The Alpha's Exchanged Mate

Chapter 11

Edwina's POV...

I glared out my window, it was a brand new day and the air felt lighter, but I didn't feel lighter; I just knew I was free from one of my heart-felt turmoil and about to start one more, I was going to marry a man I don't love, to save a sister who never showed me any kindness as she did before yesterday.

I was overwhelmed with the despair of my current situation, I was always one who wanted to marry for love and nothing more. Not for money, not for appearance but just for love. Thinking about marrying a disabled man I don't love was another struggle in my head. How was I going to cope with that and not lose my mind in the process?

"Stay still," Becca commanded me as she inserted another pin into my headgear.

"Ouch," I cried out as she mistakenly pierced into my skin.

"Sorry," she apologized, "Please stay still so I don't pierce your head again," she instructed and I sighed then nodded my head.

She was trying to make me over to prepare me for the official ceremony of the night howlers. I hated dressing up for my wedding, especially for the second time in a lifetime.

"You look so beautiful, we are almost done," Becca complimented, as she was putting the finishing touch to my dark brown hair, I wore an orange-coloured long silk gown with white stones on it, and my hair was parked in a ponytail to make the headgear fit in perfectly with the orange long veil over my head.

I chose the colour orange instead of black because this was my second time getting hitched to a wolf and only on your first marriage do you get to wear black.

"Shouldn't the ceremony have commenced by now?" I was already tired of all the barbie doll dress-up that was being done to me.

"It should have, but you know there is a thing that needs to be put in place first before the ceremony commence"

The way she emphasized the word "Thing" made me suspicious of it.

"What thing is that?" I inquired suspiciously. She glared at me and then around and then back to me.

"You know you were married to the Beta Wolf," she wasn't asking me but I felt the need to answer her.

"Yes, I know that," I replied to her briefly and paused to hear her response.

"So it is custom they annul the marriage first before you proceed to marry the alpha,"

Shit!!!

How did I forget Benedict when thinking about all these? My worst fear had to do with getting married to a man I barely knew and didn't love, I certainly forgot that I was still married to a man who I once loved and he thought I knew.

"How do they annul one's marriage by custom?" I asked, I knew almost nothing about the werewolf culture and nothing of the night howlers' customs and tradition; I was always mocked growing up about my deficiency and the fact that I had no wolf, so I didn't care for the culture nor did I wanted to know about a tradition which didn't recognize me. But now that I am going to be the Luna, I will have to start learning about the tradition, it will be a whole lot of struggle for me because I had always hated it.

"They would have to go seek the counsel of the moon goddess and a holy bath and sacrifice would be conducted by the Beta, therefore ridding him of all commitment and bond to you," she explained, but my mind had already escaped from the conversation mid-sentence, what does she mean by all that? I didn't ask aloud because I wasn't going to sound further like a novice and admit I knew nothing of what she spoke about.

"So they are going to meet Benedict?" The realization suddenly hit me that I had not told him of my plans to marry Alpha Xander and that whatever is going to be done would be so strange to him. I wonder if I owed him an explanation for my actions or if he didn't deserve it considering what he did to me.

I stood up from the wooden chair with a comfortable foam which I sat down facing the mirror and gazed at myself for a minute.

Was this what I truly wanted?

Can I do this for life? Were the recurrent questions I kept asking myself, Becca moved closer to me still cautious about maintaining a distance from me, and she held my veil from behind and straightened the edges.

"You look so beautiful, you will make a great Luna," she said reaffirming. For someone who had mocked me the other day, she sure does have a quick change of heart.

"Are you sure?" I asked her, I was looking for any kind of reassurance from her, it wasn't the best habit but I have always been one to seek validation all the time and I got none.

"Yes, ma'am, I am so sure. What you did for me on your dinner night with the alpha meant everything to me, you showed me a great amount of kindness no one had ever shown me."

"It is nothing," I interrupted her and replied modestly, truly it was nothing, it was something I could have done for anyone.

"It was ma'am. If you had not responded the way you did, I most likely would have been punished severely and that meant the world to me. To me, that's the quality of a good Luna, not like Luna Sonia, you are more like Luna Ashley," she said and paused knowing she had blurted out a lot because her face countenance immediately changed. I knew it was because she recalled that Sonia is my sister.

"Who is Luna Ashley?" I asked, trying to deviate from the topic because truthfully, I was in no mood to talk about my sister too.

"Please ma'am, can you sit down so that we can finish this before they are back?" She requested, trying to usher me back to the wooden chair, I obliged and sat down back on the chair, I was tired of all this, I found it unnecessary and excessive, it's not even my first marriage.

"Who is Luna Ashley?" I asked again curiously.

"She is the Alpha's mother," she replied briefly. I noticed she was also hesitant, and that raised my inquisitiveness the most.

"Tell me about her," I requested and I could see her biting her lips slightly through the mirror, it was almost like she had not intended to mention her name, it just slipped off.

"She was the Luna before she died, giving birth to Alpha Xander Chase, she was kind and fair to all," she replied and continued to apply some finishing touch to my makeup, I glared at her again through the mirror to observe her countenance, I knew there was more to this story, more that she was holding back. I could empathize with what she was saying because I also lost my mother during childbirth and was blamed for killing her since I was cursed.

"That is so sad," I said sadly," So the Alpha grew up not knowing his mother?" I asked.

"Yes he did not know his birth mother but after a while, his father got married again."

"Losing a mate must have been horrible for him, what happened to her, was it because of some sort of complication during birth?" I asked again, I do hope Becca doesn't start to see my questions as excessive and suspicious.

"She was human and I think the fact that she didn't have no wolf and given birth to an alpha wolf became too complicated. She didn't have the power to give him life and hold on to hers at the same time, " she answers and I could see her eyes search through mine in the mirror to see my reaction.

I then realized why she was waiting for my reaction. I had no wolf so technically I am also considered human, I had heard of the myth of how some humans lost their lives during childbirth simply because they were conceived of werewolves.

"Ma'am, please can you not tell Alpha about this? It was only I and his father that knew the origin of his birth and that his mother isn't a night howler," she pleaded and I could see the terror in her eyes. She had just said something she was never supposed to say to me or anyone.

"I won't tell him or anyone," I tried to reassure her.

"You don't understand, no one knows that the Alpha is actually half-human, if they do it would bring chaos in the realm."

Oh great, she just gave me this huge secret to keep, I would have been better off not knowing this particular information.

"I promise you, this secret is safe with me," I said crossing my chest with a smile on my face, I don't know what exactly that meant but that should stand for something.

Giving birth to a wolf took two times the effort than it normally does, sometimes some of the women would, and sometimes some of the women who had wolves would have to shift to their wolf form to give birth to their cub, or in other words, child.

Was that going to also happen to me?

I let out exasperated gasps and exhaled again.

One step at a time. I whispered to myself.

"You are all set ma'am," she announced, and I gazed at myself in the mirror for the umpteenth time, Becca's hands were magical, she sure does know how to transform from mess to angels.

" I love it," I said as tears began to drop down my eyes.

"No ma'am, please don't cry, this is supposed to be a happy day," she pleaded "You are going to smear your makeup."

She is right, this is supposed to be a happy day, I didn't look this beautiful at my first wedding but I am getting married for the second time in a lifetime to a man I didn't love.

"It is so beautiful," I said, using the tip of my fingers to shove off the drop of tears making their way down my face.

Then we heard a knock on the door, Becca immediately went to check who was at the door as I kept glaring at myself in the mirror, she returned briefly and announced.

"They are waiting for us in the courtroom,"

I let out an exasperated gasp again and took one last glance at the mirror.

As we slowly made our way to the courtroom, walking down the stairs, I gathered my dress from the side, and Becca aided me from behind, we then stopped at the door as she came before me.

"Are you ready?" She asked with a smile.

I wasn't, but I nodded "Yes."

She opened the door, stepping aside and everyone stood. Immediately, I saw Alexander sitting in his wheelchair and his eyes gleamed up when he saw me.

Welcome to the next f****d up phase of your life Edwina, A voice said from within me.