Chapter 27
1518 Words
Gwen
I just wanted coffee.
Jordan and I were sitting in a booth at a little diner on the edge of town. It was the only place we could go without someone from the pack lurking around every corner. For a moment, it felt like I could breathe again.
Until he walked in.
Karl.
His presence cut through the space like a cold blade. Jordan noticed him a second after I did, her hand tightening around her mug.
He didn’t even ask. Just motioned for me to follow with a curl of his finger.
I swallowed the knot in my throat and stood. “Stay here,” I whispered to Jordan, but my voice shook.
Karl led me a few steps away from my table.
“The wedding has been moved up,” he said flatly. “You’ll marry Justin in two days.”
The ground tilted under me.
“What?”
He didn’t stop. “You’ll move into his suite tonight. You’ll be his Luna before the week is out. Do you understand me?”
“No—no, you can’t do that. You can’t make me—”
He leaned in, eyes like poisoned ice. “I can and I will. You’ve delayed this long enough. Consider this a gift. Two days to prepare. Most Omegas don’t even get that.”
The door chimed again.
Cain stepped in.
He froze the second he saw Karl. Then his gaze found me—shaking, frantic, and barely standing—and something inside him shifted.
He moved like thunder. Calm, dangerous, quiet.
“Karl,” Cain said, voice low. “What are you doing?”
Karl gave him a smirk that didn’t touch his dead eyes. “The ball’s over. You’ve overstayed your welcome.”
“You think you can order around a visiting Alpha?”
“I think I can order whoever the hell I want in my own territory.”
Cain stepped between Karl and me, shielding me with his body. I almost collapsed into him right then and there, but I couldn’t—not now.
Karl tilted his head, assessing him. “Time to go back to your perfect pack, Cain. This one doesn’t need you stirring up problems.”
Cain didn’t move. “Gwen is a citizen of your pack, not your possession.”
“Yet she’s agreed to marry my son.”
Cain turned to me slowly.
So I just looked away.
And that was all Karl needed.
He walked out the door with victory in his step.
I stumbled back a step, breath stuck in my throat.
I fell into my seat, heart hammering, bile rising.
Jordan stood immediately. “Gwen—what did he say?”
I grabbed her hand, pulling her toward the corner. “They’re making me marry Justin. In two days. He’s moving me into his suite. Tonight.”
Her eyes widened, fury igniting behind them. “No. No, we’re not letting this happen—”
Cain
I wanted to kill him.
Rip out his throat. Tear apart every single wolf who ever hurt her. But I couldn’t—not here. Not yet.
Later, when this was over, there wouldn’t be enough left of Karl for his son to bury.
I met Jordan’s eyes. She knew. She was already reaching for Gwen, trying to anchor her.
I sent a pulse through the bond, but Gwen was locked up tight, like a storm bottled behind glass.
Later that night, I sat in the guest cabin with Cole and Cash, the fireplace throwing flickering shadows across their tense faces.
“He’s accelerating everything,” I said, pacing. “We’re out of time.”
Cash leaned forward. “If you push now, they’ll know. We can’t blow Jacob’s cover.”
Cole added, “You’re too close, Cain.”
“I have to stay.”
“No,” Cole said quietly. “You have to make them think you’re gone. Let them breathe. Let them believe they’ve won.”
I clenched my jaw. “Achilles is going to lose it if we don’t do something.”
“You pretend to leave,” Cash said. “We’ll use it as cover to escalate the mission. Jordan and Derrick can keep eyes on Gwen.”
It wasn’t enough. Not by a long shot.
But it was all we had.
For now.
Gwen
I stared at the ceiling of Jordan’s guestroom and counted the hours until they came for me.
I packed the letters that morning—sealed tight and wrapped in ribbon.
One for Jordan.
And one for him.
My mate.
I knew I’d probably never get to meet him. But I wanted him to know me, if even in words. If even after I was gone.
When Jordan came into the room, still half-asleep, I handed her both.
“Gwen, what is this?”
“Just in case,” I said softly. “If anything happens to me, get these to Cain. Or Derrick. Or anyone who will listen.”
Jordan’s throat bobbed. “Don’t talk like that.”
“I have to.” I met her eyes, voice shaking. “There’s too much at stake. My father—he’s been helping Karl. I don't know why but I can't trust anyone but you."
Jordan hugged me hard. “You’re not alone, okay?”
I wanted to believe her.
But the moment I stepped foot back into that cursed packhouse, I knew I would be.
The moment the packhouse doors closed behind me, I felt it.
That weight.
That silence.
That sinking sense that I was walking into a prison I would never leave.
Justin met me at the foot of the stairs, grinning like a man who’d just won a prize. Not a woman. Not a mate. A prize. His hand slid around my waist, too familiar, too tight, and I had to fight the instinct to shove him off.
“Welcome home,” he murmured against my hair.
I said nothing.
I didn’t trust my voice.
We ascended the stairs in silence. I could feel the eyes on us—guards, staff, and worse: people who had smiled at me once when I was just the Beta’s daughter. Now they watched like I was already his Luna.
The door to his suite creaked open. I hesitated. Just for a second.
He pulled me in.
It was warm. Polished. Dominated by deep grays and leather, sharp edges and towering bookshelves—just like him. Impenetrable. Cold.
And in the center of the space: a four-poster bed too large for one person. The sheets were turned down. Waiting.
I flinched.
“Your things were brought over earlier,” Justin said, walking casually toward the bar cart in the corner. “Clothes are in the closet. Bathroom’s fully stocked. Make yourself comfortable.”
He poured himself a drink.
I stood rooted by the door.
“Why now?” I finally asked, voice barely above a whisper.
He turned, brow raised.
“Why move up the wedding? Why force this?”
He smiled and took a slow sip. “Because I’m tired of pretending you have a choice.”
My fingers curled into fists at my sides. “You can’t control me forever.”
“I don’t need forever,” he said, setting the glass down. “Just long enough to make it real. Long enough to mark you. To own you, the way you let me the other night.”
“I didn't give anything to you. You took it by force.”
He walked toward me, step by step, until we were too close again. “You didn’t say no.”
“I was under an Alpha order!”
He chuckled darkly. “The body doesn’t lie, Gwen. You responded to me. And now, you’re mine.”
I slapped him.
Hard.
His cheek turned red instantly, but his smile didn’t even waver.
“You’ll get over this rebellion phase,” he said, voice low and threatening. “They all do.”
He reached past me, opened the door to another, smaller bedroom, and gestured like a gentleman hosting a guest. “Get some rest. Tomorrow’s the final fitting. And the day after that…you’ll be mine in every way that matters.”
I didn’t move.
I didn’t blink.
Eventually, he walked away.
I waited until I heard the lock click on the outer door before letting myself breathe.
I stepped into the bedroom and closed the door quietly behind me.
It was already dark. The curtains were drawn tight. I moved like a ghost, drifting to the far side of the bed—the one untouched. The one that maybe still felt clean.
I crawled in fully dressed and curled into a ball, clutching a pillow that didn’t smell like him.
I tried to summon Akira.
Tried to whisper her name in my mind.
But there was nothing.
Just the memory of her silence.
And Cain’s scent, faint and fading.
I buried my face into the blanket and let myself cry.
Not loud.
Not broken.
Just…quietly.
Like someone who already knew no one would come.
- Writer
