The Cursed Luna
The echoing toll of the bell cut through the air like a mournful howl, marking the dawn of a new era for the Blood Moon pack. Katherine fell to her knees, her shoulders trembling with grief as she sobbed. She clasped her hand over her mouth, unable to contain the sorrowful cries that escaped her lips. How did it all go wrong?
Five hours ago...
It was Priscilla's coming-of-age ceremony, and the family had gathered to celebrate her birthday. Priscilla, like any other seventeen-year-old, had been looking forward to seeing her mate.
"Tell me, what are you going to do once you see him? Will you hug him?" Daniel asked, leaning over the dining table, his hands cupping his cheeks, lips pulled into a full kissy pout.
"Hold his hands?" Tammy teased alongside Daniel, the two of them swooning with joy at how red Priscilla's face got.
"Kiss-"
"That's enough. We don't want Priscy turning into a red furball, do we? Besides, your coming-of-age ceremony is just around the corner, Tammy. Would you like to get teased just like you are teasing Priscy?" Their mother, Luna Christy, interrupted as she placed a hot bowl of pasta on the table.
"Mine isn't for another two years. What's the use of having Priscy if we can't tease her? We didn't get to do it with Katherine," Tammy mumbled.
The entire table grew silent at Tammy's words. Luna Christy looked at Katherine, who was sitting at the far end of the table. Katherine shook her head; it wasn't like Tammy was wrong. She's twenty and still hasn't found her mate.
"That's enough, Tamara," Christy said, then looked at Katherine. "Why don't you go call your father, Katherine? We should cut the cake for Priscy now," Christy said, and Katherine stood up, straightened her dress, and walked towards the stairs.
Katherine rushed up the stairs, having heard Tammy and Daniel arguing over the cake. She knew her mother had taken it out of the box now, which meant they could all see the type of cake it was. Katherine trudged through the rather silent hallways and stopped right in front of her father's study, her hands pressed against the door when she heard a loud bang from inside the study. Katherine paused, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, she pressed her ears against the door, wondering what the matter could be, only to overhear the worst thing ever.
"Your time is over now, and it is time for a new regime. A new blood to lead our pack in the direction it deserves. You are leading the pack astray with the decisions you are making, and you have forced my hands. This is all your fault, William," Beta Enrique spat out, Katherine could hear the anger in his voice.
Katherine had no time to react when she heard the loud horns from outside; her heartbeat tripled incredulously as fear gripped her entire being. The horns were signs of an invasion. Katherine staggered back in shock as Beta Enrique's last words reached her in the nick of time.
"This is the end of your ruling and my last favor to you," he spat out.
Katherine took to her heels, running towards the living room, but it was too late. The screams of the people reached her ears. The pack had been infiltrated.
Katherine hurriedly hid inside a box along the hallway, the piercing screams of people reached her ears, her body shook with fear. She could only pray her family was safe in the midst of this attack. From the slight opening of the box, Katherine watched a maid run in fear, she didn't make it far as a warrior grabbed her by the hair, ignoring the pleas of the maid, he held her head back and brought his sword forward to her neck, his sword sliced her neck mercilessly.
Katherine trembled, tears streaming down her cheeks, she quickly clasped her hand over her mouth, silencing the horrific scream that almost escaped her lips. The maid dropped to the floor with a thud, her eyes still open as blood seeped out of her neck, the life in her gone.
The man walked to her father's study and kicked the door open, and when he would walk out, her father's blood was splashed over his clothes, the beta behind him.
Now, Katherine knelt on the floor in her room crying, her body wrecked with anguish. She couldn't breathe. Her entire family was gone within the blink of an eye, and yet she stayed alive. She, who should've died the very day she was born. Katherine screamed in agony, she clutched her chest tightly. The pain was excruciating.
The door flew open, and three large men stepped into the room alongside a woman. All of them, Katherine knew. The guards were her father's most trusted guards, and the woman, her mother's personal maid. The four of them stepped into the room. The woman, Agatha, wrapped her arms against her chest on seeing the shock on Katherine's face.
"Grab her, It's time she received her punishment, just like her family has." A lump rose up Katherine's throat as she hauled to her feet like a criminal. It didn't take long for her to piece it all together. Everyone was in on it. They all betrayed her father and mother.
Katherine is dragged to the pack hall where a crowd had gathered. She's dragged to the middle of the room and forced to kneel. Katherine blinked back the tears that threatened to fall down her cheeks, she swallowed the lump in her throat.
"This is the cursed daughter. The one without a wolf. The daughter of the late Alpha Williams and Luna Christy." The beta announced loudly. Katherine could feel the hundreds of eyes on her, resignation clung to her like a shroud.
"Lift up your head and face the new alpha of the Blood Moon pack. Alpha Ethan." The beta said with pride.
Katherine lifted her head, and before her stood the traitor who betrayed her father, Beta Enrique, and to his right stood the spineless gamma who averted his gaze. In the middle stood a man Katherine had never seen before. Alpha Ethan stood tall and broad, a perfectly chiseled face, brown eyes that pierced into her hazel eyes yet his clothes and body were stained with the blood of her pack members.
Katherine stiffened, her face ran pale the second she laid eyes on the man who killed her parents. The man's own eyes widened in recognition, his breath quickening up at the sight of her.
"Mate." His wolf echoed.