Rejected At The Altar, Claimed By The Alpha King

y

h time I was suppo

dressed in their finest, the Elder stood at the altar

called off for a different reason, and y

Then my cousin Celestine, the widow of Damon's late brother, Kael, collapsed in the middle of the ais

pack searched until dawn and found her at Kael's grave, re

he vows and called the groom a liar. The fourth time,

ng from the chandelier. She locked herself in the Blackwood crypt. Sh

understood. Sacrificing

eathbed he made Damon promise to look after her. Damon had Kael's dark hair, Kael's ja

she wasn't well. Of course Damon couldn't bring himself to leave her. Of cours

oth my hands and said, "Wait a little longer.

"Be understanding. He looks so much l

. Because my wolf had ne

actly one thing: the alliance she can be married into

ylar di

e," she'd said. "

say was, "I don't h

in one fist, and said in a low, flat voice, "This is the last time. If

w, a warmth welled up in my chest anyway. I watched her grit her teeth,

usic

ke a wall that didn't argue. The guests' eyes slid over the gown, t

at ramrod straight, his fingers rubbing the head of his cane, his gaze passing over me to land

remony, not one of them had of

e, I tol

l coat. It hung a little loosely on his shoulders. It had been

ntle, apologetic, hopeful gaze that had

d thought: One more time. I'

echoing off the stone walls, "if either soul would turn away from

had let that

line, and the blood welled up, warm

ach other. Three inches. Two. One. On

a

rs slam

ae

ame bent sidewa

hair wild, her feet bare. My mother was right behind her, her bun

I'd only closed my

s. No doub

and back the very

e blood trickled between my fingers and fell onto the white mar

estine threw herself at Damon and clutched his lapel. "I'm s

he was looking at Damon. She d

" Damon murmured to her, g

shoulder, her

shed from her face, and her mouth curve

e garden at dusk. The

tals from a bloom, "I'll call him Kael,

me eyes. The only diff

fluttered, and t

g the back of Celestine's head, her voice trembling. "My dar

like that when I was five and burning with fever. I

he gown she'd never helped me try on, or the hand

seated, watching me from under his heavy brows, as though I'd knocked over something valuable. Then his gaze shift

ecovered from Kael's death...

h. "Damon looks just like his brother. How could she not think of him? Hones

aside. The girl's wolf has never even awakened. What use is she to Blackwo

Beta murmured. "The widow gets a m

e obj

ging in the air. Blood ran down my wri

d in with mine. Three years ago, she had lost her husband,

ced with something of mine, an

t more than the

clamped down hard over my wound, shaking with anger, and

her voice low. Her eyes

yla

this anymo

shed bouquet to th

Nine! Are you all blind? She isn't sick! She ate three sl

d to catch her, b

same instant. "She's trying t

n mo

sary. Her heel caught the hem of her dress, and she fell, the back of her sk

own it and

else

d my bleeding hand against her head, where something warm and wet was already soaking through her hair. Withou

ar. S

I'm fine," she slurred. "Don't... don't m

head split open, and she was still k

ted to

g on a door deep inside me-a door that had never once opened-and it was abou

he stared at me as though she we

sped. "You smel

nd I didn't have time

aid, still holding Celestine. "She knows how frag

Theron muttered, to

't raise his voice. He never needed to. "You'v

ar was breathing. They had watched my friend collapse in

e herself free and pointed a trembling finger at me. "Kael, why did you

gently caught her wrists. "Kael

guilt, panic, and pleading. His lips parted. I think

haking shriek that carried to every corner of the hall. "Reject

throat

friend's. The hall was in chaos. Everyone was watching him. Hi

ice low and strained

Da

to say it a

at me with those pleading eyes and tell me he hadn't rejected anyone. A tenth wedding. An eleventh. A li

, too loyal to my dignity even to cry out. I looked at my family, watching with th

inside me

ope pulled taut for too many yea

am

ped and

hands hanging at my sides, and

ey, reject you, Damon of Blackw

obbing cut of

ent I could hear my own b

nt, Damon clu

oat, his fingers digging into his hair, his knees slamming into

red a

wolf had never responded to me. I had always assumed that these words

had w

my chest went still, as if it had finally been given the a

d it

olf fina