Chapter 02

IRIS POV:

“…I can’t.” My voice cracked. “I can’t.”

Nicholas’s brows furrowed.

Tears spilled over as I spun away from the altar and ran, my gown dragging across the glass tiles toward the huge golden doors of the mating hall.

“Iris!” My father’s voice echoed behind me, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t think straight. All I wanted was to get as far away as possible.

I ran out of the mating hall.

Outside, the world was chaotic. The grand driveway was packed with sleek black cars, limousines, and SUVs belonging to every high-ranking pack family in attendance.

Valets in crisp uniforms darted between vehicles, flashbulbs popped from the press area cordoned off near the gates, and clusters of guests in glittering gowns and tailored tuxedos milled around the marble steps, murmuring excitedly about the historic union they’d come to witness.

Everyone was waiting for the moment the new Luna would appear beside her Alpha heir.

I didn’t belong to any of it anymore.

My chest burned, but I didn’t care. I just needed distance, distance from Nicholas, from the video still playing behind my eyes, from everything.

I stumbled down the wide steps, my heels clacking unevenly. Voices called my name from behind, my father’s furious bark, a few confused pack members, but I didn’t look back. I veered sharply right, away from the main entrance, toward the side road that curved around the estate.

The wrought-iron gates were open tonight to accommodate the flood of arriving guests. Beyond them lay the public highway.

I didn’t think, I just ran.

My gown billowed behind me like a white sail as I burst through the gates and onto the asphalt. Headlights flared in the distance, fast and bright. Horns blared, and tires screeched.

Time slowed.

I froze in the middle of the lane, my heart slamming so hard I thought it would crack my ribs.

A black luxury Rolls-Royce barreled toward me, then slammed on the brakes. The car skidded, the rubber screaming against the road, stopping inches from my legs. The violent jolt sent me staggering backward. My veil lifted as the air rushed toward my face.

For a heartbeat, everything was still.

Then the rear passenger door flew open.

A man stepped out.

He was tall, taller than most wolves I knew, easily over six-foot-four, broad-shouldered, moving with the kind of charisma that belonged to predators.

His head was bald, sharply carved. His sharp cheekbones gave his face a hard, serious look. A neatly trimmed beard lined his strong jaw, and his full lips were pressed together. His storm-gray eyes, with a faint silver ring, caught the moonlight as they stared at me so intensely that I couldn’t move.

He wore a white suit that looked custom-made, the fabric clinging to powerful shoulders and arms, but there was something else about him. An aura.

It hit me all at once. My wolf, who had been curled in silent agony for hours, suddenly lifted her head. Her whimper turned into a low, astonished whine.

My eyes widened so much they stung. I couldn’t move. Couldn’t blink.

He crossed the short distance in two long strides, boots silent against the asphalt despite his size. Up close, he smelled like cedar smoke, midnight rain.

Without a word, he reached down and caught my elbows, steadying me before I could collapse.

Our gazes crashed together and held.

Seconds stretched into eternity.

Behind us, the mating hall doors opened, my father’s furious roar snapping me out of my hallucination.

“Are you okay?” he asked. His voice was deep.

I couldn’t answer.

He then looked at my dress and then at the mansion. It was like he knew I was trying to run away.

“Get in the car,” he commanded.

I suddenly found my body moving on its own. What’s happening to me?

I entered the back seat where he had come out from, and the door closed on its own. He then went around to the back, entering from the other side. He closed the door, and the driver started driving. I looked through the glass, and I could see my father, scanning every corner.