Sira's Pov
"Have you heard?"
With the food tray carefully balanced in my hands, I came to a halt. I remained motionless even though the gentle clatter of the plates nearly reverberated in the silent hallway.
I was unable to. Just in front of me, by the door leading into the main dining hall, were two soldiers who spoke.
As if they didn't want anyone to hear them, they were speaking quietly. But when they were talking so close to each other, it was difficult to ignore.
The second voice said, "Of course, I heard," with a heavy growl in his voice. "The Luna Selection Ceremony will soon take place. Finally, the Alpha will select his mate."
The ceremony was not intended to be known to me. I was not permitted to have any knowledge of it. However, the whispers continued to reach me despite this.
It didn't.
I tried not to make any noise, so I held my breath. Every phrase seemed to add to the tension in the air.
I was only a shadow in the hallway, someone the soldiers didn't want to look at. Someone who was unimportant.
"Do you believe that she will be the one?" Even lower was the voice of the first fighter. "You know, she's different. She's already marked, I've heard."
My skin crawled at the word "marked." However, I couldn't allow them to witness my reaction. That was a lesson I had learned since I grew up. They'd see me if I reacted. They would remember if they saw me. But, I did not wish to be remembered.
"Is it important?" There was contempt in the second warrior's voice. "A hybrid? An Omega? She will never be selected."
I could feel how the heat in my chest had risen, but I couldn't move myself and acted as if I wasn't listening to it. My fingers tremble when the plate on the tray becomes spicy and my fists get crowded.
However, I didn't. Rather, I inhaled deeply, allowing the rage to subside like dust on the ground. I was unable to show them how hurtful their remarks were.
They had always discussed me behind my back, and this would not be the first time. However, my heart began to race as the Luna Selection was brought up.
A decision. A mate would be selected by the Alpha. His Luna, not just any mate.
And I allowed myself to ponder for a bit.
"Is it me?"
But as soon as the thought occurred, I brushed it off. I would never be chosen by the Alpha. I was an outcast, an Omega, and a mistake. His place was significantly higher than mine.
It was never a decision. But the question continued to nag at the back of my mind. Why was I marked by the Moon Goddess?
I turned abruptly and headed toward the warriors' dining room while feigning busyness. Even after the moment was over, my heart kept pounding.
I slipped inside after using my shoulder to push the door open. The chamber was filled with the soldiers' normal chatter as they sat at big oak tables, eating and drinking as if nothing had happened. But it wasn't. Not for me.
"Snacks for the soldiers!" I shouted, attempting to seem even and informal. I had mastered staying out of the way and making myself inconspicuous. I was just a food delivery girl, nothing else.
I kept my head down and placed the tray on the closest table. I was afraid to glance up at any of them. I could see the same contempt in their eyes if I did.
The same sympathy. The same animosity.
Aside from one. I cast a brief sidelong glance and saw the Beta's figure—Zane.
He watched the other warriors eat while sitting alone at the other end of the room. His attention flicked across to me, but I quickly looked away.
Zane was unique. The only person who ever regarded me without that same condemnation was him. I didn't feel unwelcome or like a ghost because of him.
"Poor girl," one of them said, loud enough for me to hear. I tensed, trying not to move, as I heard one of the warriors giggle gently as I passed.
"She believes she is important. The Alpha doesn't even value her time."
Even though the words hurt, I kept them hidden. Rather, I continued to walk, head down, at a steady pace. I was accustomed to it. I must have been.
But the same question kept coming back to me: Why had I been marked by the Moon Goddess?
Alpha's Luna wasn't meant to be like me. I wasn't a pure person. I lacked strength. I was merely a shattered object, an error that had managed to endure. Nobody desired to have a hybrid as their Luna.
I heard the voice once more as I set down another plate of food on a table. It was louder this time. More pressing.
"It will take place tomorrow."
As if they were intended specifically for me, the words replayed in my head. Tomorrow. The Ceremony of Luna Selection. The moment when everything would be different.
I didn't belong there, though. I was not invited. Nobody wanted me to be present. It would never be permitted by the Elders. I stopped, my heart thumping in my chest.
I froze as the room's door creaked open. A towering figure stood in the doorway, his keen, focused eyes sweeping the room.
Kieran Alpha.
My stomach turned over. I didn't think he would enter. He didn't usually come here at this time. As he stepped inside, the warriors all tensed up and their conversations became hushed.
None of them caught Alpha Kieran's notice.
He was trying to find someone or something. Then he turned to look at me.
I went cold. For a minute his eyes, those stormy, penetrating eyes, met mine. The entire room seemed to vanish. He and I were alone.
But he blinked, his eyes blinking, focusing on something else. I didn't know I was taking a breather and letting it go slowly.
I completed my work as fast as I could while keeping my head down. I had to hide from him. I had no place here.
Yet the question continued to haunt me and niggle in the back of my mind. The Moon Goddess marked me, but why?
I turned in time to see Zane approaching me as I heard footsteps resounding behind me.
He was speaking slowly and deliberately, as though he had an important thing to say. His voice was hardly heard when he got to me.
"Did you not hear?" I pretended to concentrate on the empty tray in my hands as I nodded.
"Tomorrow," he repeated. "It will take place tomorrow. You are not required to leave. You won't ever be asked."
I swallowed hard because I didn't think I could talk. In the silence, my mind was racing with ideas and questions.
I couldn't read Zane, but his eyes softened as if he knew how I felt. Not at all.
Silently, as if to caution me, he continued, "Don't do anything stupid."
But, I didn't respond to him. I was unable to. I was at a loss for words. I took one final look at the Alpha as he left. His face was unreadable and uninterested as he continued to observe the warriors. However, I was aware.
I was aware that a change was coming. I heard it again as I turned to leave, my heart thumping in my chest.
The smallest murmur in the recesses of my thoughts.
Tomorrow is the Luna Selection Ceremony.
And everything will be different. Would that be the start or the finish of my story?