My Twin Sister Became His Second Luna Chapter 04

My Twin Sister Became His Second Luna Chapter 04

Three days later, Kaelen and Nerys’s mate ceremony was held at Wolf Hall in Crestwood Pack.

An hour before the ceremony, Kaelen found me in a side room.

“I have to formally reject you first. As long as our existing mate bond remains, the Moon Goddess’s altar won’t accept Nerys and me, and the pup she’s carrying could suffer backlash, too.”

My wolf immediately arched its back, baring its fangs deep inside my mind.

“What about me?” I stared at him. “My wolf is the one that has to take the backlash? In the three years I served as Luna of Crestwood, what exactly did I ever do wrong?”

“You did nothing wrong.” Kaelen’s voice was sincere to the point of cruelty. “Neither did Nerys. My heart was what was wrong.”

My wolf stayed frozen for a long time before finally lowering its head and letting out a faint, almost hopeless whine.

I closed my eyes as if I were waiting for an execution.

“Let’s begin.”

A flicker of pity crossed Kaelen’s eyes, but he still released his Alpha aura and spoke the words, one by one:

“I, Kaelen Ashbourne, reject Nerissa Ravenn as my mate and as the Luna of Crestwood Pack.”

The mate bond suddenly pulled taut.

Pain tore through my chest. My wolf screamed inside my mind, throwing itself desperately at the bond as it began to close.

Kaelen’s cedar scent, which had been mine for three years, suddenly seemed impossibly far away. Every breath felt like swallowing hot coals.

I staggered against the wall, my knees nearly giving out. Cold sweat soaked through my back.

Kaelen clutched his own chest, his face pale, yet he kept watching me, waiting for the final words.

Only if I accepted could the bond truly break.

My wolf clung to the bond with everything it had. It still remembered the moonlight three years ago, the wild joy of first catching the scent of our fated mate.

But across the hall, Nerys stood in the wedding dress I’d chosen, waiting to marry him.

“I accept your rejection.”

The instant the words left my mouth, the mate bond shattered completely.

It felt as though I’d been split in two from the inside. My wolf let out one final, agonized howl before curling into the deepest part of my mind, refusing to answer me again.

Kaelen instinctively took a step toward me.

I raised a hand to stop him and forced myself upright through the pain.

Just then, Mother pushed open the door. She saw how pale I was, but all she did was press a sign-in pen into my trembling hand.

“Perfect. We’re short one person at the entrance. Nerys is carrying a pup and can’t stand for long. Go to the entrance, check invitations, collect coats, and show the guests to their seats.”

I stared at her, stunned.

Stoneveil’s heir apparent, the woman who had negotiated borders for two Packs, had just had her mate bond severed and was now being sent to work the welcome table, a job usually given to young Omegas and event attendants.

“I can barely stand.” My voice was hoarse.

“Don’t exaggerate.” Mother straightened my collar as if she were afraid the guests might see how wrecked I was. “Breaking a bond hurts everyone. Endure it and it’ll pass. Today is your sister’s most important day. Don’t stand there looking miserable and give the other Packs something to laugh about.”

Father walked into the side room, too.

“You signed the acceptance declaration. If you cause trouble today, I’ll consider Stoneveil to have no daughter by that name.”

I gripped the edge of the table to keep from falling.

“Fine.” I heard myself say. “I won’t cause trouble.”

Satisfied, they walked into the hall and left me alone at the entrance.

The wind seemed to carry some of my pain away as I stared blankly at the guests coming and going.

Inside the hall, Father beamed as he greeted guests. Mother took a familiar velvet box from her silver-gray handbag and placed it with the bride’s family gifts.

Inside was a pair of ancient arm cuffs my grandmother had left to Mother.

She had once said Nerys and I would each have one.

Now both belonged to the bride.

The Moon Goddess hymn began, and every guest rose.

I watched Father lead Nerys toward the altar. She wore a silver-white mermaid gown, her long veil trailing down an aisle covered in white roses.

Kaelen stood before the altar, looking at her with tenderness.

The priest raised his voice in blessing:

“May the Moon Goddess witness this union, and may the two Packs remain united through them forever.”

I stood in the drafty entryway, listening as everyone raised their glasses to this happy, complete new family.

My name wasn’t part of it.

It never would be again.

I waited until the last guest entered the hall, set down the pen, and took the Voluntary Pack Bond Severance Declaration I’d prepared in advance from my handbag.

I placed it in the center of the long table, then took a pinch of salt and scattered it evenly over my signature.

For twenty years, I’d signed countless voluntary declarations for Nerys.

This was the last one.

I pulled my suitcase from beside my feet and walked out of Wolf Hall without looking back, heading straight for the airport.