The Lies

Rebecca’s POV

​There stood Clara. She looked like a nightmare. Her white dress was ripped, her hair was a mess, and her face was covered in bruises. She looked as if she had crawled through hell to get here.

​The guests gasped. I heard my father jump up from his chair. People started whispering frantically, looking from the bloody woman at the door to me, standing at the altar in her place.

​Enzo’s hands dropped from mine. He took a slow step toward her, his eyes wide with disbelief.

​"Clara?" my father’s shaky voice asked.

​"That... is not... me!" Clara panted, her chest heaving. She pointed a trembling, dirty finger right at my face. Her eyes were burning with pure hatred. "She’s a liar! Rip off that veil and see the snake you’re really marrying!"

​Enzo didn't wait. He turned back to me. His face looked terrifying and dark. Before I could say anything, his hand flew out. He grabbed the fabric and ripped the veil off my head.

​The cold air hit my skin. Five hundred guests gasped at once as my face was revealed.

​Enzo stared at me, his eyes wide with shock. For a second, he just looked confused, but then his face twisted. The shock turned into pure, hot rage.

​"Rebecca!" he barked. The way he said my name felt like a slap.

​I opened my mouth to explain, my heart hammering against my ribs, but Clara didn't give me a chance. She pushed through the crowd, limping painfully toward the altar.

​"She tried to kill me!" Clara screamed, her voice cracking. "She hired men to kidnap me and throw me in the woods! She wanted me dead so she could take my place and have you, Enzo!"

​My eyes went wide. "No!"

​A wave of loud gasps filled the hall. Five hundred eyes turned toward me with horror and disgust.

​"Clara, why are you lying?" I shouted, my voice trembling with fear and confusion.

​But Clara played her part perfectly. She pulled back her torn sleeves, showing off the ugly bruises on her arms and neck. She looked so hurt and broken that for a second, even I wondered what had actually happened to her.

​"I barely escaped the men you sent!" she cried, looking at the crowd. "I ran until my lungs burned just to get back here! She’s obsessed with him! She’s crazy!"

​"I knew it," someone in the crowd whispered. "She's always been obsessed with the Alpha."

​The murmurs grew louder, like a swarm of bees. Suddenly, I felt a sharp, stinging pain across my face.

​SLAP!

​Pain exploded across my face. I gasped as my father’s hand struck me so hard my head snapped sideways. The sound of the impact echoed off the high ceilings, silencing the entire hall.

I slowly lifted my trembling hand to my burning cheek, tears instantly filling my eyes.

​My father stood over me, his face red with shame and anger.

​"So, has it come to this?" he spat, his voice vibrating with rage. "You would murder your own sister for a man? A man who doesn't even want you?"

​"I didn't do it!" I sobbed, looking at him through my tears. "She’s lying! Dad, please!"

​"Then explain why you took my place!" Clara yelled, stepping closer. "Why are you in my dress? Why are you at the altar?"

​"Because you begged me to!" I shouted back, desperate. "You said you didn't want this! You told me to save you!"

​"Stop lying, Becca! Stop it!" Clara wailed, covering her face as she sobbed.

​The hall exploded with accusations, the words "traitor" and "murderer" crashing into me from every direction.

I turned to Enzo, my last hope. I needed him to look at me and remember who I was. I needed him to trust me. He knows me better than anyone—that is what he would always say.

​"Enzo," I whispered, reaching out for him. "You know me. You... you know I couldn't do this..."

​"Enough."

​He cut me off with a single word that felt like a blade to the chest. He looked at me with so much disgust it felt like he was looking at a rotting corpse.

​"This marriage is over," he said, his voice cold and hard as stone. "I am annulling it right now."

​Enzo’s voice echoed through the hall like thunder. I flinched, my heart stopping as he took a giant step away from me, breaking all contact.

​"I am disgusted by you, Rebecca," he spat. "To think I actually worried about you. I thought something was wrong, that you were hurt..."

​"Enzo, please," I begged, reaching out for him. "Please believe me! You’ve always said you know me better than anyone. Look at me! You know I couldn't do this!"

​He violently slapped my hand away. "Trust you?" he barked bitterly. "How the hell am I supposed to trust you after this? I knew you were obsessive, Becca, but kidnapping your own sister? Trying to murder her just to steal her place at the altar?"

​"I didn't do it!" I sobbed, but my voice was drowned out by the angry shouts of the guests.

​Enzo turned his back on me and faced the old priest, his massive body tense with rage.

​"Annul this marriage," Enzo commanded, his voice booming until the windows rattled. "This marriage was a lie."

​I sank to my knees, the heavy white dress puffing out around me like a shroud.

​"I... I can't, Future Alpha," the priest whispered.

​"What do you mean you can't?" Enzo roared, stepping toward him. "Do it!"

​The priest shook his head, holding his holy book to his chest. "The blood has been exchanged, Alpha. You tasted her; she tasted you. The souls have already begun to knit together. According to ancient pack law... a blood-bound marriage cannot be annulled immediately."

​A horrible feeling spread through my stomach.

​"Then how long?" Enzo spat, his hands curling into fists.

​The priest swallowed hard, looking at me with pity before looking back at Enzo. "The bond must remain for one full cycle of the seasons. You cannot annul this... until a year has passed."

​Silence. Complete, suffocating silence.

​Enzo went completely still. Then slowly... very slowly... he turned his head toward me. The look in his eyes terrified me. It was worse than rage. It was the terrifying calm of a man whose trust had been completely broken.

​"You planned this," he said quietly.

​"No! Enzo, I swear—"

​"You trapped me."

​"No!" I sobbed. "I didn't know about the law!"

​But nobody believed me. Not my father, who stood there with his face red with shame. Not the guests. And definitely not Enzo.