CHAPTER 4:His Meal
1183 Words
My heart pounded so violently it felt like it was trying to break free from my chest.
By sunset...I would be dead.
I stood motionless while the maids fastened the last buttons of the black ceremonial gown. Their hands moved quickly, efficiently, as though they had done this countless times before.
Maybe they had.
Maybe every woman before me had stood exactly where I was standing now...
Waiting to become the Rogue Alpha King's next dead mate.I stared at my reflection as the black gown fit perfectly, flowing to the floor like a shadow. Silver embroidery curled across the bodice, catching the moonlight spilling through the tall windows.
A beautiful dress for a doomed bride.
"You're going to survive." The words echoed inside my head not because I believed them Because I needed to.
I hadn't endured eighteen years of my father's hatred just to die in a kingdom that wasn't even mine.
I refused so I would have to survive.If only to return one day and make every single person who called me cursed regret it.
A knock echoed against the door as Kaia stepped inside.
"It's time." My stomach twisted without another word, I followed her.The fortress was unnaturally quiet only the distant sound of guards changing shifts beneath the full moon.
The closer we came to the ceremonial hall, the harder my heart beat as Every step reminded me of the stories. Every woman who became the Rogue Alpha King's Luna...Died before the moon set would I be any different?
Or was I simply the next name added to the list?
The enormous doors opene as Cold night air swept over me.The ceremony had already begun as a people stood around the stone altar.
The King's adviser stood near The dying Alpha King sat upon an elevated throne overlooking the ceremony, his breathing slow, his face pale with illness.
Draven.
He stood before the altar dressed entirely in black, Tall and Broad shouldered immediately his silver eyes found mine immediately for a long moment...Neither of us spoke.
The Moon Priest stepped forward.
"The full moon has risen."
"It is time." I climbed the final steps until I stood beside him close enough to feel the cold radiating from his body. it was as though winter itself lived beneath his skin.
The priest began reciting the ancient vows as his words blurred together.I barely heard them as my heartbeat drowned out everything else. When instructed, I repeated the vows so did Draven.
His voice never wavered but Mine almost did.
The priest produced a ceremonial blade as a shallow cut opened across my palm another across Draven's.When our blood met...A sharp pain shot through my ches I gasped immediately
It felt as though something invisible had wrapped itself around my heart.The mating bond.
The priest raised both hands.
"Before the Moon Goddess and all who stand witness..."
"I declare you mates." No one moved because They were waiting for me to collapse dead but I didn't my breathing quickened.
I looked down at myself and I was still standing.The guards exchanged uneasy glances as the Moon Priest frowned.
The King's adviser checked the position of the full moon before looking back at me in disbelief.
As Draven's silver eyes narrowed as he reached out and gripped my wrist. His gaze remained fixed on my face.
"You're still alive."
Before I could answer, a deafening roar erupted somewhere beneath the castle.
The King's adviser turned sharply toward the guards.
"Take His Majesty to the lower chamber." His gaze shifted to me.
"And prepare the Luna." My pulse spiked.
Prepare me?
Two maids hurried forward, removing the ceremonial cloak from my shoulders before wrapping thick white robes around me.I stared at them, confused.
"What are you doing?" No one answered.
The castle shook again as I immediately recognize the roar wasn't human.
It wasn't wolf, was something far older. Something that made every hair on my body stand on end. The adviser met my frightened gaze.
"If the curse accepts you..." He paused.
"You may save the Alpha King." His expression darkened.
"But if it doesn't..." The iron gates beneath the fortress groaned open.
"...you'll become its next meal before the moon sets."
- Writer
