CHAPTER THREE
1599 Words
They came for me before dawn.
I hadn't slept. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Kade's face, heard his voice telling me I was nothing more than a broodmare. Felt his hand on my jaw, that electric touch that made my body remember what my mind wanted to forget.
The door opened. Two women entered. I didn't recognize them. They were both betas, strong but not dominant. They carried clothes and supplies.
"Up," the taller one said. She had short blonde hair and cold blue eyes. "We need to prepare you."
I stood slowly, every muscle in my body tense.
"For what?" I asked, even though I knew. "The ritual humiliation?"
The shorter woman, dark-haired with a scarred cheek, smiled. It wasn't a nice smile. "The claiming ceremony. Try to think of it as an honor. The Alpha chose you."
"The Alpha is using me."
"Isn't that what Lunas are for?" The blonde's voice was sharp. "We all serve the pack. Your service just happens to be on your back."
My wolf snarled. I kept her leashed, barely.
"Strip," the blonde ordered.
I didn't move.
She stepped closer, her eyes narrowing. "We can do this easy or we can do it hard. Either way, you're getting prepared. Choose."
I chose easy. I peeled off my clothes, piece by piece, while they watched. The concrete floor was ice against my bare feet.
They washed me with cold water from a basin. Their hands were rough, scrubbing my skin until it felt raw. They washed my hair, their fingers digging into my scalp hard enough to hurt.
"He was supposed to mate with Bianca," the blonde said as she poured water over my head. "Alpha Kade and Beta Bianca. Everyone expected it. She's strong, beautiful, perfect Luna material."
I said nothing. Water dripped into my eyes.
"But then his father got sick and suddenly he's dragging back the Omega he rejected years ago." She leaned close, her breath hot against my ear. "What did you do? Use magic? Put a spell on him?"
"There's no such thing as magic," I said through clenched teeth.
"Then why you?" Her fingers twisted in my hair, yanking my head back. "Why would he choose someone so pathetically weak?"
Because of my bloodline. Because of children he wanted me to produce. Because I was a tool.
I didn't say any of that. I just stood there, shivering and dripping, while she finished washing me.
They dried me with rough towels. Then they brought out the dress.
It was white. Thin straps. Long flowing skirt. Beautiful, in a way that made my stomach turn. Because I knew what it was for. I knew what would happen to it.
They dressed me like I was a doll. Pulled the fabric over my head, adjusted the straps, smoothed the skirt. They braided my hair with silver thread that caught the light.
The blonde stepped back, examining me. "There. You almost look like a real Luna."
Almost. Not quite. Never quite enough.
They led me out of the room and through corridors I half-remembered. The pack house had been renovated since I left. Bigger, more modern, but the bones were the same. Stone walls that had stood for generations. Floors worn smooth by countless paws and feet.
We passed other wolves. They stared. Some looked curious. Others angry. I heard whispers following me.
That's her. The one Alpha Kade rejected. Why is she back? This is wrong. She's too weak. Too small. He should have chosen Bianca. This won't last.
I kept my head up and my eyes forward.
The great hall was massive. Vaulted ceiling. Walls lined with pack history. The entire pack had gathered, maybe two hundred wolves standing in a circle around a raised platform in the center.
I saw faces I recognized and faces I didn't. Pike stood near the front, his expression blank. Next to him was a man who looked like a younger, crueler version of Kade.
Asher. The brother who wanted the pack for himself.
He saw me and smiled. It was the kind of smile that promised pain.
The women walked me toward the platform. Every step felt like walking to an execution. My wolf was going insane inside me, torn between the mate bond pulling me forward and survival instinct screaming at me to run.
Kade stood on the platform.
He wore ceremonial clothes. Black leather and fur that made him look ancient and powerful and terrifying. His eyes found mine across the room.
The mate bond flared so bright I almost stumbled.
I climbed the steps. The women released me and stepped back. I stood there alone, facing Kade while two hundred wolves watched.
"Mira Castellanos." His voice carried through the hall. "Do you come here freely?"
The words were ritual. Required. We both knew I wasn't here freely. Everyone knew.
But I thought of my mother. I thought of her wasting away without medicine.
"Yes," I said. The lie tasted like poison.
"Do you accept my claim?"
My hands shook. I clasped them together to hide it. "Yes."
"Do you offer yourself as my mate, my Luna, to serve the pack until death?"
This was it. The final question. The one that would bind us together in ways I couldn't undo.
I opened my mouth to answer.
My wolf surged forward. Hard. Violent. She'd been quiet too long. She was done letting me handle everything.
My eyes burned. I felt them changing, felt the color shifting from amber to gold. Felt the power rising in me, the Alpha nature I'd kept buried since Zander's bite had changed everything.
No. Not now. Not here. They can't see.
I shoved her down with everything I had. It hurt. It felt like dying. But I held her back, held the truth back, kept the secret locked inside.
My eyes returned to normal. The moment passed.
But Kade saw. His eyes narrowed, studying me.
"Yes," I finally answered. "I accept."
The pack erupted in howls. The sound was deafening, primal, ancient.
Kade closed the distance between us in two strides. His hand wrapped around the back of my neck. He pulled me against him hard enough that I felt every inch of his body against mine.
"Mine," he said. Loud enough for everyone to hear. "My mate. My Luna."
Then his mouth crashed against mine.
His lips were hard. Demanding. His teeth caught my bottom lip and bit down. Pain flared. I tasted copper. Blood filled my mouth, warm and metallic.
The mate bond exploded between us. Five years of dormancy shattered. The connection slammed into place, raw and overwhelming. I felt him. Everything. His determination. His desperation. His need to prove himself. And underneath, buried so deep I almost missed it, something that felt like guilt.
He pulled back. His eyes searched mine. Then he raised his wrist to his mouth.
His teeth tore into his own flesh. Blood welled up, dark and thick. He pressed his bleeding wrist to my lips.
"Drink," he ordered.
This was the bond. Blood to blood. The thing that would make us permanent.
I drank. The blood tasted like copper and pine and something wild. It burned going down. My wolf howled in triumph as the bond locked into place.
His hand moved to my throat. His claws extended, sharp and deadly.
I knew what came next. The mark. He would mark me in front of everyone, his teeth in my neck, claiming me in the most primal way possible.
"Don't fight," he murmured. Low enough only I could hear. "It'll hurt more if you fight."
I didn't fight. I tilted my head, exposing my throat. Submissive. Weak. Everything they expected from me.
His teeth sank into my neck.
Pain. White-hot and blinding. His teeth were longer than they should be, deeper than necessary. He was making sure everyone could see. Making sure the mark would scar. Making sure everyone knew I belonged to him.
Blood ran down my shoulder. Hot. Wet. I could feel it soaking into the white dress.
But something else happened. Something impossible.
My Alpha nature surged. The hybrid power I'd kept locked down for three years exploded outward. It responded to the mate bond, to the claiming, to the violation.
My eyes blazed gold. True gold. Alpha gold.
Power flooded through me. Raw and unstoppable. I felt Kade freeze. His teeth were still in my neck, but he'd stopped moving.
The pack gasped. Someone screamed.
I grabbed Kade's shoulders. My claws extended. True Alpha claws, longer and sharper than any Omega should possess. The white dress tore as my body changed.
Kade pulled back. Blood covered his mouth. His eyes were wide with something between awe and horror.
"What are you?" he whispered.
I didn't answer. I couldn't. The transformation was taking over. Three years of suppression breaking free all at once. My wolf burst forward. I felt my bones starting to shift.
No. Not here. Not like this.
I shoved her back with everything I had. It was harder this time. She didn't want to go. She wanted the pack to see.
The power receded. Slowly. Reluctantly. My eyes faded from gold back to amber. My claws retracted.
But the damage was done.
Every wolf in that hall had seen. They'd seen my eyes turn Alpha gold. They'd seen claws that no Omega should have. They'd seen power that shouldn't exist.
The silence was absolute.
Then Asher started laughing. Cold and cruel.
"A hybrid," he said. The word dripped with disgust. "Our new Luna is an abomination."
- Writer
