Three

The clearing pulsed with light and sound, every beat of the ceremonial drums rippling through the crowd like a second heartbeat. Seren adjusted the gown’s suffocating neckline, wishing she could crawl under one of the bonfires and disappear.

The System’s timer glowed in the corner of her vision, ticking away with the smug inevitability of a bomb.

[Quest Timer: 01:42:12 until Ceremony.]

“Oh, thanks,” she whispered under her breath. “Because I was totally going to forget the countdown to my public humiliation.”

[Reminder: Completion is mandatory.]

She bared her teeth in a smile that wasn’t a smile. “Yeah, yeah. Don’t blow a fuse, toaster.”

The crowd parted ahead as nobles streamed toward the dais, their silks and velvets brushing against her sleeves, the air thick with perfume and wolf musk. Snatches of whispers trailed in their wake.

“—that’s Nightwind’s daughter, isn’t it?”

“—poor girl, still clinging to hopes above her station—”

“—imagine aiming for the Alpha when the Goddess already decreed Nova—”

Seren kept her chin high, the tiara wobbling precariously. She couldn’t let her father see her flinch. Lord Nightwind stalked beside her like a proud peacock, pretending not to hear the mutters. His smile stretched thin, sharp as broken glass.

The dais loomed closer, carved stone gleaming beneath the torches. Crescent moons arched across its surface, each groove inlaid with silver that caught the firelight. At the center, the ceremonial altar glimmered with bowls of herbs and a dagger meant for symbolic bloodletting.

A hush fell.

Seren turned—and froze.

Alpha Kael had arrived.

He cut through the crowd like a blade, tall and broad-shouldered, dark hair falling in controlled disarray. His suit was black edged with wolf-silver embroidery, tailored to perfection, but it wasn’t the clothes that made him magnetic. It was the aura.

A quiet dominance rolled off him, heavy and intoxicating, every wolf instinct in the clearing bowing to it. Conversations stilled, spines straightened. Even the torches seemed to burn brighter, eager to be noticed by him.

Seren’s throat went dry.

“…Of course,” she muttered, low enough only the System could hear. “The man looks like the Moon Goddess herself spent overtime sculpting him. Because this story wasn’t dramatic enough.”

[Note: Mockery decreases attraction rate.]

“Perfect. Keep it at zero.”

Kael mounted the dais, his cold gaze sweeping the crowd once before fixing forward. No warmth or smile, just the lethal calm of someone born to lead. Seren felt the weight of him settle over the pack like a mantle.

Then another stir rose through the crowd, softer this time, threaded with awe. Heads turned as wolves shifted closer together.

Seren didn’t need a narrator to tell her what was happening.

Nova had arrived.

The heroine glided into the clearing in a gown of pale blue silk, the color catching every flicker of firelight until she looked half-ethereal. Golden hair framed a face glowing with nervous sincerity, her soft eyes darting as if overwhelmed by the attention.

And the Goddess had given her more than a gown—she radiated divinity. A faint shimmer clung to her skin, a subtle aura that whispered ‘Chosen’.

The crowd sighed like a single body.

Seren pinched the bridge of her nose. “Oh my God. She sparkles.”

[Correction: That is the divine aura of the Moon Goddess.]

“Divine aura, glitter bomb. Same thing.”

The System blinked. [Attraction rate of Heroine: +15.]

Seren snorted. “Figures. She’s basically a walking Disney princess. And I’m…” She gestured down at herself, rhinestones glinting like cheap stars. “…a clearance chandelier.”

Nova’s gaze lifted timidly toward the dais, toward Alpha Kael. The crowd leaned in as though gravity itself had shifted. This was the moment everyone had been waiting for: the Goddess’s chosen meeting the Alpha, destiny in action.

Seren’s pulse spiked. She could almost hear the System humming with anticipation, the quest glowing brighter in her vision.

[Quest: Laugh at the heroine when she is rejected.]

[Time Remaining: 01:23:46]

She swallowed. Laugh. Out loud. In front of hundreds of wolves. While Nova was being humiliated.

Her fingers curled against her gown.

Kael stepped forward, cold eyes locking on Nova as the drums thundered to silence. The priestess began to chant, her voice rising with ancient weight.

“The Moon has chosen. The mate bond will be revealed beneath her gaze.”

The crowd held its breath.

Seren’s stomach flipped. She knew what came next—the story’s turning point, Nova’s crushing rejection. She braced herself for it, already trying to calculate how to fake a laugh without looking like the world’s worst sociopath.

Then Kael’s gaze shifted.

And landed on her.

For one fractured heartbeat, Seren felt the air collapse around her. His eyes were steel, piercing and unreadable, but locked directly with hers as though the crowd, the ceremony, even Nova’s divine glow had ceased to exist.

Her breath hitched. 

The System flickered, as if momentarily stunned.

[Attraction rate: +1.]

Seren’s heart hammered. “…Wait. What?”

She didn't plan to increase the Alpha's attraction rate at all!

Kael didn’t look away.

The drums boomed again, the priestess’s chant climbing toward its climax, the entire clearing thrumming with expectation.

And Seren Nightwind stood frozen under the Alpha’s gaze, the quest timer still ticking down, knowing the script had already begun to unravel.

Kael didn’t look away.

Seren’s pulse pounded so hard she swore the nearest wolves could hear it. This wasn’t supposed to happen. In the novel, he never even noticed Seren during the ceremony. She was wallpaper. A Background noise to be exact.

So why was the Alpha staring at her like she was something worth noticing?

“…System,” Seren whispered from the corner of her lips, careful to keep her face blank, “tell me that was a glitch.”

[Attraction rate: +2.]

“Not helpful.”

The priestess lifted her hands, silver bangles jingling as her voice rolled over the crowd.

“Under the eyes of the Moon, the Alpha stands before us. The Goddess has chosen his mate, and tonight the bond will be revealed. The chosen one will step forward, guided by fate.”

A ripple of anticipation tore through the pack. Wolves in their shifted forms whined softly at the edges of the clearing. Nobles craned their necks, all eyes on Nova.

Nova swallowed, cheeks glowing pink as she stepped into the circle of light. Her voice trembled but carried, threaded with reverence.

“I… I offer myself to the Moon’s will.”

The crowd sighed, a collective sound of devotion. A woman behind Seren actually dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief.

Seren ground her teeth. Of course. She’s literally sparkling while volunteering for divine matchmaking. Can’t compete with that, chandelier girl.

[Tip: Laughing too early reduces effectiveness.]

“I wasn’t planning to laugh now, thanks.” Seren’s mouth barely moved, her words drowned in the priestess’s chant.

I don't even plan to laugh at all, she thought to herself.

Lord Nightwind shifted beside her, his posture rigid. Seren felt the weight of his expectation pressing down like a physical chain. She kept her face smooth, a perfect mask of demure obedience.

The priestess turned to Kael.

“Alpha of the Crescent Pack. Step forward. Speak your vow.”

Kael moved, every stride deliberate, predatory grace wrapped in ceremony. His voice was low, resonant, carrying through the hush.

“I vow to honor the Goddess’s will. To protect the one she chooses for me. To accept or reject as she decrees.”

Gasps rippled, soft murmurs buzzing like insects. Even though they all knew the ritual, hearing the word reject carried a sting.

Seren’s fingers twitched against her skirts. The quest box pulsed, hungry.

[Quest: Laugh at the heroine when she is rejected.]

[Time Remaining: 01:17:09]

Her chest tightened.

The priestess lifted her arms toward the swollen moon above.

“Moon Goddess, reveal your will. Bind the Alpha to his destined mate!”

The crowd erupted into chants, voices rising as if to drag the Goddess’s gaze down from the sky. Torches flared higher, sparks spiraling upward.

Nova clasped her hands to her chest, lips moving in silent prayer. Every inch of her glowed with anticipation.

Seren clenched her jaw.

Her smile was practiced sweetness, hiding the bile in her throat. The looming quest glitching annoyingly in her vision.

But her eyes betrayed her, flicking back to Kael—

—who was still watching her.

Seren’s breath stuttered. What the actual fuck…

And then, the priestess’s voice rang out, echoing through the clearing like a bell:

“The bond will now be revealed.”