THE ALPHA'S CURSED BRIDE

VER

. Don't come home early-stay. Your mate might be wait

right after the hurdle," Tricia replied wit

t for you. I was

ed my lashes for the twentieth time and the mirror showed the image I had worked months for: a gown that caught the light in soft waves, h

Luna's ceremony, not a mate-hunt," Tricia

ainst my legs. Last week I'd spoken with the Alpha-two breathless minutes-and something in me had c

d ten. And fifteen-" Tricia sang, smiling. She nudg

ion. "In!" I squeaked, taking Tricia's hand and racing for the front row. I wanted the Alpha to find me qui

id as I dragged her across the e

front so he wouldn't have to search. It would be quick, ceremonial, p

smile set in place, and leaned just close enough for me to hear. "What

spent my life shrinking to make space for other people; tonight I had decided n

lowed, eyes bright with malice. Tricia stepped between us like a shiel

as if her words were a verdict. "Y

answer befitting your status," I said, loud enough that heads turned and whispers snagged like torn thread. They blinked. Her smirk faltere

ing-the tiny signal I had felt in the woods, the way my wolf had ans

ne dared stare at. The priestess's voice dropped into the

n doubt. My chest thudded so loudly it felt like applause in my ears. He was coming my way.

range expectation coiled in my gut. When he passed near my row, I felt nothing. No warm

e the breath I'd been holding needed spac

t lookin

t Tricia

hed the soft skin at the corner of her throat-a tiny, ceremonial bite-and the pri

e edge of my seat until the fabric groaned under my fingers. The song in my

you and calls it yours. She looked at me then, eyes bright with triumph, and for a terrible heartbea

the room contracted into a needle point of white light and my mind felt full of lead

, equal parts accusation and amusement. Lana's voice thre

ingers touched my arm, not in comfort but as voyeur

my falter, her small heart thudding as crazily inside me as mine was. We were always told the

y legs were noodles but I forced them to carry me away from the center of noise. Peopl

come, hot and angry and unladylike. I hated the way they dampened my lashes. I hated how small I fe

ed fragile. She touched my shoulder in a way that would have been comforting if she'd

f consolation that smelled faintly of candle wax and new duties. How could she under

e under the same roof-and my chest pinched. I wanted to tell her everything: how the Alpha had felt like

uestion spoken aloud. The night swallowed it. The answer was the sting that marked me: not for lac

and felt the grit under my nails. For the first time since I was a child, I let myself hate. Not in t

nder. I let them clap. I let the sound wash over me until it dissipated

ressure of a single tooth on a sister's throat, then I would find, somewhere, the parts of me the world had not yet seen. I

was only the ac