The Ceremony That Was Never Mine

As we walked out of the banquet hall, my mother, Isla Patterson, silently draped her cloak over my shoulders. Her hands were trembling.

She had spent two months practicing how to walk gracefully for this mating ceremony. Even when the old injury in her leg flared up, she had to take two breaks just to cross the corridor, terrified of embarrassing herself at my mating ceremony.

Now, all she could do was brace herself against the wall and shuffle forward one step at a time. Tucked away in her pocket were a pair of heirloom cufflinks meant for my fiancé, Kane Williams.

Just as we reached the main entrance, my phone rang. It was Kane. When I saw his caller ID, I felt my heart clench for a fleeting moment. I thought that seeing me leave had finally made him regret what he had done.

But the moment the call connected, I heard an elder reciting the ceremonial blessing in the background.

"Where are you?" Kane asked, sounding helpless. "I don't have time to coddle you right now. Beth's mother's vital signs have suddenly gotten worse, and we can't interrupt the ceremony."

He whispered, "Wait in the lounge. I'll come to you as soon as the ceremony is over."

I clenched my fists tightly as I hissed, "Two months ago, when you secretly filmed those vows with her, did you already know that her mother would be fighting for her life today?"

A brief silence followed on the other end of the line. I thought he would at least feel guilty and apologize.

"I made a backup plan in advance because Beth is your best friend. I didn't want you to be upset if she ended up with regrets," Kane said as though he had done nothing wrong. "I know you've put a lot into this ceremony, but everything I did was for your sake. There's no need to get upset over something like this."

My chest felt painfully tight. He knew how much this ceremony meant to me, but he had still decided long ago to give it to my best friend, Beth Cooper. He had even kept it a secret until the ceremony was about to begin, when it was too late for me to refuse. And yet, he was disguising his favoritism toward Beth as concern for my feelings.

Applause rang out from the banquet hall as Kane continued, "Beth's mother may not make it through the night, but we have our whole lives ahead of us. Mia, you can't be selfish when your friend is in desperate need of help."

Mom heard this and slowly tightened her grip around my cold hand. "Let's go home."

I didn't argue with Kane any further. After hanging up, I booked two plane tickets to leave the pack's territory tomorrow afternoon. As soon as the payment went through, he messaged me.

"When you're done with your tantrum, come back to the lounge. We can work out the details of rescheduling the mating ceremony."

The light from my phone screen illuminated my face. I stared at the message and found the whole thing laughable.

Did Kane really think holding another ceremony could make up for the walk Mom had painstakingly practiced for while enduring the pain in her leg? Did he really think he could undo the heartbreak of discovering that he had deceived me all along?

I locked my phone. As I waited for our ride outside the hall, my phone rang again. As expected, it was Kane.

Yet, I didn't answer. He called me three times in a row, and I rejected every call.