-Kira-
My heart is sitting in my throat. I don’t recognize the woman staring at me in the mirror; the grown-up woman who will no longer depend on her Pappa for protection. The adult who will become Luna to another Alpha in a few hours' time.
My love for dancing will be a forgotten memory, my stuffed toy collection will be donated and my bedroom will be cleaned out. Kira Volkova, the Alpha Heir, will fall away, and Kira Helseth will take her place.
I didn’t want a big wedding. I wanted the Volkov Mating Ceremony, but Adryan refused me. He said that I am to take his customs and forget about my own; it's the only reason I’m standing here being dolled up.
The women who have tended to me and turned me into this stunning bride I don’t recognize, all leave the room and I see my mother walking up behind me.
Caterina Volkova - the woman all the girls in our pack aspire to be. She was always my rock; the one person I could depend on through everything, and now she’s looking at me with tears running down her cheeks.
“Mamma, please!” I cry out and fan my tears away. “You’re going to make me ruin my makeup!”
This doesn’t stop her, though, it only makes her sob even more. She runs over to me and places her hands on my shoulders, looking into my eyes as if she’s about to lose me and never see me again.
“I don’t think I can call you my baby anymore,” she says with a trembling bottom lip and touches my cheek. “Look at you, all grown up and about to get married. Where did the time go?”
I wrap my arms around my mother and forget all about the makeup that took two hours to complete. I knew this would happen, knew that once I saw my mother that I wouldn’t be able to stop my tears. It pales in comparison to what I will feel once I see my Pappa, though; I just know that I’ll shatter into a thousand little pieces.
My mother pulls away and takes my face in her hands. “Let’s clean you up before Amanda kills me,” she says, referring to the make-up artist, then goes to grab a tissue and redo my makeup.
“This dress was truly made for you, Kira; Adryan will fall in love all over again,” she says as she gets to work on redoing my make-up.
There’s a question I want to ask her, one that I’m dying to know; I do not know if Arkyn is here. He RSVP’d a while ago, but we’ve barely spoken since he left my dress fitting almost two months ago. I text him, but he doesn’t reply; my calls go unanswered too. I have no idea what I did wrong the last time I saw him and it’s killing me not knowing.
“There, all done!” my mother says and turns me towards the mirror again. She did a perfect job; apart from my red-rimmed eyes, you can’t tell I was sobbing a few minutes ago.
“Thank you, Mamma. Listen-”
A knock on the door silences my words, but whatever I was about to ask melts away when Arkyn’s head pops in through the door. His eyes are closed and he’s wearing that cocky grin I love so much.
“Are you decent?” he asks and my mother chuckles before walking over to him.
“And if I’m not?” I shoot back and his eyes open.
The smirk immediately drops from his face as he steps inside and his mouth slightly opens when he sees me. My mother tries to hide her smile and touches my shoulder before walking towards the door and doing the same to Arkyn.
“I’ll give you two some privacy,” she says, then closes the door behind her.
Now it’s just the two of us alone.
He walks over to me with one hand in the pocket of his suit pants, all the confidence of an Alpha heir in the way he walks. It always amazed me just how delicious he looks in a custom-made suit, and right now he looks good enough to eat.
“Wow isn’t even the word to describe what I see right now,” he says, smiling, and my heart does a flip. He comes to a stop in front of me and tilts my chin up. “You look beautiful, Blue. So beautiful it makes my heart ache.”
I smile and try to make light of the situation. “Since when are you one for sweet words, Vega?” I tease, and his smile wavers slightly.
He shakes his head and I watch as his eyes flicker to my side and back to me again. “Since I know I’ll be losing my best friend today,” he says, his lips a tight line as he caresses my chin.
“You’re not losing me-”
“I am,” he interjects, and his hand slides from my chin to my neck. My heart is pounding so loudly in my ears and I am sure he can feel it with his hand on my throat. “I am, and it kills me knowing-”
He stops himself and grins, then shakes his head again. “Adryan is lucky to have you as his mate, but if he hurts you in any way, just know that I don’t care about any treaty we may have. I’ll kill him with my bare hands.” He says possessively.
I don’t doubt his words at all and for the first time today, I let out a laugh, and it actually feels good. The grin on his face falters slightly, and he sighs.
“Fuck, I’m going to miss you, Blue,” he says, his fingers gripping the back of my neck while his thumb caresses my pulse. “But even if you weren’t getting married, we would see less of each other since I’ll be taking over as Alpha in two weeks.”
My eyes widen when he says this. “What?! That’s amazing, Arkyn!” I exclaim and wrap my arms around his neck in an embrace. “You’ll make a magnificent Alpha.”
It’s when his scent hits me that I realize I’ve made a huge mistake. Creeping past his delicious signature Creed Aventus cologne, there’s another scent I never took notice of and I feel a pull in my core as soon as it hits me - Vetiver and Creamy Sandalwood. He smells like the forests behind the Volkov estate… he smells like home.
“Thank you, I’m glad I have your vote of confidence,” he chuckles and then lets out a long sigh. “Good luck for today, Blue. I’m sure Adryan will make you happy.”
At this, we break off our embrace, but for some reason, his hands remain on my waist while my arms stay around his neck. Everything falls away when Arkyn looks at me; his crimson gaze burns into me and my body feels like it’s been pushed into a furnace.
A bead of sweat trickles down my back and my heart constricts when his eyes briefly flicker to my lips, then back to my eyes. The din of the church quietens down, my breath quickens and I lose all sense of reason when I see the hunger in his split Lycan eyes.
Then he claims my mouth in a kiss that sets my entire world ablaze. My mind goes blank and all I can feel are Arkyn’s lips on mine; these lips that I’ve dreamt about for years… claiming me when they shouldn’t.
He tastes like berries and whiskey, his pierced tongue playing softly against mine and forcing my submission. His beard scapes against my already sensitive skin and I moan into his mouth. This makes him press himself more against me and I can feel his cock hardening against my belly.
It was a brazen kiss that held nothing back, deepening by the second and causing my wolf to howl with desire, even though we both know this is not our mate. The kiss turns cruel, devouring my will to resist, and just as I am about to let go completely, a knock sounds at the door.
“Kira?”
My father’s voice is like a whip, and we immediately separate. Arkyn’s eyes meld into one, his face flushed and his heartbeat racing as fast as mine. I can feel the blush reddening my cheeks as we both come to the same conclusion at the wrong time.
We feel the same way about each other.
-Kira-The silence between us is deafening. We’re simply staring at each other, with neither of us knowing what to say - what just happened should not have happened. Arkyn should not have been the one to steal my first kiss. And yet… everything felt so right when he did.“Kira? Are you in there, Printsessa?” my father’s voice sounds from the door again, and this seems to snap both of us out of whatever spell we were under. Arkyn blinks and walks to the door, opening it and smiling at my father. “Oh, Arkyn! I didn’t know you were here, son. Do you need a moment longer with Kira?” my father asks, oblivious to the fact that we just did the unthinkable.“No, I think we’ve said all that needed to be said for now,” he says, then turns to me and briefly makes eye contact. “I’ll see you inside, Blue. There’s… something we need to discuss, but it can wait.”“See… you,” I trail off when he walks out without waiting for my answer. He closes the door behind him, and I have no time to mull over w
-Kira- I pride myself in not allowing the smile to waver on my lips when he mentions Arkyn’s name. He wants me to be with Arkyn? When did he decide this?“Pappa, Arkyn is my best friend!”He raises his eyebrow and smirks. “Hm, that’s not what I see when you two are together but let me keep quiet before I get into trouble with your mother.”Just then the door opens and my father’s smirk grows when my mother walks in with a look of disapproval on her face. “Kai, we’ve spoken about this-”“I know, little wolf, and I will keep my thoughts to myself from now on,” he says. Something tells me they’ve spoken about this topic many times before and I don’t know how I feel about that. Did my father know how I felt about Arkyn? Could he see the way Arkyn felt about me even though I was oblivious to it up until a few minutes ago?I can’t ask him more about this, because my mother walks over to me then and tuts when she sees my ruined make-up.“Oh, Kai, I told you not to make her cry!” she exclai
-Arkyn-I can still feel Kira’s lips on mine even as I kiss Jade’s. I can still feel her hands on my back, pulling at my clothing even as another man claims her as his. And my heart still fucking beats to the sound of hers.She should have been mine. That smile full of love should be directed at me, not fucking Helseth. She should belong to me. She should be saying those vows to me! Nothing about this feels right at all, nothing at all!Her kiss proved it. If she didn’t feel the same way about me, she would have pushed me away. But she kissed me back with the same vigor; she returned my desperation with her own.And yet her expression does not change when I introduce Jade as my fiancee; her smile doesn’t even waver slightly knowing that this woman is to be my Luna Bride.“It’s lovely to meet you, Jade,” she says in that sing-song voice I adore. “You’re absolutely stunning!”Jade blushes and looks down. “Thank you, but you’re the stunning one! Congratulations, it was a beautiful weddin
-Kira-They decorated the Hall of the Five in black, red, and gold. The Helseth family wanted to be the ones to fund the reception, while my family funded everything else. I must say that they’ve outdone themselves; a beautiful reception for a powerful wedding. This is what every bride dreams of… except I feel like I’m sitting with the wrong groom.I shouldn’t be looking their way, but my eyes keep on falling on them. Arkyn’s refusal to look at me all evening causes my heart to beat too fast for me to catch up with it. He’s the one who kissed me with his fiancee waiting for him, so why is he mad at me? What’s with the anger when he has someone else?This will all be over soon since our paths will go in different directions after today; I’ll be moving to Norway and he’ll be taking over as Alpha with a Luna in tow. Whatever happened in my bridal chamber should not have happened, no matter how right it felt.The added anxiety causes me to feel lightheaded and makes me forget Adryan is ri
-Arkyn-Kira is quiet as we step onto my father’s waiting private jet. She’s holding on to her cousin, Luka, while he whispers soothing words to her. Luka is like a spitting image of Beta Konstantin, just with the green eyes of his mother. I know they’ve always been close, closer than she and I could ever be. But I can’t help but think that it should be me comforting her… even if she wants nothing to do with me right now.She’ll resent me for taking her away, but her father has left her in my care. There is no way I would pass up on a request from Alpha Kai himself, not when it comes to her. I have informed my father of what happened at the Hall of the Five; how the Helseths have yet again waged war on the Volkov pack. Erik used his son’s bond to Kira and it worked, nearly everyone was incapacitated when we left. There’s an uneasy quiet that settles over everyone; no one speaks or looks at each other. Elijah is sitting next to Jade and the two still refuse to acknowledge one another
-Kira-Today I woke up with an empty feeling right in the middle of my chest, it gnawed at my heart and left me breathless. Now as I watch my wedding dress disappear in a breath of flames, that emptiness has spread over my entire body.I feel numb, but I refuse to shed another tear./“We’ll be okay, Kira,”/ Yailyn, my wolf says with her ears flattened against her head. /“We’ll find a way back to our family.”/I sigh. /“I hope so. We’ll just have to be strong through this. We have good allies here.”/Luka has his arms wrapped protectively around me, but he’s not grieving like I am. He’s seething. After years of Luka not having a man to call his father, my uncle finally gave up on his search for his daughter, Kaia. Uncle Konstantin, aunt Lily, and Luka started getting closer, their bond repairing day by day. Until last night when we were both forced to flee our home. My father wanted us to run and not fight because he knew the hunters would overpower us. He knew he could trust the Vega
-Kira-I haven’t seen Arkyn all day. Not only have I been restless and anxious, but Jade’s uncalled-for bitchiness is getting to me as well. I tried to talk to her late afternoon, and she just brushed me off, so now here I am, cooking because I need to do SOMETHING.Our conversation with Alpha Fenriz left me with more questions than answers, and now it might be true that Adryan had our bond tampered with. He’s not my true mate; I can feel it in my gut, but that leaves me with the question as to who is. /“There is someone…”/ Yailyn teases me with her words as if I hadn’t already thought about it. The way I felt about Arkyn has not subsided even after meeting my supposed mate. Could it be that Arkyn is my true mate? I suppose I’ll never know until my bond to Adryan is severed. “Keeping busy?” Luka asks when he walks into the kitchen smelling like lemongrass. He’s spent the entire day in Arkyn’s gym burning off his anger. Now it looks like he’s showered and cleaned up for dinner time.
-Arkyn- I could feel Kira’s eyes on me throughout dinner, but I refused to acknowledge it and make things worse. But hearing her calling out for her mate, watching her lose her mind and fight to get to him, just pissed me off. Then my father mentioned Helseth was not her true mate, and shit started going downhill. What the fuck happened today while I was out attending to meetings? It’s fucked up; I know I should have been here for her today, but since uncle Andreas left, he has handed me over the Vega reins in my father’s stead. Duty before pleasure, as he always taught me. I nod at Kira’s words, then gesture for her to follow me as we walk up to her bedroom. She’d feel more comfortable here than in mine, anyway. We walk inside and she closes the door behind her, leaning the back of her head against it. “Adryan isn’t my mate.” Four words shouldn’t hold that much power over me, but those four words spoken by the woman I love have just knocked the wind out of me. “What do you mea