The Luna's Desire

My heart was pounding, and my nerves were all over the place. My face was pale as I was struggling to fit into my dress. It was the biggest day of my life or frankly, the biggest day of my parent's life. It was none other than my wedding day!

I was a daughter to my alpha parents, Murray and Elena White who had waited for years to see this day coming. They always wanted to see me arriving the hall all decked up in a white wedding dress with a bunch of flowers held in my hand. Although they were finally excited that the day had finally come, I, the bride and soon to be luna to the alpha of the Blue Moon Pride Pack was not happy whatsoever.

I dreaded for long that such a day would come! Ever since I was a teen, my parents would often discuss amongst each other, plans about my wedding with Ivan Hale.

Ivan was one of the most desired alphas by many. He had it all! His face was perfect with bright yellow eyes and sharp jawline. His body was quite built and muscular to the point where all the females of the pack would drool all over him.

I knew Ivan ever since I was small. Our families were quite close to each other and would often see each other almost every single day. Ivan and I were very close friends, and we had each other's backs for long. Whenever there would be a time where I would get into trouble, Ivan would always come to my rescue. I would always feel safe around that guy.

Getting to marry such an alpha who I have known for years should have been a blessing by Selene, but it more or so felt like a curse to me. I knew deep within that getting married to Ivan would never make me happy! Not now, not ever.

I always regarded him as friend and would never think of him as my mate. I knew that it was not right. Whenever our parents would make us date or discuss our wedding plans, I would get super anxious about it.

I wanted to let my parents know about my desire to not marry Ivan but it was anything but easy. My dad was very adamant on getting me married to Ivan and Ivan alone!

My mom would always follow in his footsteps and never speak her opinion. I had for years trying to convince my mom about my wishes since it was useless to talk about it to my dad, she would always tell me to keep silent and listen to my dad.

Both of them had no regards for my feelings whatsoever! Ivan was also the one I could not talk to. Despite me trusting him as a friend for years, he betrayed me the day I needed him the most!

A day after my parents had announced the wedding, I snuck out to meet him and discuss my concerns to him and let him know that he was not my mate.

I met him in the spot in the forest where we would always meet when we were kids. The place was beyond beautiful with many flower adorning trees surrounding the area. Plenty of sunlight penetrated through the trees and it made it the most favorite spot for Ivan and I to play.

At that time, I was content! I thought Ivan would agree to my decisions, but I did not know how wrong I was!

"So... about the wedding, I do... not think it is a good idea, Ivan!" I expressed my feelings with a straight face.

Ivan, who was previously admiring the spot that we did not see in a while, had his face turn serious after he heard my statement. He swiftly turned towards me with his eyebrows narrowed.

"Wha... what, what do you mean? I do not understand what you are trying to say!" he sounded confused.

I did not expect such a reaction from him! I was more so thinking that he would have just been happy for me and respected my decisions instantly.

"Ivan, I do not think you are the one for me! I know it!" I said in a rather disappointed voice as I was still taken aback by his reaction.

"I-I do not understand! We have been together for since we were young! We know each other so well! Carmen, what are you trying to say? You are the one for me!" he sternly said.

At that point, I started to get a bit frustrated with my replies because of his response. "That does not mean we are mates, Ivan! Being best friends is one thing and being married is another! Marriage is serious commitment and I hope that you could understand what I am trying to say!" I yelled at his face.

Annoyed, he placed the palm of his hand on his forehead and became a lot more tense! "Listen, I do not know where this is coming from but all I know is that I like you and I want to marry you! Our parents too want this for us, so I am definitely not going to stop this wedding no matter what! So, you can either be happy about this or cry about it, I am not going to change my mind!"

I was devastated to hear these bitter and awful words come out from his mouth! This was not the Ivan whom I used to know for years! Everything changed about him! And I had no idea why he was so stubborn about wanting to marry me! Where did all of that come from?

He walked away angrily without saying another word at me! And I just broke down crying as my knees started to bend.

From that day onwards, I kept my mouth shut but as the days neared the wedding, my anxiety grew tenfold! I could not be myself or think properly. All I knew was that I needed to find a way to break the marriage even if there were only a few minutes to spare.

So, after encountering such a horrible experience, I was here forced to dress up on my wedding day. I wanted to run away from the place, but my dad was a very powerful alpha and hence it was not a good idea to do that. He could send anyone to bring me back to the house.

As I was struggling to get into my dress, I heard the grand door of my room slowly open up after the knob of the door clicked.

There I saw my mom all decked up up for my wedding. She was wearing a light gold colored dress with jewellery that complemented it. Her lips had a coat of light red lipstick while her face had a light coat of makeup.

She looked extremely beautiful but for the wrong occasion. This occasion was not a happy one at all. I could not believe what was happening.

"Carmen, sweetie! Are you still not ready for your big day?" my mom asked with her melodious voice.

She was a caring mom, but it was not as if she took care of me at all when I was desperate for it. She was quite a silent person who obediently listened to my dad's orders and also stood up to his decisions no matter what they were.

This feature of my mother was something I could not understand! It was not as if she was dependent on him. She herself came from a rich family and was a female alpha herself! But after marrying my dad, I did not know what happen to her!

"Mom, I told you countless times that I do not care about this marriage at all! Dad and you are just forcing me to do this!" I yelled at her!

Her expression turned into a shocked one and she immediately shut the door behind her while approaching me!

"Carmen do not start this again! If your father would have heard this, he would get extremely mad at you!" she whispered furiously in my ears.

I got annoyed at my mom's response! It was the same thing she kept on telling me! She started to sound like a broken record at this point!

"Mom, you and I both know that this is not right! I actually am not scared at dad anymore! Both of you are ruining my life by making me marry Ivan!" I yelled while panting.

"Ivan is your mate!" my mom yelled with angered eyes.

"No, he is not!" I screamed at her!

In the middle of our argument, the both of us heard a knock at my door with a voice that sounded like dad's! "Honey, is Carmen ready? I'm coming in!"

Mom and I were both panicked at the thought of dad seeing me not ready yet! He for sure was going to scream at the both of us.

What were we going to do? And how should I get myself out of this mess?

Mom and I were jumping with anxiety as dad was standing right outside the door! We knew how bad dad's anger was, so we did not want him to see me, not ready yet. "Honey, just a few minutes! We will be right out!" mom yelled out to dad while gesturing me to hurry up and put on my dress. I stood silently; I did not want to marry Ivan! I needed to get out of my house.

My mom rushed into the bathroom to grab some my makeup bag to glam me up! Taking this opportunity as my mom was not keeping an eye on me, I unlocked the window of my room and started to bunch up the excessive cloth of my dress so that I would not get stuck while jumping off the window. This was the only option left for me to take and thankfully I lived on the first floor of the mansion. Though there was still some height from my window to the ground, it was not too much to the point where jumping could potentially end my life. I would just achieve a few random bruises and I was willing to take them all to get away from Ivan and my family. I raised my feet on the edge of the window while holding onto the walls on either side of me. My heart began to skip a beat as I saw the ground. Wind blew against my face, making the loose strands of my hair to get into my face. "Carmen, I found your makeup!" I heard my mother yell from the bathroom. I began to hear her footsteps coming my way. I had no time to think about anything whatsoever! If I wanted to jump, then I had to do without even wasting a single second. At that point, I took a very deep breath and exhaled before hesitantly letting my go of my grip with the white painted wooden walls. I closed my eyes to avoid frightening myself anymore. Soon, within seconds I fell onto the hard ground. I felt a sharp pain in my legs since they were the first to make impact on the ground. The grass did not help with the landing at all. I scrapped a little bit of skin from my knees and a little blood dripped onto the bright green grass. My knee was in a bad condition, but I knew that my work was still not over. I needed to find a place to stay but, where could I? "Carmen!! How did you get down there? Get back here!" I saw my mom yelling from the first floor. I raised my head to see her concerned yet disappointed face at me. Everything turned ten times worse when I saw my dad approaching the window from behind. It seemed as if he either unlocked the door with a key or broke it down since I could see the angry expression on his face. I gulped the accumulated saliva in my mouth when he noticed me standing out in the open with my wedding dress all ruined and covered in dirt. "Carmen! Do not do what you are doing! Get back here at once! Or else!" he screamed while pointing his finger at me. My body tensed upon hearing dad's scream! It was difficult going against him considering what a powerful alpha he is. I needed to go somewhere far away from my home! A place where no one, not even my family could find me. "Fine! This is how you want it? Then fine! I'll come there and drag you to the wedding!" dad said before storming away from the window with an angry look. At that point, I began hurrying my way out of the area. Dad's power was too much that no one could handle it. I ran and ran as fast as I could into the near forest but the many branches and trees that came on my path made me reduce my speed a lot thus putting me at a severe disadvantage. When I reached at a denser part of the forest, I took a moment to catch my breath and collect myself mentally. I stopped myself near a tree and rested my back against it. I closed my eyes to calm myself down. I had no idea where I was, but I was happy to be anywhere but near my horrible excuse of a family! Being with them made me suffocated beyond anything. I was so tired that I did not know what I was supposed to do next! I knew I wanted to go anywhere where my parents and of course Ivan were not but the big question was where! There was nothing but the woods for miles! I was hoping that I was not around any border area connecting the human society or else a gamma would catch me and send me back to me dad! Our family was the most powerful with my dad at the top amongst everyone else. So, naturally his orders were followed by all people in the area! Of course, except for me. I took a good look at my white dress that had gone almost dirt brown after all it was been through. I was never against marrying and I dreamt to reserve this dress and day for my one true mate that was chosen for me by the Moon Goddess Selene. Too bad all my dreams were now shattered because of my stubborn parents. It was so unfortunate how my wedding turned out to be. Just as I continued to take rest, my inner wolf was able to pick up the sound of a snap of a twig. I instantly began to be on alert as I knew someone was near me! Watching over me! I moved my eyes as much as I could to scan the area without moving my body too much so that I could not alert the stalker about my knowledge about his presence. I leaned in towards the trunk of the tree so that I could try and hide myself from any sudden attack from the stalker. My heart started to jump once I heard a low growl sound itself from the ambiance of forest! I had no idea from which direction the sound was coming from but one thing I was for sure is that If I stayed in the same spot for some more time, I was a goner! Just then, I heard another snap of a twig to the right of me and there I saw two glowing yellow eyes looking at me in the bushes. I started to take a few steps back even though my body felt frozen. Slowly, the bushes rattled, and the grey furry creature came out of the bushes. It was none other than Ivan in his wolf form. I got extremely nervous that he had found me! I wanted to run away but I knew he would catch up even if I transformed into a wolf myself. Nothing made sense to me anymore but as soon as I started taking a few more steps back... Ivan pounced on me with a loud growl!

Ivan pounced on me with his ferocious growl and sharp claws! I let out a scream until suddenly everything turned pitch black.

My eyes then suddenly awoke me to a very familiar environment. I looked around and scanned the place to finally realize that I was in my own room, in my own comfy bed!

I got myself up and sat down on the bed with my legs still covered in the bedsheet. I placed my hand on my forehead and began to think about what just happened!

With my hand, I pushed the few strands of hair away from my face and realized that all that happened was a dream! Ivan did not actually kill me!

I felt very relieved to know this and I was finally able to relax my nerves. I took a deep breath and grabbed a comb from my nightstand. Slowly, I began to brush my long blonde hair!

I thought I was finally at peace but then I realized that it was all too good to be true! Everything about the escape from my room to Ivan attacking me was all a dream! All of that was a dream except for the fact that I was indeed going to get married to Ivan! My parents were still keen on making me marry Ivan and Ivan in reality really did refused to listen to my choice of not marrying him!

The only thing that I wished were true from my dream was me running away since I also realized that my wedding day was the next day! I was going to be marked by Ivan and become his Luna! I could not let that happen!

I shook my head from all these horrific thoughts and jumped out of my queen-sized bed! As I was walking from one side of the room to another, I heard a scream that came from behind the door.

"Carmen!" I heard once again from the same direction but this time, the voice appeared to have come from a closer distance!

My heart began to beat quickly and sweat began to drip from my forehead! I was hoping that it was not mom who wanted to talk about the wedding! In my dream, I seemed to have very easily jumped off the window but I would never do such a thing in reality!

"Carmen, have you got up yet?" the voice grew closer and a bang was heard on my door.

I gulped the saliva in my mouth and started to fidget with my hands as I anticipated the person about to enter the room!

Within a second, I saw the door's handle turning and the door slowly opening up with a click. I took a deep breath and saw that the person who entered the room was none other than my dear friend Angel!

Angel has been an amazing friend to me for what seemed like forever. Ivan, Angel and I were the best of friends until we started going our own separate ways! But Angel remained in contact with me all the time!

She knew about Ivan's stubbornness about marrying me and that must have been why she came to visit me before the wedding. For the past few days she kept on insisting me to run away from my family, but I knew that either my dad or Ivan would find me in no time.

"Carmen, come on, we need to talk as soon as possible!" she said with concern in her bright blue eyes! Her hair was silky brown and her face was flawless. She was so beautiful that I used to envy her sometimes.

"My head really hurts from all of this stress!" I expressed my frustration while tensing my face.

Angel after hearing and seeing my condition came up to me and placed her hand on my shoulder and gave me a smile, "Remember, it's all going to be fine! Get ready and then we have to go and talk about this!"

I sighed and listened to Angel's words. While opening the cupboard, I searched for some clothes and was finally able to find a pair of pants and a t-shirt. I slipped on a cardigan to complete the look.

I pushed my door open and began to walk down the marble staircase. Being born into an alpha family, I was able to live in such a wonderful home. Everything in the house costed a fortune but the expenses would not hurt my dad's wallet!

I would get any material goods that I wanted from my dad. However, no material goods would ever make me recover from the pain I would feel if I would marry Ivan.

Once I reached the living room, I was greeted by my mother and father who were sitting at the table, talking amongst each other.

I wanted to avoid talking with them, but it was too late since they noticed me on the staircase.

"Good morning!" my dad greeted while my mom just gave a subtle smile to my face.

I always tried to understand why my mother would stay so silent, but I would always fail to understand why!

Anyways, I greeted my parents with a 'Good Morning' and walked past them towards Angel who was standing near the entrance door of the house.

As I tried to open the door and walk away from the house as soon as possible, I was halted by my dad.

"Wait!" he said in a loud, demanding voice.

Angel and I froze at our spots and we were extremely afraid of what is to come! I contracted my body and turned around to see a weird look on my dad's face while my mom continued to remain neutral.

"Ivan will be coming over to dinner tonight! You better be back before then!" my dad ordered while flipping through a book.

I became extremely confused and afraid! Ivan coming to dinner was something I never was looking forward to! My dad was making my life as miserable as he possibly could! Marriage was the only thing he paid attention to and not his own daughter's feelings.

"Yes dad!" I timidly said before holding Angel's hand and rushing out the door.

I could not believe that my dad was so inconsiderate of me! I felt suffocated inside my own home which was supposed to be a safe place for me. I actually would escape my home and get out to get away from my problems.

Along with Angel, the both of us were on our way to our favorite spot in the nearby forest. This was the spot where we would go together or alone to vent out our frustrations and to just relax. That place was very dear to us!

A few moments later, we had finally arrived at the place. It was an open area behind a set of tall bushes. The area was spacious with nothing but grass covering the place. A huge tree was located at the middle of the circular type area with borders of bushes, which provided a lot of cool shade from the harsh rays of the sun.

Angel and I would just sit under the cool shade of the tree and rest our backs against the thick trunk. I adjusted myself to get a little comfortable and that was when Angel spoke up.

"So, what are you going to do now?"

I turned my head towards her and then back up, looking at the clear sky and rolling my eyes.

"No clue! I wanted to be able to find and marry my true mate but I guess the Moon Goddess put a curse on me or something."

Angel tapped me on my shoulder, "Stop, don't say such things!" she said in a disappointed voice.

I knew what she was saying was true, but my mind was on the verge of exploding. I felt like my parents and Ivan were sucking my life away from me. If only I was able to find a way out of this mess.

We continued to talk for some time as the sun went down. We could not come up with any solution to my problems till then. The both of us got up from the grass and decided to head back home as I had to get back for dinner.

Only I knew how furious my dad would have been if I were late for the dinner with Ivan!

As we were about to leave the area, suddenly we heard a bunch of leaves crunching in the bushes around us.

Angel and I became very alert as someone was walking towards us! But who?