第4章

When we opened the private-room door, every eye turned toward us.

Kael recovered first.

"Well. If it isn't Liora. The broken wolf actually came? I thought you'd be hiding at home, afraid to step outside."

I paid him no attention and walked in beside Eric.

Rook drawled from where he lounged in a chair, "So she came.

"What kind of mating ceremony can a broken wolf have? She doesn't even deserve to be called a werewolf."

Someone eagerly showed Eric the decorations.

Then he launched into their entire explanation.

"What is the difference between holding a mating ceremony with Liora and holding a funeral?"

Everyone around them laughed.

Several people held up their phones.

They were ready to record my humiliation.

But Eric and I behaved as though we had heard nothing.

We had already agreed in the car.

At the venue, I would take the lead and Eric only needed to stay back.

Blake sat up in the center of the sofa.

He studied me for a few seconds and curled his lip.

"You actually came? I thought you would have some shame and spare yourself the embarrassment.

"What is a broken wolf with no wolf even doing here? Giving everyone a show?"

Serena rose from beside him with a very gentle smile.

"Liora, you really came. Sit down.

"Everyone is only joking. Don't take it to heart. Not being able to wake a wolf was never up to you."

I walked over to the baby's chair.

They all waited for me to make a fool of myself.

Kael jeered, "Say something, broken wolf! Frightened out of your wits?

"Right. You came all this way. You can't wake a wolf, but surely you can speak?"

I raised my head slowly and moved my eyes from one face to the next.

My voice was perfectly clear.

"Isn't there a forfeit to complete?"

I paused.

"Let's begin."

The room went quiet.

A supposed broken wolf whose wolf had never awakened had just demanded the mating mark ceremony herself.

Blake frowned.

"Liora, have you made enough of a scene? Do you want to humiliate yourself in front of everyone?"

Serena gave his hand a performative tug.

"Don't talk to Liora like that..."

But the satisfaction in her eyes was impossible to hide.

Then Eric spoke.

"Let's begin."

Ignoring everyone else, he walked straight to me and stopped.

Once he said it, nobody dared object.

Every eye in the room went to him.

The future Beta heir, the celebrated prodigy of the pack.

They expected the same contempt Blake had shown, or at least a token effort.

He gave them neither.

We met each other's eyes calmly, then kissed under the gaze of everyone in the room.

The instant our lips touched, my wolf roared.

But this was unlike anything I had felt before.

She cried out in excitement, [It's him! It's him! He's your fated mate!]

My eyes widened. No wonder I felt such a strange pull toward Eric.

Eric, by contrast, looked perfectly calm. He smiled at me. "Shouldn't we move to the next step?

"Let's complete the mating ceremony."

The room fell silent.

Kael's jaw dropped, disbelief written across his face.

Blake sprang off the sofa.

"Eric, have you lost your mind? You're really going to mate with a broken wolf like Liora?"

The smile froze on Serena's face.

I looked at Eric, and the black wolf inside him seemed to be calling to me without a sound.

Drawn in by that force, I exposed my neck without thinking.

Eric lowered his head and pressed his mouth to my neck.

In the next second, strange golden light burst out and closed around us.

Blake seemed to realize what was happening. He rushed toward us to stop it.

But before he could reach us, power erupted from the bond.

A crushing wave of Alpha pressure blasted outward.

Everyone except Eric was thrown off their feet. My white wolf had completed her evolution.

Staring at me in white-wolf form, Blake looked stunned. "Liora, you... you actually awakened the white-wolf bloodline?"