Mating ceremony.

The man who came to the hospital to get me, Sam, took me straight to the main pack house, which wasn't that far even though I barely saw people around, and took me to the basement. My heart was pounding in my chest as I followed after him, knowing he was leading me down the path of death.

Was that where they were going to do it?

I assumed it would be until he opened the last door and told me to go in.

I stepped into the basement, and the sight that welcomed me was not an unkept room or a storage. It was a bedroom, the bedroom of a woman.

"You can leave now, Sam." The woman had ordered, and the man who brought me to the basement nodded his head and left.

I stepped further into the room, examining the area. There was a bed at one corner, the dark covers matching the walls and celing. There was a small night stand next to the bed, one that had a blood pack casually lying on top of it.

"Come sit over here." The woman called out, pulling my attention to her.

I followed her order and sat down on the chair she pointed to before I took a closer look at her.

The woman, maybe at her late twenties or early thirties, stood much taller and slimmer than me, her white hair pulled back into a tight bun. She wore a thick coat with a fur hood.

I couldn't sense a shifter on her, and I didn't bother to ask. What was the point of finding out when I'll be dying in the next few hours.

I kept my voice to myself as she started preparing the things she needed to get me ready.

She placed a wrapped blue clothe on my lap and told me to take a shower, pointing to a door behind her.

I didn't take long to shower, letting the scorching water fall over me in hopes that it would wash the fear away. It did not work.

Even under the hot water, I was a shivering mess.

Once I was done showering, I dried up and pulled the blue dress on, one long enough to reach my ankles, the arms providing full cover, the fabric laced and adorned with tiny blue gemstones.

It didn't make me feel better. If anything, it made me feel ten times worse.

After I left the bathroom, leaving trails of water dripping from my hair, the woman sat me down and gave me a black cup.

I took it from her hands and looked down at the odd, thin, green liquid.

"Drink all of it. It will help with the pain." The woman commented.

I felt the blood draining from my face as I looked at her. The look of pity on her face said enough. She knows I'm not going to live to see the next day.

It was kind of her to provide me with a way to lessen the pain.

Tears burned my eyes as I lifted the cup up to my lips and took a sip. It tasted bitter, but I forced every single drop down my throat.

The woman sighed, taking the cup from my hand and turning around to put it away.

"For what is worth, I'm sorry it has to be you." She said, glancing at me over her right shoulder. "I'm sorry the curse landed on you."

No. It landed on my sister, and while I understand that it makes me a horrible person for wishing that my sister was here instead of me, I believed that I didn't deserve to take her death.

"I will try to make the ceremony as long as possible to buy you more time, but once it's over, there is nothing I can do to help you." She added.

I dropped my eyes to the bracelet around my wrist. I thought about taking it off and revealing that I didn't belong here, that I was not the mate of the Alpha. But if they found out that my father tricked them by sending the wrong girl, my entire pack would die.

Why should I care about them?

I didn't even realize I was crying until she offered me a cloth to wipe my tears.

The next few hours went by a blur as she walked around the basement, preparing for the ceremony, leaving me to grieve.

"It's time." She commented, pulling me out of my train of thoughts.

I pushed myself to my feet and followed her out of the basement, all the while I imagined the life I would have had in the human world as a teacher if it wasn't for my family, and for that cursed letter asking for my sister's hand in mating.

The woman led me out of the main pack house, and after several minutes of walking, we arrived at a wide open area in the middle of the woods.

I had my arms wrapped around myself, shivering from the cold and from fear, as I stood in the middle and looked around.

It was terribly dark, but I could see outlines of people standing around near the trees, keeping to the shadows and hidden from the soft glow of the moon.

I dug my toes into the muddy ground as I tried to stop myself from crying again.

There was pure fear within me, but the terror only seemed to grow when the environment changed. Tension suddenly rose, and the same presence I felt yesterday showed up across from me, slowly walking out of the woods.

The Alpha stepped into the light, the soft glow of the moon illuminating the scarred face, the claw marks, the cloudy gray eyes, and most of all, the murderous look on his face.

He walked with purpose, each of his strides striking fear in my chest.

I looked my soon to be murderer in the eyes that stared blankly into mine.

"Let's get this ceremony started." The woman announced, her voice cracking through the cold night air.

The Alpha said nothing, standing his ground like a statue, glaring death into my soul no matter how much he couldn't see me.

"Tonight..." The woman started, her pale cheeks already flushed along with her nose. "We, the Winter Snow Pack, are gathered here to witness the mating ceremony of our Alpha Ollen Kingsmen to the daughter of Alpha Feather."

She didn't even bother saying my name. What good is it to announce the name of a dead woman?

She spoke further about the mating ceremony, dragging it out like she'd said she would.

I had the gemstone bracelet thumbed, touching the stones and counting each one to distract myself, no longer allowing my mind to show me what life could have been like if I wasn't sent to the slaughter house like a sacrifice sheep.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when the woman dropped her hand on my shoulder, bringing me back to the present.

"Your hand." She said, holding a silver dagger in her own.

What kind of mating ceremony is this? Why should a dagger, silver no less, be involved in it?

"Your hand." She said again.

I let go of the bracelet and lifted a hand up, the fingers trembling like leaves.

She moved the dagger closer, and I wanted to snatched my hand and run away. But something kept me frozen, a spell that made my muscled stationary.

A soft cry escaped my lips as she slashed the inside of my hand with the dagger, the silver burning its way through my skin.

I couldn't withdraw my hands even when she let go of me, even when the whispers started echoing through my head again.

They made my blood freeze, my tears flowed, and my entire body ached, yet I still couldn't pull away.

"Your hand. Alpha." The woman called out, and the Alpha offered her his hand without putting up a fight.

He didn't even flinch when she sliced his palm, nor did he pull away once she was done.

"Here, in front of your people, you are now bonded for life. May this life be a long-lasting one." She whispered before she pulled at our hands.

With his under and mine over, she forced our bloody hands to join.

I felt a string in my chest, one that wrapped tightly around my heart to the point that it tried to stop its beating.

I could barely breathe when the woman said it was done.

She glanced at me, and that look of great pity returned to her face.

I could hear footsteps retreating as the people of the pack disappeared.

The woman stepped in front of me. She squeezed my shoulder.

"I hope I can see you tomorrow... alive." She whispered, her voice catching in her throat as she turned around and walked away, leaving me alone with the Alpha.

I glanced at him and saw that he had his eyes closed with his head tilted back. The moon shone on his face, magnifying every single horrible scar on his skin.

"What is your name?" He asked, his voice deep and raw.

He possessed such an aura that demanded fear, and fear was the only thing I felt as he opened his eyes, and those cloudy gray orbs blankly stared at me.

"Joyce Feathers." I whispered in a dying voice, praying he would turn around and leave, praying that the stories were all wrong.

"Joyce Feathers..." He teased my name in his lips before he dropped his head.

I looked down and saw that his hands were shaking, the nails sharpening as his wolf neared the surface.

My breath shuddered, forcing a cloud of air in front of me as I took a step back.

"Forgive me, Joyce Feathers." He whispered.

The Alpha looked up, the gray orbs replaced by golden glow, his teeth elongated, and his skin splitting to welcome fur.

"Wait..." I whispered, tears blurring my eyes.

My heart stopped beating when he launched himself at me, his nails directed at my chest, aiming for the cold heart hidden behind my ribs.

A scream spilled from my lips.