Chapter 19

• HAERA
• It took the scream of one person in the crowd to jerk all of us awake from what seemed like a daydream and a slumber. Luna Hegna. It took her frantic run through the crowd to get to her son who was thrown somewhere off amongst the crowd for everyone of us to actually realize what just happened. Everything happened so fast it was almost impossible. I was in a daze long before I saw my mate throw his opponent off the podium. Prince Tybalt shifting into his wolf was the first thing that put my heart in my mouth because it scared the shit out of me to see how big he was. He could sink his large teeth into anyone and they could get badly hurt before they're able to heal up. It was that fear that gripped me when I saw him. But the way prince Zachary effortlessly threw the wolf off of him was the most amazing thing I've ever seen. While everyone is trying to get out of their dazed state, he was standing on the podium, under the scorching sun. Breathing so hard I feared his chest would ache with every rise and fall of it. He won. He just won. "My mate won..." I whispered. I wanted to laugh. Wanted to cheer. Wanted to cry and run up to meet him with the way excitement coursed through me. I could barely hold myself back from squealing out loud and breaking everyone's silence. "Guards! My son..." Luna Hegna's shaky voice took my mind off my mate for a moment. The guards went rushing over to her while she held the black wolf in her hands. The wolf was whimpering and jerking around on the floor. He soon began to shift back to his human self and The Luna was quick to take off her cloak and wrap his naked body out of the sight of the crowd. Slowly, the guards took him from her and carried him in the direction of his tower while his mother followed with teary eyes. I could tell he was hurt but I didn't feel any remorse. Not because it was my mate who made him tht way but because he almost killed my mate when he shifted into a wolf. He blindly went against the rules of the duel out of rage and shifted into a wolf to attack my mate. I couldn't feel sorry for him. It also took the announcer a few moments to recover. I guess everyone didn't expect the turnout. No one expected the unmarked child would win. But I did. I expected it. Because I knew he could win. Slowly, I began to hear the murmurs of the people resume. Everyone is starting to accept the reality. The meaning of what just happened here today. The sound of drums soon filled the air. Two elderly man who I assumed were elders of the wolf council treaded up the podium to meet the prince. They bowed. One of them stretched his hands to show the golden necklace, the one that I saw around the Luna's neck just yesterday, seated in all its glory on a small crest. The other elder tool it from him and the slowly put it around the neck of the Alpha pri–no, scratch that, The Alpha. "ALL HAIL THE ALPHA!" The announcer cried. Everyone bowed reverence without hesitation. Even the pack leaders at the front row stood to their feet to pay their homage to the new Alpha. It felt like a dream. If I was feeling that way, how would Alpha Zachary feel? "ALL HAIL ALPHA ZACHARY OF THE IMPERIAL PACK!" "ALL HAIL!" Was the chorus that followed. Alpha Zachary. I liked the sound of it. Like it was made to fit his name. Of course it was because I knew right there and then that no one belonged up there other than him. His strength will now remain unmatched. His power will now stretch all over the woodlands. He will now be respected. Gone will be his suffering as an unmarked child because that very child will now lead his pack to greatness. And gone will be my own suffering when he finally marks me. I Haera Mycroft, is the mate of Alpha Zachary and the future Luna of the Imperial pack.
• "Get on with it people! We have five minutes until the feast begins! Don't force me to kick your asses out!" Well... It turns out you don't just turn a Luna in a single day or hours after your mate wins the Alpha Duel. I can't believe I almost forgot my reality because of the heat of the moment. I was back in the kitchen hours after the duel ended and the crowd dispersed. Back to hearing Head maid Dina of the Imperial pack telling stories of how she was there when the previous Alpha of the pack took over from his father and how she prepared a grand feast that will go down in history. Back to hearing Gennora bark orders angrily at everyone in the room just for the sake of it. The feast we were preparing is just for the diginatries from the different packs that came for the duel. It was a customary feast to honour the rise of another Alpha to lead the pack regardless of it the method in which he became the Alpha of the pack. We've cooked the best meats in of all of the woodlands. Boiled the best grains and cut up the freshest vegetables to make the grandest feast one has ever seen. We were already done and it was finally time to serve the food to the waiting lot in the huge dining hall of the main palace which the new Alpha moved into right after the Duel. Some of the maids were assigned to do this and that was the first time I wished I wasn't sent to the kitchen instead. I wanted to at least catch a glimpse of him to know if he was okay. I've not seen him since he was ushered out of the podium. I haven't even had the time to go looking for him but I assured myself that I would go once the festivity dies down and everyone has returned to their their rooms. But right now, I could still catch a glimpse of him once we begin to serve the pack leaders at the feast. That thought kept me on my toes as we lined up in a single file with the foods for the feast carried delicately in our hands. "If anyone of you makes a little mistake at all and ruin this for me, I'll rip you of your position and send you out of the pack with nothing. Don't test me. Now go." "Yes head maid!" We chorused and bowed. I tried to keep myself calm as we walked into the hall that was being livened with music. The air itself breathed of royalty just as the people inside of the room reeked of it. The pack leaders and important guests were seated round the table. The last chair at the end of the table was empty and I knew it must be for the Alpha. Luna Hegna was nowhere to be found and no one looked like they cared as they carried bright smiles on their faces. I guess everyone no one cares anymore that an unmarked child became the strongest Alpha of the strongest pack. Wordlessly, we placed the covered meals on the table and went to stand behind each of the delegates while they waited for the Alpha to arrive. I anticipated his arrival too as I stood in the shadows of the Royal births. "THE ALPHA HAS ARRIVED." Everyone stood up as soon the announcement came through. We all turned in the direction where the Alpha would come through. My breath caught in my throat. Alpha Zachary walked into the dressed from head to toe in the royal golden attire that swept the floor as he walked. His gait was precise. Calculated. Confident. He had this aura around him that oozed confidence and the ambience of his well structured face almost knock out my breath completely. How soon does power change someone? The look on his face is strong and unwavering. The look of someone who has just fought against the world and won. The look of someone who now carries the weight of winner upon his shoulders. The look of an Alpha. My eyes almost water at the sight. He finally stopped by his own seat and roamed his eyes around the room. "You can all sit... thank you for the respect you have shown." Even his voice dripped with power. How could he be so perfect? How could he look so perfect? The pack leaders took their seats just as he took his. With a signal from our head maids, we got to walk immediately and began to serve the foods round. As I served,I kept my eyes on him, unable to concentrate. I wanted to be the one to serve him his food but a maid I recognized well beat me to it. Opaline. I haven't seen her since the Duel this afternoon. Disappointed, I continue to serve the rest of the people at the table. At the left side of the table, in the middle of her parents, was the Alpha princess of my pack, the Moonstone pack. She wasn't there this afternoon but I guess she finally came. I hardly ever meet her or cross paths with her. Sometimes, I make sure I don't. I have never really encountered be but I've heard rumours flying around from the maids who tend to her and the ones you encountered her briefly. She was just as bitchy as Gennora unlike her parents who were very kind leaders of our pack. I steered clear of her anyway. One Gennora was enough in my life. Soon we were done laughing and we bowed customarily before returning back to our previous positions. Because of the change in positions, I was now behind the Alpha princess of my pack directly. "Before we start the feast..." The Alpha's voice caused everyone to look in his direction. The power he has been able to command in just a day is surprising. "I would like to an important announcement to everyone here. It's an announcement that every individual in the pack needs to know but since we're the ones here for now, then you can have the first hand information." He said and then paused. There was pin drop silence in the hall. As if that was the effect he wanted to have on the hall, his face held satisfaction before he continued. "Yesterday, during the first Duel with my brother, I found my mate." My heart skipped a beat as I whipped my head in his direction. What is he doing? "She somehow became a source of inspiration in the space of the hours I met her. She told me not to give up and I can shamelessly say I owe this position to her." He paused again. "Which is why I'm going to introduce her to everyone as my mate and the Luna of this pack." Mumurs filled the room. My palms turned sweaty and my head was banging. For a few seconds, I couldn't hear anything. Not even the mumurs. The voices in my head were way louder as I tried to process what was going on. He's going to introduce me in front of anyone? In a room filled with People of Royal birth, he's going to introduce maid as his Mate and Luna? No. I wanted to run but I couldn't. And it wasn't even because of the head maids, but because my legs have suddenly become glued to the floor because of the shock I was in. It's going to happen eventually. But I wasn't prepared right now. What would they say? How will they look at me? They'll probably hate me on the spot. I shook my head over and over to get the thoughts out. Calm down, Haera. It's going to be fine. Calm down. Breathe. I told myself over and over as I tried to keep my hands from shaking. He's going to introduce me to everyone. But how? I didn't have the sash on my face. He wouldn't recognize me. Perhaps my scent? Yes! That must be it. He knows me by my scent. That's how he'll find me. That's how he plans to find me. He slowly stood up and my beating heart got sent into frenzy again. "Leaders of the woodland packs, I want you to meet..." His eyes went in my direction and stayed there. This is it. But he wasn't looking at me. His eyes... they were in my direction but not on me. I traced them down to the person who was sitting right in front of me with her back turned to me. I looked back at him to be sure I wasn't seeing things. But just then, his face cracks into a loving smile as he raised his hand to gesture in my direction but once again he wasn't gesturing to me. Something was wrong...I could feel it in my guts. It thawed at me and I think I already knew it, I just didn't want to believe it. Not until he confirmed it. "Meet my mate and the future Luna of this great Pack, Princess Ilvira of the Moonstone pack." Right there and then...the world around me collapsed.