GETTING MARRIED

I opened the door and walked out.

Jaxson was leaning against the opposite wall, his arms crossed over his massive chest, his foot tapping impatiently. When he looked up, the smug expression he'd been wearing didn't just fade, it vanished into a void of pure shock.

His eyes raked over the shredded lace of the dress, but then they climbed higher, staring at the raw edges of hair I had cut. 

I watched the color drain from his face, just the way I had pictured it. 

"What," he started, his voice a low, vibrating growl. "did you do?"

"I fixed it," I said, my voice steady, even as my heart was racing. "I adored Luna Melissa, Jaxson. But don't you ever mistake your mother for me. If you want a Luna, you'll get your Luna."

He moved so fast, I didn't even see him.I only felt the rush of cold air beforre he slammed his hand into the wall beside my head, leaving us only inches apart.

"You think this is funny?"He grabbed a handful of my uneven hair, pulling my head to the back until I was forced to look at his golden eyes. "You think you can just mutilate what belongs to me and walk away?"

"I don't belong to you," I hissed, pressing the sharp end of the scissors against the center of his chest. "You bought a signature on a piece of paper, Jaxson. You didn't buy me."

His gaze dropped to the scissors, then back to my eyes. The anger in him was so loud I could almost hear his wolf howling. He looked like he wanted to wrap his hands around my throat and snap my head.

​"You're going to walk into that hall," he rasped. "And you're going to stand by my side. And if you so much as flinch when I touch you, Ava... I will make you regret every single cut you made today."

​"Then let's go," I challenged. "Let’s show the pack exactly what kind of monster you chose for a mate."

​I brushed past him.I didn't look back. I headed for the meeting Hall, my heels clicking on the marble floor.

​The double doors swung open. The chatter of a hundred wolves died instantly, replaced by a collective, horrified gasp. My parents stood up, my mother’s hand flying to her mouth as she saw the ruins of my hair, the jagged edges of my dress, and the scissors still gripped in my white-knuckled hand.

​I walked straight to the high table, feeling Jaxson’s heavy, murderous presence right behind me. He didn't hide his rage. He let it roll off him in waves, cowing the pack into a terrified silence.

​He reached out, his hand clamping onto the back of my neck, his thumb pressing hard against my pulse point. 

​"She is your Luna," he announced to the room, his voice a lethal, low-frequency warning. "And the next person who stares at her long enough to blink... loses their eyes."

​I looked at my parents, their faces pale with regret, and then at the pack that had once tormented me. I wasn't the nerd anymore. I was the nightmare they had helped Jaxson create. 

"Is this the Queen you promised us?" An elder council members said. It was a man named Silas who had always looked at me like I was dirt beneath his boots.

"She’s a disgrace," Elder Silas hissed from the front row. "Alpha, you cannot present this... this lunatic as our Queen."

"Hey–" Jaxson pressed my arm before I could say anything else.

​Jaxson’s hand tightened on the back of my neck. I waited for him to snap, but instead, I felt a low, dark vibration in his chest. He was laughing.

​"A disgrace?" Jaxson’s voice boomed, carrying to every corner of the room. He turned me to face the crowd, his fingers digging into my pulse point. "No. She’s impatient. Look at her. My mate is so desperate for our union that she couldn't even wait for the seamstress to finish the lace."

​My stomach dropped. What?

​He leaned into me. "You wanted to give them a show, Ava? Thank you. You just gave me the excuse I needed."

​He looked up at his parents, Melissa, who looked horrified, and Silas Hale, who was watching us like a hawk. They didn't say anything.

​"Since the Luna is so eager to shed her old life," Jaxson announced, his voice lethal and loud, "we won't wait for the Blood Moon. We are moving the ceremony up. The wedding is tomorrow night."

​The hall erupted. My plan had backfired. I had cut my hair and shredded my dress to humiliate him, but he had turned it into a sign of "passion" to force the marriage before I could breathe.

​"Tomorrow?" I choked out, my heart hammering.

​Jaxson leaned down, his lips brushing my ear. "Tomorrow,"

​Later that Night, after we concluded the introduction meeting.

​I was back in the suite, the doors locked from the outside by Jaxson’s guards. I paced the floor, my mind racing. The wedding was less than twenty-four hours away. My parents had sold me, the pack was waiting for my "domestication," and Jaxson was losing his mind with possessive fury.

​I threw myself onto the bed, staring at the ceiling. Then, my phone buzzed.

​

​It was a call from an unknown number.

​My breath hitched. I swiped the screen, my hand trembling as I pressed it to my ear. "Hello?"

​"Ava?"

​The voice was faint, but it hit me like a physical blow. It was soft, human, and full of a kindness that didn't exist in this house.

​"Liam?" I whispered, my voice breaking.

​"Ava, oh thank God. I’ve been trying to find you. I thought you were in trouble. I'm near the border, I'm coming to get you—"

​The line went dead.

​I stared at the screen, my heart thundering. If Jaxson found out a human was trespassing for his mate, Liam wouldn't just be in trouble. He’d be dead before the sun came up.