Chapter one

I WILL BE A FREE LUNA.

XENIA'S POV.

" You are getting married to him, Xenia and it's final". My father roared into my face, bits of saliva coming out of his mouth and unto my face.

I immediately backed away from him, scrunching my face up into disgust when the next thing I felt against my cheeks, was a resounding slap.

The intensity of his hit sent my face flying the other side, almost snapping my neck into two, my cheeks feeling like they were on fire, as I could feel the cold, metallic taste of blood on my lips.

" How dare you peasant, squeeze your face at me?" He yelled, fury obvious in his tone and anger blazing through his eyes, as he grabbed me by my hair and flung me to the bed aggressively, making me bounce on it.

" Arrgh" I screamed, my shoulder collided with the bed metal, scratching me. My father didn't even care, but just clenched his fists, before pointing at me, with his middle finger.

" Better get prepared, you brat". He added, before storming out of my room and slamming the door aggressively behind him, making me tremble, almost jumping out of my skin, as tears gathered at the brink of my eyelids, before proceeding to roll down my cheeks.

I buried my head into my pillow as I sobbed, wondering what I have ever done to deserve such cruel treatment.

I could never have been prepared for my Father's decision.  The Lycans and werewolves, despite being from the same source, the moon goddess, have been at loggerheads with one another, for generations now.

Finally, a way was figured out to reconcile with the pure bloods ( the werewolves).  A marriage was proposed and Astral, my sister and first daughter was to be given to the Lycan king, as his bride - to - be.

But, Who would want to give away their beloved Astral to a monster like the Lycan king, he is rumored to be ruthless and dreadful so of course the worthless one,  a weak wolf, no different from an omega although born of an Alpha, would be given in place and no one would be able to tell, including the Lycan king.

My eyes went away from the trees to find the moon, full and bright, lighting up the dark sky, reminding me of the night of my wedding...

I remember sitting up the whole night crying and praying that morning shouldn't come, I didn't want to get married to a stranger, a cruel one at that, known for his immense hatred towards my kind.

I weeped and begged but my tears changed nothing because immediately it stuck five in the morning, my father barged into my room, yelling at me to get up and get dressed.

Before I could even say a word, he had grabbed me by my hair again, like the night before and yanked me out of the bed.

“Father, stop, please. You are hurting me, Please,” I pleaded, my hand on his hand, trying to loosen his hold as my scalp felt like it was on fire, due to the way my hair was being pulled, tears threatening to fall out of my eyes.

But like every day in my life, my father did not care. He practically threw me to the floor, gritting his teeth together.

“Get dressed, you little brat.” He commanded, his tone leaving no room for excuses.

My head collided with the hard ground and I winced in pain, the tears I was trying so hard to hold, rolling down my cheeks.

Thankfully, I didn't sustain a bruise, It was the maids who helped me on my feet and attended to my wounds while I was dressed and caked In makeup.

Astral was there when we all boarded the carts straight to the venue of the wedding. I did not expect much from her but I didn't think she would whisper such, irking words to me before moving to sit with Father in the next cart.

“Why are you so sad, If not for me, would you have had any shot at getting married, you, ugly bitch?” Her words pierced my heart like a knife, as I found it difficult to form words out of my mouth.

What did I ever do to deserve those words from her? I was taking on a terrible marriage on her behalf, she should at least be a little grateful, but who was I kidding?

My voiceless complaints were ignored even by heaven who was supposed to hear it.

That day, I was married off to Rico Darko, the king of the Lycans.

From what I heard, he had an age-long hatred for werewolves so when I saw the smile on his fair face and the glint in his deep blue eyes. I actually thought this was not so bad after all. I thought the rumors might be fake.

He did not mark me when the ceremony ended, maybe he was still sketchy about it but he did give me his arm and escorted me around a little. Even though a woman kept coming to steal him away, he was still warm and kind to me.

I actually began to have some hope and see a bright future until the doors of the Lycan palace shut behind me, and I was told that the Lycan king did not want to see me in the days to come unless he felt like it. I was confined to a room on the last floor of the castle, I would not be allowed to even sleep in the same bed with him.

“Why? I am his wife, He isn't supposed to… “My voice broke, my heart bleeding like an open wound.

I was being escorted by a maid, but she did not say a word to me until we got to my room. She pushed me in, and I tripped on my wedding dress and crashed to the floor. She threw my bag at me. It fell on my leg. I gasped, grabbing the affected place.

“Why are you doing this!”, I shrieked in pain.

“Oh shut up. You are lucky the king even gives a damn about you if not you would be sleeping in the dungeons, You filth of a wolf.” She snorted, before banging the door right behind her, as she left.

I tried to pretend she was lying but she was right. Only worthless people go through this suffering.

I vowed that moment, I would save myself. Since no one loved me and no one cared about me, I would care for myself.

From that day, I endured all of Rico's painful insults, his beating, his cheating, the maids, and everyone else trampling on me; I took them all, waiting for this day, which was today.

The gush of wind from the distant forest, rushed into the room, making me shiver, chilling my bones but I did not close the window because something big was going to happen tonight. And this open window was extremely…

“My lady, Is it not cold?.”

I heard her voice and turned to look. It was one of the little maids who was kind to me. She must be here to tend to the laundry.

" Well, I like it. Em, please I would like to be alone. You can do the laundry tomorrow morning. And where is the king?”

“He is at the dining hall. I will take my leave now.”

She shut the door behind her. My eyes found the clock. Eleven-fifty. In ten minutes, I will turn twenty, my powers will finally come to me and I will escape this wretched man and his castle. I will finally be a free Luna.

AUTHOR'S POV

Elvis stopped in front of the giant doors leading into the dining halls. He hesitated to open it. He had no intention of facing the King with news that Xenia had rejected his dinner invitation.

But… had he a choice?

Elvis took a breath and made to push the door open when it swung ajar. The king was right in front of him in a second.

“Elvis, where is Xenia?” His voice was inquisitive In a worried way.

“Her quarters, Ric…”

Before he could finish, the Lycan king had crossed him almost running down the passage. Elvis followed, trying to catch up.

“My king, is there a problem? My king.” Elvis called continuously, after him but Rico could not hear him, all he could think of was that smell.

He never smelt that scent before. Like wet roses lying on a hot spring. No one could smell it except him. He could not believe it took him all this time to realize. Xenia was his mate after all.

He burst into her room immediately. Eyes flashing left and right.

“Xenia! Xenia!” He called briskly, panic setting in him, his breath heavy and fast.

' Where was she?' He pondered, his heart racing as he couldn't find her anywhere.