Rescued by the Blackridge Alpha

Chapter 3

The circle had looked smaller from the edge of the courtyard.

Now that I stood inside it, surrounded by half of Silvercrest, it seemed enormous.

The ceremonial stones formed a wide ring beneath the old oak trees. Fires burned beyond them, filling the warm night air with smoke and the faint scent of pine. Somewhere behind the crowd, the musicians had gone silent. Even the children seemed to understand that they were supposed to be quiet.

I smoothed my hands over the green dress and immediately stopped myself. I had spent enough time getting the creases out of it. There was no reason to put them back because I suddenly didn't know what to do with my hands.

Nia, meanwhile, had no such problem.

She was almost unbearably happy.

Ash.

Yes, I know.

He's here.

I bit back a smile. He's standing ten feet away. I'm aware.

Her excitement only grew.

Across the circle, Caden stood beside his father. I had looked at him and Rosalie not even that long ago. Somehow, he looked different now.

My mate.

Nia responded happily. She wanted to run over to him, I could feel it in my bones. But why did I not share her excitement? Why did it feel like I was only drawn to his wolf-side, not his human-side?

I swallowed hard. Caden Ashford was my mate.

The future Alpha of Silvercrest.

And apparently, if the Moon Goddess had a sense of humor, my future.

I looked down before anyone could catch the smile spreading across my face. What would happen after tonight? Would I still work in the kitchens tomorrow morning? Probably. Cook would hardly accept I'm the future Luna now as an excuse to leave her short-handed before breakfast. The thought almost made me laugh.

But after that?

I knew what happened when wolves found their mates. They courted. They bonded. Eventually they built a home together.

Except Caden already had one.

The packhouse.

I'd spent most of my life entering it through the kitchen door. The idea that I might someday live upstairs was so absurd that I couldn't quite picture it.

And then there was the considerably larger problem.

Luna.

I knew nothing about being a Luna. Rosalie was supposed to become Luna.

My smile faded.

I found her near the front of the crowd, standing between her parents, my aunt and uncle.

Shit.

She wasn't watching Caden.

She was watching me.

Guilt twisted through the happiness in my chest.

Caden wasn't some man Rosalie had been casually seeing. She loved him. She had loved him for years.

When we were seventeen, she'd made me swear not to tell anyone she'd already chosen flowers for their mating ceremony.

White roses.

I'd laughed so hard she'd thrown a pillow at my head.

Later that night, we'd lain beside each other in her bed while she told me what she thought their home would look like. She wanted three children. Caden wanted two, she'd informed me, but she was confident she'd win that argument.

I'd told her she was insane for planning children with a boy who hadn't even kissed her yet.

He kissed her three weeks later. She'd come running into my room afterward.

I hadn't thought about that night in years.

I remembered it now.

Rosalie had been more sister than cousin once.

After my parents died, Uncle Thomas and Aunt Helena had taken me into their home. I had been eight years old and old enough to understand that my parents weren't coming back, but apparently not old enough to understand that checking their bedroom every morning wouldn't change that.

For almost a year, I had climbed into Rosalie's bed whenever I couldn't sleep. She always complained about my cold feet. She always lifted the blanket anyway.

We hadn't stopped loving each other. At least, I didn't think we had. We had simply grown in different directions.

Rosalie's wolf had emerged strong. Beta blood, everyone said. She began training with her father, then attending lessons designed for high-ranking wolves. By sixteen, people were already discussing what an excellent Luna she might become one day.

My wolf had emerged at the opposite end of Silvercrest's hierarchy.

Omega.

There had been no great argument. No dramatic moment where someone separated us.

Rosalie got lessons.

I got work.

She spent more time with Caden and the other high-ranking wolves. I spent more time in the kitchens with Cook.

Eventually, sharing a bed and whispering about boys had become smiling at each other across rooms.

Uncle Thomas and Aunt Helena had never been cruel to me. They'd fed me, clothed me and given me a home when I had none. Aunt Helena still remembered my birthday every year. Uncle Thomas still asked whether I needed anything whenever we happened to speak alone.

But Rosalie was their daughter.

I was their niece.

There was a difference, even if nobody had ever been unkind enough to name it.

I looked toward them now. Aunt Helena had one hand wrapped around Rosalie's arm. Uncle Thomas stood on her other side, his expression unreadable.

What would they think after tonight?

What would anyone think?

A nervous laugh almost escaped me.

Maybe Uncle Thomas would finally be speechless.

Nia's happiness warmed me again.

My gaze returned to Rosalie. Somehow she had managed a small smile.

It wasn't much. Barely more than the slightest curve of her lips, but I knew her well enough to see the effort behind it.

I smiled back.

For one ridiculous second, I wanted to cross the circle and hug her. To tell her I was sorry, even though I wasn't sure what I was apologizing for.

Would she be as happy for me as I was for her?

My smile faded.

Would I have been happy for her if the roles were reversed?

She'll hate me. How would I ever be able to explain this to her?

I hadn't stolen Caden from her. I knew that. I hadn't asked the Goddess to choose him, and I certainly hadn't spent my life secretly waiting for the opportunity to take my cousin's place.

Still, I didn't do anything wrong felt painfully inadequate when I looked at her.

The worst part was that I wanted this anyway.

I felt guilty for Rosalie. I wished there were some version of this where she didn't get hurt.

But the wolves had found each other, and Nia's happiness spread through my veins until it became difficult to separate from my own.

She had none of my reservations. While I worried about Rosalie, about my family and about a future I had never considered until today, Nia cared about one thing only.

Ash.

She felt him across the circle. I did too, although not in the same way. He was a quiet pull somewhere beneath my ribs, growing stronger when Caden finally stepped away from his father.

Nia's excitement burst through me.

He's coming.

I know.

He's coming to us.

I couldn't help smiling at that. There was something wonderfully simple about her happiness, and for once, I let myself share it.

Caden crossed the circle.

I had seen him walk toward me countless times before. Through the packhouse, across the courtyard, past the kitchens. Never once had I paid attention to the length of his stride or the way people moved aside for him without seeming to notice they were doing it.

He was the future Alpha.

And he was walking toward me.

The thought sent another nervous flutter through my stomach.

I stepped forward to meet him.

His eyes found mine when only a few feet remained between us. For a moment, he was simply Caden. Then gold bled into the brown of his irises, and Nia surged so eagerly toward the surface that a laugh escaped me.

There you are.

Ash was close. I could see him in Caden's face, in the slight parting of his lips as he drew in my scent and in the way his attention settled completely on me. The corner of Caden's mouth lifted, and although the smile was small, it was enough.

My nervousness eased.

Whatever else this bond complicated, this part was real. I closed the remaining distance between us and lifted my hand.

Caden stopped before I could touch him.

The movement was abrupt enough to make me hesitate. My fingers hovered between us for an awkward second before I let my hand fall.

“Caden?” I asked.

His smile had disappeared.

Ash was still there. Gold filled Caden's eyes now, brighter than before, and a low sound rumbled from his chest. Nia answered instinctively, but instead of moving closer, Caden drew himself back.

At first, I thought he was overwhelmed by his wolf.

Then his hands curled into fists.

He was fighting him.