The Bride of the Moon

Chapter 3

I couldn’t sleep last night. I tossed and turned but exhaustion finally took me around lunch the next today. My mother kept me locked in the attic for the rest of the day with no food and no water so I didn’t really miss anything. Still, I hear a few people come in and out of the house, lots of rustling and screaming. I close my eyes through it all, feeling the sun come and go.

The following day, the lock on the attic door is opened, revealing my seething mother. “Get up. We must prepare for the party now if we want to get it done by the weekend.”

She doesn’t wait for me to stand and grabs my arm, her nails digging into my skin. Then it begins. I didn’t really know what I was expecting, but torture is one way to explain it.

I’m fed a crazy amount of food with omegas shoving rice, bread and every kind of protein and carbohydrate into my mouth every hour of every day to gain a healthy weight worthy of a werewolf.

“You’re stick thin!” She growls, grabbing my arms and feeling the skin and bones. “No werewolf wants a weakling. Feed her more! Make her look strong enough to bear children.”

When I’m not eating my heart out, I’m being measured for dresses and matched with different kinds of fabric by people that must be from my mother’s old pack. They came with rolls and rolls of these materials that gleamed and sparkled, their teeth biting pins as they poked and prodded me.

“Make sure the fabric matches her eyes. I want her to sparkle. I want her to be seen.” She instructs the seamstresses. “Make her into me!”

Every day, make-up artists from God knows where, come and test their brushes, their products and their air brush machines on my face, trying to get the perfect blend and look. After that, I’m forced into tall heels, my mother beating me with them when I fall on my face.

“I’ve never worn these before.” I tell her, wincing when my feet wobble. There are four thick leather bound books balanced on my head and they tumble down.

“I don’t care.” She kicks at my shins. “There will be dancing at that party. You must dance perfectly when James calls for you.”

I dance until my feet bleed and only stop when the heel breaks. I’m fed more food, drinking gallons upon gallons of shakes that tasted like everything at once.

“You must remember all the important names.” My mother instructed me while shooting the omegas glares to remind them to shove more food into my mouth. “The Alpha and his sons, the horrible and ugly Luna, the warriors and their mates, their sons and daughters.”

She says each and every one of them with pictures to match. After, she would quiz me and if I make a mistake, she slaps the entire document on my chest. Once, I puked all the food out and I was scared when she told me to eat it again. Thankfully, a delivery arrived. A dress or a bodice or a shoe or something and I quickly cleaned the vomit before she returned and forced me to ingest it.

Etiquette came next. The right way to sit, the right way to eat, the right way to walk and laugh and speak. It’s a crash course in all things werewolf and proper Alpha behaviors that I knew nothing of.

By the end of the week, I cannot think anymore, my mind is filled with so many names and so many new rules to follow. I must have gained an unhealthy amount of weight too, because I felt so bloated and weak. My usually empty stomach ached from the sudden fill.

The night before the party, I stared out into my window again. The smell of fall is in the cool night air. I close my eyes and quietly pray to the Moon Goddess.

‘Please help me not to make a fool of myself. Keep my feet stable, my dancing graceful, my remarks witty and my memory sharp. I cannot disappoint my family anymore. Moon Goddess, bless me…’

I take another deep breath, preparing another long prayer when I smell it. At first it was subtle, but then it became mouthwatering, calling out to me. Something inside me stirred and I knew what this meant; mate. My mate was nearby and it was coming from the Alpha’s house.

The omegas talk about mates constantly and that’s the only reason why I know so much about them. Destined mates have a sweet smelling scent that only you can smell and no one can resist it. They speak of how a mate is someone a werewolf cannot live without, the one person that can complete them.

Other wolves like James are the fortunate ones. They are allowed to host parties to find their mates or travel to other packs to meet as many wolves as possible. I didn’t think it would be possible for me to meet mine, not when I’m inside the house day in and day out. But then, here it was, this sweet smelling scent was in the air and nudging me towards the Alpha’s house.

Is it Daniel? I automatically hope, but before I can confirm, my mother emerges from the darkness of my room.

“I told you to sleep!” She bellowed, throwing me down from the window and closing it shut. “You need all the beauty sleep that you can get.”

My mother doesn’t leave until I tuck myself into the old mattress on the floor. I waited patiently, listening for her footsteps to vanish in the hall before I ran to the window again, my nose in the air and sniffing.

I let out a sigh when there was nothing. The scent was gone.

Tomorrow, I think. There’s always tomorrow.

With hope for a better day tomorrow, I lay in bed and dreamed of the darkness once more. For some reason, the darkness is thicker than it was before. It’s closer than it ever was and wraps around me so tightly. It was painless though and more comforting than scary.

When my eyes open, it’s a new day. I was collected by my mother not too long after I woke up. Her mood is nicer today as she takes me to a bathroom and pulls me into a bathtub filled with water that smelled of flowers. There, omegas scrubbed me raw, dousing my skin with oils that smelled of heaven and soap that smelled of the sweetest breeze. The bath is the longest I’ve ever taken, an hour and a half long. By the time I’m done, my skin is pink and blowing.

I’m brought to a chair and, under the watchful eye of my mother, is shaved until I feel tender. Every hair on my body except the one on my head is removed by metal shavers or those sticky strips that pull all the hair out. Every inch of me is inspected by my mother and by women that must be her friends from her old pack. They point at areas of my body and the next thing I know it’s being lathered in some substance that burns. All this happens while my nails are being filed down, shaped and painted.

For hours I am plucked, scrubbed and scalded. I felt like food from the kitchen that was being prepared for dinner, which isn’t that far from the truth.

When they were done, I think they all but removed five layers of my skin, but the end result was impressive. As painful as it was, my skin was as soft as a baby’s, my hair shiny and bright. Flawless was the word. I was not given a break though, because after another careful inspection, the make-up artists took me. They painted my face in sparkly powder, drawing a line on my eyelids that made my amber eyes pop, my cheekbones dusted and highlighted, and my face bronzed and blushed.

Another few hours later and I’m dressed in the most beautiful dress I’ve ever seen, much less worn. The fabric is a gorgeous dreamy white color that hugs my body in all the right ways. Under the light, the material shimmers and glitters. It’s silky and exceptionally thin, the bodice skin tight and the cut flattering to the chest with its swooping neckline.

I feel like a princess from a fairytale book I read in the library. I feel special. I feel like somebody.

“Perfect.” My mother looked out of breath at the sight of me. “Absolutely perfect.”

“There really was something of you in her.” One of her friends commented.

And she was right. Standing side by side with my mother made me realize that we did somehow look alike. Maybe not as beautiful, never as beautiful, but just enough.

I felt myself smile.

On the horizon, I see that the sun has already set and the moon has risen in its place. It was time. I’m nervous and giddy and scared. This was actually happening.

My mother instructs me one final time, reminding me of important names, the proper way of greeting each position and how to school my expression into a sort of polite indifference. I think I might throw up again but I push it down before it can come.

The walk to the Alpha’s mansion is all hazy. I barely noticed the bright lights of the grand stone structure, the extravagant fountain, the stone steps that gleamed and the double doors that invited all. Inside, I squint up at the wondrous crystal chandelier and the omegas in fancy uniforms. We’re all ushered towards a wide ballroom and I gasp at the beauty of it. Gold and sparkles everywhere. I felt like I had walked into a book. Not even my wildest dreams or imagination could have conjured this and I was actually here, experiencing it all.

It was only then did I realize the stares that I was getting. Every pair of eyes seemed to be looking over at me, confused and in awe. The girls stared with jealousy and the boys stared with fascination.

Did they not know who I am? Did they not recognize me? Was I not a plague to them tonight?

The attention was all on me and I basked in it, the way I’ve seen my mother do and it was working. It was really working. People were looking even more now with such admiration and delight. The question on their lips was there; who is she? Where did she come from? Is she from here?

I was finally making my family proud. This is what it should have been for our family, for my mother, for my father. And so, I make the most out of it.

Smiling and giving that polite look of indifference, I mingled with the crowd. Not exactly speaking, but not really stopping a conversation. They held onto my every word even if it was just a small ‘good evening’ and watched my every move, even if it was just to brush my hair back.

What surprised me the most was the boys that flocked, asking for a dance and offering a drink. I refuse them all as per my mother’s rules. She told me to be untouchable, to be the star and to only accept a dance from the Alpha’s sons- the only ones worthy of my supposed Alpha blood. Still, it was nice to be asked even if I couldn’t accept. I imagine that in another life, when I am what my mother wants as a daughter, I could accept any dance and drink offered by boys that I like. I can see myself liking some of them, handsome faces with even more handsome smiles. Mysterious hooded eyes and bright ones that made me smile. A smirk here, a beaming smile there. I know I shouldn’t but I entertained them as best as I could, answering the fleeting questions and avoiding the important ones.

The Alpha suddenly appears at the very front of the room, smiling at everyone pleasantly. It was rumored that he was a descendant of the Moon Goddess, for even at his age, he seemed to radiate with this Godly energy and when he spoke everything melted away in the background.

“I would like to present my sons.”

There’s a rush of girls pushing themselves forward. I nearly fell from it but held on for dear life. It’s a cattle call of beautiful girls in every shape and size. We were all put into one large room that made it feel like we were sardines to see the Alpha’s sons. Everyone is bustling with energy in their best clothes, pushing and shoving and whispering loudly. They gushed about Daniel’s supposed handsomeness and James’ muscular body.

Anxiety was eating at my stomach at the sudden realization of what was to come.

My mate. He was coming.

I can smell him now. Pine mixed with earth. It was so strong and so relaxing that I almost pushed my way to the front so I could see better. The Alpha is introducing his sons as if we didn’t know them already. Their achievements are mentioned next and I’m practically combusting with unease.

Come out already. We know they’re amazing and blessed by the Moon Goddess.

And then two men descended the stairs, both in handsome tuxedos and whatever male livery that made them sparkle. I eagerly stared at the older brother, Daniel, expecting an instant connection or fireworks or an earthquake, anything! But there was none of that. He was the same old Daniel. Handsome. Chivalrous. Uncaring for the pageant like affair. Nothing. Nothing to me.

Hesitatingly and most unwillingly, I glanced at James and that’s when everything I expected from Daniel happened but it was happening to my tormentor. By the looks of it, he felt this too and he was not happy.

Mates.

I am mates with James.

The Moon Goddess must have really forsaken me.