Crowned by the enemy Alpha

The ceremony that never happen

CHAPTER 2

LYRIA

Three months earlier

I stare at my reflection in the mirror, hardly believing this day has finally come. The ceremonial robes feel like silk against my skin, the deep red fabric embroidered with golden wolves. My hair is braided with white flowers, just like my mother wore when she mated with Father.

Today, I become Luna of the Moon Strike Pack. Today, I marry Damon.

My hands shake as I touch the necklace at my throat—a simple silver chain with a crescent moon pendant. Damon gave it to me the night he asked me to be his mate, whispering that he loved me under the stars. I still can’t believe he chose me.

Everyone was shocked when Alpha Damon announced his choice. Why would he pick me when he could have anyone? Why would he choose weak little Lyria when her sister Selene was right there?

Selene. Beautiful, strong, perfect Selene. She’s everything I’m not and never will be. Where I’m small and fragile, she’s tall and graceful. Where I stumble over words, she commands attention. Where I’ve always been the forgotten daughter, she’s been the pride of our family since birth.

Growing up in her shadow wasn’t easy. I got used to being overlooked, to having people forget my name while remembering hers. The pack children would tease me, calling me “Glass Girl” because I looked like I might break if they breathed on me too hard.

But Damon saw something in me they didn’t. He always has, even when we were children playing in the pack gardens. While others ignored me, he would seek me out. While others laughed at my clumsiness, he would help me up and dust off my knees. When I cried because I couldn’t shift as early as the other pups, he told me I was special, that good things come to those who wait.

I believed him then. I believe him now.

A soft knock interrupts my thoughts. “Come in,” I call, expecting my mother.

Instead, Selene glides into the room. She’s already dressed for the ceremony, her blue gown making her eyes look like sapphires. Her blonde hair falls in perfect waves down her back. She looks like what a Luna should look like.

“Nervous?” she asks, settling onto my bed without invitation.

“A little,” I admit. “It’s such a big day.”

She nods, but something in her expression makes me uncomfortable. There’s a smile playing at her lips that doesn’t reach her eyes. “Damon’s been acting strange lately, don’t you think?”

My stomach drops. I’ve noticed it too, but I’ve been trying not to think about it. Over the past few weeks, Damon has been distant. He avoids my touch, makes excuses to skip our wedding planning meetings, and I’ve seen him talking to Selene more than usual. Quiet conversations that stop when I walk into the room.

“He’s just stressed,” I say, more to convince myself than her. “Planning a ceremony is overwhelming.”

“Of course,” Selene agrees, but that strange smile gets wider. “I’m sure that’s all it is. He loves you, after all. He told you that, didn’t he?”

“Yes.” The word comes out smaller than I intended.

“Good.” She stands and smooths her dress. “I just wanted to make sure you knew that everything will work out exactly as it’s meant to.”

There’s something odd about the way she says it, but before I can ask what she means, she’s gone, leaving only the scent of her perfume behind.

I shake off the unease. This is my wedding day. Nothing will ruin it.

The ceremony space is beautiful. White flowers are everywhere, their sweet scent mixing with the smoke from ceremonial candles. The entire pack has gathered, filling every seat and standing along the walls. I’ve never seen so many people in one place, all here to witness my mating to their Alpha.

I take my place at the altar, my heart hammering against my ribs. Everything is perfect.

Then Damon walks in, and my breath catches. He’s magnificent in his ceremonial clothes, every inch the powerful Alpha. When our eyes meet across the space, I expect to see love, excitement, happiness.

Instead, I see something that looks almost like regret.

He takes his place beside me, but he doesn’t touch me. Usually, he would take my hand or brush my arm, some small gesture of affection. Today, he stands stiff and formal, staring straight ahead.

“You look beautiful,” he says quietly, but his voice sounds hollow.

“Thank you,” I whisper back. “Are you alright?”

He doesn’t answer.

The elder begins the ceremony, his voice carrying across the silent crowd. These are words I’ve dreamed of hearing my entire life, the ancient vows that will bind us as mates before the Moon Goddess. I should be floating with happiness.

Instead, dread is building in my chest like a storm cloud.

“Alpha Damon,” the elder says, “do you take this woman as your chosen mate, to stand beside you as Luna of this pack?”

This is it. The moment everything changes. The moment I become everything I’ve ever wanted to be.

Damon looks at me, and I see something break in his eyes.

“No,” he says clearly. “I do not.”

The word hits me like a physical blow. Around us, the crowd erupts in shocked gasps and whispers. Someone screams. I think it might be my mother.

“I cannot mate with someone so pathetic,” Damon continues, his voice carrying to every corner of the space. “Look at her. Weak, fragile, barely worth the title of pack member, let alone Luna. I was never truly interested in her. How could I be?”

The world tilts around me. This can’t be happening. This can’t be real.

“My true mate,” Damon says, turning away from me, “is Selene Ashford.”

He walks to where my sister sits in the front row, her face a perfect mask of surprise that doesn’t fool me for a second. She rises gracefully, her hand finding his as though they’ve done this a thousand times before.

“She is strong where Lyria is weak,” Damon announces to the crowd. “Beautiful where she is plain. Worthy where she is not. Selene is my fated mate, chosen by the Moon Goddess herself.”

The crowd is on their feet now, some cheering, others still in shock. I hear my name being whispered like a curse, people wondering how I could have been so foolish to think someone like Damon would want someone like me.

I can’t breathe. The ceremonial robes feel like they’re strangling me. The flowers in my hair seem to mock me with their beauty. Everything I thought I knew, everything I believed, crumbles around me like ash.

“Lyria.” My father’s voice cuts through the chaos. His face is red with shame and anger as he pushes through the crowd toward me. ““Come. Now.”

But I can’t move. I can’t think. I can only stand there as my world collapses, as the man I loved destroys me in front of everyone I’ve ever known.

“How could you do this to me?” I whisper, but my voice is lost in the noise.

Damon doesn’t even look back.

The last thing I see before darkness takes me is Selene’s smile—not surprised, not sorry, but satisfied. Like this was always the plan.

I hit the ground, and everything goes black.

When I wake up, I’m in my bedroom, still wearing the ceremonial robes that were meant to make me a Luna. But the flowers have fallen from my hair, and the beautiful fabric is wrinkled and stained with tears.

My mother sits beside the bed, her face streaked with dried tears. When she sees I’m awake, she doesn’t comfort me. She doesn’t tell me everything will be alright.

Instead, she looks at me with something that might be disappointment.

“How could you not know?” she asks quietly. “How could you not see what everyone else saw?”

I don’t have an answer. Because I believed. Because I trusted. Because I thought love was real.

Outside my window, I can hear the sounds of celebration. They’re still having the ceremony. Damon is still getting married.

Just not to me.

My life has changed forever, exactly like I dreamed. But not in any way I could have imagined.