Chapter 1

Juliette's Point of View

"Can you believe she actually thinks she's good enough for him?"

The whisper slithered through the air. I kept my eyes forward, fingers locked around my bouquet so tight the stems might snap.

"She's pretty, I'll give her that. But what else? Her pack is barely surviving. They're practically servants to Silvercrest."

Another voice joined in, dripping with fake sympathy. "Poor thing. Caleb's only marrying her because of that old pact. You really think he'd choose her otherwise?"

My jaw clenched. The veil covered my face, but it didn't cover my ears. Every word hit like a slap, and I had to stand here and take it. Smile. Pretend I couldn't hear them tearing me apart.

The grand hall of the Silvercrest packhouse glittered around me, chandeliers dripping crystal, white roses climbing every pillar, silk ribbons catching the light. A dream wedding. The kind little girls fantasized about.

Too bad the groom hadn't bothered to show up.

I stood at the altar. Alone. The string quartet had played the same melody three times now, looping like a bad joke. Guests shifted in their seats, whispers growing louder, less careful. Some didn't even bother hiding their stares anymore.

"Where is he?"

"The ceremony was supposed to start twenty minutes ago."

"Maybe he's having second thoughts." A cruel laugh. "Can you blame him?"

My heart hammered against my ribs. Sweat prickled beneath the heavy lace of my gown. I wanted to scream at them to shut up, to tell them I could hear every poisonous word but I couldn't move. Couldn't breathe.

‘He'll come,’ I told myself. ‘He's just late. He'll come.’

But the minutes kept ticking by, and the altar beside me stayed empty.

Diana Thornwood, part of their family, stood near the front row, her face pinched with barely concealed panic. She kept glancing at the doors, then at her phone, then back at the doors. Not a good sign.

I watched her fingers tremble as she typed something.

The whispers turned into murmurs. The murmurs turned into open conversation.

"I heard he was seen leaving the packhouse this morning. With a bag."

"No way. He wouldn't."

"Wouldn't he? Look at her. She's from Ashvale. Their pack is a joke."

"I heard they can barely afford to feed their own wolves. And she thinks she can be Luna of Silvercrest?"

My throat burned. Every word was a knife sliding between my ribs. I could feel their eyes on me, hundreds of them, picking apart my dress, my hair, my worth. Measuring me against their golden boy and finding me lacking.

‘He'll come. He has to come.’

And then the doors exploded open.

Zoe stormed in like a hurricane in heels, her face flushed red with fury. My best friend. My ride-or-die since we were pups. And right now, she looked ready to murder someone.

"He's gone!" she shouted. "Caleb Thornwood ran away from his own wedding with a rogue!"

Silence. Complete, suffocating silence.

Then chaos.

Gasps rippled through the crowd. Someone dropped a champagne glass—it shattered against the marble floor, the sound almost comedic. A woman near the back actually screamed.

"What do you mean, gone?" Diana rushed forward, grabbing Zoe's arm. "That's impossible—"

"He eloped." Zoe's eyes found mine, and I saw the pain there. The rage on my behalf. "With someone else. He's gone, Juliette. He left you."

The world tilted.

I couldn't feel my legs. Couldn't feel anything except this horrible, hollow ringing in my ears.

Eloped. With someone else. Much more… a rouge.

Three words. That's all it took to destroy everything. Every plan. Every sacrifice. Every moment I'd spent convincing myself this marriage could work.

Gone. All of it. Gone.

"Oh my god," someone whispered loudly. "The future Alpha ran away?"

"I knew it. I knew she wasn't good enough."

"If she had any self-respect, she'd leave right now."

"How humiliating. I'd die if that were me."

"Her grandmother must be mortified. The whole Ashvale pack will never recover from this."

The whispers crashed over me like waves, drowning me. I saw their faces—some shocked, some gleeful, some pitying in that disgusting way that made pity feel like poison. They were enjoying this. My humiliation was their entertainment.

And something inside me snapped.

Not broke. Snapped.

I ripped the veil off my face and threw it to the ground. The delicate lace crumpled against the marble like a dead thing.

"Where is the Thornwood family?" My voice came out cold. Steady. Nothing like the shattered girl I felt like inside. "Where are the people who arranged this marriage?"

Diana stepped forward, hands raised like she was calming a wild animal. "Juliette, please, we've already sent soldiers to find him. This is just a misunderstanding. Caleb would never, a rogue could never become his wife. We'll fix this—"

"Fix this?" I laughed. It sounded broken even to my own ears. "Your nephew abandoned me at the altar. In front of everyone. And you want to fix it?"

"The pact between our families—"

"I don't give a damn about your pact!" The words tore out of me, raw and bleeding. "I won't marry Caleb Thornwood. Not now. Not ever. Not if he crawled back on his hands and knees."

Panic flashed across Diana's face. She looked to the others—to the elders, to the council members, to anyone who could help salvage this disaster.

Because the pact mattered. My grandfather and the Alpha's father of this pack had sealed it in blood decades ago. Ashvale's loyalty to Silvercrest, guaranteed through marriage. Without it, everything crumbled. Our pack's protection. Our territory. Our survival.

And they all knew it.

"Juliette." A new voice. Older, elegant, commanding. Vivienne Thornwood rose from her seat. The Alpha's mother, the former Luna, silver hair swept back like a queen. Even now, in the middle of this disaster, she moved like she owned the room. "I understand your anger. Truly. But this alliance—"

"I said the wedding can continue." I cut her off, and even she looked startled. The great Vivienne Thornwood, silenced by a girl from a lesser pack. "Just not with Caleb."

Murmurs exploded again. Vivienne's eyes narrowed, sharp and calculating.

"What do you mean?"

"The pact requires a marriage between Ashvale and Silvercrest." I smiled, and it felt like broken glass on my lips. "It never specified which Thornwood."

Silence again. Heavier this time. Thick enough to choke on.

I could feel every eye in the room boring into me. They thought I was crazy. Maybe I was.

I turned slowly, scanning the family. Diana's husband, the cousins—too young, too irrelevant. None of them worthy. None of them enough to salvage my dignity.

And then my gaze landed on him.

Lucian Thornwood.

The Alpha of Silvercrest. Caleb's father. Silver streaking his dark hair, jaw carved from stone. He sat in the front row, arms crossed, watching me with an expression I couldn't read. Power radiated off him like heat from a flame—the kind that could warm you or burn you alive.

Everyone feared him. Everyone respected him. And his own son had just humiliated his pack in front of half the territory.

He hadn't spoken once during this entire disaster. Hadn't panicked. Hadn't apologized for his son.

He'd just... watched. Like he was waiting to see what I would do.

Our eyes met.

Something electric crackled through my veins. Something dangerous.

I raised my hand and pointed directly at him.

"I'll marry him."