Aurora:
An old witch once said, "Dear Aurora. You reach a point in life where there is no escape except death."
I'm sorry. I never agreed with her. I didn't want to die. I wanted to live my life no matter what the circumstances were.
However, she also told me— Your mate will love you so much that he will worship the ground you walk on, protect you like his life depends on it, and never let a single tear fall from your eyes.
Well. I did agree to this part.
My mate… my soon-to-be fiancé loved me like crazy. The proof was my engagement to him tonight.
Inhaling a long, nervous breath, I pasted a smile on my face and pushed open the doors. The response was what I had expected.
The shocked gasp that escaped my mom's lips.
"Urgh, Mom! Why so emotional?" I wanted to roll my eyes.
"My baby! You're all grown up and you look so beautiful, Aurora," My mom opened her arms when she saw me standing in the doorway, dressed in an Emerald green gown that matched my eye color perfectly.
Yesterday, I turned eighteen, and tonight, I was getting engaged to my childhood sweetheart, the future Alpha of our pack— Mateo Alaric.
So, you see? That makes me the future Luna of the Red Moon Pack.
The cutest thing about this engagement?
I was a wolfless girl. I never got my wolf since I turned sixteen, unlike other pack members who always got their beast at the ages of fifteen or sixteen.
But Mateo?
He never made an issue out of it and still accepted me with all my flaws. To be frank, there were no flaws in me. Ha-ha.
I had everything. Well! Almost!
Except my wolf.
I was the daughter of the pack beta and the most beautiful girl in my pack. Every guy wanted me as his mate, but Mateo was the one who had my heart.
"Ready?" My twin brother William Stone stepped into the dressing room and stopped dead in his tracks when his gaze found me, "Goddess! Aurora, look at you!"
My father, Beta Oliver Stone, who was standing right behind William, gulped hard. I was always my Daddy's girl, and tonight, seeing me in my engagement attire, I could see emotions swirling in his dark brown eyes.
Gosh! What was happening to my family? They were never this emotional.
Mom at last pulled back after that long hug and tried to dab her misty eyes with a napkin.
"Papa!" I pursed my lips tightly and was pulled into that bear hug by my father. They were proud of me because my beauty captured an Alpha heir's heart.
My papa manifested this moment by reminding me every day since childhood that I was meant to be a Luna. To rule a pack. While my brother was trained to become the future beta.
"I am so proud of you, Aurora," My father muttered after kissing my head, "You look beautiful, darling. After engagement, make sure that you keep Mateo busy, or he might get attracted to some other she-wolf."
Coming from him, it was a usual remark.
When I was in school, I spent my childhood trying herbal products to improve my skin and hair texture instead of taking an interest in studies.
I hated books. Yuck!
And now look at me. All my hard work was rewarded by the Moon Goddess.
Today I was getting engaged to the most handsome guy who was the crush of so many girls in my pack. After one year, I would get married to Mateo and take up my Luna duties.
"Now enough of this hugging," My brother William touched my arm, "Can you all make it fast and start walking to the hall? I just got Mateo's mindlink. He is waiting for us. Or are you all planning to spend the night in this dressing area?"
"Where is Maya?" I asked my brother, trying to overcome this sudden nervousness. Maya wasn't only my best friend, but she was also my brother's mate and soon-to-be fiancée.
"I can't walk to that stage without her," I told my father, who was aware of our close bond. Since childhood, it was a silent pact between us that we wouldn't walk to the engagement stage without other's presence.
"I just sent her a mindlink, but she isn't responding," My brother said with a groan. His eyes glazed back as he sent another mindlink to my friend.
"Nah! I don't know why she isn't responding," he shook his head in frustration.
Just then, there was a brief knock at the door.
"Woah! She is here!" I rushed in excitement, and lunged forward to open the door, "Where were you, bitch!" I didn't even look at the face of the person who was standing outside.
It wasn't Maya, but a man wearing a black mask that was covering his face and neck.
He placed his hand on my chest and pushed me inside. I stumbled a little and held my brother's arm.
Who was he? Was it some kind of a sick joke?
The masked man wasn't alone. He was accompanied by two other men, wearing similar clothes and masks.
"What is going on?" My father quickly tried to change into his wolf, but the first man was quick to spray something on our faces, making my mom cough in pain.
It felt like a scene from a horror movie, or maybe it was just a nightmare. A few moments back, I was being praised for looking beautiful, and now I was being shoved onto the couch along with my family members.
"Don't you dare try to transform into your wolves or to use mind link. Because the spray won't let you," the man said in a weird, heavy robotic voice.
I didn't know what they wanted from us. This was just a twin dressing room portion of the banquet that was reserved for VIP programs.
Today it was booked for my engagement.
"What do you want?" my brother William screamed in panic. I was stranded to the couch along with my parents.
One of them was taking out a sleek robe from his bag to tie us.
The other one had placed a dagger against William's neck, "Follow us to that room, lovely boy," the same heavy voice mocked my brother from behind the mask, "I don't want to kill you in front of your family."
What!
My mother started crying in panic, and my father had helplessness on his face. He was wiggling to free himself from the tightly tied robe, but now the spray that was used might have something in it that was making his movements clumsy and slow.
Even my brother wasn't struggling anymore. The spray might have something to do with their slow movements.
The next instant, they were taking my brother to the other adjoined room to kill him.
"Stop!" my voice echoed into the room that made those beasts freeze in their tracks, "Leave him," I commanded as if I was their Alpha, "Take whatever you want, but please spare my brother."
I raised my wrist and showed them my diamond bracelet— a gift from my father on my sixteenth birthday, "Take this jewelry if you want. Please let him go."
The man who seemed to be their leader looked into my eyes. He approached me with slow steps and then held my chin with his index finger and thumb, "Jewelry? Huh?" I could detect amusement in his voice, "Why take jewelry when we have a jewel here? Hmm?" he said silkily.
Before I could understand what was happening, they tossed aside the feeble body of my brother and started dragging me to the room instead.
"Hey. What are you doing?" I cried, trying to keep the fear out of my voice, "Leave me!"
"Leave you?" the leader laughed wickedly, "Aren't you the one who offered us the precious jewel?"
They pushed me inside the room and were about to close the door when the leader raised his hand, ordering his men to stay outside the room.
They obeyed him and closed the door, leaving me and that evil man alone.
I kept screaming at the top of my lungs, but that evening, he didn't show me any mercy. After they left, I didn't have enough energy to cry anymore.
When Maya and Mateo opened the door, they were shocked to see me lying on the couch.
My hands and feet were tied by a string, and I was without a shred of clothing.
Maya was the one who untied those strings and covered me with a blanket. But the man who promised me that he would stay by my side, no matter what happened, was just standing in the doorway, rooted to the spot, with disbelief in his eyes.
He didn't come forward to console me.
I searched his face for the love and care he had once promised me. But there was none, except fear. And that fear was not for me, but for himself.