CIAN
The silence that fell after I lifted that veil felt like the calm before a storm. But there was no calm in me. Just confusion, then recognition, then something hot and sharp that burned through my chest like wildfire.
This wasn't Hazel.
The face looking back at me was similar, yes. The same bone structure, the same coloring. But the eyes were different. Wider. More expressive. And I knew this face. I'd seen it earlier today when I'd walked past the bridal preparation rooms. The bridesmaid. The sister.
"You are not my bride."
The words came out colder than I intended, but I didn't care. My hands still held the veil I'd just lifted, the lace crumpling in my grip. The hall had gone completely quiet. Every wolf in attendance was staring at us, their confusion rolling off them in waves I could almost taste.
Then the whispers started. Low at first, then building. Names being thrown around. Questions being asked. The noise grew louder, angrier, and I felt my pack members rising from their seats behind me. I could sense their outrage through the pack bonds. This was an insult. A massive, public insult.
"What is this deception?" I demanded, my voice cutting through the growing chaos.
The girl stood there frozen, her face pale as bone. She opened her mouth but nothing came out. Just this small gasping sound that did nothing to answer my question.
"Is this a declaration of war against my pack?"
The words left my mouth before I fully thought them through, but once they were out, I realized I meant them. What else could this be? You don't substitute brides at a wedding between Alphas unless you want blood. Unless you want conflict. My wolves were already moving, hands going to weapons. The temperature in the room dropped as everyone braced for violence.
"I... I can explain..." The girl's voice was barely audible.
"You will explain." I stepped closer to her, and she flinched. Good. She should be afraid. "Where is my actual bride? Where is Hazel?"
Movement in the crowd caught my eye. The mother, Isobel, pushed through the assembled wolves. Her face was white, her eyes wild. She marched right up to the girl at the altar and slapped her so hard the sound echoed through the hall like a gunshot.
I blinked. That was unexpected.
"What the fuck, Fia?" Isobel screamed. "What is going on? Where is your sister?"
The girl, Fia, stared at her stepmother with complete bewilderment. A red mark was already blooming on her cheek. She looked like someone had just hit her with more than just a hand. Like her whole world had been knocked sideways.
"Mother, what is going on?" Fia whispered.
Isobel slapped her again. Harder this time. The girl's head snapped to the side, and I saw stars of pain flash in her eyes.
"You have always been like this but this is too far!" Isobel shrieked. "I will only ask this once. Where is Hazel?"
Something about this felt wrong. Off. The mother was acting like she had no idea what was happening, but she'd been the one to walk this girl down the aisle. She'd been the one adjusting the veil, fussing over the bride. How could she not know?
"Mother, you're scaring me," Fia said, her voice shaking. "Did Hazel not run away and this is why I had to..."
She trailed off, but the implication hung in the air. Hazel ran away? Was this was some kind of backup plan? But Luna Isobel's face showed nothing but rage and confusion.
She raised her hand to slap the girl a third time. My hand shot out before I thought about it, catching her wrist mid-swing. Isobel froze, looking up at me with wide eyes.
"You had no idea," I said slowly, studying her face, "that the girl you walked here with was not your daughter Hazel?"
Isobel dropped to her knees like I'd cut her strings. Tears started streaming down her face, and her expression was so perfectly distressed that for a moment, I almost believed her.
"I apologize, Alpha Cian," she sobbed. "This is a happy day for me. My daughter is marrying into a pack with honor and valor like yours. I had no idea when and how this happened."
I kept my face neutral, but inside, doubt crept in. She sounded genuine. She looked genuine. But something still felt off about all of this.
"After you came to the anteroom, and I made up my daughter, it was still Hazel in that room," Isobel continued. "I just stepped out for maybe a minute because of something important we missed, and when I got back, she was veiled and ready to go. I had no idea that Fia here, in jealousy of her sister, had made the most insulting move to you of all."
Jealousy. That was her explanation. The younger sister was jealous and decided to take her sister's place at the altar. It was plausible, I supposed. Omegas could be unpredictable when their emotions got the better of them. But this seemed like more than just a jealous impulse. This seemed calculated.
"Spare our pack," Isobel begged. "We had nothing to do with this girl's madness."
I looked at her kneeling there, tears on her face, her whole body shaking. Then I looked at Fia, who stood silently beside me, her expression a mix of shock and confusion and something that looked like betrayal.
"The thing is," I said quietly, "I don't believe you."
Isobel's face crumpled. "Alpha, please..."
The doors burst open.
Hazel stumbled into the hall, and the sight of her stopped every thought in my head. Her face was covered in bruises. Dark purple spreading across her left cheek, her lip split and bleeding. Her dress was torn, her hair a mess. She walked like every step hurt.
"My mother is not lying," Hazel said.
The hall went silent again. Every eye turned to her.
"Fia came into my room," Hazel continued, limping toward us. "She violently attacked me and attempted to take my place."
The words hit the crowd like a bomb. Voices exploded around us, angry and accusatory. My own wolves were shouting for blood. I stood there, trying to process what I was seeing.
"She knocked me unconscious," Hazel said, touching her bruised face carefully. "When I woke up, I was locked in the storage closet. I've been trying to get out for the past thirty minutes."
I looked at Fia. Her face had gone completely white. She was staring at her sister like she'd never seen her before, her mouth hanging open in shock.
"That's not..." Fia started, but her voice was so weak I barely heard it.
The pieces were falling into place now, painting a picture I didn't want to see. An Omega desperate enough to attack her own sister and steal her place at a wedding. It happened sometimes. Wolves did crazy things when they wanted something badly enough. When they were willing to cross any line to get it.
But looking at Fia's face, seeing the genuine confusion and horror there, I felt that doubt again. Stronger this time.
Then I felt it. The bond.
It had formed during the ceremony when Elder Moira wrapped the silver rope around our hands. I'd felt the flutter in my chest, that strange sensation of something clicking into place. A chosen mate bond, artificially created but real enough to tie us together.
And right now, through that bond, I could feel Fia's emotions. Not clearly, not like a fated mate bond would be. But enough to sense the broad strokes of what she was feeling.
Terror. Confusion. Betrayal. Desperation.
No triumph. No satisfaction. None of the emotions I'd expect from someone who'd successfully pulled off a deception.
But the evidence was right there in front of me. Hazel, beaten and bruised. Fia, standing at the altar in her sister's place. The mother, shocked and horrified. The explanation that made perfect sense even if something about it felt wrong.
Maybe it was the artificial bond messing with my clarity and common sense.
Alpha Joseph pushed through the crowd, his face gray with shock and shame. He looked at Fia, then at Hazel, then at me. His mouth opened and closed several times before any words came out.
"Wait," he said, his voice shaking. "There has to be some explanation. Fia wouldn't..."
"Wouldn't what?" Isobel cut him off, her voice sharp as broken glass. She moved to stand beside Hazel, her hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Wouldn't attack her own sister? Look at Hazel's face. Look at what she did."
Joseph's face crumpled. He looked between his daughters, clearly torn. I recognized that look. The look of a man who wanted to defend someone but couldn't find the words to make it believable.
"Hazel," he tried again. "Are you absolutely certain..."
"Are you seriously questioning your daughter right now?" Isobel's voice rose. "Your legitimate daughter, who has been beaten and locked away? You're going to side with the girl who did this?"
The crowd murmured agreement. Joseph's shoulders slumped. He looked defeated, trapped.
Hazel walked forward slowly, each step deliberate and painful looking. She stopped right in front of Fia and looked at her with tears streaming down her bruised face.
"What did I do to deserve this, big sister?" Hazel asked softly.
Her voice broke. The tears looked real. The pain looked real. Everything about her performance, if it was a performance, was flawless.
I could not help but trust it. Why would she lie after all?
"I never..." Fia started, but the words died in her throat.
"I loved you," Hazel continued. "I tried so hard to be a good sister to you. Even though you were... even though your mother..." She trailed off, too kind to finish. "But I accepted you. I welcomed you. And this is how you repay me?"
"I wanted you at my wedding," Hazel said. "I wanted you by my side. I chose you as my bridesmaid because you were my sister. And you... you..."
She collapsed. Or seemed to. Her knees buckled and she started to fall. Isobel caught her before she hit the ground.
"Hazel! Someone get the healer!"
Wolves rushed forward to help carry Hazel out of the hall. The crowd parted for them, everyone talking at once, voices raised in outrage and sympathy. The noise crashed over me like a physical wave.
I stood there at the altar, the silver rope still wrapped around my hand and Fia's, feeling the mate bond pulse between us. This whole situation was a disaster. A complete, total disaster.
I hadn't wanted this marriage. Not really. I was only twenty seven. Still young by standards. I could have waited years before taking a mate. But Mother was dying.