Chapter 10: The Hall

Elena POV

I stood in front of the mirror, hands shaking a little, telling myself to breathe. Outside the window the whole pack was buzzing like bees in a jar. Wolves yelled orders “Move that table left! No, left!” while others laughed and chatted. 

Kids ran in circles, throwing handfuls of flower petals like they were practicing for a game. Even the old folks were busy, setting up a fancy stone table in the big ballroom with shiny moon rocks and funny carved symbols. Silver and black flags, the pack colors hung from every wall of the palace. It looked like a party, a big happy party. But it was all because of this wedding I never asked for.

My wolf wouldn’t sit still inside me. She kept pacing, claws clicking on the floor of my mind. The mating bond pulled like a rope around my ribs, yanking me toward Andrew. I could feel him somewhere downstairs nervous, maybe mad. I didn’t want to care. 

Today I’d marry him, sure, but only on my rules. He’d have to work hard to make me trust him again.

Clara, my best friend, fussed with the last bits of my outfit. She tucked a thin veil over my hair and stuck fresh wildflowers in it, flowers that smelled like me, like pine and rain. She stepped back, eyes wide. “Elena, you look amazing. Andrew’s gonna forget how to talk.”

I looked in the mirror and didn’t know the girl staring back. The dress was white and simple, nothing flashy, but it fit like it was made for me. Strong shoulders, straight back. Ready? Not really. But the big clock in the hall rang twelve times, and a loud voice boomed through the corridors: “Ceremony starts now! Everyone to the ballroom!”

My heart tried to jump out of my chest. Clara grabbed my hand and pulled me along the twisty hallways. Pack members stopped what they were doing to look. Some smiled big, real smiles. Others whispered behind their hands. I caught bits: “Omega Luna… can she do it?” “Andrew’s finally growing up.” I lifted my chin and kept walking. Their doubts sounded a lot like the ones in my own head.

The ballroom doors were huge, carved with wolves howling at a giant moon. Soft flute music floated out, mixed with slow drumbeats an old mating song every pup learns. Clara squeezed my fingers one last time. “You got this. I’m right inside.”

I pushed the doors. They swung open easy, like they wanted me to come in.

The room took my breath away. Sun poured through tall windows, making the crystal lights overhead sparkle like stars. Rows of chairs were packed with every wolf in the pack pups on laps, elders in front, warriors standing at the back. 

Flowers hung everywhere, pink and white and yellow, like someone had shaken a garden over the walls. At the far end stood the stone altar, covered in those moonstones. Elder Rowan waited there in his long grey robe. And next to him Andrew.

He wore a black suit that fit perfect, showing off his wide shoulders. His grey eyes locked on me the second I stepped in. For one heartbeat his face went soft, almost wonder-struck, like he’d never seen anything so beautiful. My stomach flipped.

Then the whispering started.

At first it was quiet, like wind in the trees. Then louder. A giggle here, a snort there. Heads turned. Hands flew to mouths. That blonde girl the one who’d smirked at me in the hallway yesterday leaned to her friend and said, loud enough for half the room to hear, “Look at her pretending to be Luna in that dress. An Omega pulling this off? Please.”

Laughter rippled out like a wave. Someone else muttered, “Pathetic.” Another voice: “He’s only doing this because he feels sorry for her.” “She won’t last a week.” “Remember when he flat-out rejected her? This whole thing’s a joke.”

Every word hit me like a slap. My fancy armor the one I’d spent all morning building cracked right open. 

My feet stuck to the floor just inside the doorway. The flowers in my veil suddenly felt heavy, the dress too tight. Heat rushed to my face. My eyes stung.

Andrew’s head snapped toward the voices. His jaw clenched so hard I saw the muscle jump. A low growl rumbled in his chest, loud enough that the front rows went quiet. But the damage was done. 

The laughter kept coming, bouncing off the pretty walls and flowers.

My wolf whined inside me, curling into a ball. The bond twisted like someone had tied it in knots. Why? After the chase through the woods, after his promises, after everything why were they still laughing at me?

The first tear slipped down my cheek. Then another. I couldn’t stop them. Sobs shook my shoulders, loud and messy, right there in front of the whole pack. My hands flew up to cover my face, but it was too late. Everyone saw. The Omega bride, crying like a baby before she even reached the altar.

Clara rushed to my side, wrapping an arm around me. “Elena, breathe, honey, breathe.”

But I couldn’t. The room spun. The flowers smelled too sweet, the music too loud. Elder Rowan lifted a hand for quiet, but the giggles kept sneaking out. Andrew took one step toward me, then another, his face dark with fury. “Enough!” he barked, voice cutting through the air like a whip. The laughter died fast, but the damage hung there, thick as smoke.

I wanted to run. I wanted to tear the veil off, kick the fancy shoes into the corner, and bolt back to my room. But my legs wouldn’t move. The bond held me in place, same as the eyes of every wolf in the room.

Andrew reached me in three long strides. He didn’t care that the whole pack watched. He cupped my wet cheeks in his big hands, gentle even though his eyes still flashed with anger at everyone else. “Look at me,” he said, low and steady. “Just me.”

I tried. Through the blur of tears I saw his face really saw it. Worry, guilt, something soft I hadn’t seen before. His thumbs wiped my cheeks. “You are not pathetic,” he said, loud enough for the front rows to hear. “You are mine. And I’m yours. That’s what matters today.”

The room went dead quiet. Even the flutes stopped.

Elder Rowan cleared his throat. “Shall we begin?”

Andrew didn’t let go of my face. “Elena?” he a

sked, voice softer now, just for me. “You still want this?”