The Bride of the Moon

Chapter 4

I am frozen in shock and horror, as he is frozen in shock and horror as well. James had stopped walking down the stairs, catching everyone’s attention. His lips parted and, for a brief moment, I thought he might call for me as I was about to call for him.

That’s the funny thing about destined mates, the pull is irresistible. We might hate it, but the pull will tell us otherwise, make us do the exact opposite of what we want.

But the truth is there. We are mates. For better or worse. He is mine and I am his. Forever.

Instantly my heart ached for him and, as if I was seeing James for the very first time, I noticed how light and fair his hair was, the way it fell is waves just before his bright eyes. There is a boyish handsomeness to him, the youth of a strong and irresistible werewolf. He was said to be the strongest warrior in the pack too.

How lucky. My heart thought. My mind did not agree, trying to conjure all the times James has hurt me in the past. My heart won. The pull won.

I shake myself out of these corrupted thoughts. They were not to be trusted.

James hates me. I know this. I have experienced the worst of his anger in the past few years. He once threw an entire beehive into the attic, knowing I was there as my room exploded with angry bees. When he first got his wolf, he chased me from the library all the way home, his sharp teeth nipping at my ankles.

Still, I wonder what the Moon Goddess had planned for me to be mated to one of her favored children. It’s rumored that the Luna is barren and the Alpha’s children were merely given to him by the Goddess. Daniel and James didn’t even look anything like their parents. They just suddenly existed. A true blessing from our creator.

James has still not moved from the stairs. The people were starting to look around in confusion, trying to find what bothered him. They did not see how his eyes sharpened and shone at the sight of his mate, for he had all but turned away, refusing to believe that I was his.

I watched him look up, a battle within happening for all of us to see. My stomach churns uncomfortably as I wait.

He seemed to gather himself after a few moments, his gaze meeting mine again. This was it. He was going to come to me. The mate pull said it all. Bravely, I took a step forward, wanting to meet him in the middle. If we were going to do this, we might as well do it together.

Head first like the heroes in the books that I’ve read.

But as James sees this step, he turns away and runs in the other direction. I flinched back as if he had slapped me. The rejection was more painful than any beating I had ever felt before. Something was breaking from the inside and it might be my heart. It was the tearing of souls, the tearing of my soul.

I thought James was cruel, but this was something different. I am his mate now. Shouldn’t his treatment of me change? I wanted to hug myself, I wanted to cry and I wanted to run as well, but my mother’s rules kept me rooted to the ground.

Powerless to even allow myself to feel the pain of my destined mate leaving me behind, I continue to stand with the rest of the flocking girls. My chest felt like it would explode at any second.

I just wanted to escape, hide in my attic and never come out again. My mind almost conjured it too if not for the cold hand that gripped my shoulder.

“Emma?” A voice whispered.

My eyes opened to find Daniel in front of me, his hand on my shoulder and his lips parted in surprise.

“Is it really you?” He asked, the shock resonating through his voice. “It is. You got my invitation.”

I sucked in a breath. “The invitation? You sent it?”

“Of course.” Daniel smiled widely, looking quite proud of himself. “I personally stamped it and everything for my guest of honor.”

Why couldn’t it be him? Why couldn’t he be my mate? Happy and innocently smiling Daniel? Not for his future as the next Alpha, but the easy way he accepts who I am when all the rest shuns me.

Much like how the other boys before him did, he reached a hand between us. “Would you do me the honor of dancing with me?”

No one dances with Daniel. My mother told me this. Everyone told me this. He is the next in line to be Alpha and he dances with no one but his promised mate… my cousin who was here at this very party. She was looking at us. Everyone was looking at us.

His hand stayed where it was, waiting for me to take it. “Dance with me, birthday girl?”

“It’s not my birthday anymore.” I defensively say, hoping that he isn’t scared of the reminder of my birth.

“Nonsense. When I’m here, it’s your birthday every day.” He shrugged. “Now will you dance with me?”

I glanced around nervously until my eyes landed upon my beautiful cousin in the far corner of the party, staring directly at us with a look that could burn. “Everyone’s looking.”

Daniel didn’t seem to care and simply continued staring into my eyes. “Let them look.”

I hesitated as the whispers around us grew louder.

“His mate is here.”

“She’s watching him.”

“Daniel doesn’t dance with just anyone. Not even her.”

“And he wants to dance with this girl?”

“The Alpha’s eldest son, a descendant of the Moon Goddess, our next Alpha shouldn’t settle for this girl.”

I grit my teeth and took his hand, our hands cold but interlacing quickly. “Let’s dance.”

Daniel nods, dropping into a low bow that has even more people screech out. An Alpha doesn’t bow. “My lady,”

He holds me close, bringing us to the dance floor. I don’t know when the music started playing or was the melody all in my head? But there it was, guiding us into a slow romantic dance meant for lovers.

Slowly and surely, my body relaxes. I was enchanted, in a trance, the pain in my chest ebbing away. Daniel has always been that childish crush that I have. He was the one I pictured when I read fairytale books. In daydreams of princes and knights and heroes, it was all him. And here he was now, hand in mine, lips only an inch apart, his cool breath fanning my face.

There was a war happening inside of me. Butterflies and a burning of pain, fighting for dominance. Giddiness from a childhood crush came alive and a stinging heart ache for a mate that had ignored me.

“Thank you for inviting me here.” I whispered in his ear when Daniel dipped me.

“I have always wanted to invite you.” He tells me and I’m surprised to hear the honesty in his voice. “But father always said you’re sick and it wouldn’t be good for your health.”

“You’re not scared of my curse?” I asked quietly so no one else would hear.

Daniel chuckled, shaking his head. “There’s no curse. I don’t believe in such things.”

If only others could have the same thinking, but it wasn’t like that at all. In fact, after eighteen years of this, I’m starting to believe I’m cursed too. Why else would my mother treat me like this? Why else would my father ignore my existence? I was lower than an omega, a ticking time bomb that can’t even have her own mate or her werewolf. Either I’m cursed or the Moon Goddess must just really hate me.

Or… I just have really bad luck.

Instead, I focus on Daniel. He’s tall and broad shouldered, his expression carefree and brimming with excitement. Many women love him and for a good reason. He never needed to show off, his presence was enough to know what exactly this man is made for and it is made for greatness.

My raging cousin is really lucky.

“Emma,” He started, looking nervous and slightly sweaty. “I need to tell you something.”

How long have we been dancing for? Has it been five songs already? “Okay? What is it?”

“I’ve… I’ve…” Daniel didn’t get to finish what he was saying because James came crashing against us.

Without needing a werewolf smell, I could tell James has had too many to drink. The jealous fury in his eyes made me stop and I hated how I felt delighted by this. He’s come back for me. My mate has finally given up resisting.

Destined.

That’s what we were—

He roughly grabs me by the back of my hair, pulling me towards the crowd. “Don’t be deceived by her thick makeup and her pretty dress. This girl is Emma Noor, the freak, our deaths.”

I helplessly toppled to the floor, my hands on my hair as tears sprung up to my eyes.

James doesn’t let go and continues to swing me around the front of the crowd. “Take a good long look at this imposter everyone. She’s tricking you all. One day our deaths will come and it will be because of her! This little monster will kill us all!”

I was on my knees as I was lifted again by the hair and roughly dropped. Distantly, I heard Daniel shouting at James. He was red in the face and a second away from shifting into his wolf.

“Drop her, James!” Daniel shouted in a voice so deep and so unlike his own that it distracted me from the pain of James’ grip on my head. “You’re drunk. Enough.”

“Why?” James spat on his brother’s face. “So you can steal my mate like you’ve stolen everything else from me?”

Daniel went as still as stone. “What did you just say?”

“I said you’re trying to steal something of mine again! Everything that's supposed to be mine is yours! And now you’re stealing my destined mate!” James was screaming so loudly now that I’m sure my mother could hear from our house. “Yes everyone! Emma Noor the pathetic monster is my mate.”

He brings me up to stare him in the face. I attempted to stand but my heels had broken from his rough manhandling.

James smirks maniacally. “No matter brother. For once, I’ll let you have my sloppy seconds.”

Daniel tries to grab his brother but is slapped away. “James,”

“No. I want you all to see this.” My destined mate was laughing now or was he crying? I couldn’t tell but all I know is the pain in my chest has doubled. “I’ve known for a while that you were my mate. I was merely hoping that you wouldn’t ever know so I could live my life free of you. I’ve kissed, slept and violated so many girls, even when I know you’re my destined mate. That’s how much I hate you, Emma.”

Crack.

My heart was cracking or pulling itself apart. It was the only explanation for this pain.

James’ smile widens and stretches until I cannot recognize him anymore. “Emma Noor, I reject you as my destined mate. You will never have me. May you die alone in that sticky attic of yours.”

His words struck my chest like a lightning bolt. The wave of unimaginable pain that came made me dizzy and weak, our connection breaking completely. I felt my heart constrict and my lungs felt as though it had forgotten how to do its job. I was shattering into a million pieces and it was all happening in front of everyone.

In my peripheral vision, I saw Daniel with his eyes wide and his mouth parted. Behind him, standing at the entrance of the ballroom, was my mother. I nearly called her for help but she was not sad for her daughter, she was disgusted.

I could see it well despite the tears that blurred my vision.

James leaned down until his lips were on my ear. “No one wants you. No one will ever want you.”

I looked up at him, meeting his searing gaze with my own. My hands move before I can stop them. I had slapped him, the stinging said it all and then I was slapping him again, so hard in fact that he crashed against the marble pillar. I don’t know how but I stood despite the broken shoe, tears cascading down on my face and destroying the masterpiece of my make-up as I kicked him hard on his balls.

He screams. His mother screams. The Alpha screams. Everyone screams.

Let them all scream!

“f**k you, James.” I turned to my mother next and felt such hate erupt that I almost could not breathe. “f**k you all!”

And then I’m running, running from it all.