Poisoned arrows and wedding gowns

Poison. Poison. They was poison in the dagger.

Fear, deep and engraved washed over Lyra. She was going to die. It was all over. Everything, all the plans she had, all of her wishes, her thoughts and dreams ended by the man she knew as her mate.

Alpha Dorian walked slowly towards her. Advancing like he was stalking his prey, his arrow still drawn and aimed at her. She was alone, all alone, even in her death, she was alone. Alpha Kai had walked away. He had left her.

"Stupid b*itch!!" Alpha Dorian said as he walked closer.

"You stupid, clueless, useless b*itch! I gave you my home, gave you a life, made you a figure of power to so many werefolk and you take it for granted."

He grabbed her hair, pulling her up till she was kneeling in front of him.

"You don't get to throw it in my face, embarrass me in front of my peers and walk away from me. You have no right!!" Alpha Dorian said and then slapped her across her cheek.

"Useless cursed child of a weak Alpha... The moon goddess has a sick sense of humor pairing me with you. I am a full fledged male. I am every woman's dream, I am everything! And you dare walk away from me? Me?!"

"Let me go, Dorian. Let go of my hair" Lyra said weakly, the poison already taking effect, weakening her reflexes and slurring her words.

"Do...rian. Y-you bas-stard"

"How dare you, a female, mock me!! How dare you, cursed and unfit, reject me!?"

"Le-ett mmme gooo, Y-ou f*uckerr" Lyra slurred, even as she weakly fought his hold on her head, pulling on her scalb.

"Shut up!"

smack!!

His palm connected with her cheek again. "It should have been the other way around. I am alpha, I should reject you!"

"Now I see my both of you were mated." Alpha Kai said as he walked slowly towards them. When he got close enough, he strolled casually to a tree and leaned against it, looking absolutely relaxed.

"It only makes sense that the moon goddess would pair two babies together. And from all I've heard you say now, you're an even bigger baby than your mate" Kai said with a smile.

"F-former m-mate yyyou dipsh*it" Lyra struggled to say, still looking indignant and angry.

"Hear that, even in pain and fighting unconsciousness, she still rejects you. Oh how would your puny manhood accept that" Kai's composed smile slipped from his face, replaced with something even scarier than a frown.

"Let go of her hair" Alpha Kai said.

"Or what? You'll kill me? You'll only have a war on your hands" Dorian said.

"And when have I ever been scared for a war? LET. GO. NOW."

Alpha Dorian let go of Lyra's hair, stepping away from her. Lyra sagged and fell straight to the floor, slipping in and out of unconsciousness.

"You couldn't even find a better poison? Just some weak sedative? You wanted to drag her back to your pack, didn't you?" Alpha Kai said before pushing off of the late tree he had been leaning on and walking menacingly towards Dorian.

"You were going to force her back there, and then proceed to bend and break her will to live, weren't you? You pathetic slice of evolution."

"You've done enough damage, Alpha Kai. Leave my lands and go back to wherever you came from. You can't hurt me within my own pack lands"

"But you forget, Dorian. I am not on your pack lands. You're so incompetent, you stepped right over your border lines and did not know it.  And now you're in a different place altogether, and I can play with you." Kai said as his eyes bled to red.

"Sorcery" Dorian whispered.

Before the last words left Alpha Kai's lips, Dorian took the arrow in his hand and plunged it into Lyra's shoulder, before dropping down on his knees in pain, blood pooling from his mouth and nose.

Alpha Kai sniffed, looking down at Lyra's unconscious body, now bleeding from her thigh and shoulder. He knew this poison, this wasn't just a sedative. It was a poison gotten from the moon-flower.

"How can an alpha dabble with sorcery and magic?!" Dorian yelled in frustration and a tinge of jealousy.

"Let me go or you'll never know the cure" Alpha Dorian said as he choked on his own blood.

"I don't need the cure, you can stay here, bleeding out while the creatures in this woods keep you company" Alpha Kai said as she walked towards Lyra's body, picked her up bridal style and walked away.

                   *************************

Alpha Kai found a small clearing where he gently placed Lyra.

He did not panic. Was the poison dangerous? Yes.

Was it going to kill her? Probably.

Her had simply needed to confirm if she was truly what the prophecy said she was. He couldn't risk bringing back the wrong woman.

Alpha Kai walked away from her unconscious body into the woods, he sniffed a few leaves and herbs, plucking what he thought was useful and discarding the rest.  He did not need light to see in the dark, his werewolf senses were top notch.

He had not just left her all alone there for nothing.

He had smelt Alpha Dorian following them for miles, he had also smelt the sedative on the arrow he had been carrying.

Maybe taunting and pushing Lyra's buttons was not the best option, he needed to delay them at that exact point in the forest long enough for her former mate to grow a per of balls and come out of the bushes he had been hiding in. Also, he just did not give a s*hit about her feelings.

She was whiny, clearly weak, and stubborn.

It was the reason he could not bear having kids yet. The absolute mayhem they could bring to a once peaceful place was just not worth it.

When Alpha Kai was satisfied with the herbs he found, he walked back toward Lyra. She was awake, but barely conscious of her surroundings. Her eyes fluttered as she writhed in pain.

He made quick work of mashing some of the leaves and seeds between his fingers and placing them inside her mouth.

"Chew them slowly" he said, leaving no room for argument.

He then cleaned both of her wounds with clean clothes from the satchel he carried and then added the herbs to her wounds.

He sat there, watching the moon slowly fade away to introduce the morning sun.

The clearing was silent except for the occasional call and response of crickets and the scurrying of small animals.

Lyra stirred from where she laid.

"You know, I really, truly hated my wedding gown. It was a monstrosity of tulle and chiffon and gossamer, so unlike the loose gowns I usually wore" Lyra said in a low voice as she tried and failed to sit up.

"Stop talking and rest" Alpha Kane replied.

"Before I joined the Nightlight pack, I wore simple, beautiful dresses. But when it was time for my own wedding, the dress was an eyesore: the bodice fitted, the neckline curved to plump my breasts, and the skirts … The skirts were a sparkling tent, practically floating in the balmy spring air.

"Lyra..."

"Dorian had laughed. He had laughed directly in my face as I tried it on, but he made no move to change it."

"You should rest."

"Even my handmaid's, as they dressed me, had hummed to themselves, hiding giggles with all of their mights, but said nothing. Most likely because Freya had personally selected the gown to complement whatever tale she had woven for the day." Lyra paused and coughed.

"I remember it was something about covering everything, covering my past, and coming into my  future." Lyra said, feeling the tears welling up in her eyes. And yet she continued to speak.

"I did not say a word. I hated the dress so much and it was my wedding dress too, but I could not make myself disagree with whatever I was told.

Honestly, might have dealt with it all if it weren’t for the puffy capped sleeves, so big I could almost see them glinting from the periphery of my vision every time I spoke or slightly moved my head." Lyra blinked, allowing the tears to fall.

Alpha Kai stopped trying to stop her, he let her speak knowing she was not just talking about her dress.

"My hair had been curled, half up, half down, entwined with pearls and jewels and goddess knew what, and it had taken all my self-control to keep from cringing at the mirror before descending the sweeping stairs into the main hall."

Alpha Kai turned towards her, just in time to see her suppress a shiver. He swiftly took off his coat and put it around her.

" Thank you. I hated it, hated everything and still I could not say no when they asked if I liked it. Several times, my handmaids would look at me with concern and ask if I loved it, I knew why they were asking, I looked horrible, but my answer was always, yes."

Lyra began to full on sob at that point. She barely had enough energy to cry, and yet, she wept, her shoulders rocking up and down, breathy sobs coming out of her.

"My dress hissed and swished with each step as I walked towards him. I told myself I would be OK. If I just had my mate, I would be OK. So I took it. Every comment, every snide remark, every dress that never flattered me, every task that belittled me. I took it all." Alpha Kai looked up at the moon, giving her a bit of privacy as she blew her nose and continued.       

"Freya herself, wore the most beautiful gown I had ever seen. Of course they were still on the color of her temple clothes, but they were so beautiful and form fitting, you'd think she was the one marrying.

At the time I could not tell if it was either to claim the attention for herself, or to spare me from being hounded by the pack of them."

"And now?" Alpha Kai silently asked.

"Now, I hate myself more for letting it happen. I was so weak, so weak I cannot even remember any fond or fun memories from my own wedding day, it doesnt matter if it ended or not" Lyra sniffled loudly, shivering under the fever caused by the poison and the herbs battle in her system.

"I had been too weak, too complacent, I let it happen to me. Not Dorian, Not Freya. I did"