Chapter 4 Four
RHEA
"The wedding starts in twelve hours."
"Do you think she's awake..."
"Shhh."
I regained consciousness to the sound of female voices coming from the distance. It was still dark outside. For a beat of a second, I lay on the bed confused. What had happened? What wedding? My heart pounded in my chest. I was supposed to be halfway across the pack by now. I didn't want to marry the twins.
Then it all came crashing down with a crushing feeling of reality. Pack enforcers, the guards after me. Somehow, they knew. And Cassian...
Tears stung at the corner of my eyes. The last thing I remembered was falling unconscious in his arms, and then I woke up back in the very place I ran away from. How could he...
The betrayal hurt more than the dull pain at the side of my head.
I recognized the white ceiling of my room. The faint mint scent of the pillows. Cassian brought me back here.
I sat up, fuming with rage. He could have done something, done anything else, but he did this instead.
"You're awake. Perfect." A cold voice that I recognised sounded from a part of the room.
I turned to the sound, my heart beating faster. Alaric stood there, gazing out through the window in a black coat that reached his heels. There was steel in his voice.
And beside him...
No. I blinked twice, like that would change my reality, but the image in front of me remained. The tears threatened to spill now. Beside him was Cassian, on his knees, his head bowed.
"Cassian..." I whispered, my voice breaking.
He didn't meet my eyes, his hands clasped at his sides, but I saw the way his shoulders stiffened. It might have been a minute detail, but dammit, I noticed everything about him.
"You disgraced me." Father's voice was sharp. He turned around, marching towards me.
I winced, my back hitting the wooden panel of the bed. I hugged my knees and tried not to cry.
"The alpha's daughter running away from her own wedding." He spat, glaring down at me.
I didn't say anything. I couldn't. Not when I had been so close at escaping.
Father gripped my chin roughly, forcing me to look at him.
"Not only that. But this dog knew about it." He cast a glare Cassian's way. When he turned back to me, there was a dark smirk on his face. "You thought he would help you escape, didn't you? So naïve. After all, he works for me."
He let me go, motioning to Cassian, who stood up wordlessly. Following him. Not sparing me a glance.
"Get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow you'll be happily married, and our men can set for war." Alaric said, stopping at the door.
He and Cassian stepped out, closing the door behind them. I heard the lock turn twice.
"...Make sure she doesn't get away, Theo."
"Yes, alpha."
Their footsteps receded. In the silence of the night, I finally let the tears fall, curling into a ball.
From the corner of my eyes, I sighted the white ball gown glistening under the pale light. Tomorrow, I would be wearing it, mated to the two people I hated.
I cried myself to sleep that night.
The dream was the same. Silver flames. And the silhouette of a man with silver hair calling my name.
The next day was a haze of activities. I could only think of Cassian as the omegas fitted me into the ball gown and applied glitter on my face. I could hear the voices coming from the grand hall downstairs.
Members of both packs, gathered together to watch the mistake of the century. I plastered a smile, staring back into the mirror at the girl I could no longer recognise.
My 24th birthday, and the worst day of my life.
I hated Cassian, for giving up without a fight, for letting go of us like that. But I could still taste the feel of his lips on mine, a longing of what could never be.
"Your mother would be proud, Rhea." One of the omegas leaned in with a smile.
I held my head up high. I couldn't show weakness, not at a time like this.
Trumpets sounded in the air. The maids left my side at the foot of the stairs where Alaric was waiting. He gave me a cold, proud smile, taking my hand in his. We walked down the aisle. I was well aware of everyone watching. My eyes searched for Cassian in the crowd. For a moment I didn't find him, then he was there, standing next to Theo in a pressed suit and a smile, after all the times he told me that it would be okay.
Lies.
He was a bloody liar.
I clenched my fists, tearing my eyes away from him before the hot, angry tears could come.
"We present Rhea Morwen of the Blackstone pack," the pack beta announced, following a stream of applause.
"And Alpha Orin and Alpha Kieran, alpha twins of the Moonvale Pack."
Waiting at the aisle were the alpha twins. Orin and Kieran. It was impossible to tell which was which. They both wore purple tuxedos, black hair slicked back and dark blue eyes that hid monsters underneath.
They offered me a smile, but I knew better. The Alpha twins were brutal, ruthless and war-driven with a reputation that preceded them. Conquerors of the eight minor packs and no doubt, they saw me as another conquest. Or worse, a breeder.
Alaric handed me to them with a fulfilled smile. "Don't ruin this," he whispered, in a low voice only I could hear before he stepped back.
I tried not to glare and failed terribly. One of the twins took my hand. The other stepped beside me. They were handsome, I had to admit. But they weren't mine. And I wouldn't belong to them, ever.
"Following the Blackstone customs, anyone who opposes the union of the Rhea Morwen and the alpha twins should step forward."
The hall fell silent.
Please, I thought, someone... Anyone...
For the first time, I prayed desperately to the moon goddess to save me from this fate, but nothing happened.
"This day marks a new birth, the Blackstone and Moonvale packs united as one. Rhea Morwen, step forward."
Bang!
The double doors of the grand hall slammed open.
Everyone turned in shock. At the entrance, there, stood a man in a black Victorian coat. His hair was silver. And I was hit with the inexplicable feeling that I had seen him before.
"Who are you?" Alaric yelled.
The pack guards unsheathed their swords, eyes narrowed.
The stranger moved forward in a lazy stride. His eyes locked with mine, and he spoke. Four words that threw the wedding hall into chaos.
"Rhea Morwen is mine."