POV: Lucian

The palace was more active than I supposed. All the corridors were filled with footsteps, all the rooms were filled with flowers and fresh polish. It was weird to be home after four years in a foreign land with people who were used to seeing me as a stranger.

Forty or fifty laborers were installing lights, gold curtains, and tables. It was the Mating Ceremony tomorrow night--the night of the year when unmated wolves of the Blood Moon Pack were summoned under the protection of the Moon Goddess to discover their predestined mates.

The voice of my mother was full of joy behind me. "It is happening, at last, My son has come home, finished his education, and is ready to occupy his throne. I have long been dreaming of it."

My father laughed at his seat. "He is just a day home, Helena. Give him time to breathe."

She did not look at him at all, but came nearer to me, "Lucian, my love, this is not a pack tradition, this is the gift of fate. Goddess herself may decide who you are going to marry tomorrow."

I smiled faintly. "Since breakfast you have been saying so." 

"Because it's true." She smiled pleasantly, and added in a playful sigh, If the Moon goddess wills me still further, she will bring me a daughter-in-law of a strong family. Someone with a powerful wolf. And perhaps a grand child or two soon after.

"Mother," I groaned. 

Father laughed. "You must have seen her at lunch--she was already arranging what she was going to put on when she goes to meet your mate." 

"Lucian, assure me that you will have an open heart tomorrow. The Luna's timing is perfect." Mother requested and I had to smile to avoid long talks. 

My parents were asleep by the time night came and as they fell asleep, they continued to whisper about the ceremony. I was lying in bed staring at the ceiling, being restless.

After some time, I woke up, dressed quickly in something easy, dark jeans and a hoodie, and sneaked out through the side door. The guards didn't stop me. The majority of them were not even aware that I was back.

The warm night air was pleasant to my skin. I passed along the silent streets of the chief town of the pack. Nobody bowed, nobody welcomed me as the son of Alpha. I was just Lucian.

After hearing music I was outside a club. The neon blue sign above it flickered. I was reluctant, however, and finally entered.

The location was full, wolves dancing, drinking, forgetting their troubles. The smell of liquor and sweat and perfume was in the air. I remained close to the entrance, and I was merely watching.

Then I saw her.

A glass in her hand, a woman sitting alone in the bar. She had long dark hair which masked the greater part of her face, but I could see enough of it to observe her eyes, which were tired, red, and distant. She had the appearance of not smiling in years.

The bartender bent down to her and spoke to her, but she shook him off and asked him to bring her another drink.

I do not know why, but there was something inside of me that wanted to go closer. Maybe it was worry. Maybe it was instinct. I went up beside her and whispering, said, "That is your third one." 

Her eyes were a little glassy as she looked at me. "Counting for me?"

"Just noticing," I said.

No, no, she said to herself, looking into her glass.

I did, and sat down beside her. "You okay?"

She let out a weak laugh. "Is there anybody who comes here that looks okay?

I didn't answer. She wasn't wrong. But the melancholy of her voice vexed me more than I thought.

"You are not like other people that belong here," I said.

She shot me a look. "And what do I look like then?"

I shrugged. "Someone who's had a bad day."

Her lips were twisting as though she would have liked to smile but could not. "You have no idea."

We chatted a little--nothing so solemn as to cause her to laugh once or twice. But I could feel her pain. What had happened I did not hear, but I knew it in her eyes: she had been hurt, and very much.

Later in the night, the music became slower and she started to appear pale. I volunteered to take her home, but she shook her head. "No, no, no, I do not want to go home," she said to herself.

The rest of the night blurred. Nothing was planned to happen, it just happened. She was leaning on me, and I did not push her off. I said to myself that I was helping her forget, just at the moment.

The following morning I woke up and the sun was shining through the half-open curtains.

Still asleep beside me was she.

I stood and stared at her a moment. Her features were at peace now, serene in a manner that it had not been long before. I was just going to slip quietly into a dressing-gown, when my eyes snatched upon something on her neck--a sort of a pale spot.

A mate mark.

I froze.

It was weak, yet explicit enough to make it certain that it was not there long ago. And that meant... she was rejected.

Guilt hit me like a punch.

I moved back slowly towards the bed with a racing heart. I didn't even know her name. However, whoever she was, she did not have to get up and see a stranger lying next to her anymore.

I rushed into dressing, looked at her once more, and went away before she was up.

On arriving in my room, I immediately headed to the mirror to clean up. But that's when I saw it.

Just above my collarbone--a burning mark.

My heart stopped.

A mate mark.

And then, as quickly, it died away, leaving no trace of it.

I was standing amazed at my mirror image.

"What just happened?" I whispered.

POV: Aria

I was just stumbling down the door of the house of Damien, which I knew so well, when I was barely up. My head still ached with the previous night, and my throat was parched. I looked at my phone again--five unanswered calls with Lyra, all at midnight. My heart pounded. She never stayed up that late.

I rushed to the front door and knocked. "Lyra?" My voice cracked. "Baby, are you home?"

No answer.

The lock clicked and Damien was there.

"Where's Lyra?" I asked immediately.

He gave a lazy smirk. "How should I know? When Selene and I returned a few hours ago, she was not there. Perhaps she went in search of her mother who could not even bother to come home.

I froze. "What are you talking about? She's eighteen, Damien. She's still a child."

Leaning on the doorframe, he crossed his arms. " like mother, like  daughter," he sneered. You vanish all night and come back like that, and now your daughter is gone. Real mother of the year."

My breath caught. I was aware of my appearance, messy hair, red eyes, but I did not deserve this. "Don't do this. Where is she, please, tell me where she is."

"I don't care," he snapped. "You're an omega. Weak. Pathetic. And your daughter too--wolfless and useless."

I had not time to answer, when I heard a voice behind him, which I knew was his. " urgh... she is back? 

I couldn't breathe. "Damien..."

He looked almost bored. "Don't act surprised. I stayed out of pity. But I'm done. You should leave."

Please, I implored, with sore eyes. "Don't do this in front of her. At least--"

Selene made a pause, retiring. There were two huge suitcases next the door--mine.

I packed your things, I already said, coldly. "You should thank me."

Damien opened the door wider. "You heard her. Get out."

"Damien--"

The door slammed in my face.

It was a long time before I could stand there numb. I cleared my throat, and looked down at my phone once more. I was startled by a vibration--ringing.

"Lyra!" I screeched and replied at once. "Where are you? Are you safe?"

"Mom?" Her voice was small and tremulous. "I...I got scared. I awoke and the house was deserted. Your phone was not going through and dad was not home. So I went to Grandma's. I apologize, I did not know what to do.

Floods of relief came over me to the point of making my knees shake. "No, no, sweetheart. You did the right thing. Stay there. I'm coming right now, okay?"

She sniffled. "Okay."

I put down the phone and wiped the face. Then I walked away out of the house which had been my own.

As I entered the house of my mother, Lyra was sitting on the couch next to her grandmother with red eyes as a result of crying. When she beheld me she ran into my arms.

"Mom," she whispered.

I held her tightly. "I'm here. It's okay now."

My mother, Mara, frowned at me, but did not speak. Her eyes said enough--she knew.

I sat next to Lyra and held her hands. "Sweetheart," I began softly. There is something I must say to you.

She frowned. "What is it?"

"Your father and I... we are not together any more. But that doesn't mean any...anything has changed."

She didn't say a word. Her eyes brimmed with tears but she shook her head. "I knew it," she said quietly. Last night he did not even come home.

I reached for her shoulder. "Lyra--"

"I'm fine," she cut me off. "I just need some time." She got up and went to her room and shut the door behind her.

I would have liked to follow her, and I knew she had to have room. My mother looked at me with a sad face and gave me a cup of water. "You did your best, Aria."

I shook my head and could not trust myself to talk.

In the evening I visited the room of Lyra. She was sitting at the window, yet in her night-clothes, looking out.

"Lyra," I said softly. "It's time to get ready."

"For what?"

The mating ceremony, I said, and I had to smile. "It's your first one."

She shook her head. "I don't want to go."

"Why not?"

She swiveled to look at me, with pain in her eyes. "Because I don't want a mate. I don't want to end up like you."

Her words were hurtful, yet I knew. I knelt beside her. "I know you're hurt, baby. Everybody is not like your father. The Moon goddess could be having a kind of someone waiting. You deserve happiness."

She looked away. I do not believe in mates any more.

I sighed. "Please, just go for me." 

She eventually assented after hours of pleading with her. "Okay."

We were late at the ceremony. The mob was already assembled--wolves of every grade waiting till the Elder should read the pairings.

Lyra was standing next to me, still and calmly nervous. I took her hand and gave it a squeeze as we proceeded.

The voice of the Elder was heard in the clearing. Tonight we feast the marriage of souls, selected by the Moon Goddess herself...

My eyes moved around the audience--and stopped.

In the center stage were Damien and Selene, holding their hands together and the Elder proclaimed them as destined lovers. 

Lyra looked at me, confused. "Mom..."

"I'm fine," I whispered.

And then my gaze went floating upwards, to the throne by the seat of the Alpha. There was a young man, sitting erectly, with sharp eyes that can be seen at a distance.

I realized it like a bolt of lightning.

It was him.

The stranger from the bar.

My breath caught. What is he doing there?

People applauded Damien and Selene, but I did not hear it. I was staring at him--the man I had spent one night attempting to forget.

My heart skipped.

"Him?" I said to myself, and gulped. "Why is he next to the Alpha?"

POV: Aria

I was unable to breathe a moment. I could not take my eyes off the man by the Alpha.

The man from the bar. The very one that I had been making so much effort to forget.

My chest tightened. The crowd had died down to a wailing murmur, and, except for the sound of my own heart being beaten heavily, I heard no more. 

The candles surrounding the ritual area became as grey as possible, until a loud shout woke me up again, in a deep, commanding howl that rumbled through the night and drowned out the conversation.

"Lucian Vale, the son of the Alpha of the Blood Moon Pack!" A young soldier yelled. 

The name reverberated in the night, as Lucian left his seat next to the Alpha, his father. Every head turned in unison. Gasps and murmurs, murmurs of people who could not believe what they had just heard.

He came out, so calm and so tall, that he did not need to make himself noticeable. He spoke in a voice that was strong enough to silence the rest of the people when he started speaking.

"Good evening, folks," he said, in a pleasant but firm voice. "It is weird to be standing here once more after so long being away. I dropped this pack when I was a boy, and now I come back when I am a man-- and yet one of you, and still proud to be called one of you." 

There was a ripple of cheers. He smiled, small but genuine.

"My parents," he added, looking at the Alpha and the Luna, "had always told me that going out of home would make me responsible, that I must first learn to serve, before I could lead. I thought they exaggerated."  

Some gentle laughs arose out of the audience. "Turns out they were right. My time in exile taught me that there was nothing like territory, nothing so title, as Blood Moon Pack. It's family."

He stopped and glanced about the crowd, a mere gesture, but it seemed to him he was looking at all, at every face.

"I missed my home," he said. The smell of the forest, the power of our togetherness and the fire of our people. It's good to be back."

Applause followed. He waited till it died, and then proceeded.

"I come back, ready to occupy my place, where the Moon wills," he said, and his voice grew a little deeper. "I am finished with my education, and I am prepared to serve, as a son, as a soldier, and, should the Moon be kind to me, as a mate." 

A moment his words were suspended in the air. Then he said a little, and smiling, "I can see that I have surprised some of you. I understand you can not fault me, you know, going missing and not coming back in years was not the best thing to do to have a lasting impact." 

There came laughter in the crowd. Even the Alpha smiled, faintly.

Lucian chuckled too. "But tonight isn't about me. It is about us all of us, the ones who will find their destined ones and begin new histories. I pray that the Moon goddess has penned mine somewhere in the stars to-night. Or I'll have to give another speech next year." He said, earning another round of laughter from the crowd. 

He bowed his head slightly. "May she bless this ritual, and all the ties that are made to-night." 

The crowd erupted in cheers. Howls filled the air. I could not help but be impressed by the strength of his words, by the manner in which he delivered them in a calm, confident, and warm way, as though each word was heartfelt.

Beside me, Lyra was beaming. "He is wonderful, mom, she said to herself." 

I managed a small nod. "He is," I murmured. My throat felt tight.

And there came the Elder, who had a long scroll in his hand. His voice was dramatic and full of pride.

"You have come back to your people, Prince Lucian Vale, strong and honourable. Moon shines on you to-night. You will not be waiting another year to have your mate." 

Lucian blinked, confused. "Elder?"

The old man smiled knowingly. "You already have a mate written in your stars to-night." 

Gasps ran through the crowd. I felt my stomach twist.

The Elder rolled up the scroll and read aloud the name which changed everything.

"Lyra Damien Hale!"

My world stopped. I was deaf with silence though the whole pack had begun cheering and all heads turned to us. My daughter stood still next to me and her eyes were open in disbelief.

"Me?" she whispered.

I couldn't answer. My lips were moving, but no sound was produced.

Lyra looked at me, hesitant. I forced a trembling smile. "Go on," I whispered. "It's your moment."

She paused a moment and then took a step forward. The people cleared a path to her and she slowly strolled towards the stage.

Lucian stepped down the steps, and looked at her with an expression that was gentle. As their hands touched, the crowd that surrounded us screamed, applauded, cheered.

I stood there, acting as though I were smiling, acting as though I were happy. My heart was racing with disbelief, guilt and what can be described as fear.

Since the man before my daughter, the soon to be Alpha, the pride of the pack, was the same  man who had touched me in the dark just a few hours before.

I swallowed, my lips closed together, and i  whispered  to myself.

"My one-night stand," I said to myself, "will be the future Alpha... and the mate of my daughter?"