“Where is Adele? Why are the appetizers not ready? Does she have any idea what time it is now?” A sharp female voice came from the kitchen, I sighed tiredly and turned back to the kitchen.
“I am here.”
Today was the day of the succession of the Alpha of the Sliverfang Pack and the day I would become Luna of the pack.
I was running around to cooperate with all the procedures for my husband Helmer Brandon to succeed as Alpha I hadn’t slept or rested well for the past few days because I had to do all the work on my own, including the preparation of the food for the dinner party and the invitation for the guests and arrangements for the succession ritual, etc.
When I found my head started to spin and my throat felt sore and bitter I knew I got a fever, but I had to get back to work. I didn’t even have time to take some pills even though I have finished cooking all the dishes.
“Where have you been? Adele, you should be in the kitchen now instead of wandering around!” The Luna, Harriet Brandon of Silverfang pack and the mother of my husband Helmer from the northern pack with her elegance and beauty. She narrowed her eyes when she saw me coming into the kitchen and started to curse.
“Today is such an important day and everybody is doing their job, and you are being lazy and doing nothing! You should be working and making yourself useful for once!”
I face her with an apologetic smile.
“Luna, I was...”
“Shut up!” She wagged her finger at me and eyed my outfit and then she hissed.
“...and get working, make sure all the dishes are ready before the dinner starts!”
I bow and step away from her.
Without any pills to calm down my fever, my head was throbbing with pain.
“Why my son married a worthless woman like you, I’m so disappointed, how can you become a good Luna, I should have stopped him, this is ridiculous.” She huffed in disbelief and walked past me, brushing my shoulders.
I bit the side of my cheek and leaned against a wall, this was nothing but the price that I had to pay for my pursuit of true love. My love for Helmer surpassed the mate bond, then I believed that I did not need the bond, and even without it I would become the best Luna of the pack.
How stupid I was.
I blinked my eyes away and forced a smile on my lips which I had to wear till the ceremony would be over.
I walked back to the kitchen, took my apron, and started to work with the servant in the kitchen preparing for the banquet.
I was forgotten as the daughter of a powerful Alpha in the south, the Moonlight Pack where my father reigned as Alpha along with my twin brothers Jackson and Jason Nocturne.
My father would never be subject to this, that I, Adele Nocturne.
The apple of my father’s eye and that of our pack after my mother died during my childbirth, my father doted on me more than anything else.
But here I am, in the northern pack, and was being treated as a slave because of the stupid decision I made, that I thought would have been the best for me.
Tears were gathering in my eyes as I organized the kitchen. They did not know of my identity as the daughter of an Alpha.
They knew I was wolfless and an omega unfit to be the Luna of the Sliverfang pack, a humble she-wolf who come out of nowhere and doesn’t deserve their Alpha.
I was young and reckless, a pride wolf that did not want to be assigned a mate by fate in the pack, so I ran away from my pack. I wanted to find true love, I had found a witch and made her cast a spell on my body to seal my wolf.
My body became weakened after the seal was done by the witch, and I could no longer feel my wolf or connect to her.
She told me that it was only for a short while before the spell would be broken but it would be only in times of crisis. Then my wolf would awaken.
It has been more than three years now, and I doubt I would ever break free from the spell.
That was when I met Helmer, the heir of the northern wolves when I was lost in the woods.
It was love at first sight for me and because Helmer needed a wife, we got married. For all these years, I tried my best to be a good Luna. I firmly believe that as long as I love him with all my heart, he will be mine one day and all my efforts will be worth it.
After I finished everything, my back hurts from standing, and my feet felt sore. I walked out of the kitchen and was going to meet with Helmer upstairs where I knew he would be in his study room.
But I froze when I saw him hugging a crying woman in the hallway.
The woman buried her face in Helmer’s chest and cry softly while my husband’s hands held around her, patting her on the back and saying something to her. I never saw him look so gentle and focused like she is the only thing he cares about in the world.
I bit my lip hard and tried to suppress the overwhelming anger and sadness in my heart.
Nara Garrick.
My husband's first love, the daughter of Kenneth, the beta of the Sliverfang pack. She was a Luna of Wildwolf Pack, after her mate died, she came to the pack with her pack members to Sliverfang pack.
She pleaded with Helmer to accept them, my husband being soft-hearted when it comes to Nara, and accepted her back into the pack.
I wanted to rush into the room and pulled her away from my husband and warned her to stay away from him, but I hesitated in my steps, I did not know what I was going to do. If I was to approach them or go away.
Because I knew if Nara hadn’t abandoned Helmer, I wouldn’t have stood a chance to be by Helmer’s side.
Helmer never hid his deep affection toward Nara, they loved each other before Nara found her mate. But Nara chose to break up with Helmer and left with her mate.
I gulped the lump in my throat when Nara pulled away from Helmer and wiped her eyes.
But now, Nara is back in Helmer’s life. Many people in the pack know Nara and hope she and Helmer get back together even Helmer mother, Luna Harriet, and his sister Katherine. But Helmer never responded, so I told myself they are just friends.
Still, I was unwilling to leave, so I cleared my throat and called him.
“Helmer.”
He turned and glanced at me, my heart skipped a beat when my eyes met his beautiful green eyeballs.
“Helmer there is...”
“The ceremony is about to begin Helmer!” Harriet's loud voice came from behind and interrupted me. She walked up to Helmer and linked her arms around his.
“Son it’s time for the succession!” She beamed excitedly and ignored me.
“Come with us, Nara.”
I sighed and watched them walk away from me and I followed slowly behind them to the ceremony.
The succession ceremony began and Helmer became the Alpha of the Silverfang Pack from now on.
I smiled watching Helmer take his position as Alpha and I step forward, it was my turn to be declared Luna by the council of elders in the pack.
“...I hereby declare Adele Brandon as the...” The chief elder began.
“No!” Someone shouted from the crowd and was making their way to where the elders were standing.
Nara and Katherine, Helmer sister came closer. I stared at them with a puzzled frown, wondering what scheme this was about. I had this ominous premonition in my heart.
“Adele is not the real Luna of this pack. I would not allow an imposter to be Luna!” Katherine shouted and murmurs erupted from the crowd.
“What is the meaning of this Kate!” I snarled at her, she ignored me and went on with her rants.
“The Luna of this pack is Nara! She is the Luna of our pack and that is which is acceptable!”
“You must be out of your mind, Kate!” I raised my voice at her, anger rising in me as I clench my fist tightly.
I knew that Kate doesn’t like me, but the nonsense she talked about really pissed me off. Why is she doing this to ruin my day?
“You can never be the Luna! Everyone knows that Nara is the only one that deserves my brother and they love each other, you are nobody and stole him from her when she was not around, you should feel shameful of yourself! ” She spat. Nara stood behind Katherine, looking at Helmer with her beautiful and tearful face, she then turned to me with a guilty and pitiful look and said.
“I am sorry Adele, but Helmer is the only one I have, I can’t just watch you take him away from me.”
Some pack members started to look at me with contempt.
The ceremony was disrupted by the farce and I pulled Nara and Katherine to the kitchen with me, and we had a heated argument, shouting at the top of our voices and throwing up insults at each other.
Katherine has no right to disrespect me on this day. Even though she is Helmer’s sister.
And there is no way Nara takes my position as Helmer’s Luna.
“You are going too far Katherine, now shut up and stay away from business between me and my husband,” I shouted.
“No, you shut up! You are the one who does not belong here!” Nara yelled in my face.
“Helmer does not even love you!”
I refuse to believe what she was saying to me.
“Shut up liar!”
She slaps me across the cheek. I lifted my hand to hit her but she grabbed my hair and slammed my head against the wall.
Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Katherine running out of the kitchen and reaching out to the kitchen knife. Nara took the knife from Katherine and held it in her left hand.
“Nara! Drop the knife.”
She scoffed and let her hand go off my hair. I thought she was going to stab me with it but direct the knife at herself.
I reached out to her immediately, trying to take the knife off her hands because she was deliberately trying to injure herself. She cut me on my wrist while we struggled with the knife, her dress was almost soared with my blood.
“Nara, stop this madness!”
The knife cut deeper into my arm and I could not stop Nara from stabbing herself. She pushed me off her.
I fell on the hard floor, my eyes fluttering.
I heard hurried movements in the kitchen and distant voices of pleas and cries.
Darkness was hovering around me, the blood loss and the fever was making me unconscious before my eyes closed up completely, I saw Helmer run into the kitchen and pick up Nara in his arms, and left.
I was left alone on the cold floor and a pool of my blood and darkness engulfed me.
