MCs POV
No one asked me, perhaps they didn't know where to start. Thousands had been at the arena and everyone knew who my mate was and everyone knew who lane was
today was supposed to be a happy day, Not a day that drains me out of my soul,
i refused me marriage proposals over the past years, now I guess it was time I considered finding me a lunar for our pack
I picked up a paper and wrote down the decree, that means tomorrow morning, families will start submitting their proposals
Fate only felt like a cruel trick , it tied me to the only person that bought our family it's downfall, the one person who stood against everything i believed in
My family broken, our pack scarred.
And now fate bound me to him.
It was a sick joke
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The lamplight burned low,
I was reading the papers , words from families, pressing their daughters forward, a proof that my decree was taken seriously
A knock broke the silence
It was hesitant,
"Come in " he opened the door and got inside
"Alpha," came the guard's voice. "It's Lane, the dark forest alpha!! He is at the gates."
The words didn't have time to sink in before the air itself seemed to shift.
The Heavy steps, encores across the room.
I froze, my pen sliding ink across the page.
The guard's eyes flicked to the side as if he didn't know whether to move or bow.
Lane was already at the door.
tall, dark, composed, every movement deliberate. His presence changed the room instantly, the air heavier, and sharper.
I forced myself to stand, pushing the chair back with a scrape.
"You have no right" I said greeting my teeth, he was just shameless, how brave of him to come at my place
What did he even want, 'to rub the mate bond on my face
"I don't need one," he cut in smoothly, stepping inside as though the study belonged to him.
"You think a decree erases me?" His voice was quiet, but it carried the room like a challenge. "You think you can hide behind paper and tradition?"
My fists clenched at my sides.
"Even if we were… married," I said, forcing the words out,
"To which it would never happen, not on my living soul!! If you think am doing this for pride your wrong" I slammed the table challenging him with my eyes
"You broke me, my family, my pack, everything I hold dearly, and if you think I would just let everything go because of the mate or the moon goodness, you got me wrong!! You have a wrong picture of me"Lane's gaze didn't shift.
"And just as much I would never give a little, let alone too much for you"
I clenched my fists!! My anger increasing every second of my life
" I'll never accept this bond. Do you hear me? Never." The silence was so sharp I could hear the faint crackle of the lamplight.
the bond flared between us like fire leaping for dry wood.
"You can summon all the Lunars you want. You can write decrees until your ink runs dry. None of them will matter."
I felt a thousands of emotions surge throughout my heart, i didn't know if it was disbelief, but the most dominant of it was anger
"Get out." I shouted angrily
He didn't move.
"I said, get out!" I slammed the door with a loud thud as the table broke into two
slowly, he straightened. His eyes never left mine, but he stepped back.
The door closed behind him.
Silence flooded the study. My chest heaved as if I'd been running. My hands trembled against the desk, the decree still lying open, mocking me with its neat lines of ink.
He was wrong. If the bond wanted me to bend,
it would have to kill me first.
To him the decree was like a challenge, and he never ignored a challenge.
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2 weeks passed without a single voice,a word, random visits from lane,
The gates opened before the lights were clear, I looked at the courtyard, it was filled with daughters lined with their carriages, the air was cold, a slow breeze blowing from the forest.
My packs name was sacred, if it wasn't for lanes dark magic, we wouldn't loose the battle and lost most of our pack.
Our story was still being carved into history,
About worth, that was something you wouldn't mention, everyone knew us for our worth, just as much as they knew us for our power
Food, good housing, gold,horses, we have more than you could imagine. Our pack has endured everything over the years wars, famine, betrayal and him most importantly
The assigned members, guided people to seats, writing names of each family and recording with precision
They First passed through the elders, that was to make sure the future lunar had the characteristics of a lunar, caring, strong and good leadership skills
So the elders will choose the top 3 lunars and among the 3, i will choose the most preferred lunar
"Alpha" a knock can from the door, I told the person to me in and he was one of the shadows
They were used to monitor and study any disturbances, or threat from a far, they walked like shadows,almost invisible and lifeless hence the name
"Yes" I emplied
"Alpha Lane has gone to the northern mountains, by the look of it, he has made a deal with a witch" I didn't know wether it was disbelief or what
Why would he even go to the northern mountains? Who doesn't know the northern mountains, it was one of the scariest , it was filled with illusions that could trap your soul for an eternity, filled with monsters that were size of dragons and soul eaters
"What deal did he make with the witch" the shadow almost looked at me with hesitation in his eyes
"You might want to look about soul ties" the words came like a blow in my face.
Of course I didn't have much knowledge about soul ties, but I had the basics,
"Keep this to yourself " I sat down, my legs weak and my thoughts just flat
I think I was so much in shock, it broke all my emotions, I didn't know wether to be angry or to do what
, how did the moon goddess mate me with a psycho like that,
I walked toward the library like my body had its own legs, the corridors seemed longer than they should.
Soul ties, the word itself tested like poison in my tongue.
The library doors open with a loud scratch, centuries of secrets buried within it, I pulled the lantern close, turning around into the secret room of the library.
Isearch for the book in between the shelves until I found the book
"Dark Return Rituals" the book was far heavier than it looked, i carried it to the nearest table, I looked onto the chapters until I found chapter number 7 'essence of soul ties'
"A soul tie is not born of the Moon, but wrought by mortal hands.
To bind the soul is to entwine breath with breath, flame with flame, and fate with fate. What one feels, the other must endure
what one loses, the other must mourn.
Should death take one, the other shall be drawn into the shadow also,
for two flames cannot burn when one is extinguished.
To deny the bond is to invite torment of spirit
to sever it is to unravel life itself.
The bound shall share hunger and grief
wrath and rapture, until thought and dream entwine. Will may resist, yet the tether shall endure.
Consent strengthens it. Defiance withers the wolf."