#Chapter 3 The night of the full moon

Hannah POV

“Welcome to the family, Hannah!”

A cheerful voice came from the palace foyer as we entered the doors. I was greeted by a beautiful and tall woman; her curly blonde hair was pulled back and out of her face. Her bright features were filled with confidence and compassion; she wore a light pink gown that lifted her breasts close to her chin, expanding around her waist and falling to the ground delicately.

I never met her officially before, but I knew of her existence very well.

Queen Magnolia.

Alpha King Sebastian’s stepmother. He stood beside me, tensing as she approached but he said nothing as she spoke. I couldn’t help but wonder how close their relationship was.

“You are even more beautiful up close,” she breathed as she grasped my hands tightly in hers. “Are you hungry? I can have the cooks prepare you a meal!”

I couldn’t even think about eating; we had just finished the wedding ceremony and we had plenty of food. I was stuffed, but I was also nervous which kept me from feeling hungry.

“No thank you, your majesty,” I said; relieved that my voice remained confident. “I appreciate the gesture though.”

Her smile widened as she released my hands.

“I hope you enjoyed the wedding ceremony,” she said, staring around the custom wedding dress I was still wearing. “We only had the best of the best preparing the venue.”

“It was lovely,” I told her. “And my family appreciated all the gifts as well.”

“Of course,” she said in return. “It’s the least we could do considering.”

I frowned, not sure what she meant.

“I’m sorry?” I asked.

She chuckled and glanced over at Sebastian who was staring back at her with a hint of anger flashing through his eyes.

“This is basically a shotgun wedding. You’re only marrying him because he ordered it to be done,” she explained.

“It was a prophecy,” he said through his clenched jaw.

Magnolia rolled her eyes and turned back to me.

“Whatever it was, I know it wasn’t your choice,” she said to me. “I don’t blame you for not wanting to marry a man with such a… reputation.”

I felt Sebastian tensed again from beside me; his neckline began reddening indicating that his face, behind the mask, was also reddening.

Was he embarrassed?

I couldn’t believe she could say such a cruel thing about him right in front of him like this. I wasn’t sure what to say in response, but she spoke again.

“Anyway, I prepared a room for you. That way you aren’t forced to stay in the same room with such a cruel and hideous monster,” she said, her tone still sounding pleasant, but her words sent a chill down my spine. “Someone so hideous, he can’t even bother to reveal himself beyond his mask. It’s quite pathetic really,” she scoffed. 

“Why is she being so awful to him?” my wolf, Nora, hissed.

“That won’t be necessary,” I said, finding my voice again. I draped my arm around Sebastian’s, which only made him tense anymore. “As his Luna, I’d prefer to stay in his room. If that’s alright, your majesty.”

I glanced up at Sebastian, so he knew I wasn’t asking her, I was asking him.

He cleared his throat, meeting my gaze briefly before addressing Magnolia.

“Excuse us,” he muttered.

“Of course,” Queen Magnolia said, her smile turned plastered as we walked by her.

I gave her a polite smile as I followed Sebastian through the foyer and towards the grand stairs of the palace.

“She’s giving me a weird vibe,” Nora muttered as we grew distant from her.

“Perhaps they don’t have a close relationship,” I suggested. “I couldn’t imagine Alpha King Sebastian keeping many as his close allies.”

“He might not be as bad as you think,” Nora argued in return.

“He’s a dangerous man, Nora,” I said back. “He kills for fun. He killed his ex-wife. I can only imagine what he’s going to do with me.”

We reached his bedroom, and my body was trembling. Tonight was the night of the full moon and it was said that he loses most of his control during the full moon. It was called wolf madness. His temper is what gets those around him killed.

I shivered at the thought.

He was gravely quiet as we entered his room; I wondered what he was thinking about. He stopped walking as he reached his bed; keeping his head down, I could hear his breathing growing more intense. I swallowed hard as I neared him cautiously.

I had to keep reminding myself that I was here to protect my brother; he was all that mattered to me.

“Your majesty?” I asked softly; he visibly flinched at the sound of my voice.

I wasn’t prepared for him to turn around as quickly as he did. I nearly fell backward but his strong arms were wrapped around me tightly, holding me in place. His dark blue eyes were larger than I had ever seen them before, and they were practically black. His breathing was rapid and shaky, and he was biting onto his lip as he trembled against me.

I tried to push myself out of his arms, but it only made him tighten his hold on me. Peeking through the window behind him, I saw that the moon was at the highest point in the sky, shining its rays down through the window.

He revealed his teeth at me, and I knew just from looking at them that they were strong enough to bite through the strongest metal. At that moment, he only saw me as his prey. I was his next victim.

I knew I wasn’t going to be strong enough to fight myself against him. An Alpha against an Omega had no chance.

“He smells so good…” Nora whispered as if she was in some kind of trance.

Before I could grasp what was happening his lips were on mine; he hungrily searched my mouth with his tongue like he wanted to eat me from the inside out. The sharpness of his teeth brushed against my bottom lip, tugging it vigorously and pulling it into his mouth. I winced as his teeth pierced through my lip, drawing blood that he lapped up instantly. 

My body trembled violently, and I could feel tears pouring from my eyes as I tried to maintain my breath.

I felt his hands reaching around my dress, trying to find the zipper in the back. He eventually gave up on trying to unzip the dress and the fabric began to tear apart around my body. I heard my muffled scream as his lips were still against mine, forcefully. The dress was torn to shreds; I had never worn such an elegant dress before, and it was being destroyed around my body. The lacy fabrics fell to the ground in strands around us.

“I must have him…” I heard Nora’s husky tone in my mind.

She must have been out of her mind; this wasn’t what I wanted. I never wanted any of this.

He pressed his firm body against me and pushed me toward his bed; before I fell backward against his bed, he tightened his hold around me once again to keep me on my feet. He finally tore his lips from mine; allowing me to breathe and work to contain my breath. As I breathed heavily, he trailed heavy kisses down the nape of my neck and licked my shoulder blade with the roughness of his tongue.

I grabbed his hands to try to loosen them; he was squeezing me so tightly that I thought I was going to pop at any moment.

“Please…” I whispered to him, but he wasn’t hearing a word I was saying. He was too far gone.

He nibbled my skin with each kiss, drawing blood that dripped down my bare body and pooling on the ground around us. Not deep enough to mark me as his, but enough to make the interaction painful and almost unbearable.

I screamed out in agony and struggled against him once again; this only made him tighten his hold around me again. I coughed out as my air was being cut from my lungs. He worked quickly to lick the blood that was trickling down my back.

His lips found mine again; they were salty from the taste of my blood lingering on his tongue. He hungrily kissed me, and I had no way of breathing. He pressed his body into me again and this time allowed me to fall onto my back on his bed. He released his hold around my body, and I felt myself being crushed by the weight of his body.

I winced as he didn’t give me enough time to recover before mounting on top of me. His hands explored my body, touching every inch he could find.

He moved between my legs as he continued to kiss me.

“His scent… I must be closer to him…” Nora spoke again. “There’s something about him that so intoxicating.”

He pulled his lips away from mine as he worked to release his erection from his pants. Tears streamed down my eyes as he kissed every part of my body and bit into my flesh until more blood poured from me.

I was seething between my teeth; I could feel the anger rising in my body. His penis was pressed against my most sensitive areas, begging for entrance and ready to make me his.

“Fuck me to death if you must, you asshole,” I finally found the courage to speak. My voice came out in a sob, and it sounded foreign. 

Just as I felt his penis at my entrance, he stopped.