09: Mated to Alex?

Ria's POV.

I stood up and they led me out of the room. We walked down the hallway and got to a black door with two guards standing in front of it.

The maids released my hands, bowed their heads and left. My eyes darted around. I wanted to call them back to stay with me, but I kept quiet.

One of the guards stepped forward, scanned me with his eyes before he brought out a black cloth from his pocket.

He went round me, and blindfolded me with the black cloth.

"What are you doing?" I asked, as he tied the clothes three times. I asked again, but I didn't get a reply.

Instead, he held my hand and started leading me forward. My heart continued racing and I started thinking that I would pass out any minute because of how scared I was.

As we walked, I prayed to the moon goddess to save me. I didn't want to die, not before making Alex pay for breaking my heart.

I heard the jiggles of keys, as the door was getting opened which snapped me out of my thoughts.

We started walking again, before we stopped.

"Wait here." I heard a gruffy voice say and I held my breath. The blindfold was removed but I was met with total darkness.

The room was totally dark but a few seconds later, a small candle came on, then another, and another until there were several candles surrounding me.

I faced forward and saw Damien standing several feet away from me, clothed in an attire that was almost identical with mine.

"What's...going on?" My voice was barely a whisper now. I sighed and held my breath.

Damien moved closer and I could see his face properly. He had a small smile on his face. "Don't be scared. It's just a ritual to ensure we both get bonded to each other, so neither of us can back out of the deal or betray each other." He said and I frowned a little.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, since you still have feelings for Alex, I feel you would go back to him and betray me. So, this is to ensure that doesn't happen." He answered.

I looked at his face for a long time before speaking again. "And if it does?" I asked, even though I didn't want to know the answer.

"Let's hope it doesn't." That was all he said before he brought out the brand new dagger that I saw earlier on.

He signalled to me to move closer as we both went to stand at the centre of the room, where a small sacred stone was.

"So, I will pierce myself with the dagger and you'll do the same and together, we will both tell each other that our blood belongs together then press our palms together and it's done. Nobody is getting hurt. Is that understood?" He asked and without waiting for an answer, he pressed the silver dagger against his palm and we both watched as his blood seeped out immediately.

He stretched the dagger to me. With a shaky hand, I took it and pressed it against my palm, wincing as it pierced my skin.

"My blood belongs to you."

"My blood is yours."

We both said, as we pressed our palms together.

"Ouch," I screamed because it burned badly when our blood touched. I looked at Damien, who had a huge frown on his face.

"Again." He ordered and we tried it again but we got the same result, this time, it was even more painful.

I looked at my palm and saw that the spot I had pierced had turned into a wound.

"Why does it hurt? You said it doesn't hurt," I said with a shaky voice. My hand was hurting so much.

Damien kept quiet for a while, he looked so disturbed and confused. "It wasn't supposed to do that. It's because of Alex."

"Alex?"

"Yes, you're mated to him." He said and moved away from me.

I was confused. "How? Alex didn't even accept me as his mate, so how is that possible?" I asked and he shrugged before opening the door.

He waited for me to step out before he followed.

"The moon goddess is trying to play some kind of trick. Don't worry, get some rest. After the wedding, it'd be fine." He said and walked down the hallway to the other side of the building, where his chambers were.

I stood rooted to the ground for a while before reluctantly walking to my room. I shut the door and without cleaning my makeup, I climbed my bed and slept off.

*

*

*

The next morning, I woke up with a scream as I had a dream. In the dream, I was in a pool of blood but with nobody else around.

"Please, save me moon goddess." I prayed as I sat up on my bed. Sunlight quietly poured from the side of the curtain that was open, which made me groan.

It was a new day. The day of the wedding with alpha Damien.

Once again, the thought of running away crossed my mind but I shoved it aside as fast as I could. Running away wasn't an option.

I got out of bed and was about to walk to the bathroom, when I was distracted by my reflection. I looked so bad because I had slept off with the black and red makeup on my face.

Ugh.

I unzipped the dress and stepped out of it before I staggered to the bathroom to wash my face.

I heard the door creak, and opened the bathroom door to see who it was. I saw Amaya and two other maids waiting for me.

After washing my face, I went back to the room.

"Good morning, Luna. We are here to get you ready for your wedding!" Amaya said and squealed a little, which almost made me chop my ears off.

I sat in front of the mirror and saw how sad and angry I looked. Amaya came behind me and placed her hands on my shoulder.

"You should be happy, Luna. In the next few hours, you would be the wife of alpha Damien and the Luna of this pack. It's so exciting!" She squealed again.

Exciting? Really?

In the next few hours, my life would change forever. There's nothing exciting about that.