LUNARIA’S POV

PRESENT DAY

Everything felt like an unending nightmare that refused to end. No matter how hard I picked my skin, I couldn’t break out of the terrible loop of sadness that I had trapped myself in.

Today should have been the happiest day of my life, I was draped in the most expensive gown that most have taken a thousand handmaids to make. But I couldn’t bring myself to smile.

It has only been two days, but in those two days, my heart has been caught out of my chest and stomped on a thousand times over.

I had dreamed of this day at a very young age, but I had never imagined that on this day, I would be here, standing in front of a mirror with tears in my eyes.

It was meant to be a day for Donald and me, but I was given to another. I wasn’t even allowed to mourn my heartbreak. Rather, I had been shoved into a gown, ready to be given to the man who killed just for the fun of it.

The bell gonged and each sound filled my body with dread. This wedding felt like a noose around my neck, squeezing the life slowly out of me. Each second meant that I was getting closer to my grave.

“Why are you looking so sad, today is the best day of your life,” my mother said walking into the room with a proud smile on her face.

Why was she looking so happy even through the fact that her daughter was getting married to a man she had never met.

In just a couple of days, my parents, the people who had catered for me all my life, acted like I was some stranger, in their world, I was a means to an end.

“Luna, you look exceptionally beautiful in that dress,” she praised, her eyes raking through my frame. She had walked into my room, taking my journal and searched for the gown I had always said I wanted for my wedding.

Her words, “We want you to have the best wedding you could ever wish for,”

My eyes wandered back to the mirror, I looked beautiful, but inside, I felt empty and lifeless.

“You don’t look so scared for me Mom,” I whispered, staring at her through the mirror, “He killed his mate, and yet here I am dressed up as a sacrifice,”

I had never spoken to my parents in a harsh tone, but tonight was different, my life was literally taken away from me, I might as well be rude, this might be my last time on earth.

My mother said nothing, but I had seen the dark sinister look in her eyes, she wasn’t scared— or she didn’t care that I would die.

My body shuddered as waves of fear trembled through my body and I released a shaky breath, “Mom,” I whispered.

“You will be fine Luna. Your father and I will make sure that nothing happens to you,” she said.

A low chuckle rippled through my chest, She had said the words like she believed them. Lycan Kieran was a /man who lived by no rules. If he killed me tonight, they would do nothing but watch with tears in their eyes.

She moved closer to me, as she pulled me closer to her body for a hug, “I will come visit you as much as I can. And if you want, your husband will allow you to visit us,”

That was all she had to say. A few minutes of visitation and that would end my pain?

“You will be fine, you are an Adam, strength flows through your veins,” she said, kissing the top of my head.

I had one question, why me? But the words couldn’t make it out of my lips, there were other slender girls with power and beauty, why me.

A knock echoed through the door and my mother turned towards me with a bright smile plastered on her face, “It’s time, smile princess,”

Nikka pushed the door open, a smile forming on her face as she nothing my mother pulling the veil over my face, “Alpha Adam told me to bring the bride,”

“Are they…”

“Yes, your husband is at the altar waiting patiently for you,” Nikka said.

To them, this was a fairy tale wedding made by the goddess. My mother had warned me to keep the true facts to myself.

I never bothered to ask her why.

“Let’s go,” I said in a low tone. There was literally no need to delay the inevitable.

The silent hallway was interrupted by the sounds of our heels, clicking softly against the cold hard tiles, each sound felt like a sound to the gallows.

“Lunaria,” Nikka called out, her hand. “You will make such a beautiful bride,”

I clenched my fist by my side, my nails digging into the palm of my hands, and I was using the pain to distract myself from the tears that threatened to fall out.

“Thank you,” I said in a hoarse voice.

The walk felt short, I could already hear the sound of the music echoing beautifully through the sky, “We are here.”

“Let the bride walk in,” the priest called out.

My eyes hadn’t strayed from the man who had turned my whole reality into a nightmare. Kieran Moreno stood proud looking nothing but perfect with his razor sharp jaw that looked like it had been sculpted by the moon goddess herself.

He was ethereal to look at, but nothing that hid the truth. He was a monster behind those heavenly smiles and perfectly looking eyes that felt like they could drown me for days.

My father grabbed my hand softly, “Let’s go,” he whispered.

It was funny, that this was the first time I was seeing him after he had delivered the news of my death. And now, he was walking me down the aisle like a man who hadn’t just destroyed his daughter’s life.

His hand gently squeezed mine, but it was no gesture for comfort, he was telling me to act accordingly. To make sure that I don’t ruin his reputation.

When we reached the front of the altar, my father held my hand, placing it on Lycan Kieran’s hand, a gesture that showed the world that I was his.

My fingers trembled as they touched Kieran’s palm. If he felt my fear, he said nothing, and his eyes fixed on the priest as he read the rites.

Kieran’s lips twitched as the priest motioned for me to say my vows. With a shaky breath and trembling hands, I pulled out the paper, the one that my mother had written and read him the words.

This wasn’t how it was meant to be, Donald was meant to stand in front of me, his eyes staring at me with nothing but love in them. It was never meant to be Kieran.

Kieran said no vows, and the priest was a coward like the rest of us, he said nothing, smiling softly as he proclaimed us husband and wife.

I released a breath I never knew I was holding, was it luck that the [priest hadn’t requested for us to kiss?

Kieran’s hand hadn’t left mine, not for a second. His strong cold hand held mine, telling me of the life that I had found myself in.

While the music played, Kieran leaned down, his breath fanning my ear, I shuddered, my stomach knotting in dread.

“You look beautiful,” he muttered, his deep baritone voice felt like velvet in my ears.

“Thank you,” I mumbled.

“Don’t look so sad, I will not kill you,” he said, his eyes glinting with mischief. “Not yet,”

My heart dropped, he was toying with me, enjoying the fear that ripped through my body.

I clenched my jaw, my eyes meeting him with a fierce look in them “I am not scared of you,” I growled.

I was going to die anyway, so there was absolutely no need to keep my thoughts to myself.

Kieran chuckled, like the words I had just said were the funniest things he had heard in a long while, “You don’t have to fear me now, you will learn to,”

To the public, we were lovers, having a cute conversation, when in reality, the man that had watched me swear my life to him, was telling different ways that he would break me.

“You have a long night ahead, you should go tell your parents goodbye,” he said.

This was it. Nothing could change my fate.

My parents watched with smug looks on their faces as I walked towards them, “I guess this is goodbye,”

I waited, patiently waiting for my mother or my father to scream that they had made a mistake.

“You have made us proud,” my father said in a gruff tone.

So this was it.

“Go be with your husband,” my mother said, slightly pushing me back to the altar.

Kieran smirked, his hand holding mine as we walked out of the hall. I had been led to my end, and they all watched with smiles on their faces.

“I will never love you,” I hissed.

He smiled, a deadly calm smile that sent cold shivers down my spine, “I don’t need it.”