THE CRIMSON HEIRESS

Liana "I, Logan, son of Alpha Marc of the Black Moon Pack, reject you, Liana, Heiress of Alpha Dan of the Crimson Pack, as my mate." His gaze burned with anger and something closer to hatred than anything I had ever seen from him. A loud piercing scream escaped my mouth as I scrambled to the floor, legs very weak, almost limp from the pain of his rejection. My breath seized. Tears blurred my vision as pain tore through my shoulder where he had marked me. This day was supposed to be special. The day I stood beside the man I loved and made it official in front of everyone. I had gotten to the great hall believing in us, believing in everything he told me, only to find out he was standing there ready to throw it all away. Not just throw it away. Throw it away in front of every wolf who has ever known my name. The disgust was evident on his face when he looked up at me. His eyes that I got lost in used to hold so much warmth. Logan and I had been together for two years before he marked me. He was the son of Alpha Marc of the Black Moon Pack. He wasn't my fated mate but I loved him anyway. It was hard to find fated mates in our world, more like they don't exist so we go for whoever we fall in love with. He had marked me willingly. I thought it was forever, never thought for once he would reject our bond someday like he never loved me. I shivered, my lips trembling. "What's my offense?" I asked, looking at his cold face. "Why cause me so much pain?" He clenched his jaw, anger and something colder visible in his once loving eyes. "Can't you see, Liana? My life has been a mess since I met you. Everyone looks at me differently now. I can't become the Alpha I need to be if I stay bound to you. You're too much. You always have been." "Thought you were different from the others," I said, tears blurring everything. "You claimed to love me. You said nothing could ever fade your love for me. What changed?" He stepped closer. Voice dropping low enough that it was almost private. Almost. "I chose wrong when I chose you. Everyone in this pack knows it. My own father knows it." His jaw tightened. "I refuse to lose everything I have worked for because of you." The crowd gasped as I slapped him. The sound cracked across the stone walls of the great hall and came back to me like an echo of something that couldn't be taken back. "I can't believe you said that loud enough for everyone to hear," he said quietly. I looked at him. "I can't believe you did what you did loud enough for everyone to see. So now we're even." He looked at me like I was something he had already stepped over. That look I knew. I had been collecting it my whole life. My mother died giving birth to me. Bad luck they called it. A curse. My own father looked at me like I was the thing that cost him everything the moment I arrived. The pack never let me forget it. Even as a child. No one spared me. No one. He said nothing. He was already looking past me. To Sera. Three rows back in a green dress she didn't own last week. When my eyes found her face she looked at the floor. Didn't step back. Didn't put distance between herself and where Logan was standing. She just waited. My best friend of nine years stood three rows back in a new dress and waited for it to be done. "If you'll excuse Liana." My sister Mia stepped forward from the right side of the hall, smooth smile, voice carrying perfectly across the room. "She's not in the right state of mind right now. This is such a happy day for me and my family. Please don't ruin it." "Wow. She's such an angel. So kind and considerate." Someone near the back. "I can't believe they're sisters." "Everyone cheer for our soon to be Luna, Mia!" The crowd cheered like she was some kind of celebrity. The wedding commenced after that. The rituals were performed. I watched as the man I once loved exchanged vows with my sister, smiles beaming on their faces as they swapped rings. I watched them swap rings and something in my chest pulled tight and didn't let go. Will I ever have something like that. Something real. Something that stays. My father was at the head table. He hadn't moved once. Hadn't come to me. Hadn't stood. Hadn't done a single thing that a father does when his daughter falls apart in front of everyone. He just sat there. Watching. Like he had already known this was coming and decided to let it. He kissed Mia's cheek when the ceremony ended and held her after. He never held me like that. Not once. Would he ever. I stared at Logan across the room. He was smiling at the photographer. No remorse. Not even a flicker. I couldn't stand it anymore. I needed to be somewhere that was mine. I walked toward the door. A few steps out and Blake blocked our way. My twin. Four minutes older. Future Alpha of the Crimson Pack. He had stayed in that hall through all of it and said nothing publicly and I understood why and hated it at the same time. He looked at me now with something in his face that wasn't nothing. "Dad wants you," he said quietly. "His study. Now." I looked at him. "What for." Blake glanced around once. Then back at me. "He says it's about the bloodline documents." A pause. "Liana. He signed something. Three years ago. He didn't tell you." The hall was still full of noise behind us. Music starting. People laughing. Logan and Mia being photographed like nothing in the world had just broken open. My father was still at that table. Still watching. Still not moving toward me. I looked at my brother. "What did he sign, Blake?" I thought the worst thing that day was being rejected. I was wrong.