HARSH

Eva

When Head Priestess Bathsheba banged on the door to wake us up in the middle of the night, I could hardly keep my eyes open long enough to look at the closed door. My eyelids were glued together with sleep. It was only when she knocked a second time that my roommate Danna and I opened our eyes.

“Girls, wake up! Alpha Cyrus is here!”

We both sat up at the same time, looking at each other in confusion. Head Priestess Bathsheba must have grown impatient with us because she opened the door and didn’t ask for permission to do it first, like she usually did.

“Didn’t you hear what I said!?” she asked desperately. She was dressed in her full attire, and even had the veil over her head.

“What’s he doing here?” Danna asked, sleep lacing her voice.

“It hardly matters!” she exclaimed. “I need two juniors with me right this instant. We must accept the Alpha of our beloved pack with the greatest respect. Dress up as quickly as you can, and meet me downstairs!”

She closed the door, leaving us alone again. We exchanged a glance and quickly slid out of bed. My clothes were washed and hanging in my small closet, so I had no trouble getting ready for the event downstairs.

Danna was still stumbling into her dress, and grumpily commented, “It’s two in the morning! Why would he want to pay us a visit at this ungodly hour?”

I sighed before responding, “There’s no right time to make a confession and live by the rules of our goddess, Luna.”

Danna rolled her eyes. “Yeah, sure. The goddess has no right time to be spoken to, but we do!”

I ignored her ramblings as I walked over to the mirror and put my head covering over my head before using the veil to cover my face as all juniors did. I only stared at the mirror for half a minute—staring longer than necessary would be a sin. When I was done, I turned to Danna and announced, “I’m ready.”

She seemed to be in a terrible mood because she said, “You’re not going to get an award for that, you know? They can wait.”

My cheeks flushed, and without allowing myself to get upset with her, I said, “I’ll wait for you outside. Please, make haste.”

Danna was ready in five minutes, and together, we walked down the wide dimly lit corridor before heading to the stairs right at the end of the hall. Our feet made light noises on the stone steps, which were dark because all the lights had been turned off for bedtime. I was careful not to trip, and made it successfully down the stairs.

We walked into the chapel, and I saw that Head Priestess Bathsheba was with Priestess Juvia and our teacher, Priestess Lila. She smiled when she saw us—she’d always been kinder than the others—and in a hushed voice, said, “I specifically requested the two of you. You’re my best students, and I’m sure you’ll represent us to the best of your abilities.”

I colored with pleasure, but Danna appeared ashamed, probably because of how reluctant she was to wake up.

“Now that we’re all here,” Head Priestess Bathsheba began, turning to us as well, “we can start. The Alpha was kind enough to wait for us at the door. Eva, grab those scented candles and hold them up. Danna, you too. I will open the door for him, and allow him to enter. You will both bow to him when you see him, and I will then accompany him to the confessional. Afterward, we will utter a small prayer for him—the Hail Luna—and he will depart. Understood?”

I nodded eagerly, and Danna grumbled a yes.

In all my years of training, this would be the first time I would attend such a ritual. I was still a student, but when I turned twenty-one in two weeks, I would be old enough to take my vows and swear fealty to Luna. I’d become a Priestess.

And then, I’d be the one to perform rituals like this, and hear confessions from those who wished to repent their sins and worship our goddess in the correct and traditional way.

I was glad that the Alpha of our Silver Crescent pack was a devout man.

He had such a bad reputation, and I was beginning to wonder why when he clearly cared about the fate of his soul.

I waited anxiously for the door to open. My face was hidden behind a veil, so I couldn’t see all that clearly, but I was excited and wanted to observe as much as I could. I’d cherish this moment until the rest of my days, and couldn’t wait to share it with the other girls tomorrow.

They’d be so delighted to hear about how I helped the Head Priestess save the soul of our beloved Alpha!

When the doors opened, and I heard Head Priestess Bathsheba’s voice welcoming the Alpha, shivers raced down my spine. She said, “Thank you for being here, Alpha Cyrus. Words cannot describe how pleased I am to receive you into our blessed Holy Lunar Convent. I am Head Priestess Bathsheba, and I will be taking your confession today.”

“Thank you, Head Priestess,” the Alpha responded, and upon hearing the sound of his voice, I shivered unnaturally, so much that my teeth clenched together and the candles wobbled in my hand. Danna stole a glance at me, probably because we were both supposed to stand perfectly still, just as we practiced countless times in the past.

But I couldn’t explain what happened to me. For a moment, it was like I lost control of my body.

Besides, I’d never heard the sound of a man’s voice before. Perhaps the depth of it was what caught me off guard.

Their footsteps were growing closer to us, and I prayed to Luna for strength. I didn’t want to make a careless mistake, not when Priestess Lila was counting on me to portray a good image to the Alpha.

He contributed generously to our Convent every year. If it weren’t for him, we’d all starve to death, or worse, the Convent would never exist, and our faith would be forgotten.

In other words, we had to impress him, and I knew this without having to be told.

They stopped right in front of us, and I didn’t dare to look up even though I wanted to. A strange sensation took over my body, and it felt like hundreds of spiders were crawling on my skin. Even so, I kept still I didn’t move an inch.

“This is Priestess Juvia, and this is Priestess Lila. They will be leading the prayers today. And behind them are the priestesses-in-training—Eva and Danna. They will be the ones to—”

She was rudely interrupted by something, and when I sneaked a glance at them, I saw that the Alpha had put a hand up to silence her, and he was looking around in alarm, his nostrils flared.

That scent. It was so strange and foreign…what was it?

Was it him?

I couldn’t take my eyes away from him once my gaze had settled on him. I was mesmerized, both by his presence and his appearance. I’d never heard the sound of a man’s voice before, much less seen one, but something within me suspected that this wasn’t the reason why I was so entranced by him.

When his gaze met mine, his eyes widened slightly, and a single word left his lips. “Mate.”

I was too stunned to understand what was happening, but when he’d said the word, it suddenly made sense to me. Our eyes met through the veil, and a few seconds passed. Maybe more. I didn’t dare to look at the Priestesses. I was afraid of what I’d see written across their faces.

The silence in the chapel was deafening.

“Mate,” he repeated before stepping forward. Ignoring Head Priestess Bathsheba’s cries, he closed the distance between us and ripped the veil from my face. They gasped. I gasped. I was so horrified by what he’d done that I dropped the candles and stepped away from him. He noticed this, and stepped on the flames growing between us to prevent them from spreading everywhere. I watched my veil burn right before my eyes, and my heart dropped to the pit of my stomach.

“Alpha Cyrus!” Head Priestess Bathsheba exclaimed. “What have you done!? You’re not supposed to look into her face! She is a priestess!”

Alpha Cyrus arched a brow at her words, and without looking at her, retorted, “I can do whatever I want, Head Priestess. I am the Alpha, and this woman standing before me is my mate.”