Chapter 01: The day I die

Today was the day my mate Asher and I were getting married.

 

Finally, after he claimed me at eighteen, I was his fated mate, chosen by the moon goddess herself. 

We weren't just going to be mates but the future king and Luna of our pack.  

I have waited for this day my whole life.

A day when I finally get to feel him, have him kiss my lips, and finally claim my virginity as well.  

I have imagined how our heirs will look, birthing a child for a hot, handsome prince and powerful alpha like Asher was every girl's dream in the pack.  

I stood at the center of the hall, my eyes locked on Asher.

I began making my steps toward him as the crowd watched in silence. 

I had put on the pink gown my stepmom Susan had carefully picked out for me.  

Inches away from him, my sister Lillian rushed past me and whispered something into Asher's ear. 

He turned immediately, looked at me with fierce, angry eyes, then held Lillian's hand and made his way toward me.

I could feel the weight of his anger. With each step he made, his brows furrowed, his steps precise. 

The way he held Lilian made my heart skip, I could already sense something was wrong. 

What could Lilian have possibly told him? She can't hurt me, I know she loves me, she's my sister.

Slap!

Asher's hand sways on my jaw.

My face turned sideways.

"How dare you try to manipulate me into believing you tamed my curse? Your sister Lilian did, and now you want the credit?"

"Wh...what? Lilian, what's going on?"

"Sis, I'm sorry, I can't pretend anymore."

The crowd gasped in shock, whispers filled the air like a toxic gas.

"How dare you manipulate and threaten your own sister, just because your mom is powerful and she's not?" Asher said, his eyes blazing with anger. 

He didn't even let me speak. 

My eyes blurred, my body weak.

My wolf was getting tired, whimpering in pain, like something was wrong with me I couldn't figure it out.

"For this reason this ceremony won't hold, I, Asher, Alpha of the Moonclips pack, reject you, Ophelia, as my fated mate."

The rejection cut through me like a thousand blades tearing through my veins. 

My wolf whimpered, my knees gave out, and I fell to the ground. 

I struggled to look at Asher coughing out blood and saw him coughing out blood as well.  

"Asher, you can't... I'm your mate. The moon goddess chose us, I tamed your curse, not Lillian." I held my voice, groaning and cracking.  

A small curve of triumph left Lillian's lips, like she had just won a trophy. 

I stood there in total shock, I couldn't believe what my eyes were seeing.

 Before I could say another word, my stepmom stepped in.  

Slap! 

Another slap.

"I raised you well! How dare you try to steal your sister's mate, Ophelia?" My eyes widened in shock when it hit me.

I've been used, by the people I thought genuinely love me.

"How can you say that? You know the truth," I managed to say, my whole body hurting like fire.

"My Lord, it's okay, she can take the position as Luna. After all, I'm only a common maid's child and no match for her, the daughter of the great Alpha warrior," Lillian said, her voice sweet as syrup. "I only wanted to save you."

"See how generous your sister is? You have no shame, Ophelia. 

You're so cheap and desperate.

 I know you're obsessed with me, but I didn't know you'd go this far," Asher said, and the hall erupted into mockery, calling me names and judging me without hearing a word from me.

"She's taken after her mother, who threw herself at Alpha Calistus, who didn't want her," someone said.

"She has no shame. How can she treat her sister like that just because her mother was given a position in this pack?" said another.

 I twisted my fist and bit my lips until they bled. I looked at my father standing there and saying

nothing, I knew I was not loved at all they've all been pretending.

"Ophelia, please forgive me. I couldn't keep our secret. Please, you and your mom shouldn't kill me. You can have the Luna position, I don't mind. I only wanted Alpha Asher to know the truth,"Lilian still pretending to be kind, her voice dripping with false humility.

"You bitch! How long will you continue the act?" I grabbed her hair and pulled her to the ground. 

The hall erupted into murmurs. I didn't care, I just wanted to kill her.

My wolf was weak, but I managed to shift halfway. My claws tore free, aimed straight at her throat, before Asher yanked me back and flung me across the room.

 I slammed into a pillar hard enough to feel my ribs crack. 

My wolf whimpered, small broken sounds, before I shifted back to my human form, battered and bleeding. 

Yet he didn't stop, he lunged at me and scratched me on my chest and jaw before letting out one last roar. 

I couldn't believe he would go this far just to protect that pretender.

 He has never protected me, not even once. Instead, I was the one who always protected him because he was cursed and weak now that I tamed his curse. 

The first person he attacks is me?