Chapter Five - Cermony
1725 Words
The morning of the ceremony.
I wake up. Can’t breathe.
Not metaphorically. I actually cannot breathe. My chest is tight. My heart is racing. Fast too. I sit up gasping for air.
Panic attack. I’ve had them before. It takes a while for air to finally pass through my lungs.
Usually, it starts late at night just before the morning of something important - when the pressure tends to be heavier. Today, it started quite early. Before dawn.
A knock on my door.
“Luna, you up?” My father’s voice.
“Yeah.”
“I received word from one of the servants from your mother’s sister - Marren. She says she’ll be coming to help you get ready for your big day.”
He pauses. “How are you feeling?”
I can barely put myself together. My voice struggling to remain coherent.
“I’m fine. Just a little nervous.”
“Take your time, dear. It’s your big day. It’s the day where the world sees your value. It’s normal to feel pressure. Just don’t let it define you.”
“Thank you.”
He leaves.
I hop into the shower. Stand there mindlessly for about ten minutes. Let the hot water drop onto my skin fiercely. Let me feel anything other than this anxiety.
After a while, I come out of the shower. Stare at myself in the mirror. The image looking back feels determined. Determined to prove everybody wrong. Determined to show just how powerful the white wolf is.
Aunt Marren finally arrives after about an hour. She’s holding a garment bag and a smaller case alongside. Her face is calm but I can see the slight worry in it.
“How are you feeling, sweetheart?”
“I’m nervous, Aunty.” I don’t bother lying. “I’m terrified. Everything is happening too soon. Too fast.”
“I know, honey. It’s okay.” She drops her bag and draws me into a hug. “It’ll be fine. Remember all we’ve practiced. Just take it easy on her, and she’ll answer you.”
I nod. Head still against her shoulder.
She lets me out and helps me get into my Luna gown. A nice white dress with decent and neat silver embroidery running along the hem.
I look like an actual Luna bride.
This is really happening.
We head down when we’re done and my father is waiting already dressed in a sharp black tuxedo. One I think I’ve never seen him wear since - but always had it. Said he wore it when my mother was buried. Said she bought it for him as an anniversary gift and he’s kept it for special occasions since then. Special occasion being my mating ceremony today.
The drive to Ironfang is smooth. The road that is. But behind, I keep having different things happening. Hiccups. Too much sweat. Faster breathing. I reach out and get a bottle of water from the armrest.
It tones everything down somehow. Thank Goddess.
When we arrive, the atmosphere feels different.
Well decorated, with flowers everywhere and expensive lightings. Well lit up. So many wolves too.
They all turn when our car pulls up onto the parking lot.
I feel the stares pressing down on me like a physical weight.
A staff member approaches. Female. Leads us straight to the preparation room. A smaller room away from the main area.
Aunt Marren stays with me. My father paces up and down. In all of this, I just want to throw up.
“I can’t do this,” I whisper, fairly audibly.
“Yes you can.” Aunt Marren counters. Moves in front of me, kneels, takes my hands in hers. “Listen to me, Luna. Look at me.” I do.
“You’re stronger than you know. When the moment comes, she’ll be there. Just hang in there. You can do this.”
A small pep talk. Effective however. Suddenly I can feel the confidence rising.
A knock interrupts us. The lady that brought us here.
“It’s time.”
My breath catches.
My father takes my hand. It’s shaking. Or maybe it’s his. I really don’t know at this point.
“I love you. No matter what happens.”
The words make me want to cry. But I can’t. Not with this makeup. Not when I’m about to go in front of a hundred plus wolves.
Aunt Marren kisses my forehead gently. “Your mother would have been so proud of you.”
The doors swing open.
The ceremony is outdoors. A large spaced clearing that can seat so many wolves comfortably. They’re seated in rows. The aisles are well covered with purple flowers. And the podium is beautifully decorated with silver and white colours.
It’s amazing.
An elderly man stands at the head. Kael beside him. Looking dapper in an all black tuxedo. Hair curled to the side. Eyes blue and breathtaking. Aggressively handsome.
The music changes and everyone turns to me.
They stand up.
For the first time in my life, I’m having this much attention on me. It feels…I can’t describe it. It’s just overwhelming.
Then the whispers start.
“That’s her.”
“The dormant one?”
“Is she really going through with this? Can she shift?”
So many of them. It breaks something in me.
My confidence.
I want to run. But my father’s arm around mine holds me steady. So I walk instead.
One step forward. Then another. The aisle feels like a pretty long mile to cover at this point.
I see Alpha Dominic in the front row seat. Face stone cold. He’s not standing, but acknowledges us. Then I see Isabella beside him. She smiles kindly, then waves.
A little encouragement.
I see Sienna standing beside them. Arms crossed. Eyes trailing my every move. Something about her gaze makes my stomach twist.
I keep walking.
Kael is smiling. Genuinely excited for this union.
My father gives me away at the podium. Kisses my forehead. Whispers again, “I love you.”
Then he departs. Seats at the front row. And I’m left with Kael at the altar. In front of everyone.
The elder begins.
“Dearly beloved. We’re gathered here today to witness the bonding of these two souls. “Kael Ironfang, Beta heir of the Ironfang Pack. And Luna Veiga, daughter of Ricardo Veiga.”
He goes on and on. Talks about different things. About our leadership roles, expectations and the future.
But I hear none of that. I’m drowning in my own world of loud heartbeats hammering in my head and breath rushing too fast.
Kael takes my hand. Looks me in the eyes.
The elder’s voice cuts through. “And now, as tradition demands. The intended mate is to present her wolf to seal the bond.”
This is it. Make or break. The moment everything has been building towards.
I close my eyes. Reach inside.
Please.
Please.
Wake up.
Nothing.
I don’t give up. I double down. WAKE UP PLEASE.
Still nothing.
The silence stretches across the clearing. Everybody fully waiting to see.
I can hear seats adjusting. Wolves disgruntled. Then the whispers begin.
“This is taking too long…”
“Is it that she didn’t know she couldn’t or what?”
“Waste of time and oxygen…”
My chest is tight again. Can’t breathe properly. It’s getting worse.
Then the screen flickers. The screen at the podium.
Everyone’s attention turns.
It’s not showing the altar anymore.
It’s showing something entirely different.
SilverWhispers.
My OnlyWolves account. On the screen.
My profile, username, subscriber count, everything about my private life bare in public.
Then there’s a text: “FUTURE LUNA’S SCANDAL: SELLS INTIMATE CONTENT TO HUMANS ONLINE FOR MONEY.”
My heart shatters. Gasps flow through the crowd. The crowd goes crazy.
I can’t move. Can’t think.
Kael is in the shock of his life. He can hardly blink.
Then the audio plays through the speakers.
My voice. But edited to sound far more s****l.
“Let me take care of only you tonight…”
“Come here honey, mommy’s got you…”
The comments begin to show up. Cherrypicked:
“SilverWhispers is so hot”
“Your voice makes me hard”
“I’d pay anything to see that face”
“Private show?”
These are comments I’ve never responded to. Comments I’ve never replied. But now made to look like I was encouraging them.
My most private thing. The one place I could go and be free of the judgements and expectations. Weaponised against me.
I struggle to stand on my two feet. I feel drowsy.
My father’s face goes white. Then it’s empty.
Alpha Dominic looks murderous. Like he would tear down anything into two with his fury.
Kael looks betrayed.
I try to find my voice. “I can explain…”
But I really can’t. The humiliation is devastating. Crushing.
Then something inside me snaps.
A shift. My bones crack.
But they crack wrong.
Pain explodes inside me. Not the smooth shift Aunt Marren told me about. This one is ten times worse. Ten times more violent.
My hand hits the ground. Claws pierce through my skin. My jaw shifts with a very loud crack.
My spine arches. My ribs crack violently.
I scream. So loud I cannot even hear myself anymore.
Half human. Half wolf.
I’m stuck in between.
It doesn’t complete. The shift stops there. A weird looking creature trapped in two forms.
The crowd is in full chaos. Adults backing away. Children crying. They’ve never seen anything like this.
“Witch!”
“She’s cursed.”
“That’s not a shift…”
“What the hell is that?”
The pain keeps increasing. It’s everywhere. Bones stretching. Skin stretching painfully too.
I collapse on the floor.
Someone is still screaming in the clearing. It takes a moment to realise it’s me.
Then the shift starts reversing. Brutally.
After a few seconds, I’m human again.
On the ground. Naked, except for some scraps of the gown I wore.
Hundreds of wolves staring in horror.
I look up. Tears in my eyes. My father looks visibly distraught.
Kael is not talking. He steps back. Away from me.
Alpha Dominic’s eyes are fixed on me. Staring intensely.
His voice cuts through.
“This bond cannot proceed.”
- Writer
