Aurelia
It was a shocked silence that skittered across the walls of the cavern, the quickened pacing of hearts beating in irritation at the events that had unfolded. To every other marked woman that had been left in their unclaimed state, they reeled in resentment knowing that a wolf as reluctant as Meena had been given exactly what they wanted.
The selfishness of their thoughts suffocated the room, clinging to the divine architecture as everyone turned their noses up in indignation.
Once upon a time, I had been a culprit to these feelings too—the unworthiness flourishing in waves, the impatience turning into a feeling of betrayal that swallowed you whole as you came to terms with the inadequacy of who you were—because in this moment we were everything we had been taught to be, and somehow we had all still failed at the only thing we were fated for.
The witches told us it was our destiny.
The witches told us that we were gifts for better men.
The witches told us that we weren't good enough until an Alpha had staked his claim.
After the countless times I had attended these ceremonies, clutching onto the false hope that had been fed into my system, this time I tussled with the terms of my unfortunate fate—and in doing so, in being so consumed by the troubles of my own heart, I had barely even considered all the other things that could be taken away from me too.
Meena had been claimed just moments after we had made our plans to escape this place together, and now I couldn't help but feel my heart cracking at its seam as once again I was left alone with the plight of my misfortune.
Was this how the moon intended to punish me, by taking away my only source of happiness after a small lapse in faith—by stripping me of the hope of finding my mate and by taking me away from the only other person who understood me more than anyone else?
None of us had arrived at this sanctuary with the purpose of making friends, but Meena and I had bonded in an unexpected way, and now Meena would never set foot in this place again just like we had planned, and I would never know if she'd ever find the peace she had been searching for.
All everyone else saw was another girl taking the place that they wanted, but I knew her fears like the palms of my hands, and I knew that there was absolutely nothing I could do to help her through the nightmare she had now found herself in.
She had kept her past sealed inside of her and in the time I had known her, it was only this morning she had let some of it slip. Her Alpha seemed kind enough in this sacred place, but what if she was right? What if the only constant an Alpha knew was violence, and even worse—what if she sought to keep her past bottled up against the only man who could provide her with a more fulfilling life?
I tried to push my worries out of my head as I concentrated on making it through this moment, but Meena was consuming my thoughts as I peeked a glance at the darkened corner of the cavern where I knew she and her mate were standing. Meena was the most skilled wolf this place had ever seen when it came to combat, and regardless of whatever the moon had fated for her, I knew that this time around she would be able to protect herself from it, and I would only get in her way if I made a scene in front of everyone.
"Straighten your spines, we have two more Alphas to present during this ceremony—it is not over yet." The head matron's voice was sharp as she stood in front of us once again, the other matrons moving on her command to reform the picturesque performance they sought to display.
They assessed our statures as they pushed our hands back to our sides, brushing our hair behind our shoulders and lifting our chins so that our marks were clearly visible for our Alphas to find. When they were satisfied with our presentation, they took their places with their backs pressed against the stone walls once again.
My breathing felt hollow in my chest as I pulled my gaze away from the hearth, realigning my senses for everything that was to come next.
Meena's claiming had thrown me completely off kilter, and for a moment I had forgotten what I had feared in the first place.
There were only two more Alphas to be called upon and one of them I had already met. In the next few moments, he was going to claim someone else in this room, and in doing so he would shatter my heart completely.
This time when the head matron moved to the edge of the cavern once again, a frown settled in little groves on her forehead before she cleared her throat.
"Alpha Adriel." The name bounced across the stone walls and echoed straight through my bones, the familiarity catching in my throat even though I knew I had never heard that name uttered before.
A shot of electricity flared through my veins and skittered across the crevices of my body, filling me up with a heavy feeling that burned all the way to the depths of my soul. For a moment I had thought something had possessed me, but then my gaze landed on him as he made his way down the candle lit path towards me and the rest of the marked women.
I gritted my teeth as a possessive urge unearthed itself from inside of me, my gaze clasping onto his bare skin just like everyone else, all of them waiting for a chance to find the replica of their mark plastered on his chest.
I dug my feet into the uneven surface beneath me, the ridiculousness of my territorial thoughts making me feel stupid.
I already knew he wasn't mine, but my own wolf had already staked her claim regardless of how insignificant the purpose of it was.
His name suited him well—soft with his touch and sharp with his gaze, blunt with his words and kind-hearted with what they meant. I wanted to test the name on my tongue, to feel the way it rolled and released, instead I kept myself from the temptation as my eyes ran over the broadness of his shoulders.
He was nothing like the Alpha that had come before him, he was leaner and much more instinctive. His skin gleamed under the rays of light that peeked into the room from up ahead, his eyes dark with purpose as he looked over the line of women he would soon get to pick from. I counted each of his steps, my nails digging more harshly into my flesh as I simpered under the circumstance, drawing blood that dripped onto the slated floor.
The moment I saw his mark, I would know which of my sanctuary sisters he was bound to—not that he would make it all the way down the line before he had found her anyway, so I kept my gaze high and focused on his face.
To the surprise of everyone else in the room and much unlike the Alpha before him, he veered from the path that had been set for him—breaking through the poised atmosphere of the space as he moved past the line of girls like he was looking for someone in particular.
He ignored the marks of the women that were being presented to him, instead he moved with the purpose of a man who already knew exactly what he had come for. My heart was beating in a frenzy as he drew nearer, barely sparing the rest of the women a glance when he finally found me standing at the end of the line.
He set a powerful pace much to the excitement of my wolf— and then he was right in front of me.
In the history of these ceremonies, no Alpha had ever done something like this before but still I preened at the significance of his movements. If it was my mate who had walked up to me like this, I would have let him do whatever he wanted to me—I would have let him have his way with me on the ground of this sacred place as the audience watched on. But I already knew that Alpha Adriel wasn't my mate, he was someone else's.
He reached out to touch me, but before he could lay a finger on me in front of everyone else, I caught his wrist in my grip.
A collective gasp wrapped around the room from the contact, even rendering the matrons speechless as the shock of our touch pushed a soothing wave through my tense body. Despite the comfort his hands brought me, I was still bristling with the annoyance of his motivations.
"What are you doing?" I hissed at him, my voice carrying across the curved walls. "This is not what you are supposed to do, I told you before that—"
He cut me off, taking a step closer to me as I struggled with my frenzied thoughts.
"When you said you needed to get dressed for the ceremony, I definitely hadn't expected this." His voice took on a lustful tenor, his intentions pulsing at my core as he twisted my grip around his wrist and pulled my hand to his chest. "You are beyond any beauty that I have ever imagined."
He closed his eyes for a moment, like my touch was an act of worship and as I watched him like this— suddenly it all clicked into place.
"You're making fun of me aren't you, just like everyone else?" My voice shook as I pried my hand away from him, noticing the frown that took over the look of bliss he had just showcased me a moment ago. "I understand that I am an easy target, but we are standing in a sacred space and your intentions with me are improper. You must find your mate and leave me alone; she won't be happy that you have touched another woman." I admonished him, trying to get him to understand the urgency of this moment.
The first time you met your mate was supposed to be special, and now I was the reason that had ruined it for someone else.
"Little moon—you should take a look at my mark before you make your accusations." I shook my head, my nostrils flaring as I met him with an unyielding look.
Was he really trying to rub in the misfortune of my circumstance, did he not know that he was telling me to look upon everything I had to lose?
Even if he was just being mean, it made sense to do it, but still—I couldn't.
I just couldn't.
"I won't help you find your mate, you have to do that on your own." The frown disappeared from his face as a smile twitched at his lips.
He laughed, the sound like a melody that sang across the stones and pierced me right where it hurt the most.
"Your stubborn belief that I'm not—" He shook his head when he looked down at me again. He seemed to think about his next move before he took a reluctant step away from me. "Fine, little moon. I will do as you ask, but this time when you are faced with the truth you will have to accept it." He relented, moving back to the path he had started from.
With each step that he took, I wanted to call him back to me. But I couldn't interfere with the will of the magic that strummed through the air, it had ordered our fate long since we had been born and there was nothing I could do against such powerful ordinance.
He took in the sight of the women in front of him with his lips set in a grim line, the look of displeasure growing with each woman he passed.
Some of the women gasped as they turned their heads over to look at me, but I was too focused on keeping my heart from falling out of place. It was thundering inside of me as I waited for the inevitable, as I waited for his vow to be called out and then watched as he walked away with someone else in his hold.
His focused steps faltered as he passed one of the women in particular, my heart sinking to my stomach when he turned to give her more attention than he had given the rest.
He was standing in front of Sarai—the woman who had tormented me for months on end, and out of all the women he could have been bound to, I didn't understand how I was supposed to come to terms with this?
Sarai grinned as he looked at her, and all I wanted to do was cry.
Had this all been a ploy from the beginning, had they teamed together to torment me in the most vindictive of ways?
I took in a shuddering breath, my nails clawing through the skin of my palms as I waited for him to call out his vows, but instead of reciting the words everyone else had expected, he asked a question that held no purpose in this sacred space.
"That necklace doesn't belong to you, does it?" He asked her and my gaze whipped back to look at them.
He was glaring down at her, but Sarai didn't crumble under his intense gaze.
"I don't know what she has said to you, but Aurelia knows it is forbidden for a marked female to keep the company of an Alpha before the claiming ceremony has commenced. This necklace was given to me as a gift a long time ago, and whatever story she has spun has certainly come from a place of jealousy." She lied artfully, her hand moving to the chain with foolish arrogance.
Adriel bared his teeth at her with threatening intent, not believing a word she had said.
"Then are you calling my mate a liar?" The words sliced through the room and my breath was pulled from my lungs.
He had only known the necklace was mine because he had happened upon me in the spring last night, but no one else knew about our secret meeting—no one but Meena, and she was no longer here.
Sarai's confidence waned as she glanced at the mark on his chest, but my head was reeling.
"Forgive me, Alpha." She moved to unclip the necklace from her neck and offered it to him. "I have made an error—"
"And I will make sure you are punished for it—for this instance, and for every other time you have set out to harm her," Adriel said as he snatched the piece of jewellery from her grip before he made his way back to me.
This time I was too stunned to stop him from touching me. He moved towards me until his chest was pressed against mine, his breath brushing my skin as he clipped the necklace back into its rightful place.
"Are you going to take a look at my mark now, or will I have to command you to look at it?" He stepped back again and this time my gaze lowered in an instant.
His mark was glowing under his skin, two tiny triangles that looped together like the view of a mountainside, the jaggered lines spiring upwards until it gave way to a crescent moon.
I closed the space between us, my hands tracing the exact lines I had traced over my own skin at least a hundred times before.
"Is this real?" He growled at the uncertainty in my voice, his arms curling around my waist as I basked in his hold. He had freed me from the guilt of my thoughts, but why hadn't he told me the truth sooner?
"I know you have spent every hour since you met me trying to deny the bond that is evident between us, but the moment I set my eyes on you—" His voice lowered, his hands moving over the curves of my body. "The moment I saw you, I knew exactly what you meant to me." His words clenched around my heart as I felt the tears welling up in my eyes.
All this time he had been mine all along, and now that I knew the truth—I couldn't help but feel stupid for ever thinking otherwise.
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