BRUTAL CLAIM, DARK SURRENDER

MIA'S POV "Where is she?" Alpha Damien's voice carried across the lawn. It was loud enough that it made the restless guests settle down out of fear. Pack members from both packs were frantically looking around for the bride, my stepsister Laura. The wedding ceremony was supposed to take place fifteen minutes ago, but she was nowhere near the aisle. She wasn't the only one missing. I scanned the crowd for my stepmother Kate. She was supposed to help coordinate things, make sure everything ran smoothly, but I had only caught a glimpse of her near the parking area for goddess knows how long ago before she disappeared. I shouldn’t even have been out here too. She had made that clear enough this morning and told me I am too fat to be seen by the guests. She told me to stay in the kitchens and finish the dishes but I disobeyed her. Laura my stepsister was the slender one, the pretty one, the one chosen for Alpha Damien. "Miss Chapman" I jumped hard enough to knock over one of the vases when I heard my name. Alpha Damien stood three feet away, and I hadn't even heard him approach, which said something about how distracted I was. His dark suit didn't have a single thread out of place, but a muscle ticked in his jaw like he was grinding his teeth. "Have you seen your sister?", He asked coldly. "She's probably just...getting ready...you know how it is with us women..." I said, my voice trailing off as his face grew darker at my words. "The ceremony was supposed to start at nine." He cut in as he glanced at his watch. All of his movement seemed on edge. "It's almost nine fifteen." My mouth went dry and my skin prickled at his tone. "I'll check on her right now." I answered quickly. I didn't wait for his response. Immediately picking up my skirts, I ran straight back to the main house. "Laura? Where are you? You need to hurry!" I called out the moment I entered, but there was no response. The concerning silence caused me to rush into Laura's bedroom without knocking on the door. "Goddess, you're nearly fifteen minutes late...." But Laura wasn't in her room. In fact, the only person present was my stepmother Kate, who was leaning against the wall with a vacant empty stare in her eyes. Her trembling hands held a piece of paper. "Mother? What's wrong? Where's Laura?" I shut the door behind me quickly and rushed to her. She held out the paper without speaking. I recognized Laura's handwriting immediately. Those loops that were too small and the way she always crossed her g's. Dearest Mother and Father, By the time you read this, I will be far from here with the man I truly love. I cannot marry Alpha Damien when my heart belongs to another. I know this will cause problems, but I cannot live a lie. Alex and I have been planning this for weeks. We are going somewhere no one will find us. Please forgive me, but I had to choose love over duty. Your daughter, Laura. I read it again because the words didn't make sense strung together like that. They couldn't mean what they seemed to mean. But Laura's wedding dress hung on the door hook, the tags still attached where she'd been too superstitious to remove them before the ceremony. Her shoes sat paired beneath it with tissue paper still stuffed in the toes. The makeup on her vanity sat in its bag, unopened, and her jewelry box was closed. "Mia." Kate's voice came from very far away. "Look outside." She added panicking. I stumbled to the window, still puzzled. People were standing now, abandoning their seats in clusters. Some of the Blackmoon wolves had moved away from the ceremony space entirely, gathering in tight groups with their heads bent together. Our pack members looked small and scattered among them, like sheep surrounded by wolves, which I supposed they were. Alpha Damien stood near the altar talking to three of his warriors, and even from up here I could see how rigid his shoulders were, how his hands had curled into fists. "When he finds out what she's done..." Kate's voice cracked in the middle. "Mia, when he realizes..." "We will explain." The words came out desperate. "We'll tell him we didn't know, that we would never allow this kind of disrespect, that we're horrified..." "Explain?" She laughed, and it came out sharp and hollow. "His pack came all this way. They brought marriage contracts, trade agreements, gifts for the ceremony. And we're going to stand there and explain that the bride ran off with a sentinel from our own pack? That we let this happen under our own roof?" "There has to be something we can do. They'll execute your father for breach of contract. It's written into pack law, Mia. The Alpha bears responsibility for his family's dishonor, and the punishment for breaking a marriage alliance is death." She kept talking as I stared at her speechless. "No. Father didn't know anything about this, he would never..." "You think they care what he knew? Laura just humiliated Alpha Damien in front of two entire packs. When the Blackmoon wolves decide we've insulted them beyond forgiveness, when they decide we're not worth keeping alive, what exactly do you think happens to us?", She cut me off in midsentence. I couldn't get enough air into my lungs. The room felt too small, the walls were pressing in. "We have to tell Father right now. We have to warn him so he can... I don't know, negotiate something, offer compensation..." I blurted. "Tell him what? That his daughter destroyed everything he's spent his life building? That he should start writing goodbye letters to everyone he loves?" Kate moved to the dress and lifted it off its hook with shaking hands. "We... We have to fix this before it's too late." She added. "What are you doing?", My stomach dropped as I looked at her. "You going to replace her." She spoke. "No. That's insane, you can't possibly..." "You could walk down that aisle right now. Finish the ceremony. The veil is thick enough-look at it, Mia. By the time anyone realizes what happened, it'll be too late for them to back out without losing face themselves." "Alpha Damien knows what Laura looks like! I am too fat to fit in her dress", I explained, my hands instinctively covering my stomach. Kate shook her head. "He doesn't know her well enough and you will squeeze yourself into it!" She grabbed the veil from the vanity and shook it out, and the lace fell in thick, obscuring layers that would hide most of someone's face. "No, Mother. That's insane. I won't do it. The man will kill me once he realizes I'm not Laura. He'll tear me apart the second the veil comes off or the first time he tries to mark me as his. I can't pretend to be her, I'm not sacrificing my life for this mess she made!" Kate's eyes widened, desperation twisting into something angrier. "Mia, you selfish ungrateful cow! Look at you! You're lucky anyone is even willing to look at your fat, worthless body long enough to put you in that dress! We're not asking, we're telling you! You will do this!" The door burst open with a violent crash before she could finish. My father, Alpha Harlan stormed in, his face pale and slick with sweat, eyes wild as they darted between us. They landed on the crumpled note still clutched in my trembling hands. "What in the goddess's name is happening?" he demanded, his voice low and edged with barely contained fury. "The guests are getting restless out there, Damien's warriors are starting to circle like they're ready for war, and I just heard whispers from the sentinels, Laura's gone? With Alex? Tell me it's not true!" Kate shoved the note at him without a word. Father snatched it and scanned the lines quickly, his expression collapsing from disbelief into a mix of rage and raw fear. He crushed the paper in his fist, knuckles turning bone-white. "She's run off," Kate whispered, her voice cracking. "With that worthless sentinel. The alliance is shattered. Damien's pack will demand blood, your blood, Harlan. The contract says the Alpha bears responsibility for his family's dishonor. They'll execute you, and then come for the rest of us." I felt a flicker of hope as Father's gaze snapped to me. He would understand. He had always protected me, treated me like his own flesh and blood even after he married Kate. He wouldn't force me into this nightmare. I stepped forward, my heart pounding with desperate certainty that he would take my side. "Father, please, tell her this is madness. I can't marry him. He's not my mate, and I am not Laura. He'll know the difference the moment.." "She is right", Father cut me off, his voice hardening into something cold as he turned fully toward me. His eyes, the ones that had always softened when they looked at me, now burned with the same evilness I saw in Kate's. "You will do this. For the pack. For me. For all of us." His tone left no room for argument. The betrayal hit me, stealing the air from my lungs. I had thought, he had always been my father, the one who shielded me from the worst of pack politics and Laura's cruelties. But now he stood shoulder to shoulder with Kate, his shoulders squared in the same rigid resolve. "But he is not my mate and I am not Laura," I protested again, my voice cracking as tears stung my eyes. "He'll kill me when he finds out. You can't ask this of me..." "You have five minutes to put on that gown", He growled and Kate nodded beside him, already shaking out the thick veil, the lace heavy and obscuring. Before I could even say another word, they all walked out.