The Alpha's Silent Vow

Ember’s POV I held my breath as I walked to the altar, looking stunning in my white flowing gown. I looked like a befitting bride for the honorable Alpha. “Finally.” I said to myself beaming with smiles as I took slow practiced steps to the altar where Jamie waited in his clean cut suit. He looked extra hot tonight. Jamie, the man of my dreams. I stopped just before Jamie and flashed my prettiest smile at him. “Today is my day, father would be so proud.” My wolf jumped in excitement. “Do you, Alpha Jamie, take Ember Lane to be your lawfully wedded bride and Luna of Silvercrest Pack?” The priest's voice echoed beneath the great arch of the cathedral rising into the night air thick with the scent of fresh roses and lavender. My smile deepened. “Yes.” I grinned, hardly able to hold my excitement. “No!” The answer cut swift and sharp, like a blade through silk. My smile froze. I blinked. Clearly, I just misheard. But the hush that fell across the crowd told me I hadn’t. My fingers, trembling inside the bouquet I held, froze mid-breath. Jamie’s voice was steady, cruelly steady as he looked at me with the same eyes I had known since we were kids, eyes I once swore carried kindness. “No?” I asked in a whisper, trembling against the grandeur of the altar. My throat suddenly felt tight and dry. “Jamie… You just said no.” I whispered again against the murmurs of the disgruntled crowd, as if to remind him of the error. The priest faltered, his aged hands twitching on the ceremonial scroll. The whole pack shifted like a restless tide: gasps, whispers, the creak of benches as wolves leaned forward to listen. Jamie didn’t hesitate. “I reject you, Ember Lane, as my bride. I reject you also as my Luna.” The words struck me with the force of a slap. Chaos followed. Thousand whispers broke free, Wolves hissed around me like chains across my chest. My knees threatened to buckle beneath the magnificent gown I had sewn with my own hands. This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. “You’re joking right?” the words stumbled out of my mouth. But the look on his face told me otherwise. “Jamie…” I forced myself to stand taller, though my heart beat like a bird caught in a hunter’s fist. “We’ve been betrothed since we were children. Since before your father passed. Since before…” my voice trailed. “Before my father was buried beside him. You promised me…” “I don't care about those childish promises anymore,” he interrupted, his jaw taut, his Alpha aura pressing down on the entire building like an invisible storm. “I was just a boy bound by our fathers’ wishes. But a grown man like me should be able to make his own decisions. And my decision is final. I will not stoop so low to make an omega, the Luna of Silvercrest.” Laughter rippled at the edges. Their laugh is sharp and delighted, an open mockery. Jamie had never for once called me an omega. He had never cared about my rank, my blood, and my birth. Or maybe he always cared, and I was just too blind to see it. “Sto—stoop low?” My voice cracked so much that I hated the sound of it. I hated that every eye was on me, drinking in my humiliation. “You never thought of me that way. Not once, Jamie. You—” “I have found my mate,” he cut in, his voice ringing with pride. “And she is more worthy than you could ever hope to be.” The ground tilted beneath me. My bouquet slipped, petals scattering across the stone floor like fallen promises. Mate. The word was a death sentence and my doom. A wolf’s truth. There was nothing I could do about it now. My lips trembled. “Your… mate?” Movement from the front row drew my eye. Sasha rose with predatory grace, as a smile curled her painted lips. Her crimson gown shimmered in the torchlight, highlighting her every curve. She circled me slowly. “Yes. He has found his mate. You really thought you would be married into my family? That I would let you? My brother is the Alpha now and only a princess would be allowed to be his Luna. Not an orphan like you.” Orphan. That word slapped. “No,” I whispered, shaking my head. “We’ve been chosen by our parents and we love each other.” I looked at Jamie frantically. “Tell her Jamie. Tell her you love me.” She stepped forward with a smirk, her gaze slicing into mine like a dagger dipped in honey. “You will never be his,” she purred, her voice loud enough for all to hear. A roar of approval surged through the warriors in the crowd. They cheered, raising their fists and stomping their boots. I staggered back, heat crawling up my neck, the shame burned hotter than fire. “Jamie,” I rasped. “You told me rank didn’t matter. You told me the Moon Goddess’ will didn’t matter if our hearts—” “My heart?” He barked a laugh, cold and scornful. “Don’t fool yourself, Ember. How old were we? Fifteen? Seventeen? I was a boy playing house with a girl too naïve to see reality. Take a look at yourself. Did you truly believe you could stand beside me as Luna?” The pack laughed, their laughs sounding like knives carving through the air. My ears rang, as I felt my lungs gasping for breath. No. This wasn't Jamie. He wasn't the boy who held my hand at his father’s funeral. The boy who snuck me honey cakes on my birthdays. He wasn't the boy who kissed me once under the willow tree and promised we’d always belong to each other. What happened to that boy? “Why now?” My voice cracked, desperation spilling. “Why is it suddenly a concern? You never cared about my rank before. You loved me, so why?” His eyes, once so warm, were cold as ice. “Because I am the Alpha now, Ember. And as an Alpha I have to do what is best for my pack. I will not shackle myself to weakness. I stumbled back, breath ragged, clutching the altar rail as though it could hold me together. My wolf whimpered inside me, pressing claws against my chest, as she ached with betrayal. “Jamie…” My whisper was nothing. Almost a ghost. “We loved each other. You don't have to do this.” “I do not love you.” His voice was final, flat. Carved from stone. “I do not love you and I never will. Because I have found my mate.” The world roared. I could hear my pulse like war drums. I wanted to scream, to beg, to claw at the air until it swallowed me whole. But my body wouldn’t move. My tongue tasted like ash. Sasha’s laugh cut through me, silken and cruel. “Run along, little omega,” she whispered sweetly enough for me to hear. “You are not his mate. The Luna’s crown was never yours to wear.” The crowd snickered, chanting. Bring her. Bring her. My humiliation became their entertainment. They feasted on my ruin like they had been waiting for this moment to come their entire life. While I… I wanted to melt into the stone beneath my feet and vanish. But my father’s voice rose from memory, steady and sure: You are worth more than the world lets you see. Worth more. I am worth more but right now, I feel like I am nothing. Why? My body shook as Jamie turned his face away from me, as though I were already erased from his story. And then—then he did something worse. Something that broke me more than any rejection. He reached for her hand. Not Sasha, no. Never her. He walked slowly to the crowd and picked her up. My feet remained glued to the ground as I watched him choose her over me. I tried to run, to save face. But I could only stand by and watch as that beautiful figure walked towards me, hand in hand with my betrothe. He presented her to the members of the pack and claimed her with a kiss. Right there at the altar where we were meant to get married. In front of the Priest, the pack, even in front of the Goddess herself. The sound of my heart breaking was a silence so loud that it swallowed everything else. The crowd roared in applause while everything else faded to the background. My vision blurred. My breath stuttered. The world spun but nothing could prepare me for the next words that Jamie would speak. Nothing at all.