Alpha Groom’s Wrath: The Bridal Swap Is a Trap

FIA The morning sun painted everything golden, and I should have been happy. My half-sister Hazel was supposed to marry Alpha Cian Donlon today. The Skollrend pack had traveled from three territories over, bringing their finest warriors and elders. Our small pack territory buzzed with excitement we hadn’t felt in years. I smoothed down my…

“This is survival.” She held the veil toward me. “Please, Fia. Save us. Save your father. Save everyone you’ve ever cared about in this pack.” “Mrs. Hughes?” Alpha Cian’s voice carried a warning now. My hands shook as I stared at the veil. Everything in me screamed that this plan would never work. But what…

It was odd. The look on her face. Cian’s hands were gentle but insistent as they moved to the edges of my veil. “It’s alright,” he said softly, meant only for me. “I’ll be gentle. I won’t hurt you.” But his reassurance only made my panic worse. I tried to pull back, to keep the…

“I would never…” I tried to speak, but the words came out weak and unconvincing even to my own ears. “Look at her,” Hazel said, pointing at me. “Look at the guilt on her face. She knows what she did.” Did I? I touched my own face, wondering what expression I was wearing. My hands…

“I never…” Fia started, but her voice was barely a whisper. “I loved you,” I continued, letting the tears fall. “I tried so hard to be a good sister to you. Even though you were… even though your mother…” I trailed off, like I was too kind to finish the sentence. “But I accepted you.…

“Wouldn’t what?” Isobel cut him off, her voice sharp as broken glass. She moved to stand beside Hazel, her hand on her daughter’s shoulder. “Wouldn’t attack her own sister? Look at Hazel’s face. Look at what she did.” Joseph’s face crumpled. He looked between his daughters, clearly torn. I recognized that look. The look of…

Isobel stood near the front of the crowd, her arm around my father’s shoulders. She was smiling. Actually smiling. Not broadly, but I could see it there at the corners of her mouth. This small, satisfied curve of her lips as she held my father while he looked like someone had just told him his…

I woke up to the smell of leather and something expensive I couldn’t name. But it had to be liquor. My head throbbed. My mouth tasted like cotton and regret. I blinked against the dim light filtering through tinted windows and realized I was lying down in the back of a car. Not just any…

I threw the tablet at him. Hard. Aiming for his smug face. He didn’t even try to catch it. Just watched it sail past his shoulder and hit the floor of the limo with a dull thud. The screen went dark. We stared at each other. The silence in the car felt thick enough to…

“You do not have to be civil to an Omega,” I said. More for his benefit than hers. Garrett was too soft sometimes. Too worried about doing things the right way. “Toss. Her. Out.” I reached for the whiskey. Poured myself two fingers of the amber liquid. The bottle was crystal. Expensive. The whiskey was…