Chapter 146 The Luna Takes Her Seat
Jolie pov
He opens the gates as we drive through in formation, vehicles spreading out to strategic positions around the estate. Warriors dismount, taking visible positions where anyone can see them.
The message is clear: The Moonfire Luna is here and she brought backup.
Ryder and I walk toward the garden ceremony space. I can feel hundreds of eyes watching—pack members, visiting alphas, Council operatives lurking in the background.
The garden is exactly as it was for the other wedding, white chairs, flowers everywhere, archway covered in roses. Classical music playing. Everything perfect and traditional.
We don't take seats in the back this time instead we walk straight to the front row and sit where everyone can see us.
Whispers ripple through the gathered wolves. Shocked murmurs. This isn't where the estranged daughter sits. This is where honored guests sit. I smile, meeting the eyes of anyone brave enough to look at me directly.
The music swells as everyone stands. My father appears at the front of the aisle. He's wearing a formal suit, looking every inch the powerful alpha. His eyes find mine and I see surprise flash across his face.
He didn't expect me to come back neither did he expect me to sit front row. Then Celeste appears at the end of the aisle except it's not Celeste.
It's a different woman. Younger, maybe twenty-two or twenty-three. Blonde like Celeste but softer features. Wearing the same wedding dress Celeste wore the last time.
My empathy gift reaches out instinctively, reading her. And I feel nothing. Absolutely nothing, the same void I felt from Celeste. "That's not Celeste." I whisper to Ryder.
"No." His voice is grim. "That's a replacement. Another conditioned wolf from the Academy."
Horror floods through me. They didn't just have one emotionless bride ready. They had backups. Multiple young women conditioned to be perfect wives, ready to be deployed wherever needed.
The replacement walks down the aisle with Celeste's same precise grace, as she holds my father's hand with the same mechanical perfection.
The court officiant for the wolf packs begins the ceremony and I can barely hear the words over the roaring in my head.
How many? How many young women has the Academy conditioned? How many backup brides do they have waiting?
I look around the gathered guests with new eyes. How many of these visiting alphas have wives from the Academy? How many conditioned women are embedded in traditional packs?
"We need to leave." Ryder murmurs. "This is worse than we thought."
"No." I grip the chair. "We stay, watch and we learn."
The ceremony proceeds exactly as planned. The replacement delivers the same performance Celeste would have—touching my father possessively, making intimate gestures, playing the perfect bride.
And my father doesn't notice the difference or doesn't care.
When the officiant asks if anyone objects, I stand as the garden goes silent.
"I don't object to the marriage." My voice carries clearly. "But I object to the lie it represents."
My father's face goes red. "Jolie"
"This isn't Celeste Whitmore." I continue calmly. "This is a replacement. Another Academy graduate sent to take her place when she defected."
Gasps ripple through the guests, the replacement's face stays perfectly blank—no shock, no fear, no emotion at all.
"You're mistaken." My father's voice is tight. "This is my bride, Celeste."
"I have the real Celeste Whitmore under Iron Fangs protection." I talk over him. "She defected and provided intelligence about Council operations. Including the fact that the Northern Academy has been conditioning young women to be perfect emotionless brides for political placement."
More gasps, several alphas looking at their own wives with new suspicion.
"This is inappropriate." The officiant tries to regain control. "You're disrupting a sacred ceremony."
"I'm exposing a conspiracy." I turn to face the gathered guests. "How many of you have wives from the Northern Academy? How many marriages here are actually Council plants designed to control traditional packs?"
"Enough!" My father roars. "Guards, remove her!"
Guards move forward but freeze when they see the fifty-three wolves positioned around the estate perimeter. One wrong move and this wedding becomes a battleground.
"I'm leaving voluntarily." I say calmly. "But I wanted everyone here to know the truth. The Council's breeding program doesn't just target divine wolves, it targets all of us. They're embedding conditioned women into our packs, controlling our politics through marriage, eliminating authentic emotion from our species one arranged union at a time."
I start walking toward the exit. Ryder falls in beside me, hand on his weapon.
"And for the record, Father." I stop at the garden entrance, looking back. "The real Celeste Whitmore asked me to tell you something. She said the only thing worse than being tortured into emotionlessness was being forced to perform affection for someone she feels nothing for. She said marrying you would be a different kind of prison."
His face goes pale.
"So congratulations on your wedding to... whoever this actually is." I gesture at the replacement. "I'm sure you'll be very happy together. As happy as any wolf can be with a partner who's been conditioned to perform love without feeling it."
The chaos in the garden rises like a wave. Alphas shouting questions at their wives. Council operatives trying to push through the crowd. Guards confused about whether to stop me or protect the ceremony.
My father stands at the altar with his replacement bride, face purple with rage.
"You don't get to walk away!" He roars. "You don't get to humiliate me in front of the entire wolf community and just leave!"
"Watch me." I keep walking toward the exit.
He shifts. Partially. Enough that his wolf surfaces—alpha power rolling off him in waves meant to force submission.
Every Nightshade wolf in the garden drops to their knees. The pressure is immense, designed to break resistance, to remind everyone who holds power here.
But I've faced worse. I destroyed seven Elders with empathy. I stood against Thorne Blackwater, i survived years of abuse that should have broken me.
My father's alpha command barely makes me pause. I turn back to face him, letting my light flare. "You want to do this here?" My voice carries divine authority that makes his wolves whimper. "You want everyone to see exactly what kind of alpha you are? Fine."
My moonfire explodes outward.I've used empathy to share emotions before—let people feel what I feel, what others feel. But I've never done this. Never projected complete memories to an entire crowd simultaneously.
Until now. My power surges through the amphitheater like a tsunami. It crashes into every wolf present, forcing them to see what I found when I touched Celeste.