Kingdom of overcomers

APRIL'S POV

You ever hear the saying, "Some roads should never be taken"?

Well, tonight I took one of them... and I'm not sure I'll make it back.

Today was supposed to be perfect. It was my wedding day together with my twenty-second birthday. The day I finally proved I was more than just the wolfless daughter living in my twin sister's shadow.

Well spoiler alert: it wasn't anything close to perfect.

My hands trembled as I stared at my reflection in the mirror in my room. After years of whispers and sideways glances, after being called weak, cursed, broken-today, I would finally become Luna.

I would be called Mrs. Blackwood. The rejection, the shame, all of it would end.

It had to.

Before I could stand, my phone buzzed on the nightstand.

"Hello, birthday girl-or should I say, our latest bride-to-be?" Stephanie's voice burst through the speaker, filled with warmth and her usual teasing.

"Thanks, Steph." I couldn't keep the smile out of my voice. "You can call me anything you want."

"Well, someone's in a good mood."

"Of course I am. But where are you? You're supposed to be here helping me get ready-"

My bedroom door flew open.

"Surprise!" Stephanie swept in like a hurricane, arms full of makeup bags and hair tools, grinning like a maniac.

I burst out laughing despite the nervous energy inside my body. That was Stephanie, my loud, loyal, and utterly shameless bestie. My only real friend in a pack that doesn't look at me like I was a stain on their perfect bloodline.

"Sit down, ugly," she ordered, shoving me toward the chair. "Let me turn you into a goddess."

"Sure, sure. Whatever makes you happy."

I sank into the chair and watched as Stephanie worked her magic. She lined my eyes with accuracy, dusted shimmering powder across my cheekbones, painted my lips a soft rose. With every brushstroke, I looked less like April Quinn, the disappointment, and more like someone who belonged.

Maybe today, I finally would.

"Where's May?" I asked, trying to keep my tone light. "Isn't she supposed to be here? She's my maid of honor."

Stephanie's hand paused for just a second. "She said she had to oversee the final preparations at the hall."

Of course she did. May always had something more important to do. Something that made her look indispensable while I sat waiting in the shadows.

"There." Stephanie stepped back, eyes bright with satisfaction. "You look perfect."

I turned to the mirror and my breath got caught up.

She was right. For once, I looked like I belonged in this world-like I could stand beside an Alpha and not seem like a mistake.

"Now get dressed before your dad sends a search party."

I stood and reached for the gown hanging on the closet door. It was a vision in white-lace and silk that shimmered really good. I'd spent months choosing it, imagining this exact moment.

As I slipped into the dress, the fabric settled around me and Stephanie zipped me up, then moved behind me holding a delicate silver chain.

"This is my gift to you," she said softly, fastening it around my neck.

I looked down. A wolf pendant rested against my collarbone-small, intricate, beautifully carved. For a moment, I could have sworn my reflection's eyes flashed red in the mirror.

I blinked and my red eyes changed back to brown.

'Did I just see my eyes glow red?'

It seemed it was my imagination, desperate for something I'd never have.

"A wolf pendant for a wolfless girl," I said with a sad smile, fingers brushing the cool silver.

"Hey." Stephanie grabbed my shoulders and spun me around, her expression fierce. "Don't you dare call yourself that. You're my best friend, not some cursed nobody."

"Steph-"

"I'm serious, April. Your wolf is in there. I know it. And if you say the word 'wolfless' one more time, I'll personally kick your ass."

Tears pricked my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. Not now. Not when I was so close to everything changing.

More important Steph will kick my ass if I ruin the make up.

"Thank you," I whispered.

She pulled me into a quick hug, then grabbed my hand. "Come on. You're late, and your father's going to lose it."

We rushed downstairs. At the entrance to the ceremony hall, Stephanie squeezed my hand one last time, then slipped inside. I stood alone at the heavy doors, heart pounding so hard I thought it might crack a rib.

This is it. After today, everything changes.

I pushed the doors open.

The scent hit me first-white roses and champagne, elegant and suffocating. The hall was decorated exactly how I'd imagined: soft lights, trailing ivy, candles flickering like tiny stars. For a moment, I felt a flicker of gratitude toward May. Maybe she had actually cared enough to make this beautiful for me.

Then I saw their faces.

Almost every member of the pack had turned to watch me enter, and not a single one of them was smiling that I saw.

I saw the cold stares. The frowns on their faces and some the expression of disapproval.

I forced my chin up and kept walking. I didn't want to care about them.

That's when the whispers started.

"I can't believe she's going to be Luna."

"This is a disgrace. What is the Alpha thinking?"

"Someone needs to stop this," a middle-aged man hissed, his face twisted in disapproval.

"You want to challenge the Alpha?" his companion shot back. "Go ahead. Get yourself killed."

The first man fell silent, but his glare stayed locked on me.

"She can't even shift. Not like her sister."

"Cursed. That's what she is."

I dug my nails into my palms, the pain grounding me. I wouldn't let them see me break. After today, I'd be Luna, and they'd have no choice but to respect me.

At least, that's what I kept telling myself.

My eyes found Luke waiting at the altar.

He looked every inch the Alpha he was-tall, handsome with a broad-shoulder in his dark blue suit. His brown hair was slicked back, his expression calm and unreadable.

He had this powerful untouchable aura around him and somehow, by some miracle of fate, he was mine.

"Go get him, baby girl," Stephanie whispered from her seat.

I smiled, but it felt fragile.

At the altar, May stood in a soft lavender dress, perfectly poised as my maid of honor. She was my twin. My opposite. She was everything I wasn't-strong, confident, beautiful in a way that demanded attention. She was everything our father valued.

And yet, tradition dictated that I was the heir. The eldest. The one who should inherit it all.

Not that it had ever felt that way.

Still, I clung to hope as I reached the altar. Maybe today, I'd finally step out of her shadow.

Then I noticed something, the way Luke and May were looking at each other.

It wasn't like in a friendly kind of way, it was more like lovers having a romantic moment.

My stomach tightened and my heart raced but I tried not to think too much about it.

"Are you ready?" The officiant's voice cut through the fog in my mind.

"Yes." I turned to Luke, forcing myself to meet his eyes.

He stared back at me, in a blank and cold expression.

"Do you, April Quinn, take Luke Blackwood as your husband and Alpha?" The officiant said looking at me and I returned the look back with a smile and nodded.

"Yes, yes I do" I replied and then he turned his face to Luke and spoke.

"Do you, Luke Blackwood, take April Quinn as your bride and Luna?" The officiant's voice rang out across the silent hall.

Luke's jaw tightened as he kept refusing to answer immediately.

And then a few seconds later when he spoke, he said the words that shattered my world.

"No. I don't."

The hall erupted in gasps, but all I could hear was the roaring in my ears. My vision blurred and my knees went weak on that spot.

No. No, this isn't real. I misheard him.

"Luke, what do you mean?" My voice came out weak. "You're my mate."

Luke stepped back like I'd tried to touch him with something diseased. "Mate?" His lip curled. "I won't bind myself to weakness. I refused to accept a wolfless Luna."

He turned to face the crowd, his voice ringing with authority. "I Luke Blackwood, I reject April Quinn."

The words hit me hard. My chest tightened and my breathing ceased. I couldn't breathe.

"No... you can't..." I whispered, but the words barely made it past my lips.

Then I saw Luke's hand stretched out but it was not toward me.

It was toward May. My Twin sister.

The next though on my head was 'What the hell was going on'