Chapter 1 The Vows Beneath Silver light

Evangeline Hart:

The bells of Silverbourne Cathedral never sound gentle. They’re too grand for that, each peal shivering through the glass towers and marble bridges until even the moon seems to tremble. I used to love that sound as a child. Today it feels like the tolling of something I can’t quite name.

“Breathe,” my mother murmurs, fingers steady as she fixes the last pin into my veil. Her voice has that careful calm she uses when she’s pretending she isn’t afraid. “You look beautiful, Evie.”

I nod, though my reflection wavers. The girl in the mirror wears ivory lace and moonstone beads, a gown that catches the light like it was spun from silver mist. But beneath the shimmer, she looks almost like a stranger, her smile too bright, her eyes a little too wide.

“I can’t believe it’s really happening,” I whisper. “Grayson Knight.” The name feels unreal, like a wish spoken too many times into the dark. “I used to think I’d never...”

“Never?” my mother teases softly, brushing a curl from my cheek. “Never marry your childhood crush? Never wear the Luna’s diadem?”

Her smile wavers then, just enough for me to see the fear behind it. “Your father would have been proud.”

The words hit like a small stone. They always do. For a heartbeat, I can smell the memory, his office thick with smoke and betrayal, the headlines screaming about stolen funds, the pack’s disbelief curdled into whispers. Beta Hart, the traitor.

He never got to defend himself. He never came home.

But Grayson had been there through it all. He’d held me while I broke, promised he believed in me even when the world didn’t. That’s what I hold on to now. That, and the way he looked at me last night when the moon caught his eyes, like something ancient recognizing something lost.

A soft knock breaks through my thoughts. When the door opens, it’s Luna Helena Knight, Grayson’s mother, gliding in with that unhurried grace only true Lunas seem to possess. The air itself bends politely around her.

“Oh, my sweet girl.” Her arms are open before I can speak. She smells of jasmine and rain. “I’ve waited for this day since you were both cubs running through the Silverlight Gardens. You were always meant for him.”

Her faith is disarming. Genuine. I let her hold me, and for a moment, I believe her.

“Thank you,” I manage. “For not calling off the alliance after everything.”

Her smile flickers, just a second, but then she nods. “Your father’s name will clear itself one day. I know it in my bones.” She squeezes my hands. “And until then, you have us. You have me.”

The door opens again, and the light dims a fraction. Isabelle Vance steps inside, draped in obsidian silk, a wolf's head brooch gleaming at her throat. The mother of the girl who died so that this marriage could happen.

“Evie.” Her tone is smooth, too smooth. “You look… radiant.”

The pause before radiant is deliberate, a small blade wrapped in silk.

“Thank you, Mrs. Vance.” I dip my head politely, ignoring the way my wolf stirs uneasily beneath my skin. There’s something about her gaze, sharp, assessing, almost hungry.

“Chloe always said you had a quiet kind of charm,” she continues. “It’s a pity she isn’t here to see this day.”

I swallow hard. “She’s here,” I whisper. “In spirit.”

For a moment, Isabelle’s painted smile falters. “Yes,” she says softly. “I suppose she is.” And then she turns, gliding out as if the air itself parts for her. The room feels warmer when she’s gone.

Luna Helena exhales slowly. “Ignore her, dear. Some wounds turn people cruel.”

Some wounds are self-inflicted, I almost say, but I let it go.

Outside, the bells ring again, three times, the signal for the procession to begin.

The cathedral looks like it was carved out of moonlight. Silver vines curl up the stone pillars, threads of faint magic pulsing through the stained glass. Every seat is filled, alphas, betas, dignitaries, and cameras. A whole city is waiting to see if the disgraced Beta’s daughter can stand beside the next Alpha without trembling.

I don’t tremble. Not once.

When the doors swing open and I step onto the aisle, the music swells, a haunting, low hum that makes the marble sing. And there he is.

Grayson Knight.

The light loves him. It always has. Tall, shoulders straight beneath his dark ceremonial coat, silver insignia glinting against black fabric. His eyes, storm-grey, find me immediately. For a heartbeat, there’s something in them I can’t read. Not anger. Not warmth either. Just… intensity.

I walk toward him, each step a drumbeat. He believes in me. He always did.

Our hands meet. His are cool, steady. The priest begins to speak the old vows, words older than the city itself, binding wolves not just by love, but by soul and law.

When he says Do you, Grayson Knight, claim Evangeline Hart as your mate under the moon’s witness?

Grayson’s voice is deep and clear. “I do.”

And when the priest turns to me, "Do you, Evangeline Hart, claim Grayson Knight as your mate and Alpha?", my throat tightens, but I manage a smile.

“I do.”

Magic hums through the cathedral, a ripple of light that makes every candle flare. The bond threads itself between us, invisible but sharp, tugging somewhere deep inside my chest.

Applause breaks like rain. The crowd rises. I barely hear them. Grayson turns to me, his expression unreadable, and presses a soft kiss to my brow, the formal seal of our union. My wolf stirs, restless, uncertain. The bond feels… heavy. Not wrong, just deeper than I expected.

The reception at Silverlight Gardens is a blur of laughter, wine, and moon petals. I smile until my face aches, dancing with Helena, with my mother, with anyone who’ll keep me from thinking too hard.

Grayson is charming, every inch the Alpha heir, moving through the crowd like he owns the night. When our eyes meet across the lantern-lit garden, something flickers there, heat, maybe, or restraint. I can’t tell.

At one point, Isabelle Vance approaches me again. She offers a toast “to unity,” her smile fixed, her gaze unreadable. When our glasses touch, I swear I smell bitterness beneath the rose wine. But I drink anyway, because that’s what a Luna does: she smiles for the pack.

The moon hangs low when Grayson takes my hand. “It’s time,” he murmurs. His voice sends a shiver down my spine. “For the marking.”

Everyone gathers in a wide circle under the silver oaks. The ritual fire burns blue, petals scattered around it. My heart pounds as I step beside him. The priest chants the final words of the bond oath, and the world narrows until it’s just us, his breath, my heartbeat, the moon’s glow pooling on our skin.

Grayson leans in. For a second, his lips brush my temple, gentle, almost reverent. Then his fangs pierce the curve of my neck.

The pain is bright, clean, holy. The mark burns and cools all at once, searing his name into my soul. My wolf howls silently inside me, a blend of surrender and something I can’t name.

When it’s done, he pulls back, his lips stained faintly crimson. His eyes meet mine, grey and storm-torn.

“Mine,” he whispers.

My knees nearly buckle, not from fear, but from the force of it, the reality of being claimed, seen, bound. The crowd erupts in cheers, the fire flares high, and the moon itself seems to sigh.

Later, in the honeymoon suite at the Silverbourne Grand Plaza, I stand before the window, the city sprawled in silver and shadow below. My neck throbs where he marked me, and every pulse feels like a heartbeat that isn’t entirely mine.

I touch the glass, watching the reflection of my wedding ring catch the moonlight. I should be nothing but happy. I am, mostly.

Still, a whisper of unease curls through me, the kind you can’t quite chase away. Like the air before a storm.

Grayson’s voice echoes in my memory...

Mine.

I close my eyes and tell myself it was love.

It is love.

Even if somewhere deep down, the bond feels heavier than it should be.

As if the moon itself seems to be watching.