Chapter 3 The Never-To-Be Coronation

They clothed me like a doll for my own funeral.

The slaves who came to ready me for the ritual of rejection did not glance in my direction. They labored wordlessly, weaving my hair into a complex headpiece, coloring my mouth, covering me in a white gown that resembled a burial shroud. White for innocence. White for terminations. White for the Luna I would never be.

I stayed perfectly still and let them get on with the job. What option did I have? In a few hours, it would be over. The bond that was just beginning would be severed, and I'd be sent away to form a life around the vacuum inside me.

The guest room they'd given me was nicer than I'd ever rested my head. Soft bed. Fresh bedclothes. A window to gaze out onto the gardens. I'd slept fitfully through the night, my gaze on the ceiling, feeling Alaric in the palace, his presence tugging at me through walls and distance. My wolf tossed uneasily inside me, confused and afraid. She had no idea why our mate was rejecting us. Mates were sacred in the animal world. Unbreakable. Humans made everything complicated with their prophecies and fears.

A knock at the door. I had been expecting another servant, but Kael appeared instead. The Beta looked tired, like he hadn't slept either.

"I'm sorry," he said without inflection. "For what it's worth, I think this is wrong."

"Then why isn't anybody stopping it?" I asked.

"Because I'm not king." He walked over to the window, looking out at the very gardens I'd gazed at all night. "Alaric is my best friend. We were raised together. I've seen him make tough choices before, but never one that's destroying him like this. He hasn't eaten. Haven't slept. His wolf is fighting him so hard he can barely keep going."

"Good," I snapped. "He should suffer."

Kael stood before me, his expression somber. "You two will. That's how rejection works. It doesn't just shatter the connection. It leaves traces of it with you, rough edges that never mend. You'll both spend the rest of your lives unfinished."

"Why are you explaining this to me?"

"Because I want you to see that he's not doing this lightly. He's not heartless. He's only scared. The responsibility of the kingdom is on his shoulders, and all of the people that he loves have informed him that taking you will bring destruction. He's trying to save lives, even if it costs him his own happiness."

I understood that. I even enjoyed it in a twisted way. But understanding didn't hurt any less.

"There's still time," Kael said quietly. "You can run. I'd help you. We could get you a leave from the palace before the ceremony, far enough away that.".

"No." I stood and smoothed out the white dress. "Running won't accomplish anything. The bond is there whether we are in the same room or on different continents. If this is going to occur, let it occur cleanly. Let him do what he feels is right."

Kael regarded me for a long time. "You're stronger than anyone would ever credit you as being."

"Strength accomplishes nothing when you're powerless."

He left after that, and I was once more concerned only with my own thoughts. The sun slowly set, the sky becoming red and gold. Beautiful and terrible, as everything else in regards to this day.

When they came to take me into the throne room, I walked with my head held high. I had been invisible for eighteen years, nothing. If this was going to be the last time I saw Alaric, I would not give them the satisfaction of seeing me crack.

The throne room was filled. Every noble, every notable pack member, all to witness the omega be turned down. They sat along the periphery of the room, their expressions a plaster of interest and relief. This was a spectacle to them. A show. The tainted omega in her place.

Alaric stood on the dais, crown and official robes on his somber figure. A king carved from marble, beautiful and distant. But I could feel the tension in his shoulders, the stiffness of his hands gripping the arms of his throne too tightly.

Seraphine stood at his side, her white eyes glowing with triumph.

They led me down the aisle in the middle. Every step was walking through water. The bond pulled tighter the further I went, my wolf whimpering and fighting, begging me to run to him, to make him understand. But there was nothing to grasp. This was always going to be the end.

I stopped at the bottom of the platform and stumbled into a curtsy, for in all this, in what I was witnessing here, I could not help but recall what rules of etiquette had been drummed into me. Servants bow. Kings stand taller.

"Rise," Alaric bade, and his voice was unfeeling.

I stood. We exchanged glances, and for one moment, the façade fell away. I saw his pain, naked and desolate, before he concealed it again.

"Eira of no clan, no rank, no blood," he began rigidly. "The Moon Goddess in her wisdom brought us together. But I, Alaric Silvercrown, Alpha King of the Northern Territories, cannot tolerate this union. For the safety of my kingdom and the good of my people, I hereby disavow you as my mate and Luna."

The words hit like body blows. My legs went weak, but I braced them. The people around us murmured. The official rejection had begun, but it wasn't completed until I said I accepted.

"Do you accept this rejection?" Alaric asked. His voice cracked on the last word.

This was it. My moment of choice. I could decline, could force him through more involved rituals, could make this harder for all of us. But for what purpose? He'd made his choice clear. Struggling would just prolong the agony.

"I accept," I whispered.

The bond snapped. It was like something integral inside of me shattered, running shock waves down each nerve. I screamed, unable to hold it in, and collapsed. Pain I'd never experienced enveloped me. My wolf howled in pain, struggling and scratching, not comprehending what was happening.

Amidst the torment, I heard Alaric's roar. He too had been brought down, his own wolf fighting against the broken bond. Seraphine and the guards held him back, pinned him to the platform as I writhed on the ground below.

"It is done," Seraphine announced. "The bond is broken. The prophecy is foiled. Long live the king."

"Long live the king," the crowd chorused, but their words were far away.

I have no idea how long I stayed there. Time ceased to exist. Finally, the burning agony faded into a dull, throbbing pain. Someone propped me up. Kael, I think, his face in a scowl and rage.

"Get her out of here," Alaric's voice echoed above me. "Give her the gold. Make sure she reaches the border."

I did not look back. I could not. If I saw his face again, I would collapse completely.

They half-dragged me across the palace and out to a waiting horse. A pouch of gold coins lay in the saddle bag, Alaric's pay for breaking me. The guards pointed me onto the forest road that led one away from Silvercrown lands.

"You are to be gone by dawn," one of them said to me. "After that, you are a danger to the kingdom."

A danger. Even though I was rejected, I was dangerous.

I rode into darkness, my body screaming with pain, my soul torn asunder. Behind me, the lights of the palace fell away. Ahead of me, the forest yawned.

I traveled maybe three miles before I realized I wasn't alone. Shadows moved through the trees. Eyes glowed in the dark. I thought they were regular wolves at first, but then I saw the weapons.

Hunters. Sent to make sure the damned omega never returned.

I should have been afraid of them, but I was too broken to care. Bring it on. Let them finish what Alaric started.

The first arrow hit my shoulder. I got off my horse, falling onto the ground. Red bloomed warm over my dress, mixing with white. More arrows flew in. Pain burst in my leg, my side, my chest.

I crawled towards a cluster of trees, and a streak of red blood marked my path behind me. I saw something fuzzy through my eyes. The hunters were speaking, but now I couldn't hear them anymore. I could only hear the pounding of my heartbeat, slowing, quieting.

The blood moon rose above me, red and full and beautiful. The same moon that had witnessed my birth would witness my death. There was something beautiful about that, I thought far away.

My last thought as the darkness took hold was of silver eyes and a love that never had a chance.