Chapter 1: The Wedding He Ruined

Meredith

Alarick's phone rang before the priest could finish binding us.

Buzz. Buzz.

I knew that ringtone, and so did everyone else in the hall as it meant one person and one person alone.

Clover.

My hand tightened around the bouquet, white roses crushing beneath my grip until the ribbon bit into my palm. Alarick's fingers were still laced with mine, but I felt the moment his grip loosened. He glanced down at his pocket.

The priest kept speaking, the Bloodmoon Pack kept watching, and I kept standing there like I hadn't already lived different versions of this moment for five years. Clover calls, Alarick runs, and I forgive him. The pattern was so familiar it made my chest ache.

"Alarick," I whispered.

He didn't look at me, but his jaw tightened as he pulled his hand free. The cool air rushed between our palms. He answered the call right there in front of the priest and his entire pack.

"What's wrong?" His voice dropped low, but the hall had gone quiet enough that everyone heard him anyway.

Clover's sobs crackled through the speaker, loud enough to carry and theatrical enough to make my stomach twist.

"Alarick, please." Her voice broke. "I can't do this anymore. I just, I can't."

Someone else grabbed the phone, their voice panicked and sharp. "Alpha, you need to come now. She's threatening to hurt herself. We can't stop her."

My breath caught. Alarick turned toward the door, and I stepped in front of him.

"Don't." My voice came out steadier than I expected as I grabbed his wrist and held on. "If you walk out of this hall, don't expect to come back and find me waiting."

His eyes finally met mine, brown and frustrated, like I was the one being unreasonable.

"Meredith, she's going to die."

"She's not going to die." My fingers dug into his sleeve. "She does this every time, and you fall for it every single time."

"You don't understand."

"I understand perfectly." My voice didn't shake as I held his gaze. "You're choosing her again."

Alarick's expression softened, but it wasn't guilt. It was pity. "We'll fix this when I get back. The wedding can wait another week. You know I'll make it up to you."

Another week. Like the three months I'd already waited meant nothing. Like the six times we'd rescheduled this ceremony were just minor inconveniences.

"No." I let go of his wrist. "It can't."

Clover's voice wailed through the phone again, high and desperate, and Alarick flinched. He looked at me one last time before pulling away and walking toward the exit.

I watched him go. The empty space where his hand had been felt colder than it should have.

For one breath, no one moved. Then the whispers began, crawling through the pews like insects, and I heard every word.

"She'll take him back. She always does."

"Poor thing. Clover's won again."

"I told you this wedding wouldn't happen."

Heat flooded my face as my hands shook around the bouquet. I couldn't tell if it was anger or humiliation or both.

One of Alarick's Betas approached me, looking uncomfortable as he shifted his weight from foot to foot.

"Luna," he said quietly. "Should we preserve the setup? For when the Alpha reschedules?"

Something inside me snapped.

I stopped shaking, and my vision cleared. The whispers didn't matter anymore. Fuck this, I was done.

I looked at the Beta, then at the crowd, then at the priest who was still frozen mid-prayer. They all expected me to wait, to forgive, to stand here like an obedient fool until Alarick decided I was worth coming back to.

I tore off my veil. The lace caught in my hair but I yanked it free with more force than necessary. It fluttered to the floor in a heap of ruined tulle.

"There won't be a reschedule," I said.

The Beta blinked. "Luna."

"I'm not your Luna." My voice carried through the hall. "And I will not marry Alpha Alarick Holt."

Silence.

I turned toward the aisle as my bouquet slipped from my fingers and hit the floor with a soft thud. White petals scattered across the red carpet. I stepped over it.

No one tried to stop me. No one spoke.

I walked out of the wedding hall with my head high and my hands steady.

This time, when Alpha Alarick Holt returned, he would not find me waiting and I absolutely mean it.