"Fifty repeated stabs to my already broken heart.”

“Genevieve? Look at me.” I turn wordlessly to Derek. “Your parents were criminals, you know you aren’t allowed to bury them. Their bodies will be discarded in a manner fit for condemned criminals of our pack.” I say nothing as tears fall uncontrollably from my eyes. I can’t see anything besides my parents’ faces twisted in pain and agony, I hear nothing but their piercing screams. I am unable to look away as a guards wrap the bodies up and carry them down the aisle and out of the hall. Every member of the Blood Moon pack present does not miss the opportunity to see the bodies of the criminals.

“Members of the Blood Moon pack, what you have just witnessed was the uprooting of evil from the root of our pack and the service of justice to the betrayed. However, you have come here for a wedding and for the crowning of your new Luna. This shall still take place.” The murmurs in the hall grows louder and my head snaps up to look at Derek incredulously. He killed my parents before my eyes and still expects a wedding to hold? Ida growls impatiently for me to let her out but I hold back. The destruction she is capable of will not change anything.

“Silence! The wedding will take place but the bride will change.” More commotion. “What do you mean?” I ask. “You didn’t really think I would marry you, did you? A daughter of murderers, stained with the sin of her parents.” Derek’s words are like a sucker punch to my stomach and I fall back like he really did punch me. The whole hall is quiet now, not one sound of any kind. Everybody seems to be holding their breaths, waiting for what the alpha says next, just like me.

Derek’s eyes lock on mine and I hear Ida whimper. “What’s going on Ida? What’s happening?” I frantically ask my wolf. “I cannot feel my bond to Rex, our connection is gone.” Rex? Rex was the wolf of alpha Derek. Why can’t Ida feel him? My eyes widen in realization. No! He can’t, he cannot do this to me! Ida is silent now.

Derek steps closer to me. “I, Derek Carson, Alpha of the Blood Moon pack hereby reject you, Genevieve Franklin of the Blood Moon pack as my mate. From today our ties our severed, our bond is broken, and our connection is blocked. Forever. You are free of me and I am free of you. Forever.” Each word Derek says to break our mate bond is like a stab to my heart. Fifty words for fifty repeated stabs to my already broken heart. I fall to the ground. The whole hall is like a graveyard now as a collective hush covers every corner of the large hall.

Ida is silent, retreating to lick her wounds and mourn the loss of her mate while I am numb from the overload of pain and heartbreak. The time I walked in confidently with the silent resolve to give my all to Derek and to the pack seems like ages ago when in truth an hour has barely passed by.

The doors open and everyone turns to look at the beautiful woman in a gorgeous wedding gown glide down the aisle, clutching a bouquet of white roses. There are gasps and murmurs of speculation when she passes people by before coming to a stop next to where I am collapsed, defeated on the ground.

Derek walks to her and lifts her veil as I watch. I remember Liana Dawson telling me how my bond with Derek would bring peace and prosperity to the pack, I remember her wide smile as she styled my hair and told me how beautiful I looked. I remember how she held my hand and told me she was happy for me. That was barely two hours ago. And now she stands in front of all the pack ready to marry my mate and become the Luna.

Taking her hand, Derek looks into her eyes softly and says, “I, Derek Carson, Alpha of the Blood Moon pack, take you, Liana Dawson, Oracle of the moon goddess and seer of the Blood Moon pack to be my mate, my Luna and my wife.” The crowd is in shock as their questions are confirmed. The alpha rejected his mate to marry the best friend of his mate.

I don’t say a word but stare uselessly as Liana smiles shyly at the words Derek said. Nobody pays me any attention from the floor I am on, surrounded by the blood stains of both my parents. “I, Liana Dawson, Oracle of the moon goddess and seer of the Blood Moon pack take you, Alpha Derek Carson, to be mine. My mate, my alpha and my husband.” A smile blooms on Derek’s face and to my absolute horror, they lean in and kiss. There is silence for one, two, three seconds before the hall erupts in cheers and celebrations. I don’t see anybody notice me ball my fists on my wedding gown stained with dirt and blood, the blood of my parents.

“I present to you, the Luna of the Blood Moon pack, Luna Liana!” The cheers grow louder as Liana takes a seat beside Derek on the seats meant for the Alpha and Luna of the pack. When the cheers die down, Derek says, “This is a day of celebration and new beginnings so I shall be merciful for we once had a connection Genevieve. You shall be kept in the prisons while we investigate if you knew about the plans of your parents and participated. If you are guilty, you will spend the rest of your life in prison but if you are proven innocent, you will be freed.”

Liana looks at me for the first time since she entered the hall and stabbed me in the back. She smiles sadly but her eyes show no emotion for me. I continue to stare at her as the guards pull me up and take me away from the hall.