Fated: The Alpha's Unwanted Luna-Chapter 167: The Marking

They were soon announced as husband and wife in the tradition of a human union, but not yet in the eyes of their world, for the marking ceremony was what truly mattered and what made it real among werewolves.

Viola could barely keep track of anything else that followed after that first ceremony, her thoughts consumed entirely by what was coming next. The marking.

The mating mark, as she understood it, was known to be painful, many dreaded the sharp, consuming pain that traditionally gave way to pleasure. But since hers would not be a permanent one, she found herself wondering quietly whether it would hurt just as badly regardless.

As all the guests made their way out to the paradise garden, glittering and silver beneath the light of the full moon, the bride was taken aside to change into a simpler dress, one that left her back and neck fully exposed, where her groom would have access to choose where to mark her.

When Viola stood before Sebastian again, he too had changed into something simpler. The moonlight fell behind him, casting a long shadow that wrapped around him as he stood looking down at her, his silver eyes glowing softly in the dark. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"What is wrong?" Sebastian asked her in a low whisper, for she had not said a single voluntary word to him since the night before, not even now, except when the vows had required it of her. Was she still upset about their conversation last night?

"Nothing," Viola said, turning her head away from him, a crease forming on her forehead. Even she couldn’t fully explain what was wrong with her or why a quiet, simmering displeasure sat so heavily in her chest. She was simply displeased, and she couldn’t put a name to the reason.

Not only was she displeased, she was also quietly nervous about what the night would bring, their first night as a married couple. Because despite the fact that she was bound by Evan’s mark, and despite the walls she was desperately trying to keep standing around her developing feelings knowing their relationship was temporary, she would still need to give herself to him and carry his child...

Sebastian could see that something was weighing heavily on her but said nothing more, deciding they would speak properly after the ceremony was done. Here, surrounded by everyone, was not the right place for it.

Everyone soon gathered around the raised platform where the bride and groom stood beneath the moonlight, and many began to shift into their wolf forms as was the tradition.

Elder Ysara raised her hands to the sky, her voice carrying across the garden with a reverence that commanded every soul present into complete silence.

"We all gather here today to witness the sacred union of our great supreme Alpha, Sebastian Kade, and Viola Jenson, bound together before the eyes of the moon goddess herself. Tonight, beneath her light, we witness the marking that will grant this woman the power, the authority, and the right to stand beside our Alpha and rule as his Luna over every pack in this world."

At those words, a thunderous chorus of howling erupted from the wolves, and Sebastian stepped closer to his wife, who suddenly looked nervous, her eyes moving everywhere except to his face.

The side of her plump lower lip was caught between her teeth, making her look gorgeously anxious. The moonlight spilling over her face made her skin look creamy and flawless, with a faint flush of pink dusting her smooth cheek that looked so soft and delicate it seemed as though a single touch or the gentlest press of a finger would cause it to ooze something deliciously sweet. The very tip of her small nose was pink as well.

The loose strands of hair framing the sides of her face teased her cheek as the night breeze swayed them gently back and forth, and then there were her cat-like blue eyes, framed by long, dark lashes, darting nervously around the gathered crowd as though searching for somewhere safe to land.

Just how adorably nervous was this wife of his? He thought, swallowing back the amusement that threatened to show on his face.

Slowly, he raised his hand and tucked the loose curly strands framing her face back behind her ear, drawing her gaze up to his. Her long lashes trembled slightly as she looked at him. Was she really that nervous? He wondered, biting back a smile, he hadn’t known his little hellcat could be nervous like every other she-wolf about the marking.

"Relax, baby, it won’t hurt that much. I promise," he whispered tenderly into her ear, and she went completely still and stiff at his words.

He discreetly pressed a quiet kiss to the side of her ear, on the side turned away from the crowd where no one could see, and then placed one arm around her small waist, his large hand bracketing it firmly as he slowly turned her around so that her back was against his front. He leaned down close and whispered to her again.

"I am choosing to mark you over Evan’s mark. Let’s see if my temporary mark is strong enough to wipe his away." He told her quietly.

Viola heard his words and her fingers clenched against the fabric of her deep red, open-backed dress. She had styled her hair in a way that covered Evan’s mark at the back of her neck, but she felt Sebastian’s hand move her hair aside, his fingers grazing her skin and sending a shiver running straight down her spine.

He had said it wouldn’t hurt much, but it wasn’t only the pain that frightened her now. It was the fact that he was attempting to mark her directly over Evan’s mark. Would his temporary mark truly be powerful enough to wipe it away? She wondered, closing her eyes as she felt the warmth of his soft lips press against her neck, and then the slow heat of his tongue, and then the graze of his teeth, and then the sharp, burning pain as he bit down.

Viola bit back the moan that surged up her throat as his teeth sank in and her legs swayed beneath her from the hot, needle-like pain that flooded through her veins. She felt his arm locked firmly around her waist, holding her steady against his hard chest, and she subconsciously reached up and closed her hand over his forearm, digging her nails into his skin, and his arm tightened around her in response.

"Sorry," he groaned low against her skin before he bit down once more, and Viola felt a wave of nausea roll through her stomach, before slowly, confusingly, it began to dissolve into a deep, spreading heat of pleasure that made her brows pull together in bewilderment.

When his mouth finally lifted from the back of her neck, she felt his warm tongue stroke slowly over her skin in a soothing pass that made her shiver from head to toe, before he raised his head. But Viola’s legs had become so weak beneath her that she had no choice but to lean into him for support.

He turned her around in his arms, making her face him, and then fitted his hand gently against the back of her head and guided it to rest against his chest as he allowed Elder Ysara to step forward and confirm the mark he had left.

Elder Ysara examined the dark round mark carefully and then turned to face the crowd, her voice rising above the stillness of the garden. "The marking is done! All hail the new Luna!"

Howling erupted once again from the wolves hailing the new Luna, and Sebastian’s arms tightened instinctively around his wife as he realized she had gone completely slack against him, unconscious, her full weight resting in his arms.

It wasn’t uncommon for she-wolves to faint when marked, even when the mark wasn’t permanent, especially not from a marking delivered by a powerful Alpha. The strength of it must have overwhelmed her entirely.

Words of congratulations reached him from the guests still in their wolf forms, while some among the crowd quietly rejoiced that the wolfless woman’s days were now numbered, but Sebastian paid no attention to any of it. He bent forward and gently gathered Viola into his arms, her face flushed and her brows still faintly creased together even in unconsciousness.

He would only know whether his temporary mark had succeeded in erasing Evan’s once his own had faded away.

"The celebration may continue, but as you can all see, my Luna needs to rest for the mark to settle properly." Sebastian announced calmly to the gathered guests before he stepped down from the platform and walked away from the garden with his wife tucked safely and peacefully in his arms.