Chapter 5

The moment he finished, the room went silent.

The Pack Matron beside me was the first to step up. She tested the water carefully. "Alpha Langford, this is Miss Ashford's Marking Day. Please don't say things like this and upset the family."

She reached out to push Caius toward the door.

Caught off guard, Caius stumbled. He frowned and shook off her hand. "These are Langford Pack rules. They need to be stated before she's Marked in."

He added, with a look, "Some She-Wolves have been spoiled since they were pups. If the rules aren't laid out in advance, she'll turn the Manor upside down after the bond."

"Enough!" My mother slammed her palm on the table. Her face hardened as she pointed at the door. "Get out."

Caius froze. He had always been a little afraid of my parents.

The room went cold. A flash of regret crossed his face.

Not long before this, when he'd first heard I was being Marked today, he'd shattered his glass of whisky on the floor.

The amber had splashed over his hand, the skin going red at once, and he hadn't cared. He'd grabbed his Beta by the collar. "She's being Marked?! How can she be Marked off to anyone else?!"

Caius wasn't stupid. He had never really believed his feelings alone could tie me to him for another five years.

Even if I had been foolish enough to wait, Alpha Ashford and the Luna of Ashford Pack would never allow it.

So Caius had come up with a perfect plan. If no other Alpha would ever claim me, then I'd belong to him forever, wouldn't I?

That was how a cruel, damaging rumor had started spreading through the capital.

After that, of course, every Alpha kept his distance. A Marking was out of the question.

Seeing me hollow-eyed and broken had given Caius a little guilt — but more than that, a strange, quiet satisfaction.

Before, he had always felt I hung above him like a distant moon, too high to reach.

Now the moon had fallen into the mud. All that cold, clean light had gone dark. And this broken moon was his lamp, his alone.

And then this morning he'd heard I was being Marked.

How could I still be Marked?

Caius rushed over. When he saw only me and no Alpha in red robes, he let out a breath.

Then another thought hit him.

I loved him so deeply I couldn't let go.

If I had been making a scene about wanting him, my parents had maybe come up with a desperate plan — send me on the bridal procession and bring me straight to Langford Manor.

Once it was public, he couldn't very well send me back. He'd have to take me.

When he'd said this out loud, his Beta Harlan Merrick had paused and almost pushed back. But Rhea had laughed. "That's probably it. No other Alpha will claim her. And this way you save a courting gift."

Caius frowned on instinct.

The day after he withdrew the claim, Ashford Pack had sent back every bonding offering he'd ever given.

His plan had been to wait a few years and then send an enormous courting gift to Ashford Manor. Part apology, part way to restore some of my reputation.

A courting gift was a public measure of how much an Alpha valued a She-Wolf.

Caius had already decided. In five years, he'd double the courting gift and send it to Ashford Manor. Chest after chest, enough to turn every head in the capital, enough to make me the She-Wolf every other pack envied.

"I'm absolutely sending her the courting gift," Caius said quietly. Rhea's smile stiffened.

She stared at the man in front of her, at the tenderness on his face, hardly able to believe it. Caius said, "I'll make it up to her in five years."

With that, he left Rhea behind and strode into Ashford Manor.

When he first saw me in the ceremony gown, something like awe flickered in his eyes.

Then he thought of how stubborn I was, and the words came out badly. He'd watched my mother's face go cold, and now he was regretting it — she was still supposed to be his Luna-in-law one day.

He was about to apologize when he heard a soft chime of jade.

I walked slowly up to Caius. When our eyes met, he seemed to stop for a second.

I didn't waste a thought on why. My voice was clear and remote. "Caius Langford, my Alpha is coming for me any moment. Leave. Don't make me miss the auspicious hour."

Caius's pupils snapped tight. He stared at me in disbelief. "What are you talking about? I'm already here, aren't I?"

I gave him a cold look and was about to answer when a low voice called out. "Luna. What's keeping you from the procession?"