Chapter 37 - Healing the Broken Alpha

River

I had dreamed of finding my Luna since I was a teenager. Back then I was certain I would find my fated mate, and that we would come together as a passionate, powerful, devoted partnership to lead and to guide the Blackstone pack. She would be my queen, and the entire pack would be awed by her beauty and her presence. They would treat her with awe and respect, just as they did their Alpha.

I never pictured it coming about in such a convoluted, backward manner. Lenora wasn’t my fated, and although she possessed a unique, earthy kind of beauty, she was not the strong, elegant woman I had once envisioned standing at my side. My people regarded her with a certain amount of disdain and suspicion. Rumors had already spread like wildfire that Lenora was nothing more than the weak daughter of a dead Alpha. Some thought she wasn’t fit to be Luna, and others said that she was the only woman who would agree to be mated to a wolfless alpha such as myself.

The rumors infuriated me, but I don’t know if it was because they were false, or because they were true. I was wolfless and weak, and I doubt many powerful women could have agreed to be tied to me. And Lenora was an all-but forgotten daughter in a low-ranking pack. She was never meant to take the helm as an official Luna, she was just a front, a figure head. An actress in an elaborate play I was staging.

But she didn’t know that. And I saw her struggling day after day to play her part. She put up with endless meetings with my step mother. She endured dress fittings and special tastings from the catering company. I could see she was smiling until her face looked brittle. At night when she fell into bed next to me, her eyes had deep shadows of self-doubt, irritation, and exhaustion. But she never complained.

Instead she would run her small hands over my body, as though touching my cold human skin brought her some measure of calm and comfort. She would press her heated body against mine, and in very short order, I found myself reaching for her. She was a temptation I could not resist.

That wasn’t supposed to happen. Although I had teased her from the beginning that she was expected to fulfill all the duties of a mate, I had never intended to bed her. Now, she was like an addiction, and each time I tasted her, each time I drank from her, I only grew thirstier, I only craved more. In some strange way, whenever we made love, I felt stronger. Physically, mentally, even spiritually.

It was easy to forget that she wasn’t really my mate. She was just a young woman I was using for my own purposes. I was beginning to have a sense that I was doing her a great disservice. It wouldn’t matter how well I compensated her when this game was over, she was going to be hurt, in more ways than one.

Maybe that's why I let it continually slip from my mind. Maybe thats why when day of our ceremony dawned, my belly was full of butterflies, and I felt like a young groom about to face his bride, instead of a broken alpha putting on a show for his people.

I was wearing a black tuxedo, with a turquois cumberbund to match the unusual dress she had chosen for the occasion. I stood on the podium at the end of the training grounds, facing rows upon rows of werewolves seated in folding chairs. It was an open event, anyone in the pack was welcome to attend, plus we had sent invitations to several of our allied packs, inviting their alpha’s and upper ranking members to join us for this auspicious occasion.

There were photographers present whom I had hired, not only to take pictures to preserve the memory, but to make sure those pictures were leaked all over social media, as well as the local papers and news stations. I clasped my sweaty hands behind my back and waited for my little mate to make an appearance.

Her grandfather and her brother had come for the ceremony. Jensen was slouched in one of the front-row seats, looking bored and maybe a little stoned. The old Alpha, Stanley Moore, would be escorting his granddaughter to the podium. On some silent signal, suddenly everyone stood, and I knew.

My luna had arrived.

I was mesmerized the moment I caught sight of her. The dress she wore was simple, and yet… the rich color made her honey-gold skin glow. Her long black hair had been curled and left to hang down around her back and her shoulders. A circlet of flowers graced her head like a crown. For once, she did not shrink or cower, but she stood straight, her shoulders back, her chin up, her eyes fixed upon me like…

Like I was the only man in the world.

I swallowed hard.

I didn’t deserve her.

She held tight to her grandfather’s elbow as she walked down the aisle between the seats that lined the field. There were so many visitors that it was a very long march to reach the podium where I stood. My father was seated on the podium, just off to the side, with my step mother and half brother beside him. A single, empty chair was waiting for Alpha Moore on the other side. An elder stood behind me, wearing a very outdated, traditional robe, ready to conduct the ceremony.

I held out my hand as she carefully climbed the stairs. She gave me a shaky smile and took hold of my fingers with a fierce grip. Her grandfather patted her shoulder and then took his seat. We faced each other, and I found myself staring down into her soft, doe-like, chocolate brown eyes. Strangely, the huge crowd, the cameras, the visiting alphas all faded away, and it seemed like it was just me and Lenora standing alone together.

Why did my heart slow down? Why did my skin grow warmer, just from our clasped hands?

The elder stepped up and began spouting the words, asking the Moon Goddess to bless this chosen union. I blocked him out. I doubted very much that the Moon Goddess would approve of what I was doing. In fact, I doubted the Moon Goddess gave a damn about her creatures at all. She left us to fight for our own survival, day in and day out. She let terrible things happen, and never once had I seen her step in and intervene on our behalf. If she ever was, she was little more than a myth now.

The elder produced the knife. It was a very simple dagger, made with a stone blade and a wooden handle that had been in the Blackstone family from time immemorial. It looked primitive, but the blade was still as sharp as a razor, and I had only to slide it gently across my palm, and a line of crimson blood immediately welled up. I made a fist and allowed my blood to drip down the heal of my hand and into the chalice that the elder held. I then passed the knife to Lenora.

She took it with a hand that was steady, opened her palm, and drew the stone knife across her delicate skin. She then turned her hand over and squeezed, letting her blood mingle with mine, symbolizing the union of our spirits.

I had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I was mocking a sacred ritual. It was fine for me, my heart was cold and I had little, if any faith in the old ways, but I saw the way that Lenora’s face was shining. She had not just poured her blood into that cup, she had poured her heart and her soul.

I was handed the linen wrapping that I was supposed to coil around Lenora’s hand to protect her wound, but when she opened her fingers and presented her hand… the skin was smooth. There was some dried flecks of blood in the lines of her palm, but there was no wound.

Wolves heal at an accelerated rate, but not even a werewolf could mend a cut that fast. However, now was not the time to question her. I wrapped the bandage around her hand and tied it tightly, so that no one present could guess that anything was amiss. She then took her piece of cloth and gently wrapped it around mine, which was still oozing blood. With my human capacity, it would take hours before it dried up and scabbed over.

But she was already healed. I looked into her eyes with a silent question, but she only smiled at me happily, looking for all the world like she was delighted to be with me, excited to be my luna.

“Blackstone Pack! All of our distinguished visitors, I am proud to present to you, Alpha River Blackstone, and our new blessed Luna, Lenora Blackstone!”

A cheer went up from the crowd, but even to my insensitive ears, it seemed rather forced and under enthusiastic. They clapped and whistled and shouted, but only because it was expected of the occasion. There might have been some among them that were truly happy, that were really overjoyed to have a Luna after so many long years, but I dare say there was a silent tension throughout the crowd.

They were going through the motions, but it was as though they were all waiting… all waiting for something terrible to happen. It was inevitable. A human couldn’t lead a pack, especially not a pack as prominent and prosperous as Blackstone.

Lenora slipped a hand behind my back, slipping under my jacket as she usually did, so that her hand could find the skin of my back. I looked down at her and forced myself to smile, reminding myself that this was supposed to be a happy occasion. This was supposed to be a special day for Lenora, and I at least owed her that much. “Well, little Luna,” I whispered, for her ears only, “Shall we go greet our pack?”

AUTHOR’S NOTE:

Ah, what’s going on here? Let me know what you think in the comments! #vote#