Chapter 4

The ceremony coordinator's voice came from outside the door.

"Ten minutes until the ceremony, Alpha. You should get ready to make your entrance."

Nolan glanced at my face again and said, "If you don't want to walk down the aisle, then we won't. I'll speak to the priest first and come back to get you."

Just as he reached the door, he turned back and picked up the candy that had fallen into the folds of my dress. He replaced it with a fresh, unopened piece and set it on the table.

"That one's dirty. Don't eat it."

I watched him, but he still hadn't realized that I hadn't taken a breath in a long time.

My phone vibrated against my dress. It was Mom.

[Sweetheart, Dad is already waiting outside the temple.]

[He says he's not nervous, but he's fumbled with his cufflinks twice already.]

[Take your time. There's no need to rush.]

I reached out to touch the screen, but my fingers passed straight through it. The messages stayed there, unchanged.

That morning, before I left home, Mom had spent a long time doing my hair.

Ever since I was little, she'd loved running her fingers over the top of my head, always saying that her daughter's hair was the softest.

Dad had been standing by the door, checking the handkerchief in his suit pocket over and over. When Nolan arrived to pick me up, Dad took him aside.

"As your Luna, she'll have responsibilities to the pack. But at home, let her just be Eileen."

Nolan had answered with complete sincerity.

"She's going to be my wife. I won't let her be mistreated."

Mom grew teary-eyed as she lowered my veil.

She told me to come home for dinner the next day because she was going to make my favorite apple pie.

"Don't bake the crust too hard," I'd told her.

Mom laughed and gave me a gentle pat.

"I know. I always make it the way you like."

Now she was still waiting for me at the temple. She didn't know she wouldn't need to bake that apple pie for me tomorrow, or ever again.

With only three minutes left, Vera walked in carrying a bouquet. Nolan had arranged for a fresh one to be made, still filled with my favorite white lisianthus. Vera shoved the flowers into my arms.

"He was even willing to change the way you make your entrance. What more do you want?"

No one answered her.

Evan called from the doorway, reminding her that the bridesmaids and groomsmen needed to get ready for the ceremony.

Vera walked a few steps toward the door before turning back to open the window, letting a cold breeze sweep into the room and stir my veil.

"Maybe some fresh air will help you come to your senses."

The door finally closed, leaving me alone in the room with a body that would never respond again.

The temple bells began to ring, and the processional song playing was the one Nolan and I had chosen together.

During the rehearsal, he'd complained that the aisle was too long and that I walked so slowly he couldn't bear to wait.

I laughed at how impatient he was, and he leaned down to kiss me.

"I've waited all these years, and somehow these last few steps are the hardest part."

Now, he really would never get to see me walk those last few steps.

The priest's voice came from outside.

"Please welcome the bride!"

Applause filled the temple before gradually dying away, and all I could hear was someone in the corridor quietly asking why the bride hadn't come out yet.

Dad called first, followed by Mom, and my phone kept vibrating against my dress. Nolan sent me another message.

[If you don't want to walk, then we won't. I'll come get you.]

Soon, I heard his familiar footsteps outside before he pushed open the door.

"Sweetheart, I'm here to get you."

He bent down, picked up the bouquet resting on my lap, and set it aside before slipping one arm beneath my knees and the other around my back.

"Hold on to me."

I didn't move.

As he lifted me, my body lost the support of the chair, and my head fell backward.

A gust of wind swept through the room, sending my veil slipping off my shoulders.

His hand, cradling the back of my head, met something wet and sticky.

He lowered his head and saw that the back of my white wedding dress was already soaked through with blood.