Chapter 185
Ellie POV
The first time I laughed, it surprised me.
It slipped out before I could catch it, bright, totally unguarded, and the sound felt unfamiliar in my own throat, as if my body had forgotten how to make it without flinching afterward.
For a second I expected the room to turn sharp again, for something to snap-Vivian’s voice, a glass shattering, a whisper turned into a weapon-but nothing happened. The chandeliers kept glowing. The music kept swelling in soft waves across the polished floor. The guests kept smiling, dancing.
The reception hall was a different world from the chaos of the morning. It wasn’t the harsh brightness of ceremony light and vows and sacred silence. It was warmth and gold and candle-sweet air, the scent of honeyed wine threaded through the perfume of crushed flowers scattered across the tables.
Amazing food. Moon sigils hung from the rafters, silver and pearl, catching and scattering the light with each lazy sway.
I kept waiting for a wrongness to enter.
I had been on edge ever since we left the chapel, skin tight, eyes flicking to every corner like I could catch disaster before it caught me. I’d been waiting for Vivian to appear with her perfect smile and her poisoned sweetness, for her to find a way to twist this night into something ugly again despite her good deed, to remind me that happiness is always rented, never owned.
She didn’t. She left, along with my mother, without even attending the ceremony.
Whatever. I told myself I didn’t care about any of it. Instead, I let Sarah pull me into the crowd. I let myself smile until my cheeks ached.
But then I saw Lucas standing near the far wall, half in shadow, not drinking, not laughing, not even pretending to enjoy the spectacle. Which was odd for a guy known for always smiling.
The light caught his profile and left the rest of him dark, like a painting where someone forgot to finish the background. His posture was too still for celebration. His gaze was fixed.
Watching.
Not the crowd.
Me.
Something hard settled in my stomach.
I supposed it made sense for him to be here. It would be stranger if he weren’t. An Alpha’s wedding draws every important wolf
for miles, like moths to a flame they swear won’t burn them.
I hesitated.
I could have turned away. I could have pretended I didn’t see him.
But Lucas had been part of my life in ways I couldn’t pretend out of existence just because I was wearing a crown of flowers and a title that felt too heavy for my head.
What would I even be looking for? Closure? No, that wasn’t right. I wasn’t my sister.
But I did slip away from Sarah’s grip and cross the room.
As I approached, Lucas’s eyes flicked down, taking in the dress, the veil now pushed back, the flowers sewn like a lie over the blood beneath. His mouth twitched, but it wasn’t a smile.
+30 Bonus
“Well,” he said, voice low enough that it didn’t carry. “Here she is, woman of the hour. Look at you. Married now.”
I stopped an arm’s length away.
“You’re supposed to congratulate me,” I said, because the word married still caught in my throat like a thorn. “Are you not?”
“Well, that doesn’t fit the mood, does it?”
I tensed a touch.
Lucas’s gaze drifted past me, toward the dance floor where the crowd swayed, where Dominic stood in conversation with a pair of elders, his posture relaxed but his attention always slightly angled, always aware.
“You should keep your distance,” Lucas added, tone dry. “Don’t want the Alpha to tear my throat out for getting too close.”
I snorted softly, because it sounded like a joke, but Lucas’s eyes didn’t match his tone.
“I didn’t come over here for trouble,” I said, and my voice surprised me with how steady it was. “I just… wanted to thank you.”
That earned his full attention.
“For what?” he asked, though I could tell he already knew.
“For looking out for me,” I said, and the words felt awkward because gratitude wasn’t my natural language. “For being kind when you didn’t have to be. For offering to help when I confided in you, I needed help. You’ve been a good friend and person, and I want you to know that means something to me. So thank you.”
P
