Chapter 2

Melissa

“What!” I whispered, unable to believe my ears after hearing the news my father just broke to me. “What do you mean you will be getting married to the Luna of Moonriver pack?”

“It is my duty as the alpha, Melissa.” He answered, turning to walk round his large office. I watched him go over to the cabinet and waited while he poured for himself a glass of strong scotch, one of those hard drinks that he had warned me to stay away from.

“Your duty as the alpha should not include a second marriage.” I protested, walking forward slowly to meet him as he lifted the short round glass to his mouth. “Was it the elders who suggested such a ridiculous thing to you?”

“The words of the elders are not ridiculous, Melissa.” He snapped sternly at me and I winced at his words.

"I'm sorry. The words came out wrongly." I said, trying my best to salvage the moment.

My father sighed in distress and I watched his fist unclench in front of me.

“I made this decision as the alpha after weighing the pros and cons.”

“I don't understand father, what pros and cons?” I asked,  trying not to pour anger the anger that should be directed to Alex out on him. “What could you possibly achieve from marrying another she-wolf after your late wife?”

No matter how much i tried to stop my words from getting him angry, they still did. My father stared sternly at me, before lifting the cup to his mouth again to finish the remaining contents of the scotch. When he was done, he slammed the cup hard on the table, breaking it to pieces before me, and I flinched at the sight.

“You want to know what I will benefit from marrying her?” He asked, storming towards me while i took a step backward. “Peace, Melissa. Our pack and theirs are at a cutthroat at the moment, and their pack is in debt. We need their war strength to fight off Lycan rogues, while they need our resources. Coming together would help regain peace between both packs. Does that answer your question?”

“Yes, it does, father." I answered, swallowing the lump in my throat. A voice told me to let the conversation go, but the stubborn part of me wanted to probe him more. So I went ahead to ask the next thing that popped into my head.  "But why do you need to be the one to sacrifice for this peace? You are the alpha of Redmoon; you can have someone else do it. Have your beta marry the Luna instead.”

“Or maybe you can marry the Luna’s son if she has one.” He corrected, shutting me off immediately. “That also works, because that was exactly what was suggested to me. But I thought about your wellbeing first.”

“What?” I whispered, shocked to my bones.

“Yes, Melissa,” he answered. “The elders wanted you to be given to someone from Moonriver, but I was against it. Because just like I had the privilege of meeting my mate and enjoying her love, you also have the privilege of finding yours when the time comes.”

I blinked twice in confusion, grateful that he was sacrificing his happiness for me,

“Thank you for standing up to them, father." I said to him. "But i still don’t want you getting married to another woman.”

“You don’t have a say,” He replied harshly. “It has been decided and tonight, they will be here. The walls separating us and Moonriver will be broken, and we will become one. Concentrate on your coming-of- age day tomorrow and just behave yourself tonight.”

Alpha Alexander stormed out of the office, not even giving me the opportunity to say anything more to him. I bit hard on my lips, getting a little bit irritated that as the only daughter of the powerful alpha of Redmoon, my opinions did not matter to him. Maybe after my coming of age and shifting day, my father would begin to see me as an adult and not a child. I wondered to myself.

Angrily, I walked out of his office, turning to the corner of the house where the stairway was located. The servants kept smiling at me as I walked, but I ignored them. As soon as I got inside my room, I dropped to the hard floor and thunked my head against the wall.

My eyes caught sight of my mother’s picture sitting prettily on my bookshelf, so I walked slowly to it, picked it up and stared at her beautiful face.

“He wants to replace you, mum.” I said when I was calm again. “And I have no other choice but to support his decision, just like I promised you.

                                  ************

I stared hard at the light makeup on my face and also the short white gown I had on, nodding with satisfaction. My father had warned me to behave myself at the merging ceremony and no matter how much I hated that he would be getting married again, I feared him enough to know not to disrespect him.

The gown on my body fit perfectly and so did the makeup on ny face, so I smiled at myself, grateful for the good looks my mother had passed onto me.

Satisfied with how I looked and smelt, I took my little purse, hung it across my shoulder before leaving my room to join my father downstairs. He smiled when he saw me walking down and to my surprise, stretched forth his hands, which I took without a moment’s thought.

“You look amazing, my dear.” He said and even though I wasn’t used to him being all mushy towards me, I smiled, kissing both his cheeks.

“Thank you.”

“I heard that they are on their way to the pack hall already.” He said, leading me out of the house. “We should hurry in order to get there before them.”

We got into the car and took a very short drive down to the ceremonial hall of the pack which had already been decorated and was filled with pack members. I got down from the car, nodded my head when my father asked me to remain close by and ran into the waiting arms of my friend, Chloe. She hugged me tightly, giggling like a girl who just found her crush. I looked over her red outfit, complimenting every part of her look because, just like me, she was also breathtakingly beautiful.

“Do you think you will like her?” Chloe asked when we were done gushing over each other and I shrugged my shoulders.

“I don’t have to like her.” I replied. “I just have to accommodate and accept her for my father and the pack’s sake.”

“Well, my father mentioned that it was a good deal to have them get married.” She said to me. “Just think of that whenever you see her and that should be fine.”

I smiled at her, getting distracted again  when my father indicated to me to come closer. After waving Chloe off, I obeyed him and we stood to welcome two approaching cars. The cars stopped at the entrance of the hall and a woman, accompanied by a young girl like myself, got down, looking nice and very expensive in their outfits.

I  watched my father take the older woman’s hands and how he placed two kisses across her cheeks. They talked casually for a while, smiling at each other like they were old friends. When they were done greeting, my father stretched his hands towards me and I moved closer, immediately catching the luxurious scent of the Luna, who surprisingly looked like a goddess in her white outfit. Her hair was parked like a ponytail on her head and she offered me one of the best smiles that I had ever seen in my life.

“She is my daughter.” My father introduced me to her. “Melissa.”

The Luna stretched her hand towards me and I took it shyly, trying not to look too much into her eyes.

“Hello Melissa." She said and as soon as the words left her mouth, a young boy walked away from the scene, forcing me to follow his movements. I didn’t see his face, but it did look like he wasn’t pleased with the introduction going on. The hand holding mine squeezed it and I turned to look into the beautiful eyes of the luna again, offering her my best smile.

"Hello." I said calmly to her. "Welcome to Redmoon.”