Chapter 5: A Queen at Her Coronation

~ Harvey ~

The ballroom doors open, and Maya steps onto the ceremonial carpet on her father's arm.

My eyes widen slightly, and my breath catches. I just stare at her, fully enchanted. Zev purrs, ecstatic, watching her move down the aisle toward us.

Her dress is a very simple—an unadorned gown that hugs her curves before spilling across the floor. Her shoulders are bare, no jewellery, just beautiful porcelain skin. Her light brown hair is swept into a simple updo, a few curls framing her face.

I've seen Maya countless times before, at pack gatherings, on the days Derek brought her home. She was undeniably pretty, but never the kind to stand out from the crowd. Always dressed conservatively, politely, desperate to fit in. Around our mother, she always looked afraid to even breathe, as if a single wrong move might offend her.

But today, she's like a caterpillar no one noticed, transformed into a stunning butterfly. Or maybe I never really looked at her properly. She's tall, easily around five foot eight, with a slender, hourglass figure and striking features. She carries herself with so much grace that she looks like a queen at her coronation.

Shit. All this crap only comes to mind because I marked her. Maya is just a leech who schemed her way into this mating. I will never accept her as my true mate. Never.

"Idiot. She looks like the Moon Goddess herself, and she's kinder than Mother Teresa. Sharp, too," Zev purrs, utterly smitten with Maya.

"She's a viper. A trashy gold-digger," I hiss back.

Zev wags his tail angrily. "Hurt her, and you'll never shift again." He barks it, then blocks our link.

Great. Just great. Maya is shameless. She's the reason my brother won't speak to me and my fiancée can't stop crying.

I glance at Gina. She's in the third row, lips trembling, white as a sheet, barely holding on. All thanks to Maya.

The call I made to her last night still rings in my ears.

"Tell me it's a lie, Harvey." Her voice had been small and trembling. "Please. Tell me you didn't really mate her."

"Gina, listen to me. I was drugged. The Council forced my hand—"

A shaky breath. "I know. I know you'd never choose her. That's what makes it hurt so much." Then the tears came, soft at first. "But do you have any idea what this is doing to me? The whole pack has seen that video. They're whispering everywhere I go. Poor Georgina, betrothed since birth, thrown over the moment some wolfless little schemer got a drink into an Alpha."

"It isn't like that—"

"Then what is it like?" Her voice climbed, breaking apart. "Twenty years I've been the future Luna. Twenty years, Harvey. And she takes it all in one night. You really believe that was an accident? She planned every second of this, and now everyone's looking at me like I'm the fool who didn't see it coming."

"Babe, please—"

"How could you let her humiliate me like this?" A sob—and underneath it, just for a heartbeat, something cold and flat. "Promise me she won't win. Promise me you won't let her take what's mine."

"I'm fighting it. Give me time—"

"Time." The word wavered, wounded again, sweet again. "... Just don't let her take you too. I couldn't survive that."

The line had gone quiet, then dead.

I can't blame her, and I feel like shit seeing her here now, so wrecked.

My nostrils flare. I can't even protect my own woman—what kind of Alpha am I? And just at this moment, former Gamma Ben passes me Maya's hand with a comforting smile, as if he's apologizing for this whole farce.

Maya's touch is warm and grounding, somehow soothing my nerves. I don't even look at her, just nod for the priest to begin.

The priest takes a ceremonial dagger, slices each of our palms, and joins our hands. As our palms press together, I turn to face her, and just for a second, I see her eyelashes trembling, how pale she is, like she's about to collapse. For a second, I worry for her—but no. She's just playing the sweet, innocent role to soften me, to make me forget what she's done.

The priest chants, and the blood from our joined hands drips, glowing gold in midair before vanishing—the sign that a couple is blessed by the Moon Goddess.

"The mating ritual is complete," the priest announces, loud and cheerful. But his words sound more like a sentence to me.

The crowd cheers and applauds.

Halfway through a breath, Maya’s heartbeat stumbles, then races. She has gone still beside me, staring at something in the crowd, and I follow her gaze to find my brother.

Derek stands at the back of the hall, and for a moment neither of them moves. The noise of the room seems to be thin around them. I watch her face do something I can’t look away from—the plastered mask cracking. Her lips part as if to call his name. Her hand lifts an inch from her side, a reflex she catches too late and lets fall.

Whatever passes between them lands on Derek too. His jaw tightens. His eyes flare gold — and then he's moving, out through the crowd, fast, like the hall has caught fire behind him. The doors swing shut on his back.

Maya doesn't follow. She doesn't make a sound. She only stares at the space where he stood, and her gaze hollows as the last flicker of hope goes out of her. The corners of her eyes glisten with unshed tears — but she doesn't let a single one fall.

So she does love him — and still she traded that love for power. The realization makes me despise her even more.

We sit on the sofa atop the podium, a low table before us laden with food and drinks. One by one, everyone comes to congratulate us.

"Congratulations, Alpha. Luna." Elder Kael's wife dips her head, her smile thin as a blade. "What a... fated surprise."

"The Goddess works in mysterious ways," another murmurs, eyes flicking to the mark on Maya's collarbone before sliding away.

Every word is polite. Every smile stops short of the eyes. They bow to Maya and call her Luna, and the moment they turn, I catch the whispers trailing behind them. At least it's only the high-ranked members of our pack. An Alpha's mating should draw other Alphas and the leaders of our supernatural clans, but since this was a rushed ceremony, only the pack is here. And Gina.

Maya accepts every well-wish politely, plays her part perfectly, but she looks lifeless—a porcelain doll that opens its mouth and moves only when someone presses a button. Her spine is straight; she hasn't eaten a single bite.

I lean toward her, whispering in her ear. "Loosen up, or the pack will think I forced you."

Green eyes turn to me with the look of a caged canary. "Didn't you?"

What a nerve. She's the one who trapped me, and now she plays the victim. Still, her pained expression and strange behaviour today rattle me. I'm not supposed to care, but seeing her miserable only makes me feel worse. Why? And why does a woman who schemed her way into mating an Alpha look so devastated? More of her tricks. Maya is damn good at acting.

I need air, so I slip away quietly to unwind in the orangery. I just want to be alone, but the moment I step inside, hands wrap around me from behind, and the scent of lilies hits me. Gina.

I turn, and she smiles apologetically.

"I just wanted to feel that you're still mine."

"Gina, I'm still yours. I'll always be yours. You know the mating to Maya is only to silence the High Council."

I cup her cheek, and she leans into me, her gaze full of love and hope.

"Harvey, I know. But the thought of her staying by your side is killing me. What does that make me, then? The other woman?" A tear slides down her cheek, and I brush it away with my finger.

"Babe, once the scandal is forgotten, I'll leave Maya and mate you. You're the one I want, and nothing can change that. I love you."

I crush my mouth to hers, deepening the kiss—desperate to feel that nothing has changed, that my life will soon go back to normal. The way it should be. The way I planned it. Gina tastes sweet and intoxicating, like always, but something is missing. Something I can't place.

She slides her hands to my neck, pulling me closer, but something is wrong. I break the kiss and look toward the entrance.

Maya stands there, awkwardly playing with the fabric of her dress, her eyes cast down, and my gut tells me she's been standing there a while. I just look at her, bracing myself, ready to face the explosion.

But the explosion never comes.

Gina slips out from behind me and smooths her dress, and her whole face transforms—soft, warm, gracious. The wounded woman from a heartbeat ago is gone, folded away somewhere I can't see.

"Luna Maya." She says the title sweetly, dipping into a perfect little curtsy. "Forgive us. This must all be so overwhelming for you—thrown into a world you were never quite raised for. You poor thing." Her smile is gentle as morning light. "Don't fret. I'll be close by to help you find your footing. Someone has to, after all."

To anyone listening, it sounds like kindness itself. That's my Gina—gracious even now, even to the woman who took everything from her. My chest aches with how much I don't deserve her.

But Maya lifts her head, and the look that passes between the two women is one I can't read at all—and for the first time, I have the strange, cold feeling that I am the only person in this room who doesn't understand what just happened.