance and I. My engagement to him was a last ditch effort by my father Beta Valen Nozelle to maintain his profitable relationship with the Alpha family. He believes as an omega I should be grateful because no Alpha would want to settle with an Omega like me, an omega with a very weak wolf. I have waited five long years for this day learning how to be the perfect Luna for a man who had never once looked at me like I was his wife and by tomorrow, I hope all of my sacrifices would be worth it. Tomorrow the entire Moonshadow pack will acknowledge me as its Luna and maybe tonight Cassian is going to look towards me differently. I wore a strapless dress and applied a little make up. I glanced at the time and it was already past 8pm. I glanced at the empty chair I kept for Cassian. He’s late again, I swallowed the ache in my chest. With a swipe, I grabbed my phone from the table, the brightness spilling over my face as I checked the time. It’s 9:47 now. Cassian should have been back by 7pm. My finger hovered over the call icon. He'd probably yell at me for being a nag if I called him now. But the food was getting cold, and he did promise he would be on time. Just as I was about to call him, a ding came from my phone and his name popped up followed by a text. I quickly tapped on it to read it, and what I saw forced me to reach for the nearest chair and slump on it with a defeated sigh. It read; I'm sorry I can't make it tonight, I'm having an impromptu meeting with the Elders council, don’t wait up. I raised the phone above my head, staring at the text... rereading its message over and over again until the phone felt as heavy as a lead table, my attention drifted to the healing cuts and bruises on my fingers. I had endured them all with a smile, thinking we'd be seated across from each other, smiling as we ate. Maybe he would have gotten a little generous and given me a compliment. Did he even remember that today was our mate union anniversary and the night before my coronation? I covered my face with my palms, burying yet another sigh between them. It wasn't like I asked for this mate union, I was merely a pawn in my father's game of pack politics. Over the years I had to try to tell Cassian I didn’t ask for this union, but he wouldn't care to listen to it in his eyes I was nothing more than a worthless omega and a burden he married because his father insisted. It was still a piece of juicy gossip that pack members always returned to no matter how much I wished it would go stale. Suddenly I heard another thing from my phone, my foolish hope had me waiting for it thinking that maybe Cassie had canceled the meeting at the last minute and was rushing down to join me for dinner. Once again I was hit with a wave of disappointment, the notification was from the pack platform. I tapped on it without thinking and my screen was plastered with the smile of my step sister, Mira, but she wasn't the one I was focused on in the picture beside her was my mate Cassian, wearing the biggest smile I’ve ever seen him smile and behind them was an exclusive pack restaurant, even high ranking wolves had trouble reserving a table. I wasn’t really surprised he'd lied about the meeting, what hurt more was that I had been subtly hinting at this restaurant months ago and I told him about it but he always says he’s busy with work and the pack, to think he'd bring Mira to the very same place! I nearly crushed the device in my hand, but instead I took a generous gulp of air calming myself. Nothing good ever came from me getting worked up, Cassian would spin it all around on me. But today was a harder battle than others. I thought he had stopped at just reserving a table but turns out he reserved the entirety of this exclusive restaurant just for her sake. As the food I spent hours preparing went cold, more pictures of delicacies came to my screen. I could help but feel jealous. I wished it was me instead of Mira, if only he will look at me the way he looks at Mira just once. The captions were the most infuriating part. Mira wrote; Every meal shared with that special person is very precious, some people are worth waiting for. My fingers went numb, I couldn’t type nor like the pictures. My eyes moved back to Cassian's face. The man in this picture looked so happy, happy with her. I spent 5years believing Cassian was cold because he was an Alpha, I convinced myself that once I become his Luna, things would be different. But now I’m beginning to wonder if I’ll live with a one sided affection for the rest of my life. The comments came pouring in, supportive and gushy as always. [[They both look so good together, literally couple goals!]] [[I've been dying to come to Michael garden restaurant but honestly seeing the two of you there I don't mind losing my table anymore]] [[Girl, I just realized my standards are on the floor compared to yours, what can I do to have a man like yours?]] She replied coyly to that comment. [[Oh, no you have it all wrong. He's my brother in law and my best friend. Nothing more]] The tune of the comments split, with half of them charging at me, one made me shift on my chair. [[Oh yeah, isn't today the Alpha's mate union anniversary?]] [[Is Alpha Cassian and Mira a thing because she would make a perfect Luna]]