Chapter 3

He stood at the front of the hall, tall and broad, with his shoulders filling out his black suit like he had been carved from stone. His hair was dark, almost black. His jaw was sharp, and his eyes…

His eyes were gray. Not a soft gray, like morning fog, but a hard gray, like steel, or ice, or like something that had never been warm in its entire existence.

He was Kaelen Frost, the Alpha of Shadowfang.

I had never seen him before, but something inside my chest pulled like a tug or a string connecting my heart to something I could not see.

I did not understand it.

His gray eyes locked onto mine, and something flickered across his face for just a tiny, and almost unnoticeable moment. Then his expression returned to its cold nature.

But I saw it, and I knew he felt the same pull too.

I looked away first. I had to, because I didn't want to draw attention to myself. But I think I already did anyway.

The elder gestured for me to approach, and I walked forward on shaking legs. The bonding stone sat on a pedestal of black marble. It was smooth and dark, like a piece of the night sky had been carved into a full circle.

I stopped in front of it, and the stone began to glow.

It was soft at first, then it began to glow brighter, and then the glow was so bright I had to shield my eyes with my hands. The light filled the hall, washing over every face, every wall, and every corner. Wolves gasped, while someone screamed.

Then the light faded.

What I did not know was that, before I was pulled from the kitchen, other servants had been made to stand before the bonding stone, but nothing happened.

And the only reason I was brought out, was because Alpha Kaelen’s mate was without a doubt in Cresswood, and after Celeste and other servants had been rejected, Alpha Kaelen’s anger surged, prompting Marta to pull me from the kitchen.

The elder stared at the stone. His mouth opened, Closed, and opened again.

"Alpha Kaelen," he said, his voice barely a whisper. "This woman… Talia Ashford… she is already bonded to you, from two years ago."

The room went silent, and I could not breathe.

My mind raced. Two years ago, that was when I turned eighteen. I vividly remembered that year. It was the year Piper snuck me a book about the outside world, It was the year Celeste broke my favorite cup just to watch me cry, and it was the year I stopped hoping my father would ever look at me.

But I did not remember any ceremony. I did not remember leaving Cresswood, or meeting anyone, let alone an Alpha.

How could I be bonded to someone I had never seen?

It made no sense. None of this made sense.

But the stone did not lie. The elder said so himself, that the bond was registered, and it was unbreakable.

I was tied to Kaelen Frost. A stranger, and a cold-eyed Alpha who looked at me like I was a problem he did not ask for.

"The ceremony has already been completed," the elder said again for all to hear. "Two years ago. The bond is registered, and it is unbreakable."

I shook my head. "That is not possible. I have never met him. I have never left Cresswood, and i have never…"

But no one was listening.

Celeste was screaming, Vivienne was arguing, and Edmund stood frozen, saying nothing.

Celeste's face was red, her perfect makeup ruined by tears. "This cannot be happening," she shrieked. "She is nobody. She is nothing but trash, and I am the one who deserves to be Luna."

Vivienne grabbed her daughter's arm, trying to calm her, but her own face was pale with fury. Her eyes locked onto mine. I saw pure, burning hate there.

"The stone is wrong," Vivienne insisted. "There must be a mistake. We demand another reading."

The elder shook his head. "The stone does not make mistakes."

Edmund still said nothing. He just stared at the floor, with his hands hanging limp at his sides. He looked like a man who had already given up.

And Kaelen Frost was still looking at me.

His gray eyes did not leave my face, and his expression did not change. But I knew he felt the pull too. He just did not show it.

I was extremely confused and afraid at this point, because I have been keeping my head down, and I stayed in this pack for two reasons. To find out what happened to my mother, and to make the Cress family pay for every year they abused me.

I did not ask for this bond, and i did not ask for any of this.

But whatever was coming, I would survive it.

I just had to stay strong as always.