1: Endurance

AVA-ROSE'S POV

Gracefully, I glided down the aisle leading to the dining hall, even though every step brought me closer to a place I dreaded being.

The naked monstrosities of white marble statues that my mate called art lined the hallways like guards in Buckingham Palace. My wolf was torn. She wanted to obey the obligations the Moon Goddess bestowed upon us, but she also wanted her pack to be happy. Being mated to the Alpha of the Drexel Forest Pack wasn't an easy task.

Alastor Drexel was a man so ferocious, he ate the hearts of his enemies. If he had any humanity left inside him, I had yet to see much of it.

My stomach twisted as I anticipated tonight's feast.

Dexter Black, Alpha of the Midnight Rune Pack, was defeated by my mate. He owed our pack a significant amount of money, and he was days overdue.

Alastor challenged him to a duel, a fight to the death, and the poor unfortunate fool accepted. Now his head was mounted on a spike on the front lawn, next to Alastor's other kills.

The big clock to my left chimed, waking up my tired legs. I picked up the pace. It was a minute after 9, and I was late.

Shit.

I hurried towards the two guards standing at the entrance to the grand hall. It wasn't until I stopped and greeted them that I realized I was winded. I inhaled, fixing the strand of hair that fell from my updo.

Alastor loved when I combed my hair out of my face. He said that my beauty was one of his greatest possessions, but really, he wanted the world to see the hideous mark he left on my neck.

My hands smoothed some of the wrinkles from my dress, and I inhaled and exhaled to steady my breathing.

"Luna," the guards welcomed, bowing as they pulled the double doors open.

I stepped through.

The quietness of the hallway disappeared behind me. The ruckus of plates clattering, beer mugs clinking, and drunken voices took over my hearing. The grand hall was alive with warriors eating, drinking, and celebrating another victory for their precious Alpha.

A young wolf, drunker than a drunkard on his wedding night, ran up to me.

"Luna, you're looking bootiful tonight," the dark-haired teen slurred as he kissed me on the cheek, surprising not only me but also worrying my wolf.

What was he doing here anyway? This dining hall was for the high-ranked wolves and warriors.

A bitter mist of someone's burning gaze washed over me.

He was watching.

I could feel it.

My eyes quickly scanned the crowded auditorium. There, in the darkest part of the room, his glowing red eyes connected with my green ones.

"Run along now," I warned the young lad. "And get some water," I finished.

With my eyes locked with my mate's, I walked towards him. The crowd parted like I was Moses and they were the Red Sea, clearing a path so I could go towards him.

Sitting on his chair made of his victims' bones, he leaned forward.

My eyes adjusted to the darkness of the corner. The smirk he had on his face, which some would call a smile, was a sinister sign of how wicked and dirty his heart and mind were. He grinned wider, moving his hand to his trousers.

His bare chest was riddled with countless battle scars he got while he brought torture to innocent people.

But that one thick scar that decorated his face from his left ear to below his right cheek was my favourite, for it was I who put it there.

And whenever I looked at it, I remembered that he hadn't broken me yet.

He undid his button, scooting his pants down below his hips, releasing his cock for me and the world to see.

I clenched my jaw and my fists, and his eyes glimmered when he saw my reaction.

"Come, sit," he ordered.

My wolf howled in anger in my head.

How could our mate keep disgracing us like this?

But we couldn't refuse. We knew what he would do if we did.

I climbed the three steps so I could get close to him. I watched him stroke himself, his manhood twitching, wanting me to slide on already.

I hoisted my pink dress to my waist. I didn't bother to wear any underwear. This was how my life had been ever since I moved here. My mate took enjoyment in fucking me in front of our pack.

It started a week after we marked each other.

He said that I was too unsubmissive and that he would enjoy breaking me and putting the pieces back together how he saw fit.

Thirteen years later, he was still trying.

Like a chair, I sat on him, sliding onto his massive penis. I gritted my teeth, refusing to make a sound, not wanting to ignite his satisfaction by revealing how full I felt with him inside of me.

Of course, a part of me loved him.

I didn't want to love him, but it was out of my control. The mate bond the Moon Goddess created had me and my wolf longing for our mate's tender touch, something that we dreamt of every night, but every day when we were awake, that dream only seemed to be getting further and further away.

"Bounce," he whispered into my ear, nipping at my earlobe.

His breath felt like acid on my face.

The internal turmoil I felt was driving my wolf insane. We wanted this man because the Goddess had made him ours, but at the same time, his touch and kisses made us sick.

My wolf and I didn't know how much more we could take, but our endurance was high, and so was our need to survive. And I wasn't backing down either, so I gripped his knees and clenched around his cock.

His warriors were watching, some of them stroking themselves as they observed their Alpha and Luna fuck. I held on to the armrest of his skeletal chair, and I bounced up and down as hard and fast as I could.

Seizing my breasts through my dress, he nibbled on my ear, then ran his tongue over the mark on my neck.

I shuddered in disgust.

"This pussy is mine," he rumbled, grunting as he dug his nails into my shoulder, making sure all of him was inserted inside me.

But before he could ejaculate, he shoved me off him, and I fell to my knees.

"Get up," he ordered.

I glanced up at him. He was looking down at me with satisfaction in his eyes.

"Up on the chair."

Biting back the urge to spit on him, I got up.

He had never done this part before.

My wolf stirred uneasily inside me.

He grabbed me by my hair and helped me up on the chair. My knees were on the seat, with my legs spread apart and my ass up in the air. He ripped my dress off me, leaving my nudity for everyone to see.

My head hung low over the headrest.

Something wasn't right.

"Dwight," he called.

"Yes, Alpha," I heard Dwight answer from the crowd.

"Bring me the boy," Alastor ordered.