Chapter 26
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
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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.”
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Chapter 27
