Kira's POV
They came for me at dawn.
I was barely awake when the pounding started on my door. Loud. Insistent. Like they'd break it down if I didn't answer fast enough.
Coming! I stumbled out of bed, still in yesterday's clothes. I'd never changed. Never slept.
I opened the door to find five she wolves standing in the hallway. All of them pureblood. All of them looking at me like I was dirt on their shoes.
The Alpha King ordered us to prepare you for the ceremony, the oldest one said. She was tall, severe, with grayling hair pulled back so tight it had to hurt. We have much work to do.
Prepare me how?
She looked me up and down. Her lip curled. Everything. You're clearly not fit to be presented as Luna Queen in your current state.
The insult stung. But I stepped aside and let them in.
What choice did I have?
They swarmed my room like an invasion. Two headed straight for my bathroom, turning on water. One opened my closet and made a disgusted sound at my clothes. The other two started setting up spreading out makeup, jewellery, tools I didn't recognize.
Strip, the older woman commanded. You need to bathe. Properly.
Heat flooded my face. I can bathe myself
Clearly not well enough. The Alpha King's mate must be perfect. That means we do everything. She snapped her fingers. Now. Strip. We don't have time for modesty.
I wanted to refuse. To tell them all to get out. That I could prepare myself.
But these women had been sent by Rowan. Refusing them meant refusing him.
And I'd learned what happened when I refused Rowan.
So I stripped. Let them herd me into the bathroom. Stood there naked while they scrubbed my skin until it was red. Washed my hair three times with soap that smelled like flowers and made my eyes water.
Halfblood, one of them muttered. Just loud enough for me to hear. Playing dressup as queen.
My hands clenched into fists under the water.
I heard she rejected him seven years ago, another whispered. Chose a human university over her own mate. Can you imagine?
Disgraceful.
The Alpha King must be desperate to take her back.
Or it's punishment. Making her be his mate as revenge.
Either way, she doesn't belong here.
I stood there. Took it. Let their words wash over me because fighting back would only make it worse.
This was my life now. Six months of this. Maybe forever if Rhys was right about the bond.
They pulled me from the bath. Dried me roughly. Wrapped me in a robe and dragged me to a chair in front of a mirror.
Hair first, the older woman said. Then makeup. Then the dress.
For the next two hours, they worked on me. Pulling my hair. Painting my face. Criticizing everything.
Her skin is too pale.
Her hair too wild.
Have you seen her hands? She does manual labour. Look at these calluses.
The Alpha King deserves better.
Each comment was a small cut. By the time they finished with my hair and makeup, I was bleeding from a thousand tiny wounds.
Then the older woman brought out the dress.
I stopped breathing.
It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. White silk that seemed to glow in the morning light. Silver thread embroidered across the fabric in patterns of wolves and moons and stars. Traditional. Ancient. Perfect.
This is the ceremonial robe, the woman said. Her tone had changed. Became reverent. Worn by every Luna Queen of the Royal Pack for three hundred years.
My stomach dropped. I can't wear that.
You must. The Alpha King insists.
But it's a family heirloom. I'm just I stopped. Just what? Just temporary? Just his revenge? Just a halfblood who didn't belong?
All of the above.
You're his chosen mate, the woman said firmly. Which means you wear the robes. Now stand. Arms up.
I obeyed. Let them slip the silk over my head. Felt the weight of it settle on my shoulders. Felt three hundred years of history pressing down on me.
They adjusted. Pinned. Smoothed.
Then stepped back.
Look, one of them said. Not unkindly. See what you've become.
I turned to the full-length mirror.
And didn't recognize the woman staring back.
She was beautiful. Elegant. Every inch a queen. Her hair fell in perfect waves down her back. Her makeup made her eyes look larger, her lips fuller. The white robes fit like they were made for her.
She looked like she belonged in a palace.
She looked nothing like me.
It belonged to the late Luna Queen, the older woman said quietly. The Alpha King's mother. She wore it when she mated his father fifty years ago.
My hands trembled. His mother's dress?
Yes.
I can't My voice cracked. This is too much. I'm not I don't deserve to wear something so important.
The Alpha King thinks you do. The woman's expression softened slightly. Or perhaps he wants to see his mother's dress on his mate. Either way, it's his choice.
Was it? Or was it another way to punish me? To remind me of everything I could have had if I hadn't rejected him?
I stared at my reflection. At the stranger wearing a dead woman's dress. At the halfblood playing queen.
The seamstresses packed up their supplies. Filed out one by one. Until only the older woman remained.
One piece of advice, she said at the door.
I looked at her.
The ceremony tonight will be painful. The marking always is. But for a dormant bond waking up? She shook her head. That will be agony. When it happens, don't fight it. Don't pull away. The more you resist, the worse it hurts.
How do you know?
I was there when the Alpha King's parents bonded. His mother's mate bond had been dormant too political complications. When his father marked her, she screamed. The woman's eyes were distant. Remembering. But she didn't pull away. And afterward, they had the strongest bond I've ever seen.
She left before I could ask more questions.
I stood alone in front of the mirror. Dressed like a queen. Feeling like a fraud.
Tonight. The ceremony was tonight.
In a few hours, I'd stand in front of the entire pack and let Rowan mark me. Let the bond wake up. Let everything change.
Forever.
My hand went to my neck. To the spot where his mark would go. Would it hurt as much as the woman said? Would I scream like Rowan's mother?
Would Rowan care if I did?
A sound made me turn.
The connecting door the one to Rowan's chambers was opening.
My breath caught.
Rowan stepped through. He was dressed for training wearing fighting clothes, covered in sweat. His hair was wild. His chest heaved like he'd been pushing himself hard.
Running from this, maybe. The same way I wanted to.
He stopped when he saw me.
Just stopped. Stared.
The bond pulsed between us. Weak but there. Growing stronger with every second we spent close to each other.
Tonight it would be a flood. Overwhelming. Connecting us permanently.
You're wearing it, Rowan said. His voice was rough.
They said you insisted.
I did. He moved closer. Slowly. Like approaching something that might bolt. It was my mother's.
I know.
She was beautiful. Kind. Everything a Luna Queen should be. He stopped a few feet away. The dress suits you.
The compliment felt like a trap. Thank you.
His eyes travelled over me. Taking in every detail. The dress. My hair. My face. I saw so many emotions flash across his expression pain, longing, anger, desire.
But he kept them all locked down. Controlled.
Perfect, he said flatly. You look exactly like a proper mate should.
The words were cold. Dismissive. Everything I'd expected.
But through the bond that weak, growing connection I felt something different.
Grief. Deep and aching. Like looking at me hurt him.
Rowan
The ceremony starts at sunset, he cut me off. Don't be late.
He turned to leave.
Wait, I said. I need to know something.
He stopped. Didn't turn around.
Why? I asked. Why your mother's dress? Why make me wear something so important?
For a long moment, he didn't answer.
Then: Because I want to see what could have been.
What do you mean?
If you hadn't rejected me seven years ago, this would have been our real mating. You would have worn that dress because you wanted to. Because you loved me. Because choosing me made you happy. His voice went hard. Instead, you're wearing it because I forced you. Because you're desperate. Because you have no choice.
Each word was a knife.
That's not
Tonight, when I mark you, I want to remember. He finally looked back at me. I want to remember what we could have had. What you destroyed. What you threw away for a degree and some wolves.
Tears burned my eyes. You want to hurt me.
I want to hurt us both. His smile was bitter. Because that's all we have left, isn't it? Shared pain. Shared regret. A bond that never should have gone dormant and a future that's nothing but revenge dressed up as duty.
He walked toward his door.
Tonight, you'll be mine, he said without looking back. You'll wear my mark. Feel what I feel. Know what I know. And there will be no running this time, Kira. No choosing something else. No walking away.
And then what? I whispered. After tonight? After the bond wakes up? What happens to us?
Rowan stopped in the doorway. His shoulders were tense. His hands clenched into fists.
Then we see if love can survive being a punishment, he said quietly. Or if we destroy each other completely.
He left. The door slammed shut behind him.
I stood there in his mother's dress. In white silk that represented everything I'd thrown away. Everything I could never get back.
And I realized the truth:
This wasn't just about saving my sanctuary.
This wasn't just about six months of playing Luna Queen.
This was about facing the biggest mistake of my life. About living with the consequences. About discovering if the mate I rejected could ever forgive me.
Or if we'd just spend six months maybe forever trapped in a bond filled with pain instead of love.
Tonight would answer those questions.
Tonight the bond would wake up.
Tonight I'd feel everything Rowan felt. All the hurt. All the rage. All the love he'd buried.
And I had no idea if I was strong enough to survive it.
I looked at myself in the mirror one last time.
The queen stared back.
But underneath the silk and makeup and perfect hair, I was still just Kira. The halfblood who'd made a terrible choice. The female who'd destroyed her own happiness.
The mate who was about to pay for it.
My phone buzzed. A text from Elena: Are you okay? Do you need me?
I wanted to say yes. Wanted to beg her to come. To save me from this.
But she couldn't save me.
No one could.
I'd made this choice. Accepted this deal. Agreed to let Rowan mark me.
Now I had to live through it.
I typed back: I'm fine. Ceremony is tonight. I'll call you after.
If I survived it.
If the bond didn't break me.
If loving Rowan while he hated me didn't destroy what was left of my heart.
I set the phone down. Looked at the connecting door. Still closed. Rowan on the other side, probably hating himself as much as he hated me.
In a few hours, we'd be bound together.
Forever.
And I had no idea if that was salvation or damnation.
Maybe both.