Chapter 2

Moonlight poured over the altar as I gazed at the face opposite me. Lucian's face was simply breathtaking, and he looked like he'd been carefully sculpted. Everything felt perfect, as if I were in a dream.

Our ceremony proceeded smoothly until it was time for the marking. That expected discordant voice shattered the beauty entirely.

"Alpha, please wait!" Seraphina was carried in, her breathing coming out in weak gasps.

The sacred altar immediately descended into chaos. Lucian's expression changed instantly. He strode quickly to Seraphina's stretcher, his voice carrying an urgency I had never heard before.

Aiden Steele followed closely behind, his expression equally grave.

"It's no use, Alpha!" The pack's head elder, Roger Mace, approached Lucian with a solemn expression.

"Seraphina's wolf has reached the brink of collapse! The only solution requires a powerful Alpha to establish a mate bond with her and help stabilize her wolf!"

Every wolf's gaze turned toward me in unison. I heard the sound of my heart stopping.

Once Lucian used that most primal power for another she-wolf under the Moon Goddess's witness, he would be considered "tainted".

As his Luna, I would never be able to complete a perfect, unblemished marking ceremony blessed by the Moon Goddess.

"No…" I shook my head instinctively, walking step by step toward Lucian.

He looked at me in panic, his lips moving but unable to utter a single word.

I cried for a long time before I could ask, "Is Seraphina really that important? Important enough for you to abandon your Luna and stain our mate bond with something the Moon Goddess will never acknowledge?"

Lucian struggled to speak. "She can't withstand this kind of soul-tearing agony. Eleanor, once she's stable, we'll hold a proper ceremony again."

I looked at Lucian before me, the werewolf I once thought I could entrust my life to.

Not long after I first arrived at the pack, he had taken me to the highest tower of the castle. The cool moonlight draped over us like silver gauze.

"After the ceremony, you'll be the mistress of this place." He had gently embraced me from behind and rested his chin on the top of my head.

"I'm not the mistress," I said softly, leaning into his cold but solid embrace. "I'm your mate."

"No, you're right." He kissed my hair, his voice carrying unprecedented solemnity. "You're not just my mate, Eleanor. You'll be my Luna, and we'll be leading this pack together."

As he cupped my face, his golden eyes looked startlingly bright in the moonlight. "I never imagined a human could make my wolf submit at first sight. Eleanor, you're the end of my loneliness. For you, I can change the werewolf traditions that have lasted a thousand years.

"You're not anyone's accessory. You're the one and only Luna who could stand beside me as my equal. Have faith in me."

In that moment, upon seeing the glacier in his eyes that melted only for me, I fell completely. Lucian's love made me forget the pain and anxiety of being offered by my family.

And now, he was showing me for the first time what it felt like to have my heart die.

Meanwhile, the confrontation between Aiden and Roxanne had reached its peak. "Roxanne, our marking ceremony is postponed."

Roxanne's voice was calm. "Aiden, what about your promise?"

Aiden looked at her, his eyes full of struggle and anger. Finally, he said with difficulty, "Seraphina's life hangs in the balance. I can't mark you at a time like this."

"Seraphina?" Roxanne laughed, her smile filled with contempt and self-mockery. "I understand now."