Chapter 18

The Alpha's rage was a physical presence in the room, a suffocating pressure that made the air itself feel heavy. Luna Elena hovered anxiously at his side, her fingers brushing his arm in a futile attempt to calm him.

"How dare you?" Alpha Marcus snarled, stalking toward Raymond. "In my own home? The night before your wedding?"

"Marcus, please—" Luna Elena began, but her husband cut her off with a sharp gesture.

"I want her gone," Alpha Marcus continued, jabbing a finger toward Giana, who shrank behind Raymond. "Expelled from the pack lands immediately. This disrespect will not be tolerated!"

Raymond squared his shoulders, placing himself more firmly between his father and Giana. "No," he said, his voice steady despite the tension radiating through his body.

"No?" The Alpha's voice dropped dangerously low. "You dare defy me?"

"She's my fated mate," Raymond declared, his words echoing through the suddenly silent hall. "My wolf has chosen her. I cannot—will not—be separated from her."

Luna Elena paled, her eyes darting between her son and husband.

"Your fated mate?" Alpha Marcus laughed, the sound harsh and humorless. "This... this rogue who sneaks around behind the pack's back? Who has no respect for our traditions, our hierarchy? Who has made a mockery of your engagement to Aurora?"

I stood frozen in the doorway, unable to move as the scene unfolded.

"I love her," Raymond said simply, reaching back to take Giana's trembling hand. "I've tried to fight it, to do what was expected of me, but I can't anymore."

The Alpha's hand moved so fast it was almost a blur. The crack of his palm connecting with Raymond's cheek echoed like a gunshot through the hall.

"You dishonor us all," he hissed.

Raymond's head snapped to the side from the force of the blow, but he remained standing. A red mark bloomed across his cheek.

Giana let out a choked sob and bolted, pushing past me as she fled into the night.

"Giana, wait!" Raymond started after her, but his father grabbed his arm.

"Let her go," Alpha Marcus ordered. "Let her run back to whatever gutter she crawled out of."

I finally found my feet, rushing forward. "Stop this!" I placed myself between them, one hand on Raymond's chest, the other raised toward the Alpha. "This isn't helping anything."

Raymond's eyes flashed with unexpected anger as they landed on me. "You," he growled. "Did you set this up? Was this your plan all along—pretend to support me while secretly betraying me to my father?"

I recoiled as if he'd slapped me too. "What? No, I—"

"Bernard said someone called him," Raymond accused, shoving my hand away. "Someone who knew exactly where to find us."

"It wasn't me," I insisted, hurt blooming in my chest at his accusation. "I was at my bachelorette party when Bernard called me to come here."

"Convenient timing," Raymond sneered, his grief and anger making him lash out.

Alpha Marcus interrupted our exchange. "Enough! Raymond, tomorrow's wedding will proceed as planned. Aurora will be your Luna. There is no alternative."

"I won't do it," Raymond shot back. "Not anymore."

The Alpha's eyes narrowed. "Then you will never see that rogue girl again. I'll have the borders patrolled day and night. She'll be turned away at every entrance to our territory."

Raymond's face drained of color. "You can't—"

"I am Alpha," Marcus reminded him coldly. "I can do whatever is necessary to protect this pack from your selfish impulses."

Without another glance at me or his parents, Raymond pushed past us and stormed out, presumably to search for Giana.

Luna Elena turned to me, her eyes filled with sympathy. "Aurora, dear, I'm so sorry you had to witness this."

Before I could respond, my father burst into the room, his face thunderous. "What's happening? The entire pack is buzzing with rumors."

His gaze landed on me. "You knew," he said, his voice low and dangerous. "You knew about this... this affair, and you said nothing?"

I straightened my spine, too exhausted for another confrontation. "Yes, I knew."

His hand clamped around my upper arm painfully. "How long? How long have you been complicit in this humiliation?"

"She wasn't complicit," Luna Elena interjected. "Aurora is as much a victim in this as anyone. More so, even."

"A victim?" My father's laugh was bitter. "She's weak. Incompetent. She couldn't even keep her fiancé away from a worthless rogue."

Alpha Marcus shook his head. "This isn't Aurora's fault, Beta James. Raymond's stubbornness is his own."

"And yet the wedding must still go forward," my father pressed. "With or without the groom's cooperation?"

"It will happen," Alpha Marcus confirmed grimly. "Raymond will see reason by morning."

My father's grip on my arm tightened. "Make sure he does," he hissed for my ears only. "Or your mother's treatments end tomorrow. Am I clear?"

I swallowed hard, nodding as the familiar threat landed.

The next hour dissolved into chaos—arguments over wedding preparations, heated debates about Giana's status, frantic phone calls to locate Raymond. I moved through it all like a ghost, numb to the storm swirling around me.

Eventually, I slipped away unnoticed, desperate for air that wasn't thick with other people's demands.

---

In the solitude of my room at the pack house, I stripped off my party dress and shifted into my wolf form. The change was a momentary relief, human concerns giving way to simpler instincts. I slipped out through the grounds and into the forest, my paws silent on the pine needle floor.

The night air was crisp with approaching autumn, carrying the scents of decaying leaves and distant rain. I ran without direction, simply moving to outpace the weight in my chest. Tomorrow I would be Luna, bound to a man who despised me, trapped in a marriage neither of us wanted.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I nearly collided with another wolf—larger than me, with pitch-black fur and familiar amber eyes.

Kane.

He shifted seamlessly back to human form, seemingly unbothered by his nudity as he leaned against a tree. I hesitated before shifting too, grateful for the darkness that partly concealed my own nakedness.

"Running away, Aurora?" Kane asked, his voice lacking its usual mockery.

"Just running," I replied, wrapping my arms around myself.

Kane shrugged off his jacket that had been tied to his ankle and handed it to me. I slipped it on, the fabric still warm from his body.

"I heard what happened at the pack house," he said as I buttoned the jacket. "Word travels fast."

"Then you know my wedding is still happening tomorrow," I said flatly. "Despite everything."

Kane studied me in the moonlight. "Are you really going through with it? After tonight?"

I looked away. "I don't have a choice."

"Everyone has choices, Aurora. Some are just harder than others."

"Says the wolf who's never had to make a difficult choice in his life," I snapped. "What would you know about sacrifice?"

Something flashed in his eyes—a hint of an emotion I couldn't identify. "More than you might think."

"You don't have to waste your life on Raymond," Kane finally said, his tone surprisingly gentle. "He doesn't deserve your loyalty."

I laughed bitterly. "And I suppose you have a better suggestion?"

A familiar smirk curled his lips. "I wouldn't mind helping you out again. No strings attached, of course."

The casualness of his offer ignited something inside me. "Is that all relationships are to you, Kane? Temporary amusements?"

He shrugged. "It's honest, at least. Better than the lie you're about to commit to."

"If you really wanted to help me," I shot back, suddenly reckless, "you'd crash the wedding tomorrow. That would cancel the engagement automatically."

Kane's playful demeanor vanished, his expression turning cold. "Don't provoke me, Aurora. I told you, I have no interest in marriage—yours or anyone else's."

"Of course not," I said, bitterness coating each word. "That would require actual commitment, wouldn't it?"

"You don't know the first thing about me," he replied, his voice dangerously low.

"I know enough," I retorted, turning away. "Goodnight, Kane."

His hand caught my wrist, spinning me back to face him. For one breathless moment, I thought he might pull me closer. Instead, he released me, stepping back.

"I hope Raymond makes you very happy," he said, the words laced with sarcasm. "You deserve each other."

He shifted back to his wolf form and disappeared into the darkness, leaving me alone with the moon and my thoughts.