His Liege

Traditions

Stelian was dragged into a room, where the three women dressed him in a red velvet tunic and black tights, combed through his wavy black hair, and groomed him. Once he was dressed, the guards came to him, and walked him away from the women. They trekked down the hallway, before stopping at a massive wooden door. The guards pulled on the handles of the door, and shoved Stelian forward into a massive ballroom packed with people. With no familiar faces in sight, Stelian resigned himself to standing against the wall, trying his hardest to be calm. 

Lucian strode down the hall with his entourage of advisors in tow. His thoughts were consumed with a pair of big blue eyes, and the exquisite expressions his mate would make during the hunting ceremony. It was tradition that the dominate wolf would hunt and mark his mate, staking his or her claim on their mate. Tonight, he would do this with his lovely little mate. The voice of one of his advisors, Boris, broke through his thoughts.

"Your majesty, your mate is male, he can't continue your lineage. Perhaps you should consider a she wolf as your Queen, and have the boy as a mistress." Boris implored. Lucian waved him off, walking further down the hall.

"Are you sure it's not because my mate is human, that you feel the need to have him replaced?" Lucian asked humorously.

"Your majesty, this is not funny. Yes, it is because he is human. You know as well as I that a human Lunis will not be accepted."

"Human or not, he is mine."

"No one is contesting that he is yours, we're simply suggesting that you take a wolf as Luna, or a Lunis if that is your preference." The advisor reiterated. Lucian sighed. He picked up his wolf mask, and placed it over his head, looking every bit like the beasts he ruled.  

"I'll look into it. But now, it's time to begin the ball." Lucian ordered. "Let the hunt begin."

Stelian was an outsider. There was no Lucian to guide him, no forests to get lost in, only cold, a kind of cold that stemmed from misery and confusion. It was consuming him. He had forgotten how it felt to be alone. It wasn't that the people in his village didn't care for him, it wasn't that at all. But that didn't mean the feeling wasn't familiar. The cold was the echo of voices in the back of his mind staying he was a burden, he was not good enough, he did not belong. Those familiar voices that had lain dormant for a thankfully long amount of time had awoken, cutting, biting at Stelian. He was panicking, he could feel it. Rationality was drowning in a sea of doubt and uncertainty. What if Lucian had been lying about them being mates? What if mating was a sick game the wolves played to make peasants fall in love with them, only to have them thrown into the snow with their hearts broken and crushed to pieces-

Stelian tried desperately to shake the thoughts away. He brought his attention back to the ballroom he was in, and tried to shake off the feeling of dread in his belly. Having not eaten since breakfast the day before, he felt lightheaded. The party goers were richly dressed in blacks and reds, and wore animal masks that looked much too real for Stelian's overwhelmed brain. A guard approached him, carrying in his hands the mask of a rabbit. He handed the mask to Stelian, who stared at the mask with apprehension. The guard watched him expectantly, until Stelian put the mask over his head.  The guard then shoved him forward into the crowd. He waded through the mass of people, their masks leering at him. The music picked up faster and faster, reaching a haunting crescendo. Dancers swirled around him, all blurs of vermilion and fur, until the chaos was broken by a deadly resounding howl. Stelian felt his heart drop in his chest in terror, and his survival instinct set in. He ran. 

Lucian could smell him. The sweet scent of his mate permeated through the ballroom, getting farther and farther away each second. His wolf would not have that. With another bellowing growl, the wolf took off through the crowd in search of his prey. The drums pounded in a steady rhythm as the hunt began. 

Stelian weaved his way through the crowd, thinking of nothing more than escape, but everywhere he turned, an animal waited. He could feel the wolf getting closer, the predator closing in on his prey. The drums pounded faster and faster, their pace catching up to Stelian's frantic heart. He took off his mask, and searched desperately for some escape before the wolf cornered him, but he was too late. Stelian's adrenaline left him as the wolf stalked closer. Its deadly aura left him shaking at the knees, his big blue eyes staring up at the wolf in panic. Lucian ripped off his mask, looking every bit as feral as his mask had, and pulled Stelian into his arms. Seconds later, Lucian's fangs embedded themselves into the soft skin of Stelian's neck, his mouth open in a silent scream. The piercing pain faded to a dull throb as black spots danced across his vision, until blackness overtook him.