8

Chapter 8, Fiona's POV

I let all the doubts wash away as the preparations were being made to perfection. The day was here already, and the time was just a couple of minutes away. I was in the bride's room with my bridesmaid, Maeve, who was still at work making me pretty. Honestly, did that never end?

All the things she had said, all the rumors were still at the back of my mind, but I hid them from my physical appearance, blocking them behind the facade of a smile. The truth would come out in the end, but I was already confident that they were all just rumors. Jason loved me more than anything in the world. He had confessed it over and over again, about a million times now, and he wasn't the kind of person to go back on his words. He wasn't the kind of person to break his promise to me. I knew how much he wouldn't want to disappoint me, and I had seen the desire in his eyes when he looked at me. He was going to go through with this, so I didn't have to worry about anything. I woke up from my thoughts as I heard the romantic music from someone at the piano. Yes, it was time for my dad to give me away.

Lucian had a perpetual smile on his face. His look was one of pure happiness, and I couldn't blame him. I was making him proud, after all. It had been his dream for a long time now. With the two packs united, a new era of prosperity was about to flood in, and I would be at the center of it. I didn't want to admit it, but I was proud about it, too. My new position as the uniting factor was something I couldn't overlook.

Before long, the groom came to join us. Standing in front of me, I could see how confident he looked—just as confident as he had always looked. He didn't have a smile on his face, however, contrasting sharply with me, who kept on blushing like a fool. My face was covered by a veil, however, so it was fine. At least no one got to see that. I wondered at how he could manage to keep a straight face but then noticed that it wasn't a straight face at all. He was thinking, thinking deeply. It wasn't the look of someone that was confident; no, it was the look of someone making a crucial decision.

At the realization, my thoughts began to waver. What was there to think about? We already had everything set in stone. He loved me and I loved him, and it was to be our happily ever after, wasn't it? He blinked, looking up at me for a moment. Our eyes didn't meet. No, he didn't let them. He was looking down the next moment, once again deep in thought. I started to feel a cold sensation creeping over me. Why did I feel like I was about to be pushed into the shadows?

I made to reach for his hand to hold him and make sure that everything was alright, but he moved away. I didn't know whether he did it on purpose or if it was intuitive, but it happened, and that was enough. Confirmation—something was wrong, terribly wrong. Coupled with the rumors I had heard just moments ago, I knew that things were about to go south. I started thinking to myself, not having any idea how to remedy the situation but knowing that I had to do something. If I wasn't mistaken, he was about to turn my whole world into ash. He was about to crumble all the plans we'd made with each other, destroy all the promises he'd made to me.

I closed my eyes, feeling a barrage of emotions washing over me like an ocean. A tear might have slipped from my eye, or maybe a couple. Even before it happened, I was broken. At that moment, the priest spoke words so crucial that even though his speech had been drowned out before due to all my thoughts, I heard it: "Do you agree to take Fiona to be your mate?"

My heart literally stayed still as I waited for his answer. This was supposed to be seamless, the answer known to everyone around, but now it was uncertain. He gave a moment. Hell, he waited forever. That was how long it felt before he finally gave his answer—just two words that set my entire world on fire: "I don't."

I could feel my knees buckling, all strength leaving my entire body. I forced myself to stay strong, held myself together as silence ensued. He took in a deep breath as he made his declaration, a follow-up that seemed to stab me with a thousand knives, doing double the damage he had done with those two words. "I reject our mating bond," he said again. "I do not agree to take you to be my Luna."

I looked at him through the veil, wanting to take it off so he could look into my eyes and say those words again, but not having the strength to. Was this really it? He closed the distance between us the next instant, catching me as I fell. At that moment, however, someone sprang to his feet, holding a sword out. "Stay away from her!" he spat, his voice filled with venom.

I saw Ethan from the corner of my eyes as Jason gently let me down into his own arms. He was already beside me, snatching me from Jason and even swinging his sword, but that was just the beginning. His actions were like a fire to gasoline. The whole place erupted in an explosion the next moment as people started talking, the more enthusiastic ones started moving. A couple of guards had risen up with Ethan, people we brought here to commemorate with us, now threatening the Frostwood family.

Before any order could be established, a couple of swords were already clashing and people bleeding. The wedding was literally turning into a war zone, yet I couldn't even think of that. I stared straight at the man who had done this to me, throwing away everything that we held dear to each other. It would have been one thing if he looked at me in return and offered an apology, even though it wasn't nearly enough, but he didn't. It was as though he didn't care as his eyes focused on someone in the crowd. I followed his gaze and found a woman staring right at him. A fury started rising up within me from the depths of my soul, something I didn't know if I could control.