Prologue - The Traitor (Part 1)

“You look so beautiful, Debbie... Isn't it amazing how that dress makes your hair color pop?” Evangeline hummed, and, even though she struggled, Deborah had her chin held and was forced to look at her own reflection in the mirror before them.

“You… You really think so?” she swallowed nervously.

“Of course! This will be perfect to shut up all those mean girls who are always talking about how this beautiful red is a mark of the God of Discord. Oh, I would give anything to have hair like that too...” Evangeline sighed, running her fingers through her perfectly straight, snow-white hair.

"Do not say that. Your hair is perfect. How could it not be? It is a symbol of the Moon Goddess.” Deborah turned to face her cousin, intertwining their hands “And, don’t worry. I know that before I was always wetting your shoulder with my tears because of this, but... Iron is always saying that my hair is beautiful, so... I have no reason to cry anymore. Whenever he tells me I'm completely perfect... I feel like I really am.” She admitted, with a passionate sigh, reaching for the claim mark on her neck, still throbbing from having been made so recently.

“Our lovely Debbie... Who could have imagined that you would one day become the mate of not just a simple Alpha, but of the Lycan King himself?” Evangeline pulled her into another tight hug “Your parents would be proud.”

“It's so strange, this is the happiest day of my life, but it feels like there are still so many things out of place... So many people missing and so much fear...” she swallowed, her heart heavy “I still get apprehensive of not being the queen he deserves. I mean, look at me. Even if he places a crown on my head today, I will remain the only child in the history of all four packs who has not received an inner wolf from the Goddess."

"Even when I close my eyes at night..." she struggled to conclude, after a few moments of hesitation "I can still hear the voices of all the other wolves in my mind, talking about someone like me not being worthy of ruling alongside Iron..." the tears weighed heavily in her eyes, but Deborah tried hard not to let them slide, not on a day of joy like that “I... I don't want to be a problem for my mate. I want to be the queen he deserves, not only loving him but also helping him lead our people.”

“Oh, aren’t you the sweetest thing?” Her cousin cupped her cheeks, as if she were a toddler “Don't worry, Debbie. You know what the scriptures of our ancestors say. The Goddess always sends the perfect female wolf to reign alongside the King.” Evangeline brought her face closer to the two, a smile slowly stretching across her lips “Whether she is his fated mate or not.”

“What... What do you mean...?”

“I’m just saying you hit the jackpot twice, silly girl!” her cousin suddenly laughed, patting Deborah’s shoulders until she relaxed a little “Don’t worry. What you deserve is waiting for you out there.” Evangeline winked, making Deborah relax.

“Thanks, Evie. I don't know what I would do without you. It's been so lonely without Hannah lately... But eventually, she'll come back to us, won't she?” She tried to remain hopeful, not wanting to upset Evangeline with her fears, as Deborah knew that subject was equally delicate for her “She has you and all the other pure-blooded wolves praying for the Goddess to heal her... I know that curse won't be able to resist it.” Even though the Goddess would probably never hear the prayers of someone like her, Deborah still found herself praying “Now... Can we go outside? I don't care if I'm totally ready or not. I just want to become Iron’s wife as soon as possible.”

“Good.” A deep voice said, causing the two to turn towards the door “I can't wait any longer either.”

With her breath caught in her throat, Deborah felt her heart race, just as it had happened almost a year ago, at the ball where she had realized that the most powerful of all wolves was her mate. And, for the Goddess, he looked perhaps even more handsome than he had that night, with his black hair slicked back and those sharp silver eyes, the ultimate symbol of the purity of his Alpha blood, shining in a way that made her entire body throb, longing for another moment of pleasure like the many they had shared in recent times.

And, even when Iron approached her like that and Deborah was able to clearly see each of the scars covering his face, she still thought he was the most beautiful man of all. The torture of those soulless lions had left deep marks on her mate's body and soul, and, more than once, Deborah had heard the other women in the pack murmur about how the King, who was once the man of every female wolf's dreams, had lost a little of his attractiveness due to the long cut that ran from his right eye to his cheek.

For Deborah, however, this was just more proof that her mate was the strongest and most admirable man who had ever been born in the kingdom of Eclipsor.

“Well, I'll leave you two alone for now...” Evangeline murmured, running her hand slowly down Iron's back as she walked to the door, with that same hard-to-decipher smile “I'll be waiting outside, my King. ”

“I’m so glad you came to get me.” Deborah murmured, not even trying to contain the urge to hug him, snuggling her face against his chest “I could no longer contain myself with so much anticipation. I want to become your wife! And walk free by your side with my mark of claim.” Deborah touched the sensitive spot on her neck again, hidden beneath the collar of her dress.

“Aren’t you scared?” Iron asked, still without hugging her back, his eyes icy in a way that didn't worry Deborah, as she knew he would never be the same after the horrors of being held hostage by the lions "You know what everyone out there is thinking."

“I... I know.” Sadness threatened to take away some of her enthusiasm, but even so she didn't stop smiling “But, that doesn't matter to me anymore. All my life, what I wanted most wasn't for my wolf to manifest itself or to stop being the butt of the pack's jokes about how I'm a wolf with fake Beta blood... All I ever wanted was to find the person who the Goddess chose to be my mate, the man I could love and build a family with.” She admitted it, perhaps for the first time in her life, grateful to be able to say those words to Iron “I don't care if She ever graces me with a wolf. As long as we can be together forever, I don’t need anything else to be happy.”

“You...” still with that indecipherable expression, Iron raised his hand, hesitating for a moment before cupping her face, the roughness of the glove scratching her cheek a little “Do you really love me?”

“Do you still doubt it?” Deborah laughed, hugging his neck just so she could pull him closer “I want to spend the rest of my life with you, be your wife and have your babies. My heart would be yours anyway, whether you are a King, an Alpha, an Omega or even a human. I've known that for a long time now...” she blushed “That's why your sister was always trying to leave us alone even before I reached adulthood. As always, Hannah realized what I felt even before I did.”

“Hannah... Always so shrewd...” Iron took his hand away from her, even though Deborah rested her face on it “And, now, she's confined to a bed, dead, with her heart still beating.”

“No improvement yet?” she did her best so that her voice wouldn't shake with grief.

"No." That was all Iron replied, his eyes fixed on hers, as if he was waiting for something “Do you think there could be, soon? After all... You were with Hannah the night of the attack, weren't you? Did you see what kind of curse was used on her during the invasion…”

“Huh?” Deborah blinked, confused “What do you mean? You do not remember? I already said that we weren't together that night. My aunt had asked me to go to the lake to collect some lotuses for her medicine...”

“Of course.” Iron’s voice sounded much harsher, before he offered his arm to her, the distance between their bodies abnormally long “Come, it’s time.”

“Iron...?” Deborah murmured, her breath hitching as he pulled her out of the room and out of the castle, towards the courtyard “Are... Are you okay?”

“Deborah...” he growled, his face grim the instant they stopped before the closed gates “I'm going to give you one last chance. Tell the truth. Now."

"The truth? What do you mean?” she asked, her joy beginning to be replaced by nervousness, but all Iron did was stare at her sternly, just motioning for the Beta Guards nearby to open the gates.

And then, Deborah found herself facing a hundred wolves, coming from the four packs that made up Eclipsor's kingdom.