THE WEDDING DRESS

Rachel's POV

There I was, trying out my wedding dress. The wedding rehearsal was in a few days, so I had to try it out to be sure it was my right fit. And yes, it was. I had never seen myself look so beautiful in my life. The dress was a symphony of intricate details and timeless grace. It fit me so well that I was close to tears.

Ironically, my tears had nothing to do with the happiness a bride should feel after realising her wedding dress was her perfect fit. My tears came from realising that I would go through with this wedding. I hated dresses, I hated weddings and worst of all, I wasn't ready to be wed to the son of our Packs Alpha, James Nighthawk.

My mother, the most selfish yet ambitious woman I ever knew, planned this. At first, she tried to convince me that marrying an influential man like James Nighthawk was what I needed to balance my already comfortable life, thereby making me feel this was all about my well-being. The truth about the situation was that she was still hung up on her ex-husband, who was my real father, and she made no effort to hide her feelings, even in front of her husband, my stepfather. 

This situation gave her the idea that marrying me to the son of the next alpha would keep her secure in case her husband eventually divorced her. I was her insurance policy to make sure if my stepdad divorced her, she could be dependent on my status as Luna to continue in her life of luxury and possibly get back together with her ex-husband.

It was her diabolical ploy to eat her cake and have the whole slice to herself. I had nothing to gain from this plan except to certify what the elite in the pack already suspected about us. The conditions in which my stepdad married my mother gave everyone the notion that we were gold-diggers. My stepdad never made us feel that way, but my step-brother, Jeremy, always made it a duty to let me know my place.

Jeremy was another person who stood to gain from this union. I was a threat to him in the military academy as he couldn't keep up with me. Now that I was to become Luna, I was forced to resign because Luna's duties were beside her alpha. So, although I was at the top of my class with Jeremy way behind me, this took me out of the competition for being the next beta, and Jeremy was put forward to become beta. Thereby ruining my life; my hard work was all for nothing.

"I mean, what are you looking for? He's handsome, very wealthy and most of all, the next Alpha of Sandstone pack." My mother explained, bringing my mind back from my thoughts as she helped me with the wedding dress.

I kept mute. My chest was heavy, and my heart beat rapidly. I felt anxiety knocking on the door. I looked very beautiful in this gorgeous dress, quite contrary to what I usually liked wearing, so personally, this dress felt hideous to me.

I was a tomboy.

I was the jeans, t-shirt and face cap-wearing girl with that curvy figure that had boys swooning over me even if I really made no effort to enhance my looks. Now I was in a dress that felt very uncomfortable, by the way, but looked remarkable on me.

"Rachel, you're turning blue, what's the matter?" My mother asked as anxiety had overcome me. I immediately sat down and asked for a glass of water. My mother rushed out to get it.

Sitting there, I pondered to myself why I was having these anxiety attacks. The reality that this wedding was going to happen had dawned on me. I felt my life was coming to an abrupt end. All the hard work I had done to create a career for myself was all for nothing. I was mainly proud of my achievements in the military academy because I had done it all on my own. My determination to succeed came from the stigma and embarrassment I have had to endure for many years being called the daughter of a gold-digging bitch.

I thought if I became an over-achiever, I would rise above the stain of being looked down upon. I had trained myself to be the best warrior in the pack. This made me top of my class, above my older brother, but it didn't seem enough.

I was a passionate soldier, wearing that uniform with pride everywhere I went. I had risen up the ranks fast and even trained some soldiers in combat and military strategy, so I was a big deal in our academy.

After building a name for myself and achieving this much, the reward I got was to be yanked out of the academy to become the alpha's trophy wife. The thought of this was nauseating, to say the least.

The alpha's son had always had a crush on me from the military academy, so he willingly accepted to marry me. I was to become his possession; all I needed to do was stand and look pretty. Nothing in this situation favoured me. I barely knew James Nighthawk except for things I heard in our circles that he was a douchebag that was on a mission to conquer all the young ladies in Sandstone Pack and beyond. Love was out of the question to me where he was concerned because my dream career had just been yanked off my hands because of him. I was still twenty-one years old and had my life ahead of me till my mom decided to ruin it all.

My mother had stayed too long out there trying to get water. I was sure she had met with some of her friends and decided to brag about my wedding to the alpha's son. She was so excited about this wedding; one would think that she was the one getting married.

I overheard her telling her friends the other day that this was one of the most outstanding achievements in her life.

That was how selfish she was; she made everything about herself. Otherwise, why would my own wedding be termed as her achievement at all? Sometimes, I felt she was delusional. Her only achievement here was robbing me of my destiny. The whispers in our settlement about her being a gold-digger never phased her.

My mother barely worked a day in her life to earn anything. There were only two things she loved in this life: money and my deadbeat real dad. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. I requested that the person come in, and it was my stepdad, holding a bottle of water.