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Lylah POV:

The Bloodmoon pack had inquired the wrath of the moon goddess Selene and was therefore cursed.

We were no longer allowed to have fated mate, unable to enjoy the feelings of a sacred bond between our mates course through us. It was a curse that lasted for 600 years, so for 600 years, we abided by it.

The name Mate no longer had such significance anymore.

***

“I can’t wait for you to turn 18” Thane said to me, a smile polished on his face as we sat by the waterfall. It was our favorite place to me, quiet and serene.

He held my hand in his and I beheld his eyes, those soft brown eyes that have only looked at me for 3 years.

We are to be consummated tomorrow under the full moon, a testament of our love together. I was to be his and he was to be mine.

Even without the mate bond, I felt it in my heart that he was my mate, it was a sensation I knew in my heart every time I saw him.

“I can’t wait too” I responded, limping for joy over the big day. We had only nine hours left until the breaking of dawn and then we would be consummated, our bodies entwined together as we make love under the full moon.

“Close your eyes Lylah” I immediately closed my eyes eager of what he might do.

“Open them”

When I opened my eyes, he was down on one knee, a ring in his hand.

“Lylah Summer, would be my chosen mate for the rest of your life, to love me and me alone till death do us part.

I couldn’t hold my excitement as I jumped on him almost knocking him to the ground.

“Yes, yes, yes” I got too excited to realize that I had been nodding my head from the moment he began speaking. It was like a dream come true, something I had been dreaming of for four years.

He took my hand and slipped the ring into my finger.

“My father gave this ring to my mother when he consummated with her, it was a mark of true love between them and now I am giving you this ring too, to symbolize my love to you.

“I love you Lylah Summer, I always will.”

“I love you too Thane Anthra” I squealed wrapping myself in his arms as I admired the ring I had my eye on for years.

I wish we could remain like this forever but the moment was cut short by the sound of an unknown bell.

“What is that?” I asked. I have never heard such bell before.

It was three rings followed by a black smoke in the sky.

“Exactly” Thane said and I looked at him confused.

“The Alpha is dead” he added and I was dumbfounded.

“What do you mean dead?”

Alpha Damon was still in his forties and had a lot of years left for him to rule, most people had bargained that he would be be dead seven years ago after his chosen mate/ Luna died leaving behind their only daughter. He survived so long without her, practically raising his daughter himself. What could possibly be the cause of his death now.

Thane held my hand pulling me up,

“We have to go now, there will be a curfew in an hour to pay respect for his death”

I looked at him troubled by how he had so much information about this, it only made sense because his father was once the Beta of the pack until he was overthrown by his brother during a duel and lost his position afterwards.

We arrived back at my home, while I laid my head on his chest.

A special announcement went round,

“All men were summoned to the pack house at first light tomorrow, for the new Luna to pick the new Alpha”

Her father had just died and she was already picking an Alpha the next day, any man would see that she is desperate to take over from her father.

“The new Alpha” I hear Thane whisper and I lift my head at him.

“You are not going right, we will be consummated tomorrow remember” I reminded him to not get his head in the cloud. There was no point in going to the gathering, the chances of the new Luna picking him was one in a thousand chances.

Besides I trusted him with my life, in all the years that I knew him, he had never looked at another woman before, it made me realize how much he loved me.

“I have dreamed of our consummation for months now, nothing is going to stand in the way of that” he assured me with a kiss on my lips and stroked my hair and I rested my head on his chest.

***

It’s already past 9am and there was no sign of Thane, I couldn’t help but think that he was at the ceremony.

I stepped out the house to find the streets wiped clean, not a single soul was present in their homes.

Making my way to the pack house, it was my first time of entering there. No one was allowed into the pack house except on official business, the walls were painted in pure white, fancy pillars. I walked past the steel brown brass door to find a crowd in the hall, it was two story building for ceremonies like this.

The top floors was filled and so was the ground floor but what caught my attention was the thousand men in front of the hall. Assembled in rows.

I began searching for Thane among the crowd, there was no way he was among the men lined up in front, he was engaged to me and therefore was proclaimed as ‘not single’.

“I can’t believe my husband is there” I hear a woman say as I walk past her.

Tears were pouring down her eyes as she held unto a 3-month old baby, trying her possible best to stop him from crying.

It made me realize that most of the men out there probably had partner, they had broken their loyalty to their partners just to be there.

“Not my Thane” I told myself, he had promised that he wanted nothing to do with that.

I was on my way to the stairs when a named being called out caught my attention.

“Thane Anthra, number 7” I paused in my tracks unable to look back. I told myself, it must be a coincidence and there was someone else with the same name as him.

“Son of former Beta Anthra”

That confirmed my disbelief.

“Yes Sir” I heard his voice and my heart almost stopped.

I slowly turned back, my body already shaking from the reality.

There he was in the second row, the numbers were based on the time they had registered themselves to be chosen for the title of the Alpha.

If he was number seven then he must have…

He left right after putting me to sleep, did he do all that so that I could sleep early and he could sign up.

I shook my head refusing to believe it, he must have been forced by his father in order to relieve the glory he had once lost.

Thane would never make that decision on his own. It had his father’s doing written all over it.

Soon all the names were called out and the doors to the front opened,

“All bow” the commander said and we all bowed our head as the Luna heir walked in.

Once I lifted my head I was caught in a trance.

It was my first time of seeing her, long black hair, blue eyes and skin like fresh milk. She was beautiful, her beauty along left the men in front of her sunken in admiration. It made them realize that they made the right choice signing up and who ever was lucky enough to be picked by her, was indeed blessed.

It didn’t matter what age the men were, it ranged from the oldest to the youngest (the age of 18). Men who had already met their wolves to the well endowed.

“The Luna heir will now choose who will be the next Alpha”

I felt my heart racing once again as she began walking past them, I saw the way Thane corrected his posture, his hair was combed backwards and not the usual messy style he always had and I always loved.

He wore a brown shirt and black pants, the outfit I bought for him on his previous birthday, I spent months working different part time jobs just to get him that outfit.

He promised to cherish it and wear it only on special occasions, occasions for us.

My heart heaved a bit in relief when she walked past him, I could see his countenance change and his confidence shattered, his shoulders slouched back as he watched her walk away from him.

She was done scanning the men, it would be normal if she found no one to her taste but then she had two more days to find an Alpha otherwise she would be stripped off her title and the Beta and his mate would be the new Alpha and Luna of the pack.

It was forbidden for her to pick an Alpha who wasn’t a part of the pack, we were cursed and segregated from the rest of the Eleanor City, no other pack wanted anything to do with the cursed pack.

She walked back to the front of the line and my heart skipped once again only for her to point at Thane.

“I want him” she announced.