First night with the monster.

The faces in the ceremonial hall were familiar. Faces I had seen during festivals, mating ceremonies, and full moon celebrations. Yet today they looked different and distant, like figures in a painting I had been cut out of. The elders sat in their carved seats, their faces as rigid as the statues outside. Not one of them looked uncomfortable. Not one of them looked at me with pity.

The Master of Rites stood at the front of the hall, his long robes touching the marble floor, and right beside him was Alpha Alexander, my husband. The word felt wrong and unreal in my head. It made me regret all the times I had wished for a husband of my own. He stood there expressionless, like he neither agreed nor disagreed with what was happening. If he hated this marriage, he did not show it. If he wanted it, he did not show that either. His face was calm, almost bored, like this was nothing more than another duty to complete.

My mother was also present, and I wondered who thought of inviting her. Was it out of kindness or out of cruelty. It didn't  matter. Was I happy or sad she was present? I couldn't tell. When our eyes met, the composure I had forced myself to gather before entering almost shattered. My chest tightened painfully, but I held it back. If I broke now, there would be no stopping. Her eyes were red from tears she had tried and failed to hide. Even from where I stood, I could see how tightly she was gripping her dress just to stop herself from running to me.

I was led to stand beside Alpha Alexander, and the Master of Rites proceeded immediately, chanting words I barely understood. The ancient language echoed across the hall. It was not like they cared whether I understood. No one directed any question to me. No one asked if I agreed. No one asked if I was willing. I just stood there like something about to be sacrificed, like an offering placed before the altar.

The wedding lasted only minutes. Minutes that felt like hours. My ears rang with every word spoken, but none of them felt real. When it was done, I was granted a moment with my mother, perhaps for the last time. The room slowly emptied until it was just the two of us. The large doors closed with a heavy sound that echoed in my chest.

I threw myself into her arms, crying. “I am sorry, Mom,” I sobbed, my voice breaking. “I am so sorry. Please forgive me.”

She kissed my tears away like she used to when I was a child afraid of the dark. Her trembling hands hugged me tightly, as if she feared I would disappear if she loosened her grip.

“You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for, my darling,” she whispered fiercely. “If anyone should be sorry, it is me. What kind of mother cannot even shield her only child? What kind of mother does nothing but watch as her child is being thrown into danger?”

Her voice broke at the last word. I knew she was saying all that to console me, even if it meant blaming herself. I shook my head but said nothing. What was there to say? I could not fix this. I could not undo it. So I stayed in her arms and breathed her in. From the he faint smell of herbs and smoke from home that  clung to her clothes to the way her hands rubbed my hair slowly down to the warmth of her body. I tried to memorize everything, just in case this was the last time.

We remained that way for a long time before a maid came in and bowed politely. “You have to retire to your chambers, my lady,” she said softly. Then she turned to my mother. “Your carriage is waiting.”

My mother’s hands shook as they cupped my face. She looked straight into my eyes with desperate intensity, as if trying to say a thousand things at once.

“I must warn you, Sophia,” she whispered urgently. “The Alpha is a dangerous man. In anything you do, and no matter what he does, do not challenge him. Avoid staying in the same space as him if you can. And most importantly, let your safety come first at all times.”

Then she kissed my forehead and left the hall without saying another word. She didn't look back either. I knew her well enough to understand that if she looked back, she might refuse to leave.

I wanted to say something. Tell her I would survive. Promise her I would return home alive. But no words came. Only tears that burned down my cheeks.

I was led back to the room where I had been dressed earlier, but it looked completely different now. The once empty space was heavily decorated. It looked like a bridal suite. Incense burned faintly in the air, filling the room with a sweet scent that almost made me sick. Flower petals were arranged on the bed to form the word love. I nearly laughed. What irony.

“You have to get changed, my lady,” one of the maids, whom I now knew was named Camellia, said gently.

I agreed. There was no way I could sleep in such a heavy bridal gown. My body already felt tired from standing stiffly for too long.

Then she dropped the bombshell. “For your first night with my lord.”

Her lord... My husband... Alpha Alexander... The monster. They were all the same person.

My head seemed to spin and my stomach twisted painfully. How had I not thought of this? Of course he would come here tonight. Of course he would expect something. He would come in, and he would take what he believed belonged to him.

I swallowed the bile rising in my throat.

They bathed me again, this time in warm water scented with flower petals. Their hands were careful and gentle, like they were handling something fragile. I would have called it a pleasant bath on any other day. But today it felt like preparation for a death sentence, like they were readying me for something I could not escape.

Then they dressed me. Not in a night robe. Not in armor. But in a thin, pale garment I would not dare call clothing. It barely covered anything. I instinctively wrapped my arms around myself. Camellia looked at me as though she wanted to say something comforting, but she did not. Maybe there was nothing comforting to say.

They made me sit on the bed and covered my face with an equally pale veil. Then they bowed and left. The door closed.

My heart thumped wildly in my chest. Every flicker of the candles felt like a countdown. I could hear my own breathing, uneven and shaky. I looked around the room for something to distract me, but everything reminded me of what was about to happen.

Slowly, I stood and walked toward the window. Maybe I should jump. Maybe broken bones were better than what awaited me. The thought felt almost peaceful for a moment. But when I pushed the curtains aside and looked down, guards stood everywhere, their eyes alert and watchful. There was no way out.

Oh Moon Goddess. I was doomed.

I walked back and sat on the bed, trying to focus on the bedsheets. The softness beneath my fingers. The embroidery. Anything to keep my mind from imagining footsteps.

Then the handle turned and the door opened.

There he was. My husband.

One of his eyes was black while the other remained its normal blue. The difference was terrifying. I must have been so lost watching him that I did not realize when he stood right in front of me.

“Wife.”

His voice startled me, and I jumped back on the bed. The veil fell from my head. His expression changed. He looked angry, or perhaps frustrated.

He climbed onto the edge of the bed, and I instinctively moved back until my spine touched the headboard.

“You seem to be afraid of me, wife,” he said in a strange voice. It sounded similar to when Umbryth almost took over in the council chamber.

Slowly, I forced myself to meet his eyes. I was right. The second eye was now pale black. It was coming.

“I do not like being ignored, wife,” he said again.

My lips trembled as I tried to answer. “I… I am not scared,” I stammered.

“Then why are you shaking?” he asked calmly.

Was I? I looked at my hands. Yes. I was shaking badly. My whole body trembled like a leaf beside a river during a storm. Still, I tried to pretend I was not. I pulled the bedsheet closer around me, as if that could somehow stop it.

“I will not hurt you, wife,” he murmured. But his face said something entirely different.

He leaned closer. The air felt heavy.

“Stop!” I screamed.

That made it worse. His eye turned completely black.

“Stop shouting,” he growled.

How could I stop? The tears I had been holding back finally broke free, and I sobbed uncontrollably.

“Stop it.”

A glass mug flew across the room and shattered against the wall. I did not remember him holding anything. My eyes moved from where the mug landed back to him.

He was not looking at me anymore. Instead, he was staring at his own hands, which were now trembling.

“Get out!”