缺席的新郎：我換了男人交換戒指

KYLA'S POV

"Hi, Mom," I said as I sat in the grass with my legs crossed beneath my butt. I looked at the wedding announcement in my hands, and a lone tear slipped from my eye. "Tormund Moonveil, son of Morgan and Tabitha Moonveil and also the future Alpha of the Moonveil pack, is to be wedded to Vivica Eclipse, daughter of Beta Albert and Claudia Eclipse of the Moonveil pack," I read out loud.

I lifted my head to the sky and let out a bitter laugh, then crushed the paper in my hands and threw it behind me.

"This is so unfair!" I sniffled. "I am the rightful daughter of the Beta! Why is his adoptive daughter treated better than me while I'm treated like the servant?" I asked as tears wet my knees. "Mom! I wish you were here." I ran my palm over the stone marker of my mother's grave.

I was about to say something else when I heard the whispers of some of the more mischievous pack children.

"Look, it's the monster girl," one of them giggled. "I dare you to go kiss her," his little voice said.

"No! I don't want to catch her cooties," the other answered.

"I can hear you," I said, growling beneath my breath.

"Maybe we should go before she kills us."

"Don't be a coward," the bolder boy snickered, and threw a rock.

The small pebble bounced off my shoulder. I ignored it, brushing my fingers across my mother's name carved into the stone.

They threw another rock. Harder this time. It cracked against the back of my head, making me wince.

"Quit it, you little buggers," I snapped, spinning around as I growled at them. I saw them cowering behind the bushes. My canines were sharp and pointed as they dripped with werewolf venom.

The children screamed in mock terror and scattered, shrieking into the trees. "Ahhhh! The monster's gonna eat us!"

I sighed, my heart sinking. This was normal now. The endless taunting and bullying because of my appearance. I was only fifteen when an accident left my face burnt. I didn't know how the fire started, but my wolf had warned me and woke me before I could die in my sleep from the flames.

A thumping sound startled me, and I turned back to the headstone and froze.

A black bird had crashed into the stone, tumbling to the ground in a flurry of feathers. Its wing was bent at a sick angle.

I scooped the trembling creature into my palms.

"Oh dear... Don't worry, little birdie. I'll fix you."

My eyes darted around, making sure no one was watching. Then I whispered the words of a forbidden spell and blew softly over the bird's wing.

A faint blue glow rippled from my lips, sinking into the feathers.

The bird gave a sharp cry and flapped up, strong again. It soared into the sky as if nothing had happened.

I smiled faintly, my heart aching with the memory of Wynona's voice. ‘This magic must remain your secret.’

A loud chime rang out from the village square clock. My stomach dropped.

"Shit."

I was late. Vivica's engagement dinner needed preparing, and I was the one meant to oversee the stew.

I hated that I had to always be serving my spoiled brat of a stepsister, and what made it worse was that Vivica and her pack of she-devils made my life a living hell. They nicknamed me the Burnt Face Monster, and that name had been stuck with me for three years now.

******

Claudia's voice was filled with annoyance the moment I stepped into the kitchen.

"You're late. The Alpha and Luna will be here any moment, and this dinner must be perfect."

"Yes, Claudia," I gulped, bowing my head as I joined the omega servants at the long table, chopping and stirring in silence.

The dinner was ready on time.

Beta Albert and Claudia sat at the head of the table with Vivica gleaming at my father's right side like a prized jewel. Across from them sat Alpha Morgan Moonveil and his Luna, Tabitha. They looked so regal in their silks, sipping wine and making small talk amongst themselves.

Tormund was beside Vivica, his hand never leaving her. He kissed her cheek while he whispered in her ear. He touched her with the entitlement of a man who had claimed something that was his by fate and not by arrangement.

I stood behind them with the other servants in silence. I kept invisible as I watched Tormund with a heart that bled.

When Vivica blushed at Tormund's touch, my fists clenched. Not out of jealousy, though it burned in my veins, but because Tormund had never once looked at me with kindness. Only with disdain and disgust.

The young Alpha-to-be was the golden prize of Moonveil, with curls like spun sunlight and a smile that made the she-wolves swoon.

I remembered the first time he had humiliated me in front of everyone. He was sitting at the dinner table when he sneered at my scarred face and called me a kitchen wench.

Trying to hold on to some fragment of my dignity, I had lifted my chin in pride. "I am the true-born daughter of Beta Albert and the late Gloria Eclipse."

"Oh!" Tormund had smirked, his voice dripping with venom. "You're the jealous wench then." Of course, Vivica had filled his head with lies about me.

Laughter roared through the hall, except from my father, who only scowled at me...his ruined daughter.

Beta Albert was once my hero, but now he barely looked my way anymore. Not since I was lost in the woods for years and came back. When I returned, someone else had taken my place and my father's heart. Plus, my face was badly burnt now, so it was easier for him to look at Vivica...the daughter he claimed as his own, the one who smiled and sparkled, the one who reminded him of everything I was not.

That night I had cried alone, whispering into the darkness how much I missed Wynona, the witch who had raised me for ten years when I was lost in the woods. Life with her had been hard, but it had been mine. I had someone who loved me. Someone who saw me. Now, I had nothing but sorrow.

The voice of the Luna took me from my haze.

"Even though Tormund and the lovely Vivica are not fated mates," Luna Tabitha said warmly, raising her glass, "they have a love that—ah, a beautiful love that must be cherished." She turned to the kissing couple and scolded them. "Save the lovey-dovey for the wedding night, you two."

Laughter rippled through the hall. I rolled my eyes, dreading for this dinner to be over so I could go to my room.

Then the Luna stood and declared the announcement that silenced the room.

"The marriage will be held in four days, on Vivica's eighteenth birthday!"