Chapter 20 THE WEDDING 1
The pack house smelled like fear,steel and old blood.
Mia stood at the top of the stone steps in a black dress that was not hers. It was Yelena’s. Simple. No lace. No white. No wedding. Just black for a pack that was at war.
Her hair was still wet from the shower. Her feet were bare. The silver wolf fang hung around her neck on Alex’s mother’s cord. Cold against her skin. _Real_.
She kept touching it.
Alex stood beside her. Suit. No tie. Sleeves rolled up to show the MC tattoo on his forearm. His eyes were black. Not gold. Alpha.
Control.
He had not let go of her hand since the roof.
Below them, forty wolves filled the great room. Betas. Gammas. Lieutenants. The ones who had not followed Viktor. The ones who had chosen him.
The ones who had chosen her.
Kane stood at the bottom of the steps. Face clean. Shirt changed. No more blood.
Luka was there too. Bandaged. Pale. But standing. He gave Mia a nod.
The door opened.
Yelena walked in. Holding a bowl.
Silver. Old. Filled with red liquid.
Not water.
Blood.
Alex’s blood.
Mia’s stomach turned.
“This is not what I thought marriage looked like,” Mia whispered to Alex.
“Neither did I,” Alex whispered back. “But this is what it looks like for us.”
Yelena stopped at the bottom of the steps. Bowed.
“Alpha,” Yelena said. “Luna.”
“Luna,” the pack echoed. Forty voices. One word.
Mia’s knees went weak.
Alex’s hand tightened around hers.
Yelena lifted the bowl. “By pack law. By old law. By blood law. A Luna is bound to her Alpha not by ring but by blood and by word. Today, Alessandro De Luca claims Mia as his Luna and his wife before the pack. Today, Mia accepts him as her Alpha and her husband before the pack. Today, the bond begins.”
She looked at Mia.
“Mia,” Yelena said. “Do you come here of your own will? Not by force. Not by fear. Not by Clause 7. By choice?”
Mia looked at Alex.
At the man who had slept on the floor outside her door.
At the man who had let her stop him from killing.
At the man who had proposed on a roof with a wolf fang instead of a ring.
“Yes,” Mia said. Voice steady. “Of my own will.”
Yelena turned to Alex.
“Alessandro,” Yelena said. “Do you come here of your own will? Not by title. Not by curse. Not by power. By choice?”
Alex did not hesitate.
“Yes,” Alex said. “Of my own will. Forever.”
Yelena nodded. Dipped her fingers into the bowl.
Red on silver.
She stepped forward. Touched Mia’s forehead.
A cold line.
“Blood of the Alpha,” Yelena said. “Binds the Luna to the pack.”
She touched Alex’s forehead.
“Blood of the Luna,” Yelena said. “Binds the Alpha to the pack.”
Mia’s skin burned where the blood touched. Not pain.
Mark.
Claim.
Ours.
Yelena stepped back.
“The pack witnesses,” Yelena said. “The pack accepts. The pack protects.”
The room echoed. “The pack protects.”
Alex turned to Mia.
No speech. No poetry.
Just truth.
“Mia De Luca,” Alex said. “You are my wife. You are my Luna. You are my home. I will protect you with my life. I will stand with you until the last breath leaves my body. I will never let you face this alone again.”
Mia swallowed. The wolf in her was quiet. The human in her was overwhelming.
“I am not good at speeches,” Mia said. The room was silent. Waiting. She took a breath. “I am not good at this. At being Luna. At being pack. At being yours.”
She looked at the forty faces below. All watching. All waiting.
“But I am good at choosing,” Mia said. “And I choose you. I choose this pack. I choose to stand here. Even if I am scared. Even if I do not know what I am doing. I choose us.”
The room did not erupt.
Wolves do not clap.
They bowed.
Forty heads. Forty backs. Forty wolves.
Luna.
Alex pulled her into his arms. Not a kiss. Not yet. Claim.
He pressed his forehead to hers.
“Our pack,” Alex said.
“Our rules,” Mia said.
“Our future,” Alex said.
The ceremony was over.
But the war was not.
The door slammed open.
Not Kane.
Not Luka.
A Beta. Young. Face pale.
“Alpha,” the Beta said. Breathing hard. “The Council is here. All twelve. At the gate. They demand entry. They say they are here for the marked Luna.”
Alex’s body went rigid.
Mia felt it. The shift in the air. The shift in him.
Protect.
Kill.
War.
Alex’s eyes went gold.
For a second.
Then they went black again.
Control.
“Hold the gate,” Alex said to the Beta. “No one enters without my word.”
The Beta ran.
Alex turned to Mia.
“They are here because of Clause 7,” Alex said. “They are here to see if you are marked. If you are not, they will declare me unfit. They will give the title to Alessia.”
Mia’s hand went to the fang at her neck.
“I am not marked,” Mia said.
“No,” Alex said. “Not yet. But you are mine. And that has to be enough.”
“It is not enough for the Council,” Yelena said. Stepping forward. “They want blood. They want bite. They want proof.”
“Then we give them proof,” Alex said.
Mia looked up at him. “How?”
“We lie,” Alex said.
The word hung in the air. Heavy. Dangerous.
“Lie?” Mia said.