The mute lady Valewind

Elora’s POV

A full moon meant the perfect night. For everyone besides me.

I sat on my bed, staring at it, letting its light wash over me as if it could fill the emptiness I felt my heart. The painful, numb ache inside. My hands twisted in the fabric of my dress, a light blue gown I’d once dreamed of wearing to a night like this.

But tonight, I wasn’t at the coronation or the mating ceremony.

“Stay in your room, Elora,” my father had said, his voice stern, and his eyes were colder than usual, letting me know he meant every word.

“You’ll just embarrass us.”

The words stuck to me, pressing on me like a cold steel blade. I didn’t argue. I couldn’t. The truth was, he wasn’t entirely wrong. What use was I to anyone? The daughter who couldn’t speak, who couldn’t stand tall like a beta’s daughter, beta Varek Valewind’s daughter, should.

My gaze dropped to my hands, trembling in my lap. I closed them into fists, trying to steady myself. It didn’t work.

Selene would be there tonight, though. She was my step sister, and always looked perfect. Her golden hair reminded me of the sunlight, her smile was bright enough to charm anyone. I could see her in my mind, standing beside Kael Stormrider, the man I’d loved quietly, desperately, for years.

Kael was everything an alpha should be—strong, commanding, and devastatingly handsome. His dark hair always seemed to fall perfectly, his green eyes sharp and full of fire. He was kind too, or at least, he had been to me. Tonight, he would take his father’s crown as alpha, and Selene would stand beside him as his mate.

He wasn’t mine. He was hers.

It was a sin to imagine myself in the arms of the man who would in no way want any association with me.

I wanted to sulk about it — like I had always done. To weep about my misfortune. But not tonight. I had to force myself to be happy for Selene even if she had never been kind to me.

Not her or her mother, Athlea. However, I could put it all behind me and become a bigger person, couldn’t I?

Even though it meant even more misery for me.

I was still lost in my train of thought as I stared outside the window when a strange wind blew past me. It left me with a chilly feeling that caused the curled hairs behind my neck to stand erect.

My pulse quickened, my heart beating rapidly against my chest. I could hear it in my ears. It was strange. Forcing me to sit up. Something was different, though I couldn’t put it into words—not that I could put anything into words.

Then I heard it.

“Elora.”

I froze. My senses coming at alert almost immediately.

The voice wasn't mine, it wasn’t loud, but it filled my head, soft and powerful all at once.

My eyes widened.

Could it be…

“I’m Sierra,” the soft voice continued to speak.

“Your wolf.”

My eyes widened as my breath caught in my throat.

Tears filled my eyes almost immediately.

My wolf.

After all these years. I’d waited so long, wondered if it would ever happen. And now, here she was.

“My…mine?” I thought to myself. For the first time in the longest time, I wished I could speak to her. I wished she could hear my voice the same way I could hear hers. Would I sound as beautiful as she did?

“You don’t need to worry about that, Elora.” She spoke softly.

“We are one. I am a part of you as you are a part of me. I can hear your heart speak.”

By the goddess! She was all I ever wanted.

I nodded my head while my tears continued to rush down my cheek uncontrollably. Perhaps, I hadn’t been completely abandoned by the goddess after all.

That wasn’t all.

A feeling of hotness, starting in my chest and spreading like wildfire through my body enveloped me almost immediately.

My skin prickled, itching with every shortened breath I took, and a deep, raw hunger settled low in my stomach.

“What’s happening to me?” I rose up from the stool and looked down at both my hands. They were clammy from sweat, even though it had been freezing cold just few seconds ago.

“It’s your heat,” Sierra replied.

She made a soft purring sound.

“Your mate is near.”

My what? My mate? I had one of those too?

But I was a mute. Everyone knew me as the mute lady of the Valewind house. What if he rejected me on seeing me? Who would it be? I had never noticed any man in the pack house besides Kael Stormrider.

All these questions ran through my mind, hastening the haze of heat and confusion— only for few seconds. The scent came next, sharp and intoxicating. It filled the room, wrapping around me like a warm embrace.

Cedarwood and rain. Awfully familiar, but it couldn’t be.

I stood, unsteady on my feet, as the scent grew stronger. My wolf whimpered in my mind, desperate to follow it.

Then I heard footsteps. Slow, deliberate. They stopped just outside my door. My heart thundered in my chest, every beat louder than the last.

“He’s here,” she whispered.

“I can almost taste him.”

Heavens. She was a needy one, wasn’t she?

My hand trembled as I reached for the doorknob. And without a second thought, opened the door.

Dark hair that fell almost to his eyes, a tall and slender muscular build, and a sharp jaw I liked to think could cut through steel.

Was it really…? My breath hitched in my throat as he slowly lifted his head up to look at me, and emerald green eyes bored endless holes into mine.

He knocked the wind out of my lungs.

Kael Stormrider.

I wanted to say something so bad. I lifted my hands to sign, to ask him what he was doing there, but he stepped into the room without giving me a chance to invite him in. My gaze dropped to the bottle of wine in his right hand. He had been drinking.

“Elora,” he breathed out. His soft, silly baritone was now rough, as rough as the calluses etched on his hands.

Sierra seized control immediately.

“Mate!” She exclaimed.

“He’s ours. He’s our mate!”

I blinked twice, thrice in fact. She was happy, elated. While I was confused. I had always loved Kael, but he wasn’t supposed to be MY mate.

He belonged to Selene.

His gaze was unfocused, his steps unsteady. Did he know it was me? He had called my name, so he knew. Still, I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that…

“You smell... so good,” he murmured, taking a step closer. His voice had stolen into my thoughts, of course.

“You’re beautiful,” he whispered, his hand lifting to cup my cheek. His touch was warm. It sent a blazing heat through me— like fire.

For a moment, I let myself believe it. I let myself hope.

To try to immerse myself in the moment. I would never get another one like this.

“The goddess has brought you and I together just like the prophecy said. A Valewind and Stormrider. Together, and in love,” he whispered into my ear.

“We would correct the mistakes of this world for generations to come.”

I swallowed hard. I knew that prophecy. Only, I had always thought it would be he and Selene. She was the prettier one, the warrior.

His lips claimed mine, and I felt myself melt into his arms. Every thought I had in that moment vanished as he guided me to my bed.

My instincts screamed at me to stop.

I was in the wrong. He was mine, right?

He gently tucked my hair to the back of my right ear as he looked into my eyes.

“This would mark our first night together. Our love would reach the heavens, my lady.”

If I was in love with Kael when he was only a polite brother-in-law-to-be, I was tripping over my heels now.

He undressed me slowly, taking off the blue gown I had put on after much effort tonight. I lay bare and naked in front of him, but without fear.

I was his, and he was mine.

“Undress me, my lady.”

He had always called Selene that. Now, it was me.

“Call me by my name.” I signed. A small smile showed at the edges of his lips.

“Undress me, Elora.”

My heart almost lept out of my chest.

He knew it was me! I took his clothes off with shaky hands. And when we were both naked, pale underneath the full moon, he kissed me. Kissed me deeply, every worry I had slowly melted away.

When he joined me at my core, I was wet enough to welcome him. The first man, my mate. I cried out in pain, but it was gone quickly. Followed my an immense pleasure that caused me to throw my head against the headboard.

Once again, tears of joy filled my eyes.

Could this be it? Could this be the happy ever after I always wanted?

I raised my hips to meet his, drowning myself in the relief the pleasure offered. I felt comfort in the raspiness of his breath against my neck

The thought of being seen— by someone else.

More importantly, the man whose eyes I see everytime I go to sleep.

Kael pulled me closer, his lips finding mine in a kiss that stole my breath. It was everything I’d ever dreamed of and everything I feared.

I couldn’t stop him.

I couldn’t stop myself.

My ecstasy heightened—his touch, the way it ignited a fire I didn't know existed in me. his warmth, the overwhelming pull of the bond.

He traced kisses down my left ear, to my neck, before whispering.

“The heavens would witness tonight. For after this, I am yours,” more kisses.

“And you are mine.”

With that, he dug his teeth deep into the skin of my flesh, and I cried out. With that cry, came a release unlike anything I had ever experience. Like I had been holding back a flood gate.

When it was over, Kael lay beside me, his arm wrapped around my waist. His breathing was steady, his face peaceful in sleep.

Then, it all came crashing down into dust.

He sniffed in the scent of my hair, and I felt him smile.

“I always knew it was you,”

Shamelessly, I found myself smiling.

“Selene.”

The world as I knew it came to an abrupt halt.

Selene.

Selene?