Be My Luna

Winter’POV

A bride is forced to live under the same roof as the man who killed her groom…His own brother.

My reflection wavered in the silver-framed mirror, pale and unsure. Platinum-blonde hair, slicked into a tight bun, gave me the look of a textbook alpha’s bride, strong, poised, perfect. I had always wanted to fit in, to appear worthy of this moment. Adjusting the lace sleeve of my gown, I drew in a shaky breath, forcing my thundering heart to slow. Composure. That was all I needed.

“Today will be a good day,” I whispered.

And why wouldn’t it be? I was finally marrying the love of my life, Alpha Mason Ashborne of the most powerful pack in the world. With him, my pack would be secured, our future safe. I should have been radiant with joy. Yet the smile curving my lips felt brittle, carved on my face like a mask.

Monika, my best friend, adjusted my veil before looping her arms around me from behind. Her bittersweet smile pressed into my reflection. “I can’t believe you’re about to leave me forever,” she murmured.

I parted my lips to correct her, to explain but she hushed me with a squeeze. “Don’t keep the mighty Alpha of Ashborne waiting.”

And so I let her and the other bridesmaids guide me from the villa.

The air outside felt dense, as though the world itself pressed against my lungs, yet I forced my steps to remain steady. Camera flashes erupted like lightning. Guests rose to their feet as the doors of the grand hall opened.

My father waited at the threshold, his smile the brightest in the room. He took my arm proudly, leading me down the aisle. The hall was packed, yet a chilling silence pressed against my ears. Each step closer to the altar made my blood run colder. The hairs on my neck prickled, the instinct of prey under a predator’s gaze.

I felt it…Eyes on me.

My head turned, almost against my will, toward the watcher. Obsidian eyes caught mine, sharp and merciless. For a single breathless second, I forgot how to breathe. A shiver skated down my spine before my father’s grip tightened, forcing me to look forward. But I knew who it was. Mason’s elder brother, Fadel Ashborne. Ruthless. Feared. Dangerous.

Mason greeted me with a smile too stiff to be real as he accepted my hand. My poor husband-to-be must have been just as nervous as I was.

Before the altar, beneath the open night sky carved to let the full moon shine over us, the shaman began the rites. My hands trembled as I recited the sacred vows.

“Pack become one, souls intertwine, bond under the goddess’s moon.”

My voice faltered, but I forced a smile, as though that could keep the unease away. Mason pinched my cheek playfully, his gummy smile softening the moment before he began.

“Winter Virelle, my first and only love. With a full heart, I vow loyalty under the goddess’s moon. I swear to be a good hus—”

The word never left his lips. His eyes went wide, his hand slipping from mine. In the next heartbeat, claws burst through his throat.

A rough baritone voice rumbled beside me, soaked in mockery. “You didn’t buy that, did you?”

Time collapsed. My jaw went slack, my eyes stretching wide as though they would tear from their sockets. The altar, my groom, my world, ruined in an instant. Warm blood sprayed, staining my face, my gown, raining down in a grotesque blessing.

Mason’s body crumpled, his lifeless head lolling as Fadel grinned at me over his brother’s corpse.

And then I screamed.

I had never screamed that loud in my life. The sound tore from me, raw and broken, echoing against the vaulted ceiling until it seemed to rattle the very walls. The hall erupted with gasps, chairs scraping, voices whispering in disbelief. Yet not a single soul moved.

Not one.

Even my father, arm stiff at his side, stood frozen. This grand hall, packed with alphas, betas, and powerful wolves from the strongest packs in the world, should have surged forward. They should have torn him apart for such a crime. But no one came. No one dared.

My heart pounded so violently it hurt, each throb hammering against my ribs as though trying to escape. I turned slowly, scanning their faces. Hundreds of eyes met mine but all of them empty, wide, afraid. Not one ounce of courage among them.

“Are… are you just sitting there like this?” My voice broke on the words, trembling, but I forced them out. My hand, slick with Mason’s blood, lifted and pointed at the man beside me, the monster grinning through crimson stains. “He—he just murdered my husband!” The sound of my own voice cracked, shattered, then erupted into a scream that seared my throat raw. “ARE YOU JUST SITTING AND WATCHING?”

The silence that followed was worse than the scream.

Fadel Ashborne leaned in, his shadow swallowing the air between us, his grin stretching wider as though my anguish amused him. His voice was a rough baritone laced with mockery.

“Husband?” His head tilted lazily, eyes gleaming black as oil. “Pretty sure he never finished his vows, snow bunny. That means he didn’t last long enough to be your husband.” He chuckled, low and cruel. “Pathetic, isn’t it?”

Tears streamed hot down my cheeks, blurring my vision. My chest burned, not just from grief but from something hotter, heavier, rage. It clawed up my throat, searing through the suffocating fear. My fists clenched at my sides, nails biting into my palms until I felt the sting of blood.

I didn’t think. I didn’t care.

I lunged at him.

I struck blindly, chest, shoulders, face, claws and fists fueled by grief until fury was all I had left. My scream was feral, torn straight from the pit of my soul. I wanted to hurt him, to carve his smirk off his face, to make him bleed the way he had made Mason bleed.

But he didn’t flinch.

Every strike landed uselessly, his body unmoved, his eyes gleaming with dark amusement as though I were a child throwing a tantrum against stone.

Still, I clawed and struck and screamed, even as my throat burned and my arms ached, because if I stopped, if I gave in to the silence of that hall, I feared I would collapse and never rise again.

When I stumbled, he caught me in his strong arms and crushed his lips against mine. Shock froze me in place, my body stiff as wood. He set me down gently, then hoisted Mason’s limp body over his shoulder like a discarded ragdoll, striding out with the words, “Long live the Alpha.”