CHAPTER 7: A Flicker Of Hope.

NEIRA

The palace bells began ringing, and the deep sound spread through the palace until it seemed to shake the walls around us.

“The Blood Moon,” Keiran said behind me. “It's starting soon.”

I turned to him. He stood near the bed, watching me with an expression I couldn't quite read. Was he thinking about it too? Who his mate would be? A lot of questions ran through my mind, with no answers to save me from my desperate thoughts.

One thing was certain. The ceremony was here, and tonight would decide our fate.

Keiran walked toward me and stopped a few steps away.

“You've been quiet.”

“I have a lot on my mind.”

He reached for my hand, and when his fingers closed around mine, I felt the warmth settle deep inside my chest, like a healing balm. I felt light again as his thumb moved slowly over my knuckles.

“You look tense. Is it because of the Blood Moon gathering? Are you scared?” he said quietly, touching my lips softly.

I looked back at him.

“No.”

“Then what are you afraid of?”

My mind screamed at me to tell him the truth, to tell him that I was afraid tonight would change everything between us. I was afraid that once the Blood Moon revealed his mate, there would be no place left for me beside him.

Instead, I gave him a small shake of my head.

“Nothing.”

He studied my face for a moment and nodded.

“Let's get ready then.”

We got ready in silence. I changed into a dark, shimmering red dress that reached the floor, then stood in front of the mirror and fixed my hair with fingers that wouldn't stop trembling. I tried to tell myself it was only because the ceremony was important, but I knew better.

When I turned around, Keiran was already dressed.

His eyes moved over me, and he smiled.

“You look beautiful, as always.”

I looked down at my dress.

“You don't have to say that.”

“I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it. It brings out your eyes.”

Heat touched my cheeks, and I looked away before he could see how much his words affected me.

That was the problem with Keiran. One look from him, one gentle word, and I forgot every reason I had given myself to be composed around him.

He held out his hand. I stared at it for a moment before placing mine in his, and we left the room together.

The palace was full of movement. Guards stood along the paths, torches burned on both sides, and servants hurried around carrying candles and ceremonial cloth. Everyone seemed excited about the night ahead.

Everyone except me.

As we entered the ceremonial grounds, I saw how many people had gathered. Nobles stood together in their finest clothes while warriors lined the outer edges of the courtyard. The elders sat beneath the royal canopy, and the High Seer stood beside the ancient altar in his dark ceremonial robes.

Then I saw Varessa.

She stood beside Elyra in a silver gown that caught the torchlight every time she moved. Her hair had been carefully arranged, and she looked calm and beautiful, like a proud wolf waiting to be claimed.

She looked like someone who belonged beside Keiran.

I looked away before the thought could hurt me any more than it already had.

Keiran's fingers tightened around mine.

My eyes scanned the ceremonial ground and landed on Queen Elyra. She was already looking at me, even before I saw her. Her eyes burned into me, her gaze sharp enough to tear me in half.

I immediately pulled my hands from Keiran's, but he pulled me back, holding my hand tightly.

“What’s wrong? I want you to stay close to me. You are shaking like crazy. Calm down,” he murmured.

I looked at him and nodded.

The crowd slowly became quiet as the High Seer stepped toward the altar.

“Tonight, the Blood Moon rises over our kingdom,” he announced.

Everyone lifted their faces toward the sky.

The moon was already changing. Its pale light slowly deepened until the whole moon became red.

A shiver moved through me. The ground suddenly felt heavy beneath my feet.

The High Seer raised both hands.

“For generations, the Blood Moon has revealed the woman chosen by the Moon Goddess to stand beside the Crown Alpha. Tonight, the fated mate of Crown Alpha Keiran Valec shall be revealed.”

My fingers tightened around Keiran's hand.

He looked down at me.

For one foolish moment, I allowed myself to hope.

I didn't know why I still had that hope after everything that had happened. Perhaps some part of me had always believed that what Keiran and I shared had to mean something more. Perhaps I simply wasn't ready to accept that I could love someone so deeply and still not have a place in his future.

The courtyard became completely silent, then the red light from the moon began to move.

At first, it spread across the altar and the stone floor. Then it moved slowly through the courtyard, passing over the people gathered around us.

I watched it come closer. With every movement it made, it felt like I was losing another strand of my life. My breathing became shallow.

The red light reached the royal family and passed over Elyra.

It moved across Varessa and then, my heart stopped.

This was it. It had always been her. How could I have even thought highly of myself?

The light lingered beneath her, my feet suddenly felt too weak to hold me. Just when I was about to let go of Keiran's hand, the light moved away from her and continued toward me.

Then it touched my feet.

I froze.