Chapter 4: Swapped

The carriage moved slow and steady as we travelled on the road. Sunlight penetrating the window told me it was already noon. Shortly after, I heard the horseman announce, "We've now entered black moon territory!"

I swallowed.

Terrifying thoughts soon overwhelmed me. This was a crazy idea to begin with.

Flashback:

"What are you doing?" The white haired girl asked as she handed me the blanket.

"I need to take this off." "Pull off your wedding dress!" I commanded.

She stared at her floral styled white dress and stared back at me, more lost than ever. I groaned in impatience, "Do you wanna get back to Miguel or not?"

Her eyes lit up with joy, "Of course I do!"

"Then you'll do as I say. Now quickly take it off!" I cried, already peeling the dirty wedding dress off my body and she began taking hers off as well.

Shortly after, I was dressed in her wedding dress while she wore a plain dress made of cotton. I wrapped the black blanket around her body, covering most of her hair and her face, "You're good to go."

"Why are you doing this?" She asked with concern. I knew that she was very grateful and eager to get back to her mate. Why then was she asking too many questions?

"Just tell me,..." I halted, remembering that I never got her name.

"My name is Emily." She said, reading my thoughts.

"Emily. Is he powerful? The dark prince?"

"What do you think?" She asked, rhetorically.

I nodded off a reply, "Quickly, leave before they discover anything fishy. If you walk out now, they'll think you're the girl that you found yesterday and not me."

"Hmmm." Emily mumbled a response. She then lowered herself and enveloped me in a hug, "Thank you."

She got up and walked to the tent's entrance and looked at me one last time, then she vanished.

End of flashback.

My mind became flooded with 'What if's'. What if he discovers that his bride and I switched places and I am nothing more than an imposter?

What if he doesn't realise and decides to keep me but I fail to please him?

Will he kill me like the rest of his brides too?

I rapidly shook the thoughts out of my head. Deep breaths, deep breaths. I kept telling myself. I should learn to be less paranoid.

"What do you think of the new luna?" I heard someone ask outside the carriage.

"I can't tell." Another replied, "We'll just have to see what He thinks of her."

"We are here!" The second voice announced.

I swallowed a lump in my throat. This is it. I thought. There was no going back now.

No, I cannot die. I need to make sure I please him. The words kept ringing in my ears.

Suddenly, I felt a surge running through my body. Something was burning inside of me. The need for power. A sudden thirst for revenge! And this will only be possible if I can successfully become the Luna of the Black moon Pack; the Luna of the Dark prince.

The carriage door creaked open. A now familiar face stood in front of the door. He nodded at me without saying a word and quickly moved aside. I picked up the memo and quickly dropped from the carriage, gathering my wedding dress in my fingers.

"This way." He said, taking the lead to the enormous castle in front of me.

The castle pillars stood tall and mighty against the exquisite architectural genius. Wherever my eyes wandered, I was captivated by its unique design, yet frightened by its gothic appearance; large, thick pillars supported the gigantic building, statues of the watchers eyed me as I moved and the towering roofs seemed to suck out the magic of daylight leaving the castle dark and looking desolate. The aura here was completely different; intense and suffocating and only got stronger as I moved deeper into the building.

I caught a frightening stare from the shadows and almost leaped back in alarm, "Are you okay?" My guide asked.

I gave a nervous smile, "I'm fine."

We continued moving and I could see the set of creepy green eyes staring unblinking as it refused to take its sight away from me. A big lump was already forming in my throat, "You'll be okay." I whispered to myself and turned my attention to look ahead of me.

We walked into a large hall; it was dimly lit and made me feel much more terrified than I already was. Large statues of Greek gods stood at towering heights in corners of the hall. I hadn't noticed that my guide had left me until a thundering voice commanded, "Walk 10 steps forward."

I remained on the spot, lost and filled with fear. The voice came again with impatience, "Walk 10 steps forward."

My footsteps bounced against the large hall as I walked. After counting 10 steps, my feet became glued to the floor. For a while, nothing happened and the uneasiness inside of me continued to overwhelm me. Then the sound of moving furniture rang into my ear.

I nearly shrieked as I noticed a large figure walking towards me. His face came into sight and suddenly, I found myself caught up between being scared or drooling at the sight of him. Staring at him instantly made my heart leap and all of the butterflies in my stomach started going haywire.

His deep grey eyes pierced into mine and I suddenly lost the ability to move- or breath!

"Human." He said in a low husky voice. I was still caught up in a trance until he moved away from me.

"She has no wolf." His voice became thunderous once more, shaking the entire hall and bringing me back to reality. My mouth suddenly went dry as I digested his words.

"That's just horrible." A frail, elderly voice said from the shadows.

"Who has ever heard of a wolfless Luna?" Another asked.

He stared at me again. This time, the butterflies in my stomach were no longer dancing and my heart was in between my teeth, "This marriage will not take place."

"She must be sent back the way she came for such disgrace!" He snapped angrily, causing me to move back in fear.

The alpha turned his back to me and called for someone who came running into the hall, "Take her away." He ordered.

"Yes." The man responded with a bow.

At that moment, I felt myself melting like ice.

"This way." The man instructed and the Alpha vanished into the shadows.

I dragged my feet through the passageway with tear filled eyes, "You are to spend your night in here." The man said, stopping in front of a door.

Twisting the doorknob, I walked in without saying a word and crashed on the mattress which was the only thing my brain could pay attention to in the room.

Tears streamed down my face as I thought of how miserable I was. I wouldn't be able to get the revenge I want for my pack and it would take long for the Alpha of the Black moon pack to find out that I am not really his bride once I am returned, which will mean certain doom for me.