- 22 hours ago
21 Days To Moonsever
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00:00Every unmated young wolf in the Southern Pax Union wanted a taste of my nectar.
00:04At sixteen, I tricked my father's battle brother into taking his first sip.
00:09That night, he drank every last drop from me.
00:11By dawn, Silvermoon City exploded.
00:14His childhood sweetheart fled with tears.
00:16I moved into the most lavish estate in Silvermoon, became the wife of the North Legion's rising
00:22star.
00:23The woman every she-wolf envied.
00:25Every night, the entire manor reeked of rose nectar and pine, tangled so thick that passing
00:31pack members didn't dare come near.
00:33Each time he rode north with the Legion, I counted the days until his return.
00:38Until this time, he returned from the northern border as a hero, brought back his childhood
00:43sweetheart and her two-year-old cub, Amber Eyes.
00:46His Amber Eyes, he moved them into our house, taught the pup to call him Daddy.
00:51I didn't rage, didn't cry, I simply handed over the keys to our estate, the rights to
00:56the family properties, my place as Ironclaw's matriarch.
01:00He thought I'd finally learned to be docile, that I'd accepted my place as the unloved wife.
01:05What he doesn't know, while he was busy playing house with his sweetheart and their pup, I was
01:09on my knees before the Alpha King.
01:11Child, you once knelt here begging the Moonbloom's blessing for your mating bond.
01:16Do you understand what price must be paid to strever what the Moon Goddess has granted?
01:20Yes.
01:21To earn your consent, I will go to the Frostlands in the Prince's place.
01:25Bring me the severance of Skrolt with his signature and yours.
01:29The next full moon after you deliver it, the Moon Goddess will answer your prayer.
01:34My remaining years traded for freedom, the countdown begins.
01:38Twenty-one days, that is all I have left.
01:40Twenty-one days, until the Goddess severs our bond.
01:43Twenty-one days, until I leave this cage and ride north.
01:47Not as a discarded wife, but as a bride to the Lord of the Frost.
01:50He wanted a docile wife, never would he get one.
01:53He'll only watch me become a legendary queen.
01:56Twenty-one days, until the Moon severing rite.
01:58Kael returned from the Royal Palace and went straight to Seraphine's bed in the East Wing.
02:03I heard them.
02:04The night was still and my hearing had been trained sharp.
02:07Her moans, his growls, they coupled from Moonrise to Moonset.
02:12They had many such nights.
02:13Once whenever Kael returned to Silvermoon from the border.
02:17Lyra do not disturb me.
02:18Be a good wife.
02:19Be decile.
02:20I would bend every effort to please him, but all I earned was refusal and correction.
02:25Now I finally understood, Dossiel was for the unloved.
02:28The loved received companionship, so I learned docility.
02:32Even when my handmaiden Meera rushed to report.
02:35Mistress, today Kael went to the palace.
02:37He's petitioning the Alpha King for a formal title, for Seraphine.
02:41Let him.
02:41He failed.
02:42Of course, that evening Seraphine wept in his arms, sorrowful and trembling.
02:48He would continue to fail.
02:49The Alpha King regarded me as his own daughter, so he would never consent to Kael's request.
02:54Not when it humiliated me.
02:56Then, as expected, Kael came seeking my help.
02:59Lyra.
03:00Your petition?
03:01The King refused.
03:02I will ask again.
03:03With military honors with-
03:05I drew a scroll from beneath my pillow and pressed it into his palm.
03:09Give her the title.
03:10My signature marked it.
03:12The Royal Seal marked it.
03:13Formally acknowledge her.
03:14Let her enter the halls, attend pack gatherings, gain standing in society.
03:19A female raising a bastard cut alone in Silvermoon?
03:23Survival is too harsh.
03:25Kael's expression faltered at my indifference.
03:28Your military honors were bought with years of blood on the northern border.
03:31Do not waste them on household issues.
03:33How did you convince the King?
03:35The King regards me as his daughter.
03:36I asked as a daughter, and he granted it.
03:39Of course, the truth was simpler.
03:41I had offered to sever our mating and take the princess's place as bride to the Lord of the Frost.
03:46That was my price.
03:48Now only his signature stood between us and freedom.
03:51Cell's eyes trembled, moved by my reasonableness.
03:54He stepped forward.
03:56Seeking to kiss me, I pushed him away.
03:58From my drawer, I withdrew the prepared family property inventory.
04:02Your signature is required to formally transfer management to Seraph Athene.
04:06Eager to please Seraphine, he signed and sealed without hesitation.
04:10Never noticing that buried in the stack of documents lay the mating bond dissolution agreement.
04:15I had hidden from him.
04:17Once he signed.
04:18Once it was delivered to the moon bloom altar.
04:20On the next full moon when the moon goddess's consent arrived,
04:23he and I would be north and south never to meet again.
04:26Twenty days until the moon severing right.
04:29I secured Kael's signed documents and went to the palace.
04:32The Luna Queen received me very soon.
04:34With this severance scroll, the alpha king can arrange the moon severing right for the
04:38next full moon in twenty days.
04:40You, the Luna Queen, hesitated.
04:43Lyra, there is something I think you should know.
04:47The moon bloom priests discovered large quantities of frost moon grass toxin in the
04:50calming tea samples you sent last month.
04:53This poison is extracted from the northern wastelands, colorless and tasteless,
04:56extremely cold in nature.
04:58If a she-wolf consumes it long term, she will be barren for life.
05:03The words fell softly.
05:05My mind went white.
05:07Frost moon grass toxin, a forbidden substance only the North Legion could access.
05:12And that calming tea, Kael had prepared it himself after every border return.
05:16I had drunk it for three full years.
05:19Thirty-six moon cycles.
05:21How many tears had I shed?
05:22Believing myself barren, unable to give Kael an heir, unable to make him a father.
05:28Yet Kael had said it mattered not.
05:30When elders urged him to seek other females for bloodline continuation.
05:34I will only raise young with the one I love, and I will touch no other she-wolves.
05:39I had wept at his devotion, believing I was that love.
05:42Now I saw myself the complete fool.
05:45The one he wished to raise young with was not me.
05:47I was of the other she-wolves.
05:49Tears finally spilled.
05:51Unstoppable.
05:52So this was his sworn devotion.
05:54This was the mate I had loved for three years.
05:56I rushed back to the estate, desperate to confront him.
06:00The sitting room was empty, the study was empty.
06:03Then they must be in the east wing.
06:05The east wing maids could not stop my fury.
06:07I burst through the door.
06:09Seraphine's musk scent engulfed me, but the room was empty.
06:12The master accompanies Madame Seraphine on inspection of family holdings.
06:16Rage seized me.
06:17I grabbed every document on her desk to tear them apart.
06:20Then I saw it.
06:22My moon, my blood, my only.
06:24Counting the days until I need not share your shadow.
06:27Every word burned with the heat of faded mates from sale to Seraphine.
06:31From number one, the first day I miss you, to number 523.
06:36My heart flies to thee.
06:37Three years of marriage.
06:39523 letters.
06:41Messengers could scarcely have rested, delivering daily.
06:44Every day they corresponded in secret.
06:46Even on nights I believed he belonged only to me.
06:49Only raise young with the one I love.
06:51I whispered his words and I knew.
06:53This love he had performed for three years.
06:56All of it illusion.
06:58Fortunately, the moon bloom tree would sever our bond in 20 days.
07:02And Kale's formal acknowledgement ceremony for Seraphine.
07:06That same day.
07:0710 days until the moon severing rite.
07:09Kale's return to Silvermoon grew later and later.
07:12Mira told me he spent these days taking Seraphine everywhere.
07:15Pack gatherings from the Alpha King's moon hunt ceremonies to the seven clans rotating blood
07:21oath banquets.
07:22Even the border military councils.
07:24Restricted to North Legion officers and Silvermoon officials.
07:28Sale found ways to seat Seraphine among the observers.
07:31I knew what he was doing.
07:33Fastest way to establish her as future matriarch of Ironclaw.
07:37Every step climbed over my spine.
07:39But I did not care.
07:40I continued performing my duties as Ironclaw's current matriarch.
07:44Including visiting Kale's grandmother at her estate.
07:47The moment I entered, I saw Seraphine kneeling beside the old woman's lounge chair.
07:52Hands folded, the picture of obedience.
07:55Kale stood behind her, palm resting on her shoulder.
07:58Fingers buried in her loose red hair.
08:00The grandmother's clouded amber eyes sharpened at my presence.
08:04You still have the face to come here?
08:06Three years mated to Kale and your belly remains empty.
08:10You wouldn't even let him seek other she-wolves to continue the bloodline.
08:16If not for Seraphine's sensibility, offering to enter the house and bear Ironcloth's heir,
08:22Kale's line would have ended with you, this useless barren she-wolf.
08:26My posture froze.
08:28I looked at Kale.
08:29He only turned away.
08:30His gaze fixed on the dancing flames in the hearth.
08:33Not once did he speak to me.
08:34This was not the first time his grandmother had tormented me over the topic of bearing young.
08:38But it was the first time he had not stood by my side.
08:41I remained silent for a long moment.
08:44Then empty of grief or rage.
08:46It is my failing.
08:47There, there, grandmother, don't be angry.
08:50Even if Sister Lyra cannot bear young, you should calm yourself.
08:54For Kale's sake.
08:56And for your own health's sake.
09:00I lowered my eyes, hiding bitterness, and seated myself farthest from them.
09:05Soon made served grilled meat.
09:07The traditional morning meal of wolf nobility.
09:09I reached with silver fork for a cut of tenderloin when Kale's furious voice cracked like a whip.
09:14Who prepared silver berry sauce?
09:1620 strips, now!
09:17I looked at Kale instinctively.
09:20Three years mated, and Kale was famous for one thing.
09:23At a moon hunt banquet, he had publicly smashed his plate, removing every dish containing silver berries.
09:29Because I was allergic.
09:30The berry swelled my throat, stripped my human form, left me vulnerable in half-wolf shape before the pack.
09:36For this, Kale became the perfect mate in every she-wolf's eyes.
09:40See how Ironclaw's master loves his wife, the trouble he takes for her.
09:44I opened my mouth to plead for the maids when I heard.
09:47Remember this well.
09:48Serafina cannot consume anything related to silver berries.
09:51If I see you forget again, I'll throw you into the northern mines to feed the snow wolves.
09:56Every fragment of my pride.
09:58So, this rare proof that he cared for me, also an illusion.
10:04Five days until the moon-severing rite,
10:07the Luna Queen invited females of all clans to the Moonbloom Garden for pre-ceremony blessings.
10:12Sale had prepared the carriage early.
10:14The Ironclaw crest, Iron Wolf on cold silver, gleamed through morning mist.
10:19I reached for his hands instinctively, but he stepped back.
10:22The carriage is crowded. Inconvenient.
10:24I froze.
10:25Lyra, it truly is cramped. You'll have to take the rear carriage, I'm afraid.
10:30I laughed quietly, understanding.
10:32Inconvenient. Not the space, me.
10:34I would crowd his true love.
10:36I climbed the rear carriage alone.
10:38When I got off the rear carriage, I came to the cluster of weighing looks from clan females.
10:43Pity, mockery, rare sparks of sympathy.
10:46Serafina proudly made her formal debut before the Luna Queen.
10:49It went poorly, the Luna Queen's face iced, she demanded Kale.
10:53I am the Luna Queen appointed by the Moongoss' own oracle to wed the Alpha King.
10:57I invited clan dignitaries and their goddess-blessed mates.
11:01You dare to bring a Paranor today? Do you mean to strike my face?
11:08Kale dragged the trembling Seraphine down, not a curtsy, but the forelimb submission posture
11:14of wolves showing fealty.
11:15Your grace, Seraphine is my mate. We love truly. She is no Parazor.
11:21The Luna Queen laughed coldly, fangs glinting.
11:24Unblessed by the Moon, she is no mate. Ask those gathered.
11:28Who sense bond marks between you? Forget not.
11:32You stood beneath the moon bloom tree and swore to Lyra.
11:36This one before you is unbonded. She can only be the Paraman.
11:40Females of all houses spoke.
11:42The Queen speaks truth. What love! What truth! What love!
11:48Without mating reach, she is outsider. Indeed, Kale was called the model of fated devotion.
11:54I see now all falsehood.
11:56Kale's face flushed crimson. He fled with Seraphine, disgraced.
12:01After the ceremony, the Luna Queen showered me with gifts. Moonstone charms,
12:05Silverberry preserves, northern furs for warmth, comfort, perhaps, or pity.
12:10The morning after our return to Ironclaw State,
12:13Meera fumed at me. Seraphine's people seized half the Queen's gifts.
12:17Best she ate it all, silverberries included. Let her be allergic, swell, and suffer.
12:21I watched Meera's indignation and gently patted her hand.
12:25She is not worth the charge of attempted murder.
12:27I went to the East Wing to fulfill my obligation of notice.
12:31My hand rose to knock. Then I heard Seraphine's weeping voice within.
12:34Kale, you swore to take me as true mate beneath the moonbloom tree.
12:40Why must I remain nameless, unacknowledged?
12:43Kale sighed, that tone I had never heard from him, soft as melting snow.
12:48Whatever outsiders say, within Ironclone you are my mate.
12:53Always. Seraphine pressed on.
12:55Then Lyra? Three years mated? Did you ever love her?
12:59I held my breath. Nails bit crescents into my palm, drawing blood.
13:04Kale was silent.
13:06Seraphine, I love you. Only you.
13:09Years ago, I arranged Liba's drunkenness and my mating with her to establish myself in Silvermoon.
13:14To bring you both here. Do not be angry. I drugged her for our future.
13:20Without that knight, how would I have caught the King's eye?
13:23Become North Legion commander in three short years?
13:26My raised hand fell limp. The wolf tooth bracelet on my wrist struck the door ring. A sharp cry.
13:33Who is outside?
13:35Kale threw the door open, met my burning eyes.
13:38L-Lyra?
13:39I forced a hideous smile.
13:42The Queen's gifts Seraphine took included silver berries. I came to warn her not to consume them.
13:47Sel reached for my hand, blocking my departure.
13:50Lyra, listen to me.
13:51A pained wail cut him short from within.
13:54A maid's voice rose.
13:55Master! Madam Seraphine feels unwell. Please attend her.
13:59His hand withdrew. I turned and left without looking back. One more second and I would have lost
14:05control. The wine would have escaped. My half-wolf phone would have shown my shame. I bit down until
14:10blood filled my mouth. Eyes crimson, even walking away. I felt Kale's panic. Burning gaze on my spine.
14:17Kale, you disgust me. To the core. All these years I blamed myself for that impulsive night.
14:22Believed I had forced you into marriage. Now I learned I was your ladder to power.
14:27Your tool to claim Alpha King's attention. Your key to unlock my late father's Northern Legion
14:32connections. Three years of marriage I had cherished. Every moment, deception. Three days until the
14:38moon-severing rite. Late that night, a drunken Kale pushed open my door. I sat up, pulling the quilt to
14:44cover my thin nightgown. Who permitted you entry? Kale pressed me down into the bedding,
14:50his face buried in my neck, his voice rough with irritation. You are my mate, blessed beneath the
14:55moon-bloom tree. We are fated pair. Why may I not come? He tried to kiss my jaw. I turned
15:02away,
15:03calling loudly for me. Mira! He is drunk. Arrange for him to be escorted to his own chamber. Kale braced
15:08himself on one arm. The other forcing me to face him. I saw the flush drain from his face. Who
15:14says I wish to return to that chamber? Then deliver the master to Seraphina's east wing.
15:19Sail flung himself from the bed, standing to glare at me in fury.
15:24Lyra, have you lost your mind? You would send me to another she-wolf's quarter?
15:28Do you even regard me as mate? I pulled at the corner of my mouth.
15:33Do you ever regard me as mate? Lyra, I know granting Seraphina title displeases you.
15:38I only, I only wish to give you a young. Give me a young? So Seraphine is avatar of the
15:46fertility
15:46goddess? Thanks to her blessing I who never conceived may now bear fruit? Or perhaps she
15:52is a miracle healer able to purge three years of frost moon grass toxin from my blood? The
15:57drugging laid bare in mockery. Kale froze, reaching as if to grasp me. Lyra, I-
16:02Master! Madam Seraphine feels unwell. Please attend her! A maid's voice cut through from
16:08beyond the door. Sail loosened his hand, standing silent. Go. I lowered the bed curtains, separating
16:15myself from him. Sail did not move. He only watched me for a long while. The voice outside continued.
16:21Master! Master! Sail finally turned, as he left. Do not dwell on it. I will still treat you well.
16:28Liars speak devotion so easily. Performing depth for whom to witness. Disgusting.
16:33The following days I had Mira inventory all my personal property. I would take nothing belonging
16:39to Ironclaw. Leave nothing of myself behind. If we do moonister we sever it clean. Three hours
16:45until the moon severing right. The estate was hung with silver, white silk and moon bloom branches.
16:51Decorations reserved for true mating ceremonies. Seraphine had insisted. Seal had granted it. Mira entered.
16:57Interrupting my gaze through the window. Madam. All your personal assets have been
17:02inventory and packed. She helped me remove the Ironclaw crested cloak before the mirror,
17:07dressing me in gowns from my maiden days. Beautiful. You look as you did then. The door opened.
17:13Sail stood in mating rights attire. A groom's finery. Yet his face carried something like sorrow.
17:20Soon I go to swear with Seraphine beneath the moon bloom tree. Have you nothing to say to me?
17:25May your bond hold firm. May you bear many young. Kale's eyes dimmed after silence.
17:32Rest assured. I will still treat you well. I said nothing. Rose pushed past him toward the door.
17:38Kale, I never wanted your charity, especially not built on lies. Three hours until Alpha King's envoy
17:44arrives. The incense of the moon bloom herb filled the estate to purification for ritual space.
17:50One hour until the moon severing right. I stood in the main hall. Pity. Mockery. Schadenfreude. I smiled at
17:57them all. Thirty minutes until the moon severing right. Kale took Seraphine's hand. The pair advanced
18:04toward the temporary altar in the estate gardens, surrounded by guests. He paused passing me, eyes
18:10holding something I did not understand, would not understand. I only watched coldly as the pair prepared
18:16their vows. Swear to the moon goddess. Swear to the pack. Swear to decree from the Alpha King.
18:23Silver armored guards burst through, escorting moon bloom priest Eldrin in moon white ritual robes.
18:30Moon bloom priest Eldrin spoke calmly. I trust my arrival does not interrupt your celebration?
18:39Priest, you jest. What business brings the Alpha King's decree?
18:44Today is Kale's joyous occasion. The King surely brings honors.
18:50Hm, obvious is it not? The King himself approved this second mate. He comes to add blessing.
18:56Ah, but if so, Lady Lyra will be thoroughly shamed. First the King's approval for Seraphine,
19:02now wedding day honors. She'll have no standing left in Silvermoon nobility.
19:06Shh! Lyra might hear. I felt their pity, mocking eyes. My face remained serene. I stepped before
19:12Eldrin, kneeling to receive the decree, then was roughly pulled aside. Kale's grandmother surged
19:17forward, fawning smile for Eldrin, venomous glare for me. Move aside! This must be the King's blessing
19:24for Kale and Seraphine. Do not disgrace us here! Her whisper carried. Kale's face darkened. He reached for me. I
19:31evaded.
19:31Grandmother, Lyra is my first mate. How could she disgrace us? Such words shame me. Whatever comes,
19:36Lyra remains Ironclaw's first lady. Shock rippled through the hall. Especially Seraphine.
19:41What do you mean? You said I was the mate you wanted! Lyra was only a convenience!
19:47Guests beyond heard clearly. What I misheard. Kale never loved Lady Lyra. Only the parasite.
19:53This is ridiculous. Seraphine flung her bouquet to the floor. Liar, hear me well.
20:00Kale never loved you. Never! He married you from necessity. Even your mating night,
20:05he spent it writing to me! Silence!
20:10Lyra, listen. I can explain. She is mad. Her words are false. I love you. I truly love you.
20:17I looked at his face and felt only irony. Three years married. Three years I loved him truly. In return,
20:24five twenty-three nights of secret letters. Poison in my tea made barren before his grandmother's
20:30contempt. Now I woke. Now I chose not to love. Yet he spoke of love. Eh. I laughed. Ironic. Absolute.
20:37Belated devotion. How cheap. I smoothed my disheveled hair, knelt slow and certain before Eldrin.
20:43Priest, read the decree. Eldrin nodded, opening the moonstone casket, withdrawing the gold-sealed
20:49scroll. All knelt to hear. Only Kale remained frozen, standing. Some foreboding gripped him,
20:55as though something precious would slip away. Wait! Kale's voice cut through. All turned to
21:01stare, shock, confusion. His grandmother seized his ritual garment, whispering urgently. Whatever it
21:07is, wait until the priest finishes. Kale opened his mouth, met Eldrin's displeased gaze. Kale,
21:13you repeatedly interrupt Alpha King's decree. Do you question the King's proxy of the Moon Goddess's will?
21:20The threat woke him. He knelt silent. Eldrin cleared his throat, unrolled the gold-sealed scroll. By the
21:26Moon Goddess's name, the Alpha King decrees. The King's ward Lyra Silverstone and Kale Ironclex
21:32Moonbloom Blessed Bond is formally severed at the consent of the Moon Goddess. Henceforth,
21:37each may wed where they will. So ends the decree. Eldrin's voice fell. Kale and his grandmother cried out
21:46together. Priest, have you misread? How could the King permit Lyra to sever our moon bonding?
21:52This must be error. His grandmother followed. Lyra is Kale's mate, blessed beneath the Moonbloom
21:57tree. How can severance be so casual? Eldrin ignored them. Congratulations, Miss Lyra.
22:02You may return home today. I received the gold-sealed scroll with both hands, my truest smile in days.
22:11Priest Eldrin, my thanks. Eldrin sighed, his gaze fond. No need. I watched you grow from cub,
22:17child. The King grieves for you, too. Then all remembered who I was.
22:23Bayond Kale, Ironclaw's first mate, I was Silverstone's daughter, only child of the late North
22:28Legion commander. When my parents fell, the Alpha King and Luna Queen raised me among their own. Before
22:34marriage, few noble females. But the princesses in Silvermoon ranked above me, married to Kale. His
22:40careful construction made my first attribute Kale Ironclaw's wife, erasing my old fame as the pearl
22:46of Silvermoon. Eldrin departed soon after. The festive estate fell silent. Guests exchanged glances,
22:52then withdrew as one. The royal carriage arrived, with twenty moon guards to transport my belongings.
22:58As I left, Kale seized my sleeve. Laya, did you petition the King for this severance?
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