Marcus

It was supposed to be a night of celebration. A night to write into history. It wasn't the very first Lunar Festival, but it was the first to be celebrated between the Eastern and Western kingdoms. It was to honor the alliance between the kingdoms and defense against Northern enemies. The Western kingdom hosting the event.

The lights, the fireworks, the feast, and every pack member's most favorite, the moonlight run; it was all planned to perfection. The energy throughout the Western kingdom was quiet. A fragile state of peace. The calm before the storm.

I stood next to my father, the King of the Eastern Kingdom, overlooking the festivities with a look of boredom but my nerves were on edge. I couldn't see her. She went to change, said she would be right back, but it has been too long. I can't go looking for her with so many eyes lingering, but each passing second is doubling the weight of the boulder sinking in my stomach. Something isn't right.

I'm racking my brain for a suitable excuse to find her when the hairs on the back of my neck stand and my chest constricts. A terrible, shrilling scream slices through the night. I don't stop to think, I run. Her face at the front of my mind while I push my legs. My chest rumbles with a feral growl.

Please, please be safe.

I must get to her. I don't care if he sees, I must make sure they are safe.

I make it to the northeast corner of the kingdom. A grief-stricken maid with tears points a shaking hand to the room. Her chambers.

No …

I step inside, and my heart stops. She laid broken on the floor, blood dripping from her head and face, a stain growing on the rug.

"No, no, no!" I cradled her in my arms, "Get the doctor!" I roared, never taking my eyes off her.

The Princess of the Western kingdom. The purest gem gifted by the moon goddess. The most devastatingly beautiful thing I've ever been blessed to see. My mate.

A storm of emotions rushes through me. I feel everything all at once. Panic. Agony. Fury. Desperation. Someone hurt my mate. I will find them and rip them apart with my teeth. I will bathe in their blood and present their heads to her on a pike.

"Where is the doctor!?" I look over her, my heart shattering with every detail of her attack on her body. Her bloodied hands covered her stomach, she was sobbing. I've never heard her make this sound before, a sound of loss. I see the blood soaking her white gown between her legs and I know. I know what she's mourning, and I feel our loss down to my bones. My canines are coming out.

I will kill them so slowly it will take days.

I don't take my eyes off her for a second, even when I hear someone approaching outside the doors.

"The doctor is dead! His throat was ripped out!"

"Find our healer then!" I hear my father command.

She's not healing and we're running out of time. I can't move her without hurting her. Her wounds aren't healing.

WHY ISN'T SHE HEALING?!

I can feel the tears slipping from my eyes onto her once flawless skin. She looks up at me and smiles. She's smiling at me and it's tearing me into pieces. Her delicate hand touches my face, I whimper at her touch.

"M- my … lo-ve …" She's struggling to speak.

"Shh, baby, don't talk. Save your strength, you're gonna be fine."

She shakes her head with fresh tears forming, "Th- there's n-no time. I'm not -- healing. I'm … not long … for this world."

"Don't say that!" I'm trembling with fear. "You're going to be okay; Dashna is going to be here soon and everything's going to be okay!" I'm desperate for our healer to get here. This can't be happening.

"M-Mar-cus … please … listen. I'm … so sorry. I wish – I could leave a piece … of me here … but he – he took that too …" Her voice cracks and so does my heart.

She said 'he'.

"Baby, I'm so sorry! I should've been here!" She shakes her head at my words, "Who did this to you?" I growl.

She doesn't answer me, she just smiles at me with devastated eyes, like she's taking in every detail of my face. Like she's committing it to memory, to say goodbye.

"You are my light … in the darkness. You alw-ways have been. The time we've had together is … everything. I wish … we had more."

I am weeping.

My beautiful mate … my bride.

How could I be so stupid!? I never should've let this happen! I should've been with her; I should've protected her. Damn her father, damn the western laws and damn the moon goddess if she takes her away from me!

"I will love you – even in my death … and I p-pray that the moon goddess … blesses us to be together in another life … all of us …" She takes my hand, placing it on her belly as she cries.

"DASHNA!" I cry for her, just as she makes it to the door. I hear her gasp as she assesses the situation. She comes to us, kneels next to my mate. Dashna looks at me with tears in her eyes, a look that shatters any shred of hope I had. It tells me that there's nothing she could do.

I hold her tight as I take her lips. I can feel her kiss and I remember the first time I felt it. Her love pouring into me with every breath we exchanged. I could live off her essence alone. I was utterly in love with her the moment I saw her emerald eyes, but when I felt her lips, I knew I didn't need anything else for as long as I lived.

One hundred- and fifty-years flashes through my mind as I kiss her, the memories make me kiss her even harder. I think of the first time I saw her as a little girl, she hadn't even shifted yet or left the Western grounds. I think of every night we shared in secret in her chambers, where she would read to me and tell me anything and everything; I didn't care what it was, as long as I kept hearing her voice. Every run in the forest we took when no one was looking. Every time she would scold me for saying something inappropriate or not so gentleman like. Every time I'd wipe her tears and kiss away the fear of her father. Every time I watched those emerald eyes turn gold when she was angry. Every kiss. Every touch. Every glance when in public. I think about the day her powers came intact. I think about when she became old enough and asked me to be her first and last. And I think about just a month ago, when in a clearing under the moon away from the kingdom, she shared the wonderful and terrifying news. The night I asked her to wed me. She promised me her heart and life. As did I to her.

We both lost so much tonight, I won't survive if I lose her too.

In our kiss, I feel it. The cold exhale exiting her lips onto mine, her lovely eyes still with tears no longer forming, and her heart slowing to a stop. She's gone.

I release the most heart wrenching howl into the air. I roar as I hold my heart in my arms.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." I whisper into her hair as I hold her, "Please, please baby. Please, come back to me."

I'm numb to everything around me. I can hear the whimpering of those behind me. I can hear her mother crying for her daughter. I can hear pups howling for their lost princess. The future Luna. I can feel my father's hand clutching my shoulder, but I can't feel the comfort he's trying to push into me. I can only see and feel her.

I don't take my eyes off her. I keep praying to the moon goddess for a miracle. Please let her squeeze my hand. Let her heal. Let her lungs take in another breath. Take me instead of her. I refuse to live in a world that she doesn't exist in.

I wallow in my grief, and I don't look away from her face until I hear a gasp from my father.

"Son – look."

A soft glow permeating around her body. She starts to lose form, becoming translucent starting at her feet. She's … disappearing. I panic. I don't know what's happening. I don't know how to stop it.

"No. No no no no no no, NO! PLEASE!"

It's no use. Her body is disappearing right before my eyes. Another moment, and she's gone. The glow fading under the moonlight.

I roar. Cursing the goddess I've spent my life worshipping.

"BRING HER BACK TO ME!" I demand but she doesn't answer. She stays in the sky, mocking me. The start of our bloodline and my oldest companion, leaving me alone to fester in the absence of my mate's warmth.

I roar again, hoping that wherever my love may be, that she could hear me. I make her another promise.

I promise to find the man that did this to you. And after that, I will come looking for you, my love. I will always follow you even in death.

The wolves of the East and the West howled into the night, mourning the loss of the princess. But as I crumbled in my father's arms, I could hear him cry too. He knows that if he lets go of me, I would be lost as well.

Her body levitated in front of the woman. An ethereal being with eyes and hair of white and glowing hands pulsing with energy. She held them over the unconscious woman, her body bloody and battered. Such a poor child.

The magic pouring from her hands to the woman, coating her body and seeping into her injuries. Broken bones began to snap back into place. Slashed skin sewing back together and all discoloration returning to her skin's natural complexion.

The moon goddess healed her body. But her mind will need more time to heal from the trauma.

Her white hand stroked the young princess' hair and whispered, like a mother soothing her child.

"You didn't deserve this, my child. I cannot undo what has been done and for that, I am so sorry. But this night, I bless you with a gift." She placed a kiss upon her forehead, leaving the mark of a luminescent crescent moon in place. "Now, you must rest, my child. When you remember, know that your son is at peace."