4. Thunderstorm

Rita

I blinked, confused, wanting to speak, but before I could even form words, everything became blank, void, empty, only leaving me with the realization that I was still under the shower and, worse, the loud bang from the shower door.

I quickly slipped into another set of clothes I had brought along into the washroom and hurried to unlock the door, but what met me wasn’t what I expected.

Smack!

A loud slap cracked across my cheeks, sending me staggering back into the showers and almost losing my footing if I hadn’t clung onto the marble wall in time.

“What gave you the guts to leave the kitchen unattended?” Anna’s fury burned into me. “Standing under the shower as if a thousand baths could wash away your sins!”

I lowered my head, swallowing the pain.

“If anything goes wrong today, just know you’ll pay for it,” she barked, storming toward the door without turning back. “Are you still standing there?”

I followed in silence. By the time we got to the kitchen, I gulped in shock at the piles of dirty plates in the kitchen washing bowl. She asked me to make them sparkling white before leaving the kitchen.

I had almost finished washing the dishes when Kate, one of the maids, walked in. She stood tall above me, observing with the faintest concern that only lasted a flicker before being replaced by that blank expression.

“Now give me that. You should be at the mating ceremony and not in the kitchen.”

I stared up at her, stunned to the bone, but before I could utter a word, she crouched low and collected the sponge from my arms.

“Go already,” she snapped, though a faint, unreadable smile tugged at her lips.

I remained still, unable to process why she had decided to help. But her next response shocked me even more.

“You have just thirty minutes to return before Anna gets back to the kitchen.”

She flashed me another half smile and ducked to wash the dishes.

Without another word, I turned towards the door, hurrying through the back door to the back entrance of the large hall where the mating ceremony was being held.

Since I hadn't experienced one before, even with the unease creeping into my spine at such kindness, I still told myself what was worst had never happened before.

The loud hums and cheers of the pack members snapped me off my worries, and when I peeped through the broken opening, the hall was breathtaking, with golden chandeliers at every corner of the hall, and scattered around were maids and people cheering, drinking, and even eating.

They looked so excited and full of life. My eyes swept from the different views to the centre of the hall, where a large number of wolves stood in two straight lines, males to the right and females to the left.

Curiosity tangled with nervousness as my eyes traced the length of the row. Unlike the others, these wolves weren’t eating or drinking. Their eyes were fixed on the podium, chests rising and falling with controlled breaths. Even from a distance, I could feel their tension.

They were nervous but still hopeful in the way their smiles lingered. And that was when it dawned on me, they were the unmated wolves, and today would either bless them with their fated mates or leave them hanging for another four years.

A pit formed in my stomach as sadness and rejection washed over me. It clawed into me so directly and deeply, bruising everything I still held dear. I was eighteen. Unmated. And yet, I wasn’t even allowed to step into the hall, let alone dream of meeting my mate.

My eyes stung, but not sooner than the loud voice of Alpha Philips surged, and the entire hall fell into a hush.

I instinctively peeped as he spoke.

“Welcome once more,” he greeted, his eyes scanning through his pack members and then settling at the front of the line with a smile, and that was when I picked it.

Standing at the front row was Marvin, and standing next to him was none other than Becky. The two lovebirds exchanged a quick glance and smiled, looking up as Alpha Philips continued.

“We all know how important today is for every werewolf clan. Two unmated souls would be sealed together before the moon, signifying the very new beginning of a lifetime journey.”

A cold chill ran through me, prickling on my skin, followed by the loud cheers of the crowd.

The mated wolfs hugged their fated mates tightly, while a few others stood tall with either a glass of wine in hand or standing over a half-eaten plate of food.

The rest of the unmated, those in the row, looked among each other in anticipation. Becky and Marvin were no different.

“I’m delighted,” Alpha Philip continued, his smile widened. “My son could finally get his fated mate, which had lingered so long.”

Loud cheers of excitement followed.

Now here it unfolded: when Luna Venice lay lifeless in the packhouse clinic, with healers saddened and devastated over their inability to help her, I was dragged as a criminal to the pack court for immediate execution without even a trial. But rumor had it that Becky stepped into the picture with a leaf she said was handed over to her as a gift by an old woman she had saved on her way to the courthouse. She had said the old woman told her to give this to the healers, that they would know what to do with it. Gossips had it that the healers were stunned to see the leaf, as it was said that such leaves never existed in the natural realm. It was both ancient and mysterious, with hidden virtues that could awaken rare healing abilities to whoever it was handed to. The first and only person who had received the leaf was the only known true healer and Luna that ever existed a thousand years ago. The leaf could be used on any illness and could also raise any dead within twenty-four hours.

The rumor had it that Venice was rescued from death, but with complications, and could only get fine on her feet when Becky ascended her throne as Luna and mate of Marvin. Since according to tradition every mating ceremony holds only once in every four years, Marvin would have had to wait another four years to finally mark his mate and Luna.

Not only would his mum be healed when she laid hands on her, but also he would automatically ascend as Alpha of the Silver Moon Pack, a position that had been waiting since he turned eighteen, six years ago, without a mate.

“Now may the moon goddess connect those souls meant for each other through a magic cord that would appear on your wrist,” the voice of the priest pulled me off my sad reverie just in time, and when I peeped again, the crowd was silent as the priest began the ritual and incantations.

Right where I stood, I felt the emptiness, sadness, dejection, and something else more intense than I could imagine snapping at me with a force that was second to none.

I turned to run away into the woods, or even the clearing, or worse, back to the kitchen, away from the sight, away from these feelings of neglect.

I was ready to wallow in my pain and misery when I felt it, just two steps away from the back door where I had stood earlier.

At first, it felt like a stinging force that struck me like a thunderstorm, stealing the very breath out of me. I didn't understand what it was until I felt it—glowing, pulling, demanding—a golden string like a cord that appeared on my wrist.

It felt so alive, so real, that a gasp left me as it's glow intensified. The cord stretched forward, tugging at my feet with an irresistible force. I couldn’t fight it. Couldn’t stop myself as I burst through the door and into the hall.

I found myself through the crowd as they parted ways in shock, hatred, disgust… and confusion.

Just then, the pull stopped. Panting and trembling, I glanced at myself and where I stood, at the very front row. I didn’t even realize how I got there. I stared down at the cord on my wrist upwards to the very one it connected me to, in confusion and awe.

Marvin.