Chapter 17

Orion fails to contact me for a week.

My mating ceremony preparations have reached crisis proportions. Mother, Clare, and Cynthia are concerned about the morning-after party. Everything from the guest list to the centerpieces must be flawless in order to remove the stain of What I Did.

I do my best to engage, if only to maintain the illusion that I'll be married Ashton.

His threats continue to haunt me. Nightmares of desperately attempting to flee him only to be dragged back to the pack kicking and screaming have me waking up in a cold sweat every night. People are noting that I am constantly weary and on edge.

"The bags under your eyes," Mother remarks one night at dinner, making a low tutting noise instead of finishing the phrase.

"I haven't been sleeping very well." Because of you and what Father consented to. Because of the pack and because I'm a prisoner.

“Ma’am?” Hudson enters the dining room, followed by two thrall soldiers wearing Kevlar vests with the royal seal embroidered o