Jade
Low voices filled the hall like a rising tide, quiet murmurs layered one over the other—elders talking, whispering, judging.
I sat stiffly in a chair near the back, hands clenched tight in my lap. My fingers were starting to go numb, but I couldn’t loosen my grip.
“I shouldn’t be here,” I whispered to myself, eyes fixed on the floor.
Zade stood tall near the center, a calm storm in human form. His back was straight, broad shoulders squared, head held like he wore a crown no one could see.
He looked like he belonged there.
And me? I felt like shattered glass at a marble banquet.
“You okay?” a voice murmured beside me. Someone younger—probably a Beta-in-training—but I didn’t answer.
Because I wasn’t.
My heart hammered against my ribs. Every glance flicked my way like a blade.
Outsider.
Human.
Not worthy.
I stared at Zade’s back. Breathe, I told myself. Trust him. You’re here because he chose you.
But that didn’t stop the doubt gnawing at my stomach.
Then came the sound of robes brushing against stone. Footsteps. Purposeful. Measured.
An elder stepped forward, the conversations dying instantly around him. He was tall, wiry, with sharp eyes that seemed to pierce right through flesh. His robes shimmered with old symbols—his position clear before he even opened his mouth.
“Alpha Zade,” he began, voice clear and smooth, but thick with layered meaning, “we’ve discussed a matter that we believe would secure the strength of our pack for generations.”
Zade didn’t move.
The elder continued, “A union. One we believe would be… strategically beneficial.”
My breath caught.
“In particular, a bond between you and Liliana Crest.”
Every word after that felt like a slow knife sliding in.
“She comes from a powerful bloodline,” the elder said, pacing now, the way politicians do when they know they have the room in their hands. “Trained in the old ways. She understands the weight of our history. The duties of a Luna. Something your human mate, will never ever understand."
I blinked, trying to keep my face still. But my fingers dug deeper into my jeans, almost breaking the seam.
Liliana.
Of course.
Flawless. Gifted. Everything I wasn’t.
The elder’s gaze swept the room, then landed back on Zade. “With her beside you, the future of this pack would be secured.”
Silence.
No one moved. Not even Zade.
He didn’t turn. Didn’t speak. Just stood there with that maddening stillness that made him impossible to read.
But I knew him.
His jaw was tense.
His hands were clenched too tightly at his sides.
He was angry.
The elder kept going, unaware or unbothered. “It is a logical decision. One rooted in strength, tradition—”
Zade’s voice cut through the room like thunder. “I don’t care for tradition when it demands I choose power over truth.”
The elder blinked.
Zade finally turned to face him, eyes burning with quiet fury. “You want me to marry someone I don’t love for political gain?”
“She is respected—”
“And so is Jade,” Zade snapped, his voice sharper now. “She’s earned her place. With or without your approval.”
I froze.
The weight in my chest lifted—just slightly. But it was enough to make my lungs expand.
Still, the elder didn’t back down. “Respect is not inherited. It is claimed. Proven.”
“Then I suggest you start watching,” Zade growled, “because she’s about to prove a hell of a lot more than any bloodline ever could.”
The elder’s expression tightened. But he said nothing.
Silence rippled again.
Zade turned his gaze toward me. “You okay?”
I nodded slowly, voice stuck in my throat.
He didn’t smile. But I didn’t need him to. He had already chosen.
And the entire room knew it.
The elder stiffened, his mouth tightening into a thin line. “You risk weakening your position for personal attachment,” he said sharply. “This is not about love, Alpha. It is about duty.”
Zade’s gaze didn’t waver. “My duty is to lead with strength and honesty,” he said, his voice like iron wrapped in velvet. “And I am stronger with my true mate beside me. Not with someone chosen for convenience.”
I realized I was holding my breath as Zade turned slightly, his dark eyes finding mine across the room. There was no hesitation, no flicker of doubt. Only a fierce, unwavering certainty that seemed to anchor me where I sat, my heart pounding wildly in my chest.
“My mate,” Zade said, his voice lowering but gaining in weight, “is Jade.”
The world seemed to tilt around me. I heard the sharp intake of breath from the elders, the whispered rustle of shock running through the hall, but it was all distant, muted. All I could hear was the echo of his words repeating over and over inside my head.
My mate is Jade.
He had said it in front of everyone. No hiding, no softening the truth, no apologies for the girl who didn’t come from a prestigious bloodline, who didn’t fit the mold they had built for him. He had chosen me — not privately in the safety of a shared moment, but publicly, openly, with no room left for argument.
Pride swelled in my chest so fast it made my throat ache. For the first time, the bond between us didn’t feel like a heavy chain dragging me into a life I wasn’t sure I could survive. It felt like a shield, a banner, a force that made me stand a little taller even as my hands shook with emotion.
The elders looked between each other, their expressions hard and unreadable, but it didn’t matter anymore. Zade had made his decision, and whether they approved or not, it was done. He reached for me then, crossing the space between us with long, purposeful strides, and when he reached my side, he didn’t hesitate. He took my hand in his, threading our fingers together tightly, his grip warm and steady.
“You are my Luna,” he said, the words meant for me but loud enough for the entire hall to hear. “Nothing and no one will change that.”
My vision blurred with unshed tears, but I blinked them back fiercely, squeezing his hand until my fingers ached. I didn’t want to cry here, not in front of them, not when for the first time in my life, I felt truly seen, truly wanted, truly chosen.
As we turned to leave the hall, Zade’s hand never loosened around mine, his presence a solid wall against the whispering doubts that had haunted me for so long. The weight of the room fell away behind us, and for the first time, I understood what it meant to stand beside someone — not because you had to, but because you chose to.
And in that moment, with Zade’s hand wrapped tightly around mine.