Chapter 2
1038 Words
I sent Alexander the vows with blood still drying on my fingers.
The message showed delivered.
Ten seconds later, Ethan called.
I answered because the bond still pulled at his name, even after I deleted him from Emergency.
"Claire," Ethan said. Wind roared behind him. He was already on the way to Lily. "Did you treat the cut?"
"Why?"
"Do not use that tone. I asked a question."
"You used silver on me."
"I told you I did not mean to hurt you."
"You meant to scare me."
His breath sharpened. "Lily is pregnant and alone because of you."
My fingers tightened around the phone. "Because of me?"
"You threw her out of Blackthorn territory."
"After you slept with her."
"I was drugged."
"Twice?"
The line went silent.
I pressed the cloth harder to my stomach. "Go comfort her. Isn't that why you cut me open?"
"Enough," Ethan snapped. "Lily is fragile. She is an Omega. She cannot survive exile."
"And I should survive raising your pup?"
"The child would call you Mother."
A laugh scraped out of me. "You want me to wake up every day and hold proof that you betrayed me."
"I want you to think like a Luna."
That word again.
Not mate. Not bride. A position.
"I will not marry you," I said.
The wind vanished from the line.
"Say that again."
"I will not marry you."
"Are you threatening the alliance?"
"No."
"Then what is this?"
"A decision."
His laugh turned cold. "You cannot cancel the wedding the night before the ceremony. Every pack has arrived."
"I am not canceling it."
"Claire."
"I am changing the groom."
His Alpha aura slammed through the bond so hard my vision flashed white.
"Do not play games with me."
"I'm not."
"Who?"
I pressed the wound until pain cleared my head. "Alexander Stone."
The line went dead-still.
"You called the Alpha King?"
"Yes."
"Are you insane?"
"Maybe. You told me to think like a Luna. I found a stronger Alpha."
"You are mine."
"I was."
"You are my fated mate."
"And you are Lily's pup's father."
His breathing changed.
"If you walk into that altar with him, I will not forgive you."
"Then keep it. I am tired of forgiveness."
"I will drag you out before I let him put his name beside yours."
"Try," I said. "This time every pack will watch."
He hung up first.
The bond snapped back like a struck nerve. I bent over the dressing table until the room stopped tilting.
Alexander's reply arrived.
Send contract terms. Full terms. Not wedding poetry.
Another message followed.
Send a picture of the wound. Dr. Helena needs dosage.
My fingers froze.
Dr. Helena Cross was the royal healer. Years ago, at a Moonridge summit, I had reacted badly to silverleaf tonic.
Alexander had been there.
He remembered what even Ethan had forgotten.
I sent the picture.
Alexander answered fast.
Stay awake. Do not use Blackthorn medicine.
Then another line.
You may terminate the contract at any time before a voluntary mark. That clause stays.
My throat tightened.
Ethan had given me another woman's pup.
Alexander gave me an exit.
My parents called before I could answer him.
Mother's voice shook. "Claire, Ethan says you are breaking the wedding. What happened?"
Father came on at once. "Blackthorn warriors are already in Moonridge territory. This is not a small argument."
"His Omega is pregnant," I said.
Silence.
Then Mother whispered, "What?"
"Lily Grace. His mistress. His pup."
Father cursed under his breath.
Mother's voice broke. "Did he hurt you?"
I looked down at the blood-soaked cloth.
"He used a silver dagger to make me tell him where she was."
Mother made a sound like someone had hit her.
Father's voice went deadly calm. "I am coming to Blackthorn Manor."
"No."
"Claire."
"I am not canceling the wedding."
Mother went still. "What are you saying?"
"The groom is changing."
Father's breath caught. "To whom?"
I stared at Alexander's name on my screen.
"Alexander Stone."
Mother whispered, "The Alpha King?"
"Yes."
Father did not speak for several seconds.
Then he said, "That man is not a replacement. That man is a throne."
"Then Ethan should not have made me kneel before his mistress."
My father stopped arguing.
Mother started crying.
"Baby," she said. "Are you choosing this?"
Alexander's words burned in my mind.
I need proof this is your choice.
"Yes," I said. "I choose this."
The file from Alexander arrived.
Royal Mating Contract.
One clause was highlighted.
Claire Morgan may end this agreement by spoken refusal at any time before a voluntary royal mark.
Below it, another note waited.
No shared bed. No forced bond. Witness bond only by explicit consent.
My hand shook.
Father asked, "What did he ask for?"
I stared at the last line.
Dr. Helena Cross will arrive with silver trauma treatment calibrated to Claire Morgan's known allergy record.
"Nothing," I said.
Mother cried harder.
I signed the first page.
Alexander sent one last message.
Do not send it if you are afraid.
"Claire?" Mother whispered.
"He is asking if I am afraid."
Father's voice tightened. "Of him?"
I looked at the closed door Ethan had slammed behind him.
"No."
My wound throbbed. Tomorrow waited like another blade. Ethan's rage would come with witnesses.
I pressed send.
The royal seal appeared on my screen.
Accepted.
Then Alexander added one warning.
If I arrive, I arrive as your groom. Not your shield for one night.
I typed back with one bloody thumb.
Then come as the groom I chose.
Father sucked in a breath. "What did you just do?"
"I chose."
"Blackthorn will call this betrayal."
"Let them."
Mother's crying sharpened. "Your father and I will stand with you."
"You do not have to."
"We do," Father said. "We failed you once by asking you to protect the alliance. We will not do it again tonight."
My phone lit up with a Crownfall alert.
Royal engagement filing received.
The next line appeared before I could breathe.
Alpha King Alexander Stone accepts substitution groom filing.
Below it, one more line waited.
Awaiting bride's public confirmation.
By dawn, every pack would be waiting for me to say whether I had really chosen the Alpha King.
- Writer
