Chapter 2 Chaos

Lara

Elijah Stone.

I never met the prince in my life. I was thirteen on an academic trip in the village of the elves when news got to me that the Silver Pack was under a grievous attack. The cause of the attack? The Alpha’s second son. I couldn’t believe it and when I returned a year later and saw the remains of the war, I shared the collective hatred the entire pack had for the sixteen-year-old.

Who knew our first meeting would be like this? With him about to ruin the most important day of my life.

“I’m not interrupting anything important, am I?” His brunette hair bounced as he walked. It was just as curly as the Luna’s. He definitely didn’t look like the scrawny kid I imagined that betrayed his pack.

“Elijah!!” The Alpha thundered and every single werewolf cowered in fear at his voice even Jacob but Elijah looked like he couldn’t care less.

“Good to see you too father.” He simply said. His gaze shifted from the Alpha to Jacob whom he didn’t look at twice before settling on me. My arms were crossed on my chest as I glared at him. It only made his smirk widen.

“Look, Jacob got himself a wife.” He laughed but none of the laughter reached his eyes.

“This is not a time to joke around. As you can see it’s…”

“I don’t think you understand what is going on Father.” Elijah interrupted before gesturing to everyone. “I did come to burn this place to the ground.”

True enough, odd-looking men were at every corner of the place, and from their smell, they were rogues. Wolves rejected and banished from their kind.

“Elijah, can we do this a bit later?” Jacob finally said. His voice was soft and I wondered how the two were brothers. Jacob is the perfect son. Still calm under this situation.

Elijah didn’t spare Jacob a glance. Instead, he marched up to me and gripped my right hand. He checked my fingers for the ceremonial ring and didn’t see any.

“Oh, I was interrupting something,” Elijah said in a low amused tone.

“Let me go.” I spat trying to get my hand out of his but he only tightened his grip.

“Elijah, do not-”

Suddenly everywhere turned bright red. I looked up and saw that the trifecta moon was fully out. Jacob immediately reached for my left hand but his touch burned both of us and he quickly pulled away.

Was that part of the ritual?

He tried again but the burn was even worse. I had to step away from him and closer to the one person I realized was still holding on to me. My body froze. I looked at my hand still in Elijah’s and saw a red thin thread weave its way between our hands and tie itself. A few seconds later, it merged into our skin and vanished.

“The ritual..” the priest croaked.

I looked at Elijah’s neck and saw the tattoo of a crescent moon. I didn’t need anyone to tell me I now had a matching one on my neck. Two halves made one.

“What just happened?!” The Alpha barked at the priest who looked lost too.

“The bond has been tied. The ritual is over.”

“What do you mean it’s over?” This time it was Jacob who asked.

“Papa?” I quickly turned to Papa and he looked at me sorrowfully. I just knew then that all hope was lost. For some reason, I was mated to Elijah.

“This has to be a sick joke”

I heard Elijah say and I wrung my hands out of his in anger.

“You think this is a joke?” I spat. It took me a few seconds to realize he never said it out loud. Then how..? The mind link. It was something that came with being mates. I could hear his thoughts and he could hear mine.

Elijah realized this too and let out a low laugh. “Perfect.”

“This is your fault,” I muttered and he signaled his men.

“Looks like I got myself a good deal. A wife.” He said and I glared holes at him.

“Elijah, this is not a joke.” The Alpha said but he too sounded defeated. Elijah marched to the priest and snatched the ceremonial jade ring from him.

“Might as well finish it.” He said before taking my right hand again and forcing the ring down my ring finger. Immediately he did that, the sky cleared and the moon was back to its whiteness.

“I’ll be off now Father. I just got married after all.” Elijah said and he signaled his men. They all rounded up and waited for orders. My heart began to pound as reality began to dawn on me.

Elijah is my mate.

Elijah Stone, the traitor, is my mate.

I barely had time to look at Papa before I was hoisted off the ground and thrown over a broad shoulder. Elijah began to walk out of the premises.

“Put me down!” I screeched pounding on his back but my fist burned in pain and I felt a bone shift. His body was like an iron wall. I pulled on his shirt but it was fruitless. As we passed the pack members, I began to hear muttering.

“Maybe she’s cursed.”

The first sentence I heard made me stop my attack. Cursed?

“She has to be.”

“This sort of thing has never happened before.”

“The moon goddess probably rejected her for our future Alpha.”

I could not believe my ears. These couldn’t be the same people who were fawning over my beauty just an hour ago. I heard Elijah chuckle and I realized he could hear my thoughts and obviously what the pack members were saying.

All the energy I had to fight him drained from my body and I lay limp on his body and let him carry me off.

Maybe this was a bad dream. It just has to be.