THE CHRISTMAS LUNA SATISFYING THE ENIGMAS

CHAPTER 2

ALESSIA

He stepped over to Lillian, sliding his hand firmly around her waist and pulling her flush against his side. Then, without a single glance back at me, he turned toward the priest.

“This is the woman I want you to join me with.”

The air in the chapel turned to lead. Silence followed, heavy and suffocating. Not even the priest moved; Ethan was the Alpha, and his word was law. The only sound was the frantic, jagged whispers of the guests, like the buzzing of flies.

If no one else was going to speak up, I was. This had to be a joke. A sick, twisted prank to test me.

I opened my mouth to demand an explanation, but before a sound could escape, he flicked his hand dismissively in front of my face.

“I know what you’re going to say,” he cut me off, his voice dripping with condescension. “I paid you to sew this dress for my real bride—Lillian, my best friend. It was never for you. This whole wedding wasn't for you. You were just the help.”

My heart didn't just break; it stopped. I felt the floor tilt beneath my heels, my vision blurring at the edges as the world threatened to go black.

“Of course,” he added, a cruel tilt to his lips. “No man would pay his mate to sew her own gown. A woman naturally wants to design her own for free, don't they?”

“What? You mean the gown I made from the materials my brother ordered? The one where his best friends sent the accessory diamonds?” My voice was rising, trembling with a mix of fury and disbelief. “Those diamonds are worth a million dollars, Ethan!”

“Good!” He narrowed his eyes, a predatory glint appearing. “Exactly what I wanted you to admit.”

“What?” I breathed, the confusion knotting in my stomach.

“The Phoenix brothers, right?” He sneered the name like it was filth in his mouth. “Tell me, Alessia, what kind of ‘relationship’ do you have with them that they’d bankroll your wedding gown?”

The blood drained from my face. “What are you talking about? They’re my brother’s best friends. I’ve been close to them since I was a kid, long before I ever met you.”

“Really?” He mocked, his voice a high, whining pitch. He snapped his fingers again.

A maid walked in, carrying a silver platter. My breath hitched when I recognized her—my personal maid, the one person I’d trusted with everything. She wouldn't even look at me as she approached.

On the tray sat two items that felt like ghosts from my past. Gifts I’d received three years ago, during that summer trip I took to see my brother and the Phoenix brothers.

Ethan reached out and picked them up, handling them like they were evidence in a crime scene. A heart-shaped necklace and a designer bag.

“It was the only one we saw at the mall with a holiday theme,” Aiden, the eldest, had told me back then. My brother Logan and the others—Carter, Jasper, and Ryker—had all been standing there, laughing. “Since it’s almost the holidays, we didn't have time to custom-order. It's for our favorite girl.”

I remembered laughing, telling them I’d love to be their "Holiday Luna" the next time I visited. I was only fifteen then, projecting a future that felt like a fairytale, never imagining I’d be claimed by Alpha Ethan instead.

The memory hit me like a physical blow. I let out a jagged, shaky breath, a bitter smirk touching my lips despite the tears. “You really brought these out to embarrass me? Gifts from three years ago?”

Ethan had always been possessive—clingy in a way I thought was sweet, a sign of how much he cared. I never realized it was a sickness.

“And about my gown…” I turned my fury toward Lillian, who was standing there like she owned the place. “My brother gave me those materials! How dare you wrap yourself in them like some goddamn mistress?”

“And who do you think sponsors your brother?” Ethan roared, stepping between us. “Who gives him the money? Who pulled the strings to get him that job?”

The words died in my throat. I stood there, paralyzed. He was right. Ethan had provided everything. When he took me as his mate, my family hadn't said a word. Why would they? He fed us. He took care of Logan.

But as the realization sank in, a darker thought followed. Was I just a pawn? Someone to keep his bed warm and play the role of the beautiful mate while he carried on with Lillian behind my back? I’d been a minor when he took me—he hadn't touched me yet—but if he loved me, why was he doing this?

The air grew cold. Ethan looked at the gifts in his hand and smirked.

“So you still have them in mind, huh?” he whispered, his voice low and dangerous. He tossed the gifts at me—they hit my chest and clattered to the floor—before grabbing Lillian by the waist and heading for the priest.

In a heartbeat, the world shifted. I wasn't the bride anymore. I wasn't the Luna he’d waited three years to claim. I was just a girl in a chapel, watching the man I loved walk toward the altar with his Beta—the woman who had played the role of my "sister" while stabbing me in the back.

“Shame on you!” I choked out, the sob finally breaking through. I collapsed onto the front pew, burying my face in my hands as the weight of the betrayal crushed the air from my lungs.

For three years, I’d lived for this day. He’d been the perfect, faithful mate. He’d respected my age, waiting until I turned eighteen to claim me properly. Three years ago, when I won the pageant for the Most Beautiful Girl in the pack, I thought I’d hit the jackpot. When the Alpha himself stepped onto the stage to hand me my prize and whispered, “I want you,” I thought I was in a movie.

He was the most handsome man in the pack. Every girl wanted him. And he chose me.

My family had been ecstatic. My friends were jealous. It was a one-in-a-million stroke of luck. I’d spent my days in his estate, dreaming of the moment I’d finally become his Luna. We were from different worlds—he was a college grad and an Alpha, I was just a high school kid—but it hadn't mattered.

And Lillian… she’d been there through all of it. Throwing compliments, acting like my closest confidante.

I never even suspected. She was three years older than him, and Alphas always went for the younger, fresher girls. I was so stupid.

The thoughts swirled in my head like a storm. Slowly, I lifted my gaze. I stood up, my legs shaking, and walked toward him one last time.

“Ethan,” I whispered. My voice was a thin, trembling thread.

I forced him to look at me. His eyes were no longer the eyes of the man who had promised to protect me. They were cold, distant, and filled with a terrifying emptiness.

“What… what am I supposed to do now?”