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Celeste's POV
"Right on time. I appreciate punctuality, Celeste." Stefan gestured at the pale, distant, broken-looking handsome man beside him. "Meet your husband-to-be, Damon Casteel."
I wanted to spit in his face. Instead, I just stood there, clutching the hem of my dress like it was the only thing keeping me upright.
The officiant cleared her throat nervously. "Shall we begin?"
Stefan checked his watch and nodded curtly. "Yes. Let's get this done. I have a meeting at one."
He placed a hand on Damon's shoulder, guiding him toward the front of the room with the efficiency of someone herding cattle. "Come on, brother. Time to meet your bride."
Damon moved mechanically, still not looking up. He didn't acknowledge my presence at all. Didn't even seem to register my scent, which was strange for a wolf. Most wolves could scent their intended mate, even in a forced arrangement like this.
My heart was pounding so hard I felt dizzy.
The officiant gestured for us to take our positions in front of her desk. I moved forward on numb legs, and Damon was positioned beside me.
Up close, he looked worse. And he smelled… ALPHA????
OH MY GOODNESS! Is this Nevermore Pack alpha?
No no no no, this can’t be happening. What is wrong with him? What would Fevermore even say? I dumbed their alpha to marry the Nevermore alpha?
My heart started racing, as I watched how he was fighting to control his own body. Or fighting his wolf. His breathing was shallow, rapid. Sweat beaded on his forehead despite the cool temperature of the room.
Stefan stood a few feet behind us, checking his phone. I could hear the impatient tap of his foot against the floor.
"We are gathered here today..." the officiant began, her voice rushed, like she wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible.
And then Damon started making sounds.
Small, distressed noises from the back of his throat. His hands flew up to his chest, clutching at his shirt. His breathing became even more rapid, panicked.
"I... No..." His voice was hoarse, barely audible. "I can't... Please..."
He started rocking slightly, his whole body tensing. The sounds grew louder — gasping, whimpering. It was like watching someone having a panic attack, or like watching a wolf fighting against his own nature, his body betraying him in ways he couldn't control.
"I can't breathe... I can't..." His hands were now pulling at his collar, his face flushed despite the pallor.
I didn't know what to do. Should I help him? Touch him? Would touching him make it worse if he was struggling with his wolf?
Stefan, standing behind us, let out a long, sharp exhale of pure frustration. He checked his watch again, his jaw clenching. I caught the flash of amber in his eyes—his Lycan barely contained beneath the surface.
"Jesus Christ," Stefan muttered under his breath, loud enough for me to hear. "Not now. Not f*****g now."
Damon's breathing became more erratic. He turned away from me, hunching over, making these horrible gasping sounds that made my chest tighten in sympathy. His whole body was shaking now, trembling violently.
Stefan snapped his fingers at one of the security guards by the door.
"Luca. Get him out of here. Now."
The guard moved forward quickly, clearly having done this before. He approached Damon carefully, speaking in low, soothing tones I couldn't quite hear, and gently took his arm.
"No... no... I can't..." Damon was saying, over and over, his voice breaking. "I can't... I can't..."
The guard led him toward one of the chairs against the wall, away from the altar. Damon collapsed into the chair, his head dropping into his hands, his shoulders heaving.
Stefan ran a hand through his hair, looking at his brother with pure exasperation. He pulled out his phone, checked something, then cursed under his breath.
"I don't have time for this," he muttered, more to himself than anyone else.
He looked between Damon, still falling apart in the chair, and me standing uselessly at the altar. The officiant was clutching her papers, clearly waiting for direction. Stefan's phone buzzed again — whoever was waiting for him was getting impatient.
"Right." Stefan pocketed his phone and stepped forward, positioning himself beside me where Damon had been standing. "We're doing this now."
I stared at him, my omega instincts screaming at the proximity to a Lycan. "What?"
"I'll stand in for him." Stefan's tone was clipped, businesslike, impatient. He wasn't looking at me — he was looking at the officiant. "We need to get this done."
"You can't..." I started.
"I have a meeting in forty minutes across town," Stefan cut me off, his voice hard. "I don't have time to reschedule this circus. Damon wanted a wife. You need your sister's debt cleared. I will help Damon marry you."
But that wasn't how it worked. If Stefan stood in for Damon, if a Lycan married me instead of a wolf, the bond would be to Stefan, not Damon. Did he not understand pack law? Did he not care?
The officiant cleared her throat nervously. "I... technically, if the bride agrees to the substitution..."
"There." Stefan checked his watch again. "Clock's ticking, Celeste."
I looked at the officiant, who looked terrified, and I knew she definitely couldn't help me with this tragic turnaround.
Stefan's voice dropped lower, there was an edge of threat beneath the impatience. His eyes flashed amber-gold. "Your sister's still in that hospital bed. The debt's still unpaid. You can stand here wasting time, or we can get this done and she lives. Your choice."
There it was. The reminder. Not even wrapped nicely this time — just a blunt instrument.
And I realized, once again, that I had no choice.
"Fine," I whispered.
Stefan didn't smile this time. He just nodded and turned to the officiant. "Let's go. Fast version. I don't need the poetry."
The officiant fumbled with her papers, clearly flustered. "I... yes, of course. Um. Do you, Stefan Casteel, take this woman..."
"I do," Stefan said immediately, before she'd even finished the sentence.
The officiant blinked. "I... you have to let me finish..."
"Fine. Finish." Stefan's tone was clipped. "But quickly."
The woman rushed through the rest of the vows, stumbling over words, clearly terrified. When she turned to me, her voice was shaking. "And do you, Celeste Stonewall, take this man..."
"She does," Stefan said.
"I have to let her answer..." the officiant protested weakly.
Stefan looked at me, his expression hard and impatient. Those amber-gold eyes pinned me in place. "Do you?"
What was I supposed to say? With Stefan's unspoken threats hanging in the air and Fanny in a hospital bed with a bullet wound? With a Lycan's eyes burning into mine, his scent overwhelming my omega instincts?
"I do," I whispered.
"Great." Stefan turned back to the officiant.
"By the power vested in me by the state," she said quickly, "I now pronounce you husband and wife."
There was a pause. An awkward, terrible pause where we all realized what was supposed to come next.
"You may kiss the bride," the officiant whispered, like she was hoping no one would hear her.
Stefan looked at me properly for the first time since stepping into Damon's place.
Before I could brace myself, his hand slid around my waist.
A startled gasp escaped me as he pulled me flush against him, leaving no space between our bodies. His scent surrounded me completely. And without hesitation, he crushed his lips against mine.
The bond snapped into place like a physical shock.
Not the gentle, gradual bond I'd felt forming with Tom over two years. This was instant, violent, overwhelming. Lycan to omega. Predator to prey.
My wolf whimpered in submission even as my human side reeled in shock.
This wasn't supposed to happen. This wasn't how bonds worked. You couldn't bond to someone in a courthouse, in a forced marriage, in…
But it had. The bond was there, thrumming between us like a living thing.
And from the way Stefan's hand tightened on my waist, from the way his breath caught against my lips, I knew he felt it too.
- Writer
