My Mate Killed Me For My Sister, I Became Luna Of His Enemy Chapter 06

My Mate Killed Me For My Sister, I Became Luna Of His Enemy Chapter 06 Where Is The Mate Bond
Silas’s POV The roast was overcooked. The edges were dry and the center was tougher than it should have been. I wasn’t pleased about that. I made a note to have a word with the chef. Several of us were gathered around the dining room table. Madison sat to my left. She was talking eagerly to her parents. “The Autumn Moon ceremony would be perfect, don’t you think?” she was saying. Her eyes sparkled with excitement. “I think it’s the perfect time. A mate bond ceremony and a wolf-awakening celebration, all in one. The pack would love it.” She put her hand over mine and gave it a little squeeze. “That’s a wonderful idea, sweetheart.” Madison’s mother, Anna said. “We could do the ceremony at the river. That’s where your father and I had ours.” “That’s what I was thinking,” Madison nodded. “Something traditional. Meaningful.” Brick grunted his approval while he sipped his wine. I speared a piece of roast and chewed it. The dining room felt too warm. The fire was too high. Someone had overstocked it. The roast was painfully dry. My mind kept wandering back to the carriage ride back from Ashwood Forest. Three hours through the dark trees, alone except for the driver. I couldn’t get the look on Bella’s face out of my mind. Her face, covered in dry blood. She’d been so scared. She’d begged me to stay. And I’d just tossed her off and left. Her face was now haunting me. But I’d done the right thing. Madison needed her wolf awakened. She couldn’t be my Luna without a wolf. The pack would never accept that. And Bella had signed the contract of her own free will. I hadn’t chosen Bella for my mate. The Moon Goddess had done that. It wasn’t my fault that the Moon Goddess had chosen a liar. A manipulator. A woman capable of poisoning her own sister. But still… Her face. Those wide, terrified eyes. Her bruised cheeks. Her wine-stained dress. “Silas?” Madison touched my arm. Her fingers were warm, her grip light. “What are you thinking about, love?” “Nothing,” I said. I smiled at her and shook my head. “Sorry. I’m listening. Go on. Tell me about our ceremony.” She smiled back at me sweetly. “Well, I was thinking roses, naturally. And…” My phone buzzed. It was on the table beside my plate. I glanced at the screen. The call was from Mustor. “Excuse me,” I told the group. “It’s the wizard. I should take this.” Everyone nodded. I picked it up and answered. “Mustor. How is the ritual going?” The wizard’s voice came through the phone, high and tight. I immediately knew something was wrong. “Alpha Silas, I need to speak with you about the procedure.” “Go ahead,” I said. All eyes were on me. He inhaled a sharp breath. Then he said: “The ritual did not go as planned. There were… complications. I’m afraid that Bella isn’t doing well.” I was still holding my fork. I set it down slowly. “What do you mean, ‘not doing well’?” I asked. There was another pause. A longer one. “Bella is…she’s not going to make it. Her vitals are crashing. She’s unresponsive. I believe she may already be gone.” The dining room was suddenly very quiet. Everyone was watching me. “What’s happening?” Anna asked. “Is everything okay?” I lowered the phone slightly. “The wizard says there were complications with the ritual. He says Bella is…” I stopped. “He says she’s not doing well.” Madison rolled her eyes. She reached for her wine glass. She took a sip and set it down. “She’s just being dramatic,” Madison said. “You know how she is. She probably fainted during the ritual and the wizard is overreacting. I’m sure she’s fine.” Anna nodded, her brow smoothing. “Bella has always had a flair for the dramatic. Remember the illness story? All that nonsense about being sick. What did she say she had? Visoosiss?” “Viscusos,” I corrected her. “Right. Well, I swear, that girl would do anything for attention.” “She’ll bounce back,” Brick agreed, reaching for the bread basket. “Mustor is a wizard. Just tell him to do whatever he needs to do. He’s just being overly cautious, I’m sure.” Something moved in my chest. Not the mate bond, that had been quiet for hours. Something else. Something that felt uncomfortably like doubt. The wizard had said her vitals were crashing. That she…that she might not make it? But were these people right? Was he just being overly cautious? It was a simple procedure from I gathered. He was just taking some of Snow’s essence. And Anna was right, Bella did have a flair for the dramatic. She was very convincing. She’d likely convinced him that she was dying, to try to stop the procedure. Madison took my hand in hers. Her eyes were bright and warm. The doubt retreated. I lifted the phone back to my ear. Mustor was still there. “Just do what you need to do,” I said. My voice came out harder than I intended. It was my Alpha voice. The voice that ended conversations. “Let us know when you have what we need.” “Alpha, please, you should understand what was actually….” I hung up. Madison smiled at me. I smiled back. The roast was overcooked, but the wine was good. We continued our dinner. Later that night though, when I was alone in my room, I peeled back the curtains and looked out, up to the sky. I reached for the mate bond, but it was so faint it was barely there. Was it even there? I wasn’t sure. My wolf, Baxter, lifted his head and howled at the moon. The mate bond had always been there, every minute of every day for the past eight years. I reached for it again. Again, though, I couldn’t find it. Maybe it was because she under the magic’s spell? Maybe the magic was muting the bond? Maybe it was just unavailable? I stared up at the moon. An uneasy feeling sat in my chest. I pushed it away. That was the first red flag. Bold and bright. The absence of the mate bond.