Chapter 3 The bonding stone 2

Chapter 3: Chapter 3 The bonding stone 2

Talia’s POV

The glow strengthened gradually, spreading through the stone like moonlight beneath frozen water. It illuminated the elder’s robes, the polished marble, and every stunned face in the hall. Someone gasped near the entrance. Another wolf whispered a prayer.

The elder bent toward the stone, as if looking for some explanation hidden beneath its surface. His mouth opened, but no sound came out.

At last, he straightened.

"Alpha Kaelen," he said, and his voice sounded unsteady. "This woman is already bonded to you."

Kaelen’s gaze shifted to the elder. "Already?"

The elder swallowed.

"The bond was recorded two years ago."

The world seemed to tilt.

Two years ago, I had been eighteen. I had been living in Cresswood, sleeping behind a locked door and working in the kitchens whenever Vivienne needed another pair of hands. I had never left the territory, never attended a ceremony, and never seen the man standing in front of me.

"How is that possible?" I asked.

Kaelen’s attention moved to me.

His face remained composed, but something in his eyes had changed. It was not recognition. If anything, it looked like the same confusion that had settled in my chest.

"Where were you two years ago?" he asked.

The question was directed at me, not the elder.

I tightened my fingers around the edge of my dress. "Here. In Cresswood."

"Did you leave the territory?"

"No."

"Did you meet anyone from Shadowfang?"

"Not that I know of."

His jaw tightened slightly. "Were you taken anywhere without your knowledge?"

I thought of the root cellar, the storage wing, and the days when fever had kept me too weak to remember how I had been moved from one room to another. Yet no memory resembled a ceremony, a journey, or an encounter with an Alpha.

"No," I said. "I would remember."

The elder raised his voice so the entire hall could hear.

"The bond is recognized, but the Luna title is not automatic. The bonded female must complete three Luna Trials within one year."

The words moved through the room in a wave of whispers.

Celeste pushed forward.

"She cannot be Luna."

The elder continued as though she had not spoken.

"Until the trials are completed, the council may recognize the bond while withholding full authority from the female claiming the title."

"One year?" I asked.

The elder nodded. "Three trials. Each will test a different part of the woman who seeks to stand beside the Alpha."

The announcement should have frightened me, and it did. Yet it also gave my fear a shape. A trial could be studied. A rule could be understood. A deadline could be measured.

Being hated by Cresswood had never offered me anything I could fight.

This did.

Celeste’s voice broke through the hall.

"This is a mistake! She is nobody!"

Vivienne caught her arm, but Celeste tore herself free.

"She has lived in a storage room for fifteen years," Celeste cried. "She cannot be a Luna. She is uneducated, filthy, and cursed."

The elder lifted his staff.

"The wedding ceremony will take place tonight."

Celeste stared at him as though he had personally betrayed her.

Vivienne’s expression became carefully blank, but her fingers remained clenched around the folds of her gown.

My father stood near the back of the hall, silent as ever.

Celeste stepped forward again. "This bitch is playing some tricks."

"Watch your mouth, Lady Celeste," Kaelen said, his voice rising. "This woman is going to be my future Luna."

"How could you choose her over me?!" Celeste nearly screamed.

Kaelen’s eyes moved over her once, cool and assessing.

"If I must choose between a quiet woman who answers plainly and one who turns every disappointment into a public spectacle, my preference is not difficult to determine."

The hall went silent.

My pulse stumbled.

This was the first time I had ever heard an Alpha dismiss Celeste’s behavior on my behalf.

Celeste’s expression crumpled with fury. She lunged toward me. Her hand caught the edge of my sleeve, and her fingers closed around the fabric near my shoulder.

"You will not stand there and pretend to be innocent."

Kaelen moved between us before the fabric could split.

Celeste tried to stop herself, but her heel caught the edge of the marble platform.

Her body twisted. She stumbled backward, struck the side of a ceremonial table, and fell hard onto the polished floor.

One of the silver trays placed on the table toppled with her. Its contents scattered across the marble, and a dark red drink splashed over the front of her pale-blue gown.

For one suspended moment, Celeste lay on the floor beneath the eyes of the entire pack.

The humiliation she had tried to force upon me had landed on her instead.

Kaelen looked down at her. "Stand up."

Celeste’s face burned with anger. "She pushed me."

"I saw what happened."

"You are lying for her."

"We all know who is lying."

Kaelen’s gaze moved across the hall.

"No matter what she was before, Talia is my bonded partner now. No one is allowed to touch her without respect."

Celeste pushed herself upright.

"She is not your Luna yet."

He looked at me. "But she is the woman the stone chose."

He then turned to Aldric, who had been standing near the entrance.

"Clear the west receiving room."

Aldric bowed. "At once."

Kaelen then looked at me.

"Come with me."

This time, he did not reach for my hand.

I followed him out of the hall, aware of the eyes on my back and the murmurs that rose again as soon as the doors closed behind us.