Bride For The Feral Alpha

#9: Mating Rituals

Standing beside Lord Aubrey again, with fifty eyes waiting for us to mate, was worse than dying.

Much less, now that we stood on the high platform in the center of the crowd.

Hard stones piercing my naked feet were the only things anchoring me to this strange reality. I still wanted to believe that this was one big nightmare. Turning toward Lord Aubrey, I hoped that he would say something but he was as straight as a statue and his eyes remained forward. His steady breathing and his leather musk scent were better companions than the actual person.

Murmurs from below us caught my ear every now and again. To them, I wasn’t a woman. I was a spectacle. A Feywin. But I had to remind myself that these weren’t people. They were monsters in human skin and according to Ophelia’s letter, it was only a matter of time until they shed their human skin and appeared as they truly were.

Monsters of the night.

Lord Aubrey’s father stepped forward, facing the crowd. “My people! Tonight we stand in the presence of the moon goddess herself, bathed in her sacred light as we witness history renewed. For centuries, the ancient pact between Feywin and Aubrey has blessed this pack with strength, with fertility, with power.

Tonight, my son, your future Alpha, claims his Feywin bride. Look upon her.” He turned backward, gesturing toward me and in an instant every gaze locked onto me. Assessing me. Weighing me. Studying me.

And then, he continued. “Pure Feywin blood. Untainted lineage. A vessel worthy of carrying the next generation of SouthPoint’s strongest warriors. The goddess has smiled upon us. Let us honor her with this union.”

Who exactly was this man?

My father-in-law turned. His eyes did one quick swoop on his son before they landed on me, and he flashed his teeth once again. Without a single thought, I hugged myself and diverted my gaze to Lord Aubrey.

Thoughts from the tavern filled my mind. The way he was so gentle. The way he took off his clothes and I watched every single move as his only audience. The way he kissed me—

I turned away.

My father-in-law and his predatory grin were not so bad after all.

“Come forward, Lewison. Make me proud,” he whispered, gesturing toward the flock of people that watched us as though we held the secret world peace in our hands.

Lord Aubrey stepped forward, his bare back muscles flexing with each step, and while I tried not to focus on anything that could remind me of that one forbidden night we had together, I could not. It was either this or I was forced to dwell on the fact that I was the new sacrifice for SouthPoint Pack.

“My people.” His voice carried across the space. “I stand before you as your Alpha Prince, and I claim this woman as mine.

Quinn Feywin, daughter of the ancient bloodline, bound by sacred covenant. I will take her. Mark her. Breed her. And through our union, SouthPoint Pack will grow stronger.”

He turned to look at me for the first time. His eyes were hard. Unreadable.

“I vow before the goddess and this pack that I will fulfill my duty. She will bear my heirs, or she will pay the price the goddess demands.”

The crowd roared approval.

My mouth fell open.

Mark her?

Breed her?

Pay the price?

The air around me suddenly felt colder than it was a few seconds ago.

Chants began to grow from underneath us. The people yelled “For SouthPoint Pack!” in unison repeatedly as Lord Aubrey turned and walked back to where I stood, patiently waiting for what more this horrendous night had in store for me.

His father approached us shortly after with that wicked smile that made my stomach twist. “The Elders and I will be down. The mating and marking must commence immediately.”

My eyes grew the size of a saucer, and my heart hammered against my chest.

It was happening. Lord Aubrey was going to bed me. Here. In front of everyone to watch, like some spectacle.

My breathing quickened with each passing moment.

Lord Aubrey nodded. “I understand, Father.”

His father stepped down from the platform along with a few other men with long white beards and red robes matching the one that my father-in-law wore.

Now that it was just the two of us on the platform, it felt colder than ever and I could not resist the urge to hug myself once more. Lord Aubrey scanned the platform as though he could not come to the terms that we were alone now before closing the gap between us.

He towered above me for a few moments as though he were going through a plan of his own before he lifted his hands and then lifted my veil just like he had done this morning. It might have been a trick of the light, but he appeared softer than he did earlier. Dare I say, he almost appeared as gentle as he had been with me in the tavern last night.

“Do we really have to do this… here?” I heard myself say in a hushed tone.

He turned backwards and I followed his gaze. It was then I saw new maids of Aubreys, no doubt, arranging a makeshift bed with mattresses and pillows on the pavement.

My stomach fell.

This was real.

All of this was real.

My eyes remained trained on them until they finished. They worked fast. Almost too fast. Waiting idly by the corner had to be my favorite part of the entire ceremony and now that I actually had to participate, I just couldn’t bring myself to take it all in.

The only comfort I had was that the maids had arranged some form of privacy. Four long poles held together burgundy red see-through veils that only provided a shadow of the makeshift bed. It wasn’t the best, but it would do. Anything was better than being forcefully bedded with old men watching.

Lord Aubrey held out a hand towards me. “It is time.”

I stared at his outstretched palm. The same hand I had trusted and taken at the festival. The same hand that had touched me gently in the tavern. The same hand that would claim me now in front of fifty witnesses.

Behind the sheer curtains, on the makeshift bed.

There was nowhere left to run.

Against Ophelia’s last warnings. Against my better judgment. Once again, I took his hand like a fool.