Chapter 165: CHAPTER 165

Lucy's POV

For seventeen years, Mother hid me, and the only people I knew were my family, Seraphine, and Rodrick. Today was the day Roderick would come to my family to officially request me as his mate, even though I had been betrothed to him from the day I was born, and we both knew we were going to mate each other as soon as I turned eighteen.

“Don't forget to put your veil over your head,” Mother said as I stepped out of the house that morning, “and keep your eyes on the ground.”

“Yes, Mom, I know the drill,” I replied as I stepped outside, feeling like it was going to be my one last day of freedom.

They said the beauty I possessed was very rare and captivating, enough to set packs at war. When I was born, the moon priestess had looked at me and said that I had a very rare gift. I was not like the other whiteheads; I was extremely powerful and special, and in my destiny, she saw chaos.

The only way they could prevent that was to keep me hidden, away from others. But when I gained the ability to shift into my wolf, I needed to learn a lot of things because the special powers within me needed to be studied. So every day, I would go to Seraphine, who was studying me and also teaching me how to control my powers.

Seraphine was the new moon priestess, and even though we were almost the same age, I still treated her with a high level of respect, given her authority.

“You are late this morning, Lucy,” she said to me as she opened the door for me to step inside.

It was particularly cold and windy that morning, and I quickly pushed myself inside.

“I’m sorry. I had to pick up a couple of items for my mother before I got here.”

She shut the door behind us, and it was only then that I noticed someone else in the room with us.

“Sit down,” she said.

I sat down and did not ask any questions.

The third lady in the room was the first person to speak.

“It is true what they say about you. Your beauty is really ethereal.”

“Thank you,” I whispered to the stranger.

“My name is Lydia,” she added.

“Hello, Lydia. I’m Lucy, as you already know.”

And that was how I met Lydia, and the beginning of how I died.

Lydia and Seraphine were friends, and Lydia was about to be mated to Alpha Kaleb. I found out by listening to their discussions. Lydia seemed very excited to be mated to Alpha Kaleb and couldn't stop gushing about how she couldn't wait to be his mate.

I thought about my situation with Rodrick. I had known Rodrick for a long time, but aside from knowing him, there was no excitement about spending the rest of my life with him. I didn't understand the excitement Lydia felt about being mated to someone.

Then Seraphine walked up to me.

“I'll be going to the Alpha's birthday party. Will you be fine on your own, alone here?”

I nodded. “Sure, I'll be fine.”

“All right.”

I watched them as they dressed up, made their hair, and applied makeup, and soon they were ready to leave.

Seraphine handed the key to the door to me.

“Make sure you keep the door locked and don't go out for any reason. I'll be back before it's dark. All right?”

I nodded. “Yeah, sure.”

As soon as they left, I sat on the chair and stared into the empty space, not knowing what to do with my time alone.

Then I got an idea.

Since Seraphine was gone, I could pretend to be a normal girl, if only for one day, and maybe pretend to be excited about marrying Rodrick.

So I went into her closet and picked out her clothes, one after the other. I wore them and modeled in front of the mirror.

For the first time, I took out my veil and let my hair down, and I stared at my face in the mirror.

Mother had told me that I must never appreciate how beautiful I was. In fact, there was no mirror in the whole house, and I wasn't even sure what my face looked like. For the first time, I saw my reflection in the mirror, and I knew exactly why I was being hidden.

I brushed my fingers through my hair, allowing the soft, gentle silver curls to fall over my shoulder, with some of them cascading past it. My eyes were blue, almost like the color of water.

I stepped forward and looked closely at my face, trying to memorize every bit of it because it might be the only time I would ever see what my face looked like.

I was still in this trance when I heard the phone ringing loudly. I turned around and hurried over to it.

It was Seraphine calling.

I accepted the call and pressed the phone against my ear.

“Where are you, Lucy? We need your help at the birthday dinner. Please come as fast as you can.”

I didn't think for a single moment. I grabbed a veil, put it over my head, and ran out of the house.

A security guard had escorted me from the back door and led me through the mansion to a room within, and I met Seraphine at the door. She looked so much in distress. She grabbed my hand and pulled me in.

“We need your help. Alpha Kaleb’s friend is in trouble.”

I didn't understand what she meant. I just followed after her, and soon I was in a room with two other men I had never seen before, and one of the men was lying on the bed. He looked terribly sick.

“Can she help? Can she really help?” Lydia asked, panicking.

Seraphine let go of my hand, and I walked towards the bed where the young man was lying down. His face was red, and when I opened his mouth, his tongue was blue. I didn't know what was wrong with him, but within me, I just felt I knew the right thing to do.

I held his hand and felt for his pulse. He was still alive. I turned to Seraphine.

“I will need some herbs,” I said, “and some wine.”

Seraphine did not doubt me, even though I could see doubt in the faces of the two others in the room. What I requested for was brought, and I mixed the concoction before forcing it into the young man's mouth.

Then we waited.

Three minutes later, the warmth had returned to his skin, and he opened his eyes, coughing.

That was how I met Marcus, and for both of us, it was love at first sight. As soon as his eyes fell on me, I knew there were worlds I wanted to explore, and I knew I didn't want to mate Rodrick anymore.