"You'd look beautiful on this, Lady Seira."
A maid disturbed the sitting veil at a golden cushion by the table and let it meet the wiped floors. Another maid dabbed Seira's cheeks with crimson-tinted powder. Seira was quiet the whole time. The wedding is hours away, and she's nervous.
She clasped her hands together, sat upright, staring at the crooked mirror's reflection of a woman ready to be a bride. The maids prepared the eloquent dress for her. As they have done, Seira stood up, and lifted her chin confidently.
Her wavy hair ended just above the waist was styled with pins and ribbons, her nails painted of burgundy and blooming daisies, she didn't eat a lot last night, too, afraid that her abdomen will bloat.
"Today, you will be the most beautiful woman in the whole pack." Seira's personal maid, Ava, praised her non-stop since waking her up in bed earlier, "You are a perfect match for Master Levi. Oriana is such a nuisance to the relationship you have with him, Lady Seira. I know she likes your groom-to-be. It's your wedding day with Levi. Maybe she's crying somewhere. "
Oriana is Seira's cousin. She grew up with Seira and Seira's fiancé, Levi.
Seira turned to her with squinted eyes, shaking her head. Talking contemptuously behind her cousin's back is not a good attitude.
Seira warned, "Oriana is a good cousin, Ava. I don't want to talk behind her back. Now help me with my wedding dress."
The maids quieted down and resumed dressing the bride for the day.
Before Seira scoot her feet inside the wedding dress', her cell phone suddenly rang. She narrowed her eyes, let the maids guide her feet out of the dress, and walked to the dressing table—only to see Levi in the caller ID.
Why would Levi call her now? Shouldn't he be making final preparations for today's wedding?
Seira confused, and answered the call. She leaned her waist at the table, waiting for her groom's words.
"Seira, thank God, you answered at the first ring."
He sounded hasty. What happened?
"What happened to you? You sounded worried, Levi. I take it you're almost there by now? You know, in a few hours, our wedding is going to start."
"No, I just… I saw Oriana slitting her wrist open earlier at my room. I wanted to tell you I was preparing for the wedding. I even had my bow, m-my tie around my neck now, but… Oriana tried to commit suicide."
He stuttered, panicking about what to say to Seira. She didn't react for a while.
"Suicide? At the day of our wedding?" Seira retorted. It made Levi stop from reacting.
She put the phone on a speaker mode at the table and let all the maids hear it, even Ava.
"I'm really, really sorry, Seira. I need to accompany Oriana at the hospital for her wound. I don't want to be a cold-hearted guy who took care of our wedding first before—"
"This is the day of our wedding, Levi. You can give Oriana to the nurse and her friends. You don't have to be with her. You need to be here, with ME, for our wedding!"
"How cold and ruthless you can become, Seira? I saw her bleeding at the bed. She was so pale, and she's going to die if she stayed there without me! Our wedding can be rescheduled for tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, Seira. As long as you get your father, Alpha, to inform the guests, I think they'll understand."
Seria stood up and looked at her tearful self in the mirror.
Today is her 18th birthday. How she is looking forward to this birthday! Because she knows that her adulthood means that she can be finally be the mate with Levi, Pack's most powerful warrior, her boyfriend. But now her mate is with another woman.
The Maids, who seemed to know that something bad had happened, left the room quietly. Seira stared at the wedding dress that had been left on the floor, her memory returning to when she was six years old.
When she was 6 years old, Seira met Levi at the fighting grounds inside their castle, away from the human beings, who doesn't have the power to transform into a werewolf-like when the blood moon strikes.
Her father, Alpha Isaac, told her that all the kids on the fighting grounds would be the future fighters of the pack.
He teased, "You could find your own mate here. At that time, you will be our Luna like your mother, and your mate will be your Alpha. Together, you will manage our pack and make it stronger."
At first, the little Seira wasn't interested. But then, she saw a tiny boy crying his eyes out at the corner of the huge hall. Alpha Isaac got immersed to a conversation with the wolf trainers. Seira ran, approaching the boy.
That boy, Levi, was 8 years old at the time.
"Are you okay?" Seira's squeaky voice asked. Levi sniffed in, turned to the wound he had on his upper arm.
The wound was not particularly serious, but it was enough to make these two little kids panic. Little Seira mimicked her mother and blew gently into the wound, hoping to ease the pain it had caused the lovely boy. Her actions made Little Levi stop crying uncontrollably.
Alpha Isaac walked over and smiled as he handed Seira a tube of ointment. "Don't worry, my little princess. You can give this ointment to our future warrior."
Little Seira did what her father said.
Then Alpha Isaac took Little Seira by the hand and prepared to take her away. At that time Little Levi suddenly grabbed Seira's wrist. He wiped his tears and stared at Seira intently. "May I know your name, My Princess?" He asked
"Yes of course. Seira, my name's Seira."
Recollecting that first meeting, Seira stopped crying. There is nothing that time cannot change. The boy who used to cry is now the disgusting man on the other end of the phone.
"Do you remember the ointment I gave you 12 years ago?"
Her question silenced Levi.
"Why are you bringing this up all of a sudden?" he asked.
"Nothing. I just regret that I gave that ointment to you."
She had forgotten why she had approached Levi at that time, when she was 6. Perhaps because she was Alpha's only child, she had so much responsibility that she couldn't even cry in front of others. So she envied the boy who could cry freely just because he was hurt. That's why she got close to him, and she got used to him being around her.
Everyone in the pack said that they will make the happiest of mates and they will become the perfect Alpha and Luna. So she fell for it and began to look forward to becoming his mate.
She seemed to have thought about it for a long time, but it was only a moment.
She said,
"There is no need to postpone the wedding."
"Just cancel it."
