I WOKE UP AS MY HOCKEY ALPHA'S GIRLFRIEND

Chapter 22

Emily

I really didn't want to think about last night. Unfortunately, it was impossible to do so. By the time I returned to the Saint Laurent mansion, I had already accepted my fate. Vivienne was going to kill me.

This time, literally.

I'd embarrassed the perfect Saint Laurent family, walked out of the Luna's dinner without saying goodbye to the hosts, argued with Ethan Sparrow in front of the entire pack, and then disappeared like some rebellious teenager.

And honestly, if rebellion had a competition, I had just won first place. But first place didn't come with a trophy in this case.

And the worst part of last night was that Ethan knew. He knew I was Emily Carter.

Emily Carter.

His favorite punching bag since middle school. The girl he'd spent years reminding she didn't belong in his world, who had spent the last week pretending to be his girlfriend.

I was definitely going to prison.

I had expected Ethan to show up before sunrise with half the pack's enforcers behind him, and my future behind me. Instead, the mansion stayed strangely quiet. That didn't make me feel better. It made me more nervous. I lay awake most of the night staring at the ceiling. Mary's phone sat beside me. But there was absolutely nothing entertaining on Mary's phone anyway.

It was full of perfectly edited selfies with Sasha, Joye, Clara, and a dozen other girls smiling like they genuinely liked each other.

Please…

I'd rather spend a week trapped in chemistry practical than spend an afternoon pretending those girls were my friends.

Give me one Grace over twenty fake friends any day.

And then a knock interrupted my thoughts. The bedroom door opened before I could answer, and Vivienne walked in.

She looked furiously red in the face. Her lipstick was perfect. Her hair was still perfect. But her expression looked ready to declare war.

I slowly sat up, ready for a worse reaction than I had ever seen from her.

"What exactly happened last night?" she demanded, hands akimbo. Her voice sliced through the room and my gaze fell on the diamond glittering on her wrist before returning to her angry face.

"Do you have any idea how much embarrassment you've brought upon the Saint Laurent family?"

Of course.It was always about the Saint Laurent name. Never about Mary or about feelings.

I lowered my head. Maybe if I apologized first...

Maybe she'd only slap me once.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly. "Ethan and I argued."

"Everyone knows that." Her pacing became even faster. "But why, Mary? Why would you argue with him?"

I hesitated.

Because he found out I'm not your daughter?

Probably not the best answer.

"He...he got upset and told me to go home."

She stopped walking. "Did he say anything else?"

I shook my head quickly. "No."

She pressed her lips together. "You cannot ruin this marriage."

Marriage to Ethan Sparrow. That was like the most sacrilegious thing ever. Good thing I wasn't the one getting married to him.

"You cannot ruin your only chance of becoming Luna." She started pacing again. "You don't even have your wolf yet. At your age, you should have awakened already. Every day I pray you aren't wolfless."

Wait...

What?

Mary is wolfless?

She always claimed she was an Alpha wolf. But no way she could be wolfless. Her parents were strong wolves. That didn't even make sense.

But then again, if she was wolfless, I could give her a front row seat in the Omega's club.

Vivian continued before I could think of anything to say.

"Ethan is not your mate, Mary. You know that,” she said. "So we have to secure this marriage before he finds the woman the Moon Goddess actually paired him with."

I blinked.

The words that followed actually slipped out before I could stop them.

"What if he finds his mate after we're married?"

She froze and the room became painfully quiet. For a second I honestly thought she was going to slap me.

Instead she simply sighed. A tired sigh. One that somehow sounded sadder than angry.

"You will never understand the sacrifices your father and I are making for you." She looked at me for a long moment. "I only hope you never regret losing Ethan. Good thing the Luna wasn't angry."

I'm sure the Luna understands what a pain in the neck her son is.

Then she turned and walked away. No slap. No screaming. Nothing. Just her retreating steps.

***

The mansion stayed unusually quiet the next morning. Vivienne locked herself inside her room and I wasn't about to disturb her. I didn't sleep because each time I had a nightmare. It was either waking up to Vivian barging into my room or hearing Ethan's threat.

“You have one week.”

I was exhausted by morning. But I knew I had been rebellious enough to last me a lifetime. School was waiting.

…And so was my inevitable arrest.

I dressed as Mary, fixed my hair, and tried convincing myself that maybe Ethan had changed his mind overnight. Maybe he'd decided body swapping wasn't actually illegal. Or it wasn't my fault.

Wishful thinking.

The moment I stepped out of the car at school, someone grabbed my wrist.

It was Mary.

She looked even angrier than Vivienne had.

"What now?" I asked, frustrated.

Without a word, she shoved her phone into my face.

"I'M TRENDING!"

I frowned.

The first video that played was the dance. My complete destruction of dancing that I had with Ethan. Apparently, someone had been recording that terrible moment.

Comments flooded beneath it.

Did Mary forget how to dance?

Future Luna? Embarrassing.

Acne Queen yesterday. Terrible dance Queen today.

Someone had even slowed down the part where I stepped on Ethan's foot.

My humiliation came with replay options.

"I can't dance because of you!" Mary hissed. “Everyone's calling me a bad dancer. I've been dancing since I was five, Emily!”

I was doing a lot of things too. Only dancing wasn't part of it.

"Sasha and Clara uploaded the video,” she continued. I wasn't surprised. I knew they were terrible friends from the beginning.

"They're getting back at me because I promoted an omega to front formation,” she continued, like she could read my thoughts.

"Do you have any idea what you've done to my reputation?"

I looked up.

"I honestly don't think your reputation is our biggest problem right now, Mary Saint Laurent.”

"What would you know?" she snapped. "You've never carried a family name that means everything. You've never been expected to represent an entire bloodline. You know nothing except chemistry, molecules and ridiculous formulas…that's all you've ever cared about."

I folded my arms, smirking. It never hurts me when I'm called nerdy. I love it.

"Well, I know something you're very interested in,” I told her.

She frowned. "What?"

I sighed with resignation. "Ethan knows."

The color drained from her face so quickly it was almost frightening.

"What?”

I met her eyes. "He knows about the swap."

She slapped a hand over her forehead.

"Oh my God, Emily..." Then she rounded on me. "You had one f*****g job! We practiced everything. The dance.The greetings and the introductions. I told you exactly what to do."

"I tried!" I finally snapped, already tired of walking in her shoes. "I really tried, okay?” I sighed. "I tried to dance. I tried to remember your father. I tried to remember who I was supposed to greet.

"I tried pretending I liked Ethan and I tried pretending crowds don't terrify me. I did everything I could, Mary. But I'm not you…I'm Emily. I like chemistry, I like quiet, I like hiding in laboratories, not standing under spotlights. I'm sorry my best wasn't enough."

Silence settled between us.

Finally she looked away. "Fine." She inhaled deeply. "So only Ethan knows?"

I nodded.

"He gave me one week to fix everything. And honestly..." I swallowed. "I'm scared he's going to have me arrested."

I had scolded an Alpha male last night after fooling him for days.

Mary looked at me like I'd said the dumbest thing she'd ever heard. "That," she muttered, "is the least of our problems."

Her eyes suddenly shifted past me. The sound reached me a second later. A sleek black sports car tore through the academy gates. It didn't slow down until the very last second.

I didn't need to see the driver to know it was Ethan Sparrow. Only one person drove like he owned the entire school, andI know that car because it's a limited edition. And the entire school went on a day's break when Ethan's father got it for him.

The car came to a violent stop, and the driver's door flew open. Ethan Sparrow stepped out. Even from where I stood, I could feel the anger rolling off him. His jaw was tight enough to c***k stone, and every instinct inside me screamed the same warning.

Run.

Because I knew that whatever Ethan Sparrow had planned, neither Mary nor I was prepared for it.