Blood Moon Series
Chapter 3
This is for the pack. This is for the pack.
She stood and Olivia handed her mother the dress. Leila yanked off her sweater and jeans and let her mother help her slip it over her head.
Not that she needed help. It was a simple white dress, flowing and loose. Their kind didn’t wear anything close to human gowns. They stuck to a natural Pagan style.
Leila frowned at her reflection in the full-length mirror as the three annoying women started to chatter. She barely heard a word.
“I think we should leave her hair down. She has such beautiful hair,” Olivia suggested.
Adelina gently started to undo her thick braid. Leila just stared at herself in the mirror. This was becoming far too real by the second.
She felt a knot of sickness in her stomach.
In three days, she would have to sleep with that beast. Her sister’s monstrous mate. That twisted excuse for an alpha.
Who would do this to their mate? Take a second? Even if Joana didn’t care for him, it would still hurt her.
“Our pack is eager to hear the good news about an heir on the way. We are hoping for the best this blood moon since your sister has been such a disappointment,” Olivia said cheerfully.
Leila was jolted out of her thoughts. The anger boiled hot. Very very hot.
Who did this woman think she was?
The only thing keeping her in check was her mother’s hand. She squeezed her shoulder in warning. Leila took a slow breath.
For the pack. Live with my sister.
Olivia moved in front of her to inspect her. Leila looked away. It was painful even to look at that woman.
“I bet you’re happy you won’t have to go through another Blood moon alone,” Cecilia said cheerfully as she idly played with strands of Leila’s loose hair from the other side of her.
Leila had to force herself not to snap at her. Her wolf didn’t want her touching her.
Leila started to feel claustrophobic.
Thankfully, they stepped away from her to see what she looked like once her mother had let her hair down and was running her fingers through it. It was practically down to her waist.
Leila hesitated before the mirror, finally allowing herself to really see the dress.
It was beautiful, but it wasn’t her. It wasn’t something she would have chosen. She took a deep breath, trying to find joy in this moment, but it all felt so wrong.
Footsteps echoed down the hallway leading to the kitchen. Leila glanced up, catching the reflection of her peers moving down the corridor.
Her heart pounded as her gaze landed on the tall, muscular brunette with piercing blue eyes. He stood head and shoulders above the rest. Time had been kind to him.
Emil.
A whirlwind of emotions swept through her. How quickly things had changed in just a fortnight. She had thought she’d be planning her ceremony with him, not with a man she loathed.
Two weeks ago, she had been excited about her future.
Now, she felt like she had no future at all.
Emil paused, his gaze meeting hers in the mirror. Leila’s breath hitched. His expression hardened and he quickly turned away, continuing down the hall.
Leila felt a wave of nausea. The room seemed to close in around her. Was it suddenly hotter in here?
“Isn’t this thrilling? We need to start thinking about the future of our pack, and especially yours. Your first-born son will unite our packs as our leader,” Elodie said, her hands clasped together in excitement.
She looked almost teary-eyed. Leila struggled to breathe, barely able to listen to her.
That wasn’t what her pack wanted. They wanted their independence. That had been the agreement when her grandfather arranged Joana’s marriage, but even then, the Rugurus had broken that deal.
Her grandfather had arranged the marriage for the previous alpha’s son. Not Gregor.
But when they arrived to honor the agreement, the previous alpha and all his heirs were dead. Gregor had claimed the alpha title. More accurately, he had stolen it.
An entire alpha line, gone.
Leila never knew the details of what really happened—she had never been interested enough to ask.
It was never part of their agreement for her pack to merge with the Rugurus. But now that they were taking Leila, their last alpha heir, they had no choice.
Olivia’s hands on her neck made Leila flinch. She was brushing back her hair. The touch made Leila’s skin crawl.
“Since I’m going to be your mother, I think I can speak candidly with you, don’t you agree?” Olivia said.
Mother?
Leila didn’t think she could feel any worse. She struggled to keep her breathing steady. Olivia was old enough to be her grandmother. Gregor could be her father.
“Uh…sure?” Leila managed to say through gritted teeth. All she wanted to do was escape.
“You need to lose some weight. Spending so much time with humans hasn’t been good for you,” Olivia said seriously.
Leila looked at herself in the mirror. She knew she had a body that humans would envy, but she also knew she was considered too large for her kind.
Most females of their species were slender with small chests. She knew she carried a bit more weight than was typical for them, but she liked her body.
She had never felt self-conscious about it.
Their race didn’t value beauty the way humans did; they valued breeding traits, strength, and lineage. Their scent carried all of that, but it didn’t mean they didn’t appreciate those blessed with beauty.
Joana was a stunning female, in every possible way, and people noticed her wherever she went.
Leila knew she could never compare to her. Joana had all the feminine qualities that both humans and their kind admired.
She was tall, slender, and graceful, with a soft, feminine face, striking blue eyes, and perfect symmetry.
Leila was on the shorter side for their species, only five foot eight—two inches shorter than her sister—and she certainly didn’t have the grace or slender figure.
Joana took after their mother, a beauty in her own right. Though worry had aged her mother, she was still beautiful.
There was no denying that Joana was their mother’s daughter. They could have been twins.
Leila, on the other hand, took after her father. Or so her mother told her. All she had to go on was a small, faded photo in her mother’s locket.
Leila had a simpler look than her sister, with her father’s pale green eyes. “Cute” was probably the highest compliment she would receive from the wolf communities.
Leila’s body type was ideal in the human world.
She had overheard humans calling her “hot,” and some males even used cruder terms. But to her kind, her breasts were too large and her hips and bottom too pronounced.
Wolves didn’t typically admire curvy traits in an unmated female. Females only developed curves like that after having a few pups, and even then, not to Leila’s degree.
It wasn’t unheard of, it just wasn’t typical for them. But even if Leila lost a little weight, she doubted it would make much difference. She carried it well.
But because of her bloodline, she would be coveted as high-quality breeding material regardless of her appearance.
Leila despised it.
“Why? Aren’t I just going to be pumping out babies anyway?” Leila retorted.
It was all becoming too much. She could only pretend to be compliant for so long. Leila clenched her fists at her sides. She was starting to tremble with anger.
“Leila!” Olivia growled.
“Leila…,” her mother cautioned. Leila quickly realized she couldn’t do this anymore.
She turned and bolted.
She needed to get out of there before she did something she would seriously regret.
She resisted the urge to rip the dress to shreds. Instead, she yanked it off over her head and tossed it aside as she leaped off the porch.
Leila shifted mid-air. She felt her bones twist and morph and fur sprout out over her form in a thick brown pelt. Leila didn’t miss a stride as she darted for the territory line in an all-out sprint.
Continue to the next chapter of Blood Moon Series