Chapter 3: Replacing My Groom

The man who intended to reject me was waiting under a chandelier with my sister at his side.

The mating ceremony occupied the grand ballroom of the Radcliffe Crown, Redfang Holdings' most expensive hotel. Crystal lights reflected across glass walls overlooking the city. Pack leaders sat beside investors, Council representatives, and reporters invited to document the union that would supposedly bind Redfang and Silverpine.

I entered alone.

Silverpine's executives had already arrived, but none approached. I had instructed our legal team not to interfere before my announcement. They didn't know whom I had married, only that the Redfang alliance was collapsing.

Tonight, I needed everyone to understand that the decision was mine.

Conversations softened as heads turned in my direction. Cameras followed me across the room, capturing the deep wine dress I had chosen and the counterfeit ring still resting on my finger.

Caelan separated from a group of Council members and approached me. "You came."

"Were you expecting me to run?" I arched my eyebrow.

"I expected you to act rationally." His gaze moved over my face, searching for evidence that I had spent the night crying. "Whatever happens tonight, don't make this more difficult than it needs to be." He offered his arm as if the previous evening had never happened.

In public, Caelan wore the same reassuring expression that had convinced investors to overlook missed projections and Council members to excuse broken promises. He believed that if he remained calm enough, I would follow his lead and preserve his reputation for him one final time.

I walked past it. "Save your concern for Evelina," I said. "You appeared more worried about her yesterday."

His jaw tightened. "We'll speak privately after the announcement."

"No, we won't."

Before he could answer, the ballroom doors opened again. Evelina entered wearing a pale silver gown selected from the collection intended for my bridal party. Her hair fell in carefully arranged waves, and the ancestral Redfang Luna Ring gleamed on her right hand.

Whispers spread through the ballroom. My sister hesitated when she saw me. Guilt flashed across her face, but she continued toward Caelan. He extended the same arm I had refused, and she accepted it.

As Evelina passed me, she whispered, "I never wanted you to find out this way."

"Then, you shouldn't have worn my ring."

Her fingers curled protectively around the ancestral band. Whatever guilt she carried wasn't strong enough to make her surrender it.

That single gesture told the audience everything his invitation had concealed.

The ceremony coordinator hurried toward the stage. Caelan guided Evelina beneath the illuminated Redfang crest while I remained among the guests. He had planned my humiliation carefully. I was supposed to stand there while he explained why my sister deserved the position I had spent six years preparing to assume.

Unfortunately for him, he wasn't the only one who had made plans.

Caelan accepted a microphone. "Thank you for joining us on an important evening for the Redfang Pack. I know many of you arrived expecting to witness my mating ceremony with Maquia Fairmont."

Several cameras swung toward me, but I kept my expression composed.

"However," he continued, "an Alpha's first obligation must always be to his pack. Recent circumstances have forced me to reconsider who is best suited to stand beside me as Redfang's Luna."

Evelina lowered her eyes with rehearsed modesty.

"A Luna must understand her people. She should bring warmth, dedication, and loyalty instead of approaching her role like just another corporate deal." He turned toward Evelina. "She should be someone who listens without calculating what she can gain. Someone who places her Alpha and pack above her personal ambitions."

Polite approval came from several Redfang elders. Across the ballroom, Silverpine's legal counsel remained expressionless. The investors looked less comfortable. They knew whose negotiations had rescued Radcliffe Industries from two failed acquisitions, even if Caelan preferred pretending otherwise tonight.

The insult was just discreet enough to slip past his investors, yet obvious to anyone who really knew me.

I had negotiated Redfang's contracts, repaired its Council relationships, and protected Caelan from the consequences of his own decisions. Now he intended to portray my competence as proof that I was unfit to lead.

"For that reason," Caelan announced, "I have decided to dissolve my engagement to Maquia Fairmont and name—"

"You cannot reject a woman who no longer belongs to you," I interjected before he could finish his words.

Caelan froze.

Reporters turned toward me as I approached the stage. The crowd parted without being asked.

"What did you say?" Caelan demanded.

I stopped in front of him. "Our engagement ended the moment you placed my Luna Ring on my sister's finger."

Evelina clasped her hands together, partially concealing the ring.

"You agreed to wait until tonight," Caelan said, narrowing his eyes.

"I did. I never agreed to remain unmarried while I waited."

A hush fell over the room. Caelan stared at me before releasing a disbelieving laugh. "Unmarried?" he parroted.

"As of last night, I'm legally bound under Pack Council law."

"To whom?"

The ballroom doors opened. And there, appeared. 

Azriel Castellane entered as if the entire evening belonged to him. His tailored black suit bore the restored Nightfall brooch I had seen at Vesper & Rowe. Beside it rested a silver Silverpine crest, declaring our alliance before he spoke a single word.

His olive eyes found mine immediately. "You kept me waiting, wifey."

The intimate endearment traveled through the stunned ballroom. 

Azriel didn't hurry as he crossed the room. He allowed the cameras to capture both crests on his jacket and every startled expression following him. Where Caelan relied on carefully rehearsed charm, Azriel carried the certainty of a man who had already calculated the outcome and found no reason to doubt it.

Heat crept up my neck at the sound of that endearment. He hadn't said that last night, and I wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of seeing me blush.

"You seem to have survived, hubby." There was no chance he was the only one capable of showing such sweetness in public.

Azriel's expression changed. Only slightly, but I saw the dark pleasure that entered his eyes. He walked toward me while Nightfall security remained near the doors. A Pack Council registrar followed several steps behind, carrying the same tablet used inside Azriel's office.

Caelan moved in front of us. "This is a performance."

"No," Azriel answered. "Your ceremony is the performance. My marriage is legally registered."

"Maquia cannot transfer Silverpine's alliance without Council approval."

The registrar stepped forward. "The marriage covenant between Maquia Fairmont and Azriel Castellane was registered at eight forty-seven last night. Both parties entered voluntarily, and all required documents were authenticated. Under Council law, the covenant supersedes Ms. Fairmont's unsealed engagement to Mr. Radcliffe."

The ballroom erupted into overlapping whispers.

Several investors immediately reached for their phones. The reporters began sending updates before the registrar had even lowered her tablet. By morning, every major financial publication would know that the Fairmont alliance had shifted from Redfang to Nightfall overnight.

Caelan understood it, too. His attention moved from the Silverpine crest on Azriel's jacket to the executives who no longer belonged to his side of the ballroom. Then, looked at me. "You married him less than three hours after leaving Redfang?"

"You made my decision remarkably easy."

"What about our alliance agreement?"

"You mean the agreement I drafted?" I asked. "Its territorial access, Council proxies, and Fairmont investment were contingent upon my becoming Redfang's Luna. Since that condition will never be fulfilled, the agreement terminates automatically."

His face lost color.

Evelina stepped toward me. "You're punishing an entire pack because you're angry with us."

"No. I'm refusing to reward Redfang for replacing me." I glanced at her authentic ring. "You wanted Caelan and the Luna title. You can keep both. My territory and influence were never included."

Azriel extended his hand. When I placed mine inside it, his attention shifted to the counterfeit on my finger. "My wife shouldn't wear another pack's imitation." He removed the false ring and placed it in Caelan's palm. Then, he withdrew a black velvet box from his jacket.

Inside rested a black diamond surrounded by tiny red stones, set within dark silver engraved with the Nightfall crest.

It was the ancestral Nightfall Luna Ring.

Azriel slid it onto my finger. It fit perfectly. Not merely well enough. The dark silver rested against my skin without sliding or tightening, as though the ring had been measured for my hand. 

He had supposedly agreed to marry me only after I entered his office last night. There shouldn't have been enough time to resize an ancestral setting before the ceremony.

I looked sharply at him. "How did you know my size?"

His thumb passed over the ring. "I pay attention."

That wasn't an answer.

Around us, cameras captured the exact moment Nightfall publicly claimed Silverpine's heiress.

Caelan closed his fingers around the counterfeit. "You married my greatest enemy..."

I accepted Azriel's offered arm. "That was part of the appeal."

Caelan reached for me, but Azriel moved between us before his hand made contact. "Do not touch my wife." His quiet warning silenced even the closest reporters. Then, he looked at Evelina and the ancestral ring she had stolen from me. "Your ceremony can continue," he told Caelan. "You still have the woman you selected. You simply lost everything you expected to receive with her."

Caelan's expression twisted, but there was nothing he could challenge without exposing his own failure to read the agreement.

Azriel took my hand and lowered his lips to my knuckles, directly above the black diamond. "Come, wifey," he murmured. "It's time I took you home."

I met Caelan's furious stare and smiled. "Lead the way, hubby."