Chapter 2

(Dahlia)

‘RULE number one: we will be married in name only. You and I will be using different rooms. Rule number two: you may be the official luna, but you will be sharing luna responsibilities with Rosie. Be nice to her. Rule number three: you are free to do whatever you want as long as it doesn’t tarnish my reputation. Rule number four: don’t meddle with my affairs and I won’t meddle with yours. And the last rule, don’t fall for me, kid. I won’t be held responsible for your feelings.’

Instead of the wedding song, Brent’s rules from a month ago are the one playing in my mind.

Kid. His ex-best friend’s baby sister. I’m twenty now and there’s only a seven-year-gap between us. But it doesn’t stop my groom from seeing me as a girl and not a woman.

Brent Wilson looks breathtaking in his three-piece dark suit. He’s smiling and I smile back. Only for that smile to vanish when I realize he isn’t smiling for me. He stopped smiling for me the day he realized I was his mate.

I follow where he is looking and bite my lower lip when I see that his gaze lands on the tall, blonde woman standing on the front pew, the lucky woman who owns his heart. Rosie. This must be hard for him too. I know that if he could choose, without a doubt, he would choose to marry her in a heartbeat.

However, as an alpha, he has duties and responsibilities that can only be fulfilled with an omega by his side.

It doesn’t mean he has given her up though. Because there she is, smiling gracefully and beautifully in her white lace dress. The only woman who is supposed to wear that color tonight is the bride. But Rosie has always been the exception to the rule.

God, I wish I could do that too.

I’m the one marrying the alpha, but she’s the one with the winning smile, glowing more than the bride.

The whispers and snickers are as loud as the wedding song. Beside me, Craig appears and gives my hand a gentle squeeze as if to comfort me as he glares at the man he used to regard as his sworn brother.

‘I’m going to kill him one day,’ he promises darkly through our link. ‘How dare he do this to you?’

I grip my bouquet, a lump forming in my throat.

For the next few hours, I act as the puppet bride they expect me to. I listen to the preach. I nod my head and smile when necessary. I move according to what they want me to.

“I repeat. Do you, Dahlia Brencis, accept Alpha General Brent Wilson as your alpha and your husband? For better or for worse, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?”

I stare at my groom and wonder for the hundredth time how he could ignore it. The howls of our wolves. Their broken pleas. The screaming straight from our souls. Can’t he hear it? Can’t he feel anything?

Because I hear it all. I feel it all.

Brent stares back but it’s like he still couldn’t see me. His eyes are hard as steel. Apart from the warning in his gaze, there is nothing else for me to hold on to.

“I do,” I reply in a low, defeated voice.

More words follow before the priest announces, “With the power vested upon me by the moon goddess, I now declare you husband and wife, alpha and luna. General Brent Wilson, you may now kiss your luna.”

Brent’s lips land on my forehead. His kiss is swift and as cold as his heart. I swallow hard.

Time passes by in a blur. Before I know it, we are already in the reception hall. Brent is supposed to dance with me when Rosie calls him. One call and I’m forgotten again. Craig is quick to catch me as the whispers return. He looks murderous, but one glance at my expression and he calms down. His face softens. He dances with me with a gentler smile this time.

“You look beautiful, little sis,” he praises proudly as he spins me around. “You are the most beautiful bride I’ve ever seen.”

Despite the heartache, I manage to grin. “That’s because I’m the only bride you’ve ever seen so far, Craig.”

He laughs but turns serious again. “I mean it. Brent will see it too one day. And when that happens, make it hard for him.”

If not for the sudden pain in my stomach, I would have laughed. As if that will ever happen. There is only one beautiful woman for my husband. Unfortunately, it isn’t his wife.

Still, I smile gratefully. I know Craig’s only saying those words to patronize me.

After a while, we both stride towards dad’s table who is in his wheelchair. I catch the sadness in his eyes before he beams and welcomes me in his warm embrace. He pats my shoulder. “I’ve always been proud that you are an omega, Dahlia. Tonight, though, I wish you are a beta, if it means you will not be tethered to anyone else.”

Craig clears his throat. “Dad…”

I reach out and kiss dad’s hand. “I’m fine,” I repeat one more time, convincing myself more than them. “And I’ll be even better in three days because Craig will escort you to the mage’s realm, dad. They’re terrific healers. You won’t have to be in pain anymore.”

He tried to hide it from me, but I know that he still suffers from the pain in his knees especially at night. Even if they couldn’t make him walk again, if they could take away his pain, it’s still a win for us.

Dad’s about to respond but ends up frowning when he sees me wince. A gush of slick slide between my legs. I’m suddenly shaking as beads of sweat form in my forehead. The pain in my stomach magnifies by the minute. It’s cold but I’m burning inside.

Dad’s eyes widen when he inhales my pheromones. “Did you know it’s coming?”

I shake my head, my shoulders tensing, and my heart beating like a drum as the realization kicks in. I still have three weeks before my next heat. The brief kiss with my mate, sitting next to him inside a closed space when we were in the bridal car on the way to the hotel, and inhaling his pheromones must have triggered it. The attention and touch deprived omega in me reacted wildly and immediately.

“Shit,” Craig mutters, panicking. He rises from his seat and removes his suit jacket. He covers me with it. I no longer have the luxury to say goodbye to dad as I struggle not to scream from too much pressure between my legs and the tremendous pain in my abdomen.

Craig holds my hand protectively and leads me outside the function room, knowing in an instant that only my husband could soothe the ache away. He must have linked with our pack members because he knows where to find the General.

‘One more thing. Inform my assistant in advance when your heat approaches, Dahlia. I hate being surprised. I want everything planned beforehand. When that happens, I will spare you an hour.’

“Brent is going to hate me for this, Craig. I swear I have no idea it’s coming-“

“Fuck that!” Craig grits his teeth as he hits the elevator button. “You need him. This is in the contract you both signed. If I have to punch the hell out of that bastard so he can understand the gravity of the situation, I will!”

My wolf claws at me as the ache nearly makes me fall to my knees if my brother isn’t supporting me by the waist. He carries me and runs towards a particular door and slams his fist into it. It takes a few seconds before the door opens, revealing my husband with traces of Rosie’s perfume on his clothes and kiss marks on his neck. My wolf howls at the sight although my body doesn’t get the memo as a fresh wave of slick rolls down between my thighs.

Brent takes a step back after inhaling my pheromones. His wolf roars and calls to me, but his body does the opposite. The disgusting look in his eyes makes tears streak down my face.

“What the hell? I told you to inform me in advance about your heat, Dahlia-“

Before he could finish his sentence, my brother’s right there, growling at him. “You think my sister could stop her heat? Then you try being an omega for once, you asshole! Blame this on your fucking pheromones! For once, do what is right, Brent! Dahlia is your omega and she needs you right now!”

“Brent…”

That call followed by a sob inside the room stops my husband from stepping close to me. He clenches his hands and says, “Watch your tone, Craig. I won’t tolerate your arrogance forever. My lover also needs me right now. Your sister knows the rules. She knows my priorities. I will come to her when I find the time.”

Brent closes the door before any of us could answer. My brother curses and carries me again down the building.

“Craig?” I ask brokenly as my wolf wails at the hundredth rejection we’ve received so far.

“We’re running away, Dal.” He runs to his car and gently places me in the passenger seat.

“They’ll hunt us and kill us,” I reminded him again.

“They’re killing you already, sis. And by doing this to you, they’re also killing me and dad.” He takes my hand as he drives in one hand and smiles bitterly. “This is what dad would have wanted anyway. At least, through this, we’ll die together.”

Sobs wrack my body as I look up and question the Goddess for the hundredth time why she had to give me a mate if it’s going to end up like this. Does she hate me?

“Fuck!” Craig screams when we see multiple cars trailing behind us. They’re not part of the army. They are guests. Alpha guests who must have smelled my pheromones. My brother drives faster but the alphas block our car and corner us. “Whatever happens, don’t ever leave the car, Dal.”

Craig steps out of the car and shifts. He roars at the alphas who also shift. I want to help my brother, but the pain is getting worse by the minute. I cry out when I see them attack him.

Just when I’m starting to think that we are cursed, I hear another roar, the loudest I’ve ever heard in my whole life. My own wolf stirs. When I look in front, Brent’s wolf is there, charging ahead. All by himself, he fights the alphas. He’s unstoppable. He bites them, sinks his fangs and claws to their skin until all four of the alphas are on the ground.

He passes by my brother. My feet are moving before I know it. I rush out of the car and meet him halfway. Brent looks like his wolf completely takes over him, his irises are gold, which only happens when his beast is in control.

He nuzzles his forehead against my cheek and licks my throat. When my knees are too weak to stand, he’s there for me for the first time. He bends his body. I don’t hesitate anymore because if this is the human Brent, he’d never lower himself for me. I give in to what my body wants me to. I climb up and wrap my arms around his wolf’s neck.

The pain eases in an instant.

“Dal?” Craig asks, doubts crossing his eyes as he looks at the General’s wolf and then at me. When he attempts to get close, Brent’s wolf growls at him possessively.

“I’m okay now, brother. Thank you,” I say appreciatively.

That’s all I get to say before the wolf leaves with me. I may fail to get the human version of him. But his beast is here for me instead, protecting me. Fighting for me. My own beast hums happily inside me.

“Brent is going to hate me more for this when he regains control tomorrow,” I whisper. The wolf howls as if he could relate to me. I bury myself in his fur, in his warmth. “If this night is all I will ever have, then I’ll take my chances. Take me away, mate. Take our pain away.”