s, was bathed in a soft, warm, almost magical light that enveloped everything. The walls of the room were covered with canvases depicting scenes of mythological

horrible dream she never wanted to experience. Her eyes, bright with tears that she refused to let fall, were desperately looking for some comfort, some hint of tenderness, but everything was cold. Amjad's gaze, at the

ir, who outlined the formalities of the union. "Under the blessing of the Moon and our ancestors, you unite on this day. Y

soul. The pressure was building in her chest, making her almost unable to breathe. She turns her eyes towards Amjad. He too, with a frozen gaze, listened to the words like a man

this pledge," Amjad said in a voice devoid of any inflection, as if he were reciting a line of

ul to the pack, faithful to the union that the Moon imposes on me. » These words, so simple and yet

a moment of transfer of power, a moment when the woman became the accessory of the power of the man, the Alpha. There were smiles all around them, but none seemed sincere, none seem

lfillment of a duty, not to celebrate a real wedding. The guests were talking among themselves, casting furtive glances at the newlyw

chosen. But there was an invisible trap, a trap woven around her, around Amjad, around the pac

ed this moment a thousand times in her head, but never like this. Never with this coldness, never wit

ersonal in the room, nothing that had any connection to this man's life. Everything seemed frozen, in a state of frozen waiting. He approach

se, but not aggressively. "I don't

ever seen this man from this angle. He wasn't just a ruthless Alpha. He was also a man torn between his duty and his personal desires,

t have to justify yourself," she said finally, her voice weak but dete

n in his eyes. But it was so quick that she wondered if she had imagined it. He

demands," he replied in an icy

a different light. Not like the mighty Alpha, but like a man, a man caught in a

whispered, "we'll have to live with that. B

t seen before, a sparkle of humanity, however tiny it was. "I never wanted

in this silent exchange, the beginnings of a fragile compromise, a precarious balance betwee