Wolfs Bane

"Drench your weapon in this wolfsbane" the maid offered.

Riley misunderstood the maid's intentions. She thought the maid is going to use it to kill her. So she began to reason with the maid.

"Listen, let me explain ok? He killed my parents and kidnapped me. Who wants to become the wife of a crazy psychotic man like that? You must have known that he killed so many young girls by sexually assaulting them. Do you......" Riley's words are cut short by the maid Sophie.

"I know how many people have died in his hands because i had to bury my entire family because of him. I know how many young girls are killed by his sexual assaults, because my sister is one among them" Sophie confessed, taking Riley by shock.

Riley gasped with shock.

"What? If he killed your family, then why are still working here as a maid?" She asked the poor maid.

Sophie sneered remembering the day she came to the Blue moon pack and begging for a job in the packhouse. She was away from the pack when her parents were slaughtered because they begged their Alpha not to rape their younger daughter. 

"Because i am waiting for a chance to kill that bastard" Sophie confessed.

Riley's heart went out to the maid. 

"I am sorry for your loss. I can understand how painful it is to lose your entire family. I lost my parents a couple of days ago. I was kidnapped by David and i was not given the chance to say my last goodbyes to my parents. Instead, he kidnapped me and arranged a grand mating ceremony to name me as his temporary Luna until the day he kills me too. I could have escaped easily, but i stayed back to send that monster to hell" Riley gritted her teeth angrily.

Sophie's mouth is set into a grim line.

"You know what you would be losing if you go through with the ceremony today" she reminded Riley.

Riley became sad at the reminder. The one thing she reserved to gift to her mate will be snatched away by David tonight.

'My innocence' she thought.

But then, her parent's image flashed in her mind. She became determined to kill David.

"I know" she replied blankly,

Sophie nodded her head.

"If you are ok with it, then let me help you to look more beautiful," Sophie said.

After three hours, Riley is sitting beside David, who is salivating just by looking at her. The ceremony began with full of fake smiles and compliments. People who doesn't know who Riley is before this came to her to compliment her dress and beauty. David's face is beaming brightly with every fake compliment thrown her way.

Riley is sitting stiffly with an innocent expression to fool everyone, especially David. Her grip never once loosened around her weapon, which is now drenched in wolfsbane given to her by  Sophie. As the time passed by, she began to get anxious and her innocent doll-like exterior began to break.

A widespread of food varieties is placed in front of her the likes of which she has never seen before, but all she could think about are her dead parents. She might get violated tonight and her pack is too weak to come and save her. David's lust-filled gaze is making her feel annoyed. She is irritated, angry, and disgusted to eat anything. Everything is left untouched. 

Suddenly, the doors of the grand hall of the Blue moon are banged open. A hush fell over the room before everyone began to gossip.

'It's young master'

'I thought he is not going to attend '

'He looks angry'

Riley's nostrils tingled with the same woodsy scent she still remembered from her dream.

'Please, not now' she prayed the moon goddess not to send her mate now. But the mouthwatering scent of her mate is coming closer and closer.

Riley peeked from behind David to see where her mate is. She wanted to warn him not to declare that she is his mate in front of everyone. She is worried he might get killed. But the moment her gaze met the man from her dreams, her eyes widened with shock. 

All her fond feelings towards him morphed into anger and resentment. 

'How can the moon goddess curse me with a mate who is the son of the man i loath?' she thought with suppressed anger.

She met the gaze of the man who is her mate. Her eyes filled with anger. But what surprised her more is the same anger radiating from her mate.

'So he found out that i am planning to kill his father? He must have come to punish me for that so-called crime. He didn't know that i will not move a muscle without killing his father today' she thought and removed her weapon from the folds of her gown. She didn't care when her mate's gaze landed on her weapon, and something flashed there for a split second before it is gone. 

As her mate erased the distance between them, Riley coiled the muscles of her arm tightly to strike before her mate could stop her. She looked at her mate and challenged him with her eyes to stop her if he could. Just when she is ready to strike, David stood up from beside her and approached his son, which made her mate break eye contact with her and concentrate on his father.

"Carter? I thought you are not going to attend the ceremony" David asked with a sly smirk. He noticed his son eying his new bride. He can understand what must be going on in his mind. David is thinking the exact same thing. He is anxious to undress her and have his way with her.

Carter looked at his father with a blank face.

"No, i came to issue a challenge for you" Carter confessed.

David glared at carter.

"What do mean?" he snapped at his son.

Carter smirked.

"I challenge you for a one-on-one fight until death. The winner gets the pack and the girl" Carter proposed.