There was just one thing for Michael to do before going to the West Wing: check on the bird.

After pulling a jacket from his wardrobe, he turned around and looked across his room. The bird he thought would have risen before or in time with the sun was still asleep on top of his bedside table, where he had decided to place it, makeshift tunic nest and all. As quietly as possible, he walked over to it while putting his jacket on. When he reached the table, he picked up a loaf of bread his mother had an omega deliver to his chambers late last night, broke off a few tiny pieces and placed them in front of the sleeping bird.

Now, he could go.

When Michael opened his door, the last thing he expected to see was a girl about his age standing in front of his chambers, hand raised as if she were about to knock. She was a few inches shorter than him, with auburn hair that fell to her slim waist. Her long black dress a sharp contrast to her creamy pale skin.

She did not look familiar, but that was not surprising as it was impossible to know or remember every single omega who came and went inside of the castle. And the fact that this one was daring enough to lurk around so early in the morning made him wonder, for the first time, why Lukas was never around when he actually needed him.

She smiled when his eyes met her green ones, but all he did was clear his throat as he knew better than to smile back. If he did, it would have meant he was okay with her presence. That he was willing to acceptwhatever she was offering.

And he certainly was not.

At that point, every pack member knew he was betrothed, and knew to act accordingly. He might have admired her courage had he not had somewhere else to be and more important matters to attend to.

"Whatever you are offering, I am not interested."

Michael rushed past her to make his way down the corridor, but only made it a few steps when his Aunt Emilia rounded the corner and entered the corridor.

When their eyes met, she gave him a bright smile. "Good morning, my lovely nephew."

Before Michael could respond, her gaze and attention had already shifted to what—or, rather, who—was behind him.

"Ah, Danica, there you are." Once his aunt joined his side, she slid her arm through his and turned him so that he had no choice but to face the rejected omega once again. "I take it you two have met. Michael, you should know she was very excited to meet you. So much so, she refused to wait for you to come down for breakfast."

Confused, Michael looked at the omega then back at his aunt. Why was she so excited? "I am sorry, Aunt Emilia, but you know this girl?"

"Why, of course I know her." She looked away from him and at the girl. "Did you not tell him who you are?"

Michael looked at the girl just as she shook her head.

"Oh, Danica. I did not expect you to be this shy around him." His aunt slid her arm from his, and walked the few feet over to where the girl stood. "You have been waiting for this very moment since your arrival. I guess I shall make the introductions then." She looked at him. "Michael, this is Danica, daughter of Marek, the Alpha of the South, and your soon to be mate."

Michael shifted his gaze from his aunt to the girl.

The girl he had just mistaken for an omega trying to get bedded by him was the Alpha's daughter he had been promised to? When the hell had she arrived, and why had he not been told of her arrival?

Michael balled his fists. He was positive this was his father's doing.

When he was asked his thoughts about moving up the mating process the day prior, his father must have already had his mind made up. The fact that his soon-to-be-mate was already here was proof that it had already been a done deal. Michael's only real choice in the matter was to accept it.

"I apologize," Michael offered the girl—or, rather, his future mate. "I did not know you would be arriving so soon. Welcome."

She stared up at him, green eyes lit up with excitement, and her mouth opened slightly as if she was finally going to speak. But it did not take long for her shyness to seal her light pink lips into a soft smile.

"Yes, she arrived late last night. A few days earlier than expected, but it certainly is a welcomed and happy surprise, is it not?"

Happy surprise? No, it most certainly was not.

He thought he would have more time. How much, he did not know. Just...more.

"Michael, what do you say to joining us for breakfast? It will give you two an opportunity to get to know one another."

Again, the girl's—Danica's—eyes lit up as she looked between his aunt and him.

He could see as clear as day the hope glistening within them when they settled on him as she awaited his answer.

It would have been rude of him to refuse. He had already offended her, and he would be crazy to do so again by not dining with his future mate. But entertaining the girl he was going to be forced to spend the rest of his life with had not been in his morning plans. Zanna, he hoped, was waiting for him in the West Wing, and it was important he meet with her.

"I would very much like to get to know you better. I hope you will join us."

After hearing her finally speak, Michael could not say he was surprised at the softness in her voice. Everything about her from her facial features to her figure was soft. But there was a distinct confidence behind her words—behind that softness—that caught his attention.

The type Michael was all too familiar with.

The kind that only one who came from an Alpha family could recognize, no matter how subtle it was.

And it made him wonder if she truly was hoping he would join her, or if she was subtly telling him he had no choice.

"Of course," he agreed.

If he had rejected her offer outright, there was no telling what consequences he would face if word were to get back to his father. Besides, the sooner he got it over with, the sooner he could leave.

"Breakfast sounds great."

He only hoped it would be quick.

* * *

It had not been quick.

But after being forced to entertain Danica and pretend he was excited over her sudden arrival, the longer than necessary breakfast was finally over. Now, he could finally go to one of the few places in the world he could meet with Zanna in secret—the west wing.

Michael rushed from the dining room and set off in the direction of the west side of the castle.

Whenever he went to the west wing, it was almost always from the second floor. It was easier to get there undetected that way as opposed to going there from the main floor, which was usually filled with too many prying eyes.

Because most of the pack members were still in the dining room, he did not have to worry about running in to anybody that might delay or prevent the journey. Every now and then, a servant passed him by, but Michael never had much interactions with them. Not because he viewed himself as above them, but because their rank prevented them from even daring to look at him let alone converse with him unless absolutely necessary or unless he spoke to them first.

This fact made it easy for him to get nearly halfway there unbothered and undetected.

Or so he had thought.

Just as he reached the halfway mark, that was when he heard it—footsteps from behind.

Michael stopped walking, but did not have to turn around to see who the culprit was. He was already all too familiar with the barely audible steps that always seemed never too close but never too far.

"Why are you following me, Lukas?"

What he really wanted to ask was where the hell the guard had been when his services were actually needed an hour prior, but decided not to. He wanted to get rid of him, not engage in unnecessary conversation.

"Where are you going?"

"I do not believe that is any of your concern."

"I will accompany you."

"I shall pass on your offer."

"And what is there in the West Wing that is making you so determined to go alone?"

Where they were currently standing made it fairly easy to figure out he was undoubtedly headed for the West Wing. But the last thing he wanted was for Lukas to find out why he was headed there.

Michael finally turned around to face him.

"I wish for nothing but solitude at this very moment, as I have just been forced to spend the morning getting to know a mate I never wanted and had not been told would be arriving so soon. Have I not the right to seek it in the ruins? A desolate place to match my desolate soul."

For a moment, silence passed between them, but Lukas did not break eye contact with him. There was nothing in his expression to tell if he cared about Michael's admission or was in any way affected by it. It was just another reason why Michael had such a hard time figuring his guard out, and an even harder time trusting him.

"There is a pack meeting in a few hours. I expect you to find your way back by then. If not, I will have no choice but to come and bring you back myself."

"Do not fret. I will be there."

Michael turned his back to Lukas and walked off. His hurried pace brought him to the ruins of the West Wing within ten minutes. Armed with only a prayer to the moon Goddess that he did not meet his end on the ascend, he climbed the old, cracked wooden steps of the barely held together staircase that led up to the second floor.

That dark and unnaturally cold part of the castle was meant to be off limits, and it had been that way for as long as he could remember. For years before he ever came into existence, numerous attempts to rebuild the West Wing's interior had been made, but the rebuild had always ended up the same—in ruins.

Rumour had it the West Wing had been cursed by magic—Fae magic—and not even the Witches could undo it. He did not know if he truly believed the rumour, but a part of him did not fully doubt it either.

As Michael crossed the creaky wooden floors, he felt the cold seep its way past the layers of clothing he made sure to wear every time he went there and chill him down to his core. And whenever that happened, it meant he was approaching the one door in the entire West Wing that could not be opened.

When he bypassed it without sparing it so much as a glance, he set his sights on the door diagonally across from it—a room where he had always met with Zanna whenever she secretly came to the castle. He opened the door and entered.

It was not much, and just like the rest of the West Wing, it was full of dust, broken floorboards and cobwebs that lived in every corner. There was nothing special about the room to have made it their meeting place, other than memories created inside of it by him, Gabriel and Zanna that stretched from the time they were kids into their teenage years.

Once inside, a part of him hoped to find her already inside and waiting for him, the sunlight from the single window bouncing off her brown skin and notoriously black clothes. But that was not at all what awaited him inside the room. It was not that he was disappointed to find it empty, just a little disheartened.

Even so, he told himself to wait.

So, he waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Until he began to wonder if he might have come too early.

Until he tried to convince himself that maybe he had missed her.

Until he came to the realization that Zanna was not going to come.

From where he stood in the middle of the small, shabby room, he reached into his trouser pocket and picked up the moonstone he had brought along just in case.

When Michael had woke that morning, he woke not full of nerves but fear. Fear because if Zanna really did not come, it would mean he was entirely on his own. And if he was on his own, then it meant his plan had failed before it had even begun.

He pulled the moonstone out of his pocket and held it up to his lips. He opened his mouth to speak, to call out to Zanna, but paused.

He did not know exactly how long he had already waited, but he was certain he did not have much time to wait any longer. The pack meeting was bound to take place any minute, and if he did not leave now, he did not doubt for a second Lukas would act good on his word to come find him and bring him back.

With no other choice, and no reason to stay, Michael decided to leave the West Wing.

He shoved the moonstone back into his pocket and headed for the door.

On his way out of the room, he realized his earlier fear had come to pass—he truly was alone.

There was no Gabriel.

No Zanna.

Only him.

But that did not mean that it was over. He would not—could not—let his plan fail. He simply had to find another way.

He had to.

He would.

He did not know how, but he would.

A/N: Eight years ago today, I posted the first chapter of Moonrise on Wattpad. Thank you to everybody who has been riding with Michael & Ellette since then & after [and those who were there before they came to Wattpad ;)].

Are we feeling Danica, or nah?