Chapter 5

Ravynna’s POV

Five days!

It’s been five days since Kael has looked me dead in the eyes and told me I was going to regret trying to help his pack.

“You still have a few hours until the mating ceremony,” my wolf slowly reminded me as I stared at the finishing arrangements.

I should have felt honored, but that thrill I thought I would get at the thought of finally marrying my childhood love was absent.

Instead, I felt empty inside.

These past days, at the request of Kael’s parents, I had been staying in Stormfang Pack as his betrothed Luna.

I knew what I was entering, but having spent time here, I couldn’t help but wonder if I had made the right decision.

When Luna Elara had suggested I try to know this new Kael better, if I had known I wouldn’t see Kael talk more of knowing him better… I wouldn’t have agreed… Everyone knew I wasn’t the woman he wanted.

His betrothed Luna was what his father called me while he sang praises to anyone who gave him a listening ear, but I felt like an imposter…

Everyone had been preparing around me… members of my pack and his together, having barely enough time to rest and yet Kael… Kael was nowhere to be seen.

“The nonchalance of this man we are sacrificing our innocence to enrages me,” I heard Lyra scoff, chirping her thoughts.

She wasn’t done. “You may pretend not to hear bits of juicy gossip that had been flying among the workers whenever you walked past.”

Lyra had never hidden how much she hated Kael and expected me to, too, but the memories I held were just too much for me to hate a man who chose his woman over responsibilities.

After all, if I was being truthful with myself, we didn’t have a title for whatever we shared in the past.

She scoffed again for the umpteenth time, “Is that what you have been telling yourself since all this has started?”

“No title? No title, but he made those promises he is now fulfilling for that rat.”

“It’s Rose…” I corrected her, but she ignored me.

“Even if he hates you for trying to save his family, the least he could do is protect your dignity.”

Everything he had promised me while we lay under the stars was what he was doing for Rose, and I really didn’t know how to process what I felt.

From buying the house right next to the packhouse… the same one he had promised we’d train our kids in… to repainting it in my dream house color like he knew.

“He even put on a fireworks show for her atop the mountain, something he had wanted to do to show his declarations of love to me.” I found myself reminiscing.

I smiled sadly as the latest rumor of him renting out a whole restaurant for her and being her personal chef slipped into the back of my thoughts.

On the last day of the preparations, I had to excuse myself from the hall, unable to ignore the sympathetic looks of everyone.

Kael wanted me to hear it, to see it, to feel it, to drown in it… To understand that even if he married me and swore to stand by my side in front of the full moon… the woman he wanted was someone else…Rose…

It worked!

I told myself I was prepared and didn’t care as I was doing this for a good cause.

“Fool!” Lyra mocked, and I had to agree I was one.

There was still a part of me that still held onto the memory of the boy Kael once was.

The boy who raced me barefoot through the snow at twelve and had prayed under his breath before every dangerous shift.

So yes, I was a fool for looking at Kael and seeing the boy who whispered he would marry me one day, and we would merge our packs just like our grandfathers dreamed.

That boy had died somewhere, or maybe I had buried him myself once the day I left for training.

I didn’t miss the pitiful look Mom had on her face as she helped me into my dress… to encourage me, she had tried to smile, but it was thin and empty.

“If you regret this,” she whispered, “it is not too late, Ravy. Blood Moon will stand behind you…your father and I will take you home without questions.”

I flashed her a fake smile. “You worry too much… Besides doing this for the packs, I need to see if there’s anything left…” I whispered back. “If those years and promises ever meant anything, perhaps he was using me to get to Silverpack.”

Mom’s breath hitched, but thankfully she said nothing more.

I wanted to take one last gamble. Maybe if I hadn't gone alone to the Alpha King's training camp for the pack's honor, Kael might still be by my side.

My eyes met Dad's own as he slowly came into view, with his shoulders stiff… I could swear I heard his teeth grind.

“You look beautiful… too beautiful for…” He didn’t say his name but rather let out a sigh and took my hands in his.

He wasn’t okay… no one was.

“Are you sure about this?” he asked quietly. My eyes met his for a second before I swallowed, forcing a smile. “Yes.”

Without saying anything else, dad locked my arms into his and walked me down the aisle.

As I looked at the altar where the priest was waiting, my heart fell.

Kael was nowhere to be seen as the space beside the priest was humiliatingly empty.

“I can’t believe she is walking down the aisle to meet the missing Alpha?” I heard someone whisper.

“Poor girl,” others muttered.

“She deserves better,” someone breathed, barely loud enough to hear.

My cheeks warmed in embarrassment, forcing myself to avoid displaying any form of emotions on my face, I approached the large stones marking the start of the inner ring.

The murmurs didn’t help matters, as it almost seemed like they were judging my decision to still go ahead.

What ifs started slowly filling my head… The one that rang loudly was, what if he didn’t show up?

Dad pulled me out of my reverie as he gave my hand to the priest.

Even after doing so, he paused as though he wanted me to change my mind.

There was no going back… not now.

With a reassuring smile, I gave him a tight squeeze before taking a step away from him into the priest’s waiting grasp.

Elder Marah stepped beside me, her gaze kind but apologetic.

“Don’t be nervous, child,” she murmured, adjusting the small wreath on my head. “He will come.”

I managed a small nod and said, trying to convince myself, “I know he would, Elder.”

But inside, my stomach twisted with dread.

Seconds passed then minutes and the longer I stood alone at the threshold, the more whispers stirred like leaves in a restless wind.

“Is this a joke?”

“Where is the Alpha’s son?”

“How disgraceful.”

“Does he think he’s above tradition?”

I just stood there, frozen and we watched as the sun dipped below the trees, painting the sky amber, then a bruised purple.

The auspicious time when the ceremony was to start was now as the moonlight was the only light we saw.

And as soon as it did, the murmurs started again.

“Alpha Prince Kael should be here.”

“Is he really going through with…”

“No, look…someone’s coming.”

My heart stuttered once.

Then twice as Kael emerged from the shadows beneath the pine archway.

His aura was cold as expected, and just like I was, he had worn the ceremonial black and silver of Stormfang Alpha's cloak, while his hair was tied back loosely, its strands falling around his face.

For a moment, I allowed myself to believe he had come for the ceremony and he would stand beside me and not choose this day to pour shif all over my wrangled dignity…His eyes met mine, and I wasn’t hit with the usual hostility but rather a smirk.

I let out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding, but it died in my throat as quickly as it came.

Because Kael wasn’t alone.

Rose had slowly emerged from the shadows and clasped her hand around his.

I watched as her golden brown hair fell in soft waves over her shoulders… Rose was beautiful, and as she walked him, the haunting thought that they looked so perfect for each other, mocked me.

She had worn a flowing sky-blue dress and looked so innocent, but what struck me was the wreath on her head.

A circle of moon-wild flowers, braided with silver stems… the Luna’s wreath, identical to the wreath resting atop my head.

The symbol of Luna’s honor.