-Adonai- Today is the day I officially get married to Aria. I was sure my face radiated the joy I felt within. I could not hide it.I walked around the building, watching as the maids and guards ran around to put things in order. It is going to be a very big ceremony. Invites have been sent far and near, and all the provinces and clans, big and small packs, would be gathered for the wedding.Werewolves coming from far distances had arrived the night before. Dante approached me with a grimace on his face."So you are finally getting married to Aria," he commented."So am I," I said with the same energy."Well, how does that make you feel?" He wanted to know and I narrowed my eyes at him, trying to discern his reason for asking."Complete, I guess. A man with a family.""Mmm," Dante hummed and nodded. "True.""And after this, you also have to settle down as well. You have a fiancé already, so that wouldn't be hard, I guess?"He chuckled."Well then, after you."While we spoke, alpha Do
-Aria- I was being dressed by the maids for the wedding when Adonai walked in, and they all trooped out to give us a moment."Is anything the matter?" I asked, searching his face."Not really," he replied with a small smile on his face. "I just wanted to see you."I rolled my eyes at him."You see me every day," I pointed out."Yeah," he replied with a sigh as he walked to a stool and sat in front of me, his eyes watched me tenderly."What?" I shook my head with a chuckle."You know, there is this old story we heard while growing up," he said."Okay?""That you become too excited and overwhelmed about someone or something because you are about to lose it.""Hmm." I breathed out. "Never heard about that before. But why are you talking about that? Are you thinking I might leave you?""No. I am relating it to how excited I am about getting married to you," he said and took my hand in his. "Are you ready to become Mrs. Adonai and Luna of this pack?""You think I am ready?" I threw back a
-Aria- I groaned in pain as I opened my eyes. I tried to move but discovered I couldn't, I was tied firmly to something I could not see, a pole or something.What's going on? I tried to think. The last thing I remembered was being prepared for my wedding and then strange faces appeared in my room.I looked up sharply when I realised what had happened. I was in an empty room that was void of anything normal in a location I could not fathom.I recognised the faces in the room as the ones who had walked in on me."Who are you and why did you kidnap me?" My throat was dry, as well as my voice. None of them bothered to give me an answer."Hey, say something. Who sent you?" I pushed."Keep it down Aria," a very familiar voice said. "This is not the palace where you speak anyhow you like and everyone is answerable to you.""Prisca?" I muttered under my breath but she heard."Tis me, yes," she stretched her hands out in a show of dignity. "Flesh and blood."I looked on in shock. Is this a dr
-Adonai- I took in a deep breath to steady myself when Maria approached me, her face strained with worry and told me Aria was nowhere to be found.I had asked her to go get her since the ceremony was about to start."What do you mean by she is nowhere to be found," I asked, my voice in a low whisper so the people at my table would not hear."Even I don't understand myself," Maria said. "But she is not in her room and no one seems to have seen her."No, this cannot be happening now. I braced myself and tried to remain calm."Uhm, gentlemen, I will be right back," I addressed the men at my table."Is everything fine?" Dominick asked as I excused myself and I told him all was well. All was not well at all. A few minutes to the start of my wedding the bride is nowhere to be found.I walked with long strides towards Aria's room with Maria following steadily behind me."I was wondering if she had to quickly do something outside the palace because it doesn't seem like she..." Maria trailed
-Adonai-It took a while before what she said registered in my head."Are you insane?" I retorted, placing a finger on the side of my head."No, I am not," she responded confidently."How then can you say such a thing?""I am only trying to help you, alpha," she said. "Think of what the people at the table will say when you return there without a bride.""And have you thought about what it would be when they also realize that you are not Aria?""They wouldn't have to know. A bride can be veiled. You are not under any law to reveal your face to anyone. I believe that they might think that is what you want and they will respect it."I hesitated, trying hard to think about what Prisca had said. She was right. I would be seen as a fool if I returned to the people with the news of Aria eloping with another man and there would be no wedding.It would be the second time I gathered people and something ruined the ceremony."You know what, you are right. But this is just for the ceremony. You
-Prisca- Yes! My plan has finally worked. I am going to exchange marital vows with Adonai and legally be his wife.It does not count that I am impersonating Aria. He is not going to be tied to Aria in reality but to me.I sat beside him, before the crowd with my face veiled and a sly smile across my face which no one could see.A few people had suggested I take off the veil so they could behold my face but Adonai politely declined. No one pushed it, and I successfully got tied to Adonai.I had feared that Dante would have wanted to expose me because he didn't seem pleased with the plan, but he didn't.I was led to Adonai's room while the party continued in the hall. There I took off my veil and sat comfortably on his bed.He was not here yet, for he was still having some drinks with his visitors. I chuckled happily. Alas, my dream has come to pass.The door opened and I quickly adjusted. I hissed when I saw it was Ariel."What are you doing here?" I asked sharply. She did not reply b
-Prisca- "Who are they?" I asked them, trying hard to keep calm."We don't know Prisca," one shrugged. "But they did not look anything like us. They looked different. Maybe werewolves from another pack."What business does Aria have with other werewolves that they came for her? Or has she been having contact outside our pack all this while? That bitch, I cursed under my breath. She always manages to escape my hands.Gosh, I hit my fist against my palm. And I was this close to getting rid of her this time. I hissed and made for the door when the men called my attention."What do we do now?" They asked and I scowled at them."Get your failure asses back home. What else is left to be done when you have lost her?""Then what about our payment?"I turned round in disbelief to face them. Had they the nerve to ask me that?"What payment?" I scoffed."For the work we did for you. You haven't paid us.""You bunch of losers are expecting payment?" I asked."We had a deal. You cannot just send
- Prisca-"You...you followed me?" I stuttered. He stood up from the bed and walked towards me slowly. I moved back instinctively."Yes I did," he said casually. "I came to your house, but you were nowhere to be found, so I sat and waited for you. Where have you been?"For a brief moment, life left my body. I thought he followed me to the hideout and knew everything.Oh shit...I let out a deep breath of relief. Thank goodness."Uh...uhm," I swallowed hard. "I was just around, you know. The pack. I needed some fresh air so I went for a stroll.""So why didn't you return to the palace?" He asked further and I quickly thought of what I could say."Well," I chuckled nervously. "Just trying to escape from the tension in the palace. I mean, so much has happened in just one day so..."Adonai grunted and his eyes scrutinised me, perhaps trying to see if he could believe me or not."I had to come here because we needed to talk," he finally said. "About what's happened earlier. We are married b
- Aria -Madin had escaped, successfully slipping out of our hands. I was worried about that because I did not know who he was working for as a spy while he was here and why."So what do we do now?" Zafa asked."We have to be on the lookout so we won't be taken off guard. There is another pack or group of werewolves who are interested in us, and for whatever reason, we are not sure."We had kept him in custody intending to get information from him after we were done with Moondream."What's next is returning to Moonwalker. We need to put things in order. You will talk to your people. They are moving with us."Zafa's brows creased in thought."I don't know what the people will think about this," he said. "We have been here all our lives. I don't think the people will feel safe about leaving for another place. You know we are different from others and that was the reason that pioneered the other werewolves against us.""You are with me," I told him confidently. "You don't have to worry a
-Aria-It was cold and dark outside. I don't know for how long I have been sitting here, but I was all alone and thinking.I had left Adonai in bed and sneaked to the verandah. I relished the thoughts of that young and naive girl, an ordinary girl who had been attracted to the alpha of her pack. She was so foolish enough to think she would have a place in such a man's heart.I remembered how I secretly had an affair with him and got laid all because I wanted to break his curse and that I did also because I loved him. He kept me hidden from the pack for long. That was the spoiler from the beginning, I should have known.But he told me he was waiting for the right time to announce me as his wife and that time never came. The heartless man watched me and the infant, which was his seed, burn to death.My thoughts were not for self-pity of what had happened to me but, amazingly, of how I wished I could be that girl again but had stayed away from the alpha and the troubles of the throne.I
- Aria -It was a fierce battle but we fought with everything in us. I kept the thought of protecting my people and the image of Adonai close to heart and it kept me focused and going. I could see that we had taken more of Moondream's warriors down, and we were winning.I paused to take a breath."Aria watch out!" I heard someone shout and turned around swiftly. There was a blade flying towards me. I wouldn't have been able to avoid it even if I had moved at twice the speed it came with.I closed my eyes, already expecting the blade to pierce through me and in that split second, remembered my baby. I held my hands around my stomach protectively."No!" There was a scream and that was Adonai.Then everywhere went silent. I waited for a moment to feel the pain but felt nothing except the pressure of my hands on my belly. I brought my palms to my face to see if there was blood. There was none.Adonai was upon the warrior who had thrown the blade at me and killed him.I heard a movement an
- Dante -I paused to rest a bit, feeling very exhausted and my skin burned from the scorching of the Sun. I was in the open field, alongside some people from my pack who had been fetched to work here. In a few days, I am already looking like a shadow of myself, thin and worn out in shabby clothes.This was where all my hard work had landed me. I have lost everything. Just as I was about to move, men from my pack cornered me. The looks on their faces were not friendly at all."What do you want?" I had to ask when they stood around me without a word."You are the reason why we are here," one of them said. "You brought this upon us, and they made us slaves."And it was only then I noticed the weapon in his hand."So what now?" You are going to kill me?" I had to put on a bold font even though I was scared."Yes we will," another answered menacingly."And what is that going to change or solve?" I wanted to keep them in the conversation so I could buy time before a guard came around. Ther
- Adonai -Someone cleared his throat and we both looked up to see Zafa standing by the door."I am so sorry to have interrupted this moment, but there is something on ground," he announced before closing the door and walking in. "News just reaching us that Zico has taken over your pack and made your people, slaves."I stood up from the bed."What about Dante?" Was the only thing I could think of and say. The looks on their faces were that of disapproval. Because I still cared about my brother despite everything he had done to me.I knew Dante intended to become alpha and there was no way he would have agreed to Zico enslaving the pack under his reign. So I wanted to know what had happened to my brother. I waited for an answer, hoping that the worst had not happened."Your brother is not dead," Zafa said as if he could read my fear. "Yet," he added. "Zico has made him slave, including all the elders that had stood with him, and appointed a new council that will oversee the pack while
- Aria -It broke my heart to pieces seeing Adonai like this, but I did not understand what he was saying about eloping with another man."You did not write any letter to me saying you have gone to be with Zafa?" He further asked and I narrowed my eyes in thoughts."Never did I write such," I told him, and he cocked his head in a direction, finding it difficult to believe what I had said."Then where were you on the day of the wedding," he crossed his arms over his chest. I sighed deeply and walked slowly to the bed. I sat on the edge with his eyes following my every move, waiting for an answer."I was kidnapped by Prisca," I told him, my voice low.The expression on his face turned to shock."Yes," I continued. "Prisca kidnapped me. She had been a traitor all these while but I never knew until that day. I found out she had been making attempts to kill me before now. She stood in the facade of a friend, waiting for the perfect moment to strike."Adonai went mute for a while, processin
- Zafa -I walked into the room I had reserved for Adonai after he had freshened up and rested from the fight.He was standing by the window, looking out. He did not turn round when I walked in. I stood in the middle of the room with my hands behind my back."Greetings, alpha," I called out to get his attention."Why did you bring me here?" He asked instead, and I was puzzled by his choice of words."What?"He turned round to look at me."Why did you come for me and then bring me here?" He repeated and in the brief moment of silence that followed, I wondered why he would be asking that."Your brother wanted to kill you," I said. "If we had not been there you would have been...""Better off death," he cut me mid-sentence. "What, you think you have done me a favour by saving me from Dante and then bringing me here?"I took in a deep breath, willing myself to remain calm despite the odds. There was no point exchanging words with Adonai. I should understand what he is going through. He mi
- Adonai- I closed my eyes tightly and expected to be in the afterlife by the time I opened them again, but my body seemed to remain on the previous, nothing had changed.I opened my eyes to see Dante being thrown roughly aside by a big werewolf and another fight had issued. Werewolves from another pack had attacked. They did not look like the ones in Moon Dream.I cracked my wounded brain to see if I could recall who they were but nothing was coming to mind. They looked entirely different and large.At some point, I began to wonder whose side they were on, confused. There was something about one of them, who looked bigger than every other werewolf.I was surprised to find out it was a female. She was so strong. But there was something even more fascinating. I felt a connection to her, but I could not tell who she was until..."Aria...!" Someone called and I turned round sharply. I recognize the voice as Zafa's. He was trying to get her attention, but Aria was in her world, uncontrol
-Adonai-I was very surprised when almost all the warriors and elders went to Dante's side. That was when I realised he had been plotting this for long and now, has everyone supporting him.Dante smiled when he noticed the look on my face. He charged at me and the fight began. I fought hard and with everything in me. I was more on the defensive because even though I did not want to fight Dante or do any harm to him, he swayed with every blow intended to kill me.I felt weak after fighting for a long while, and more when I saw how outnumbered we were. Dante and his people had killed every other person on my side.I looked around to see the dead bodies around. I fell to the ground, unable to move having sustained an injury on my leg.I was dragged out to the open. I could tell because I was still conscious but on the verge of passing out.The noise was that of a thousand people murmuring, and I guessed Dante had gathered the entire pack to disgrace me before them.I heard someone whimpe