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 pale blue bridesmaid dress and checked the time. Twenty minutes until the ceremony, and the guests were already seated in neat rows outside. Children from both packs chased each other between the chairs while their parents exchanged pleasantries and business talk. This wedding meant everything to our pack. An alliance with Skollrend would secure our borders and bring prosperity we desperately needed.

Alpha Cian stood near the altar, his dark suit pressed perfectly, but his eyes kept darting toward the main house. He ran a hand through his black hair and checked his watch again. The man looked nervous, which wasn't like him. I'd only met him twice during the courtship negotiations, but he struck me as someone who never showed weakness.

"Where is she?" he asked his Beta, loud enough that I caught the words from my spot near the flower arrangements.

Good question. I hadn't seen Hazel since yesterday evening. She'd been quiet during the rehearsal dinner, picking at her food and giving short answers when anyone spoke to her. I thought it was just wedding nerves. Every bride got nervous, right?

The crowd started murmuring. Heads turned toward the house, then back to the Alpha, then to each other. Someone coughed. A baby cried and was quickly hushed. The longer we waited, the more restless everyone became.

Alpha Cian walked over to me. "Have you seen Hazel?"

"Not this morning. She might still be getting ready with Mother." I gestured toward the house, though doubt crept into my voice. "You know how long these things take."

His jaw tightened. "The ceremony should have started ten minutes ago."

Fear sprouted in my chest, small but insistent. "I'll go check on her."

I hurried toward the main house, my heels clicking against the stone pathway. The closer I got, the more my stomach churned. Something felt wrong. The air itself seemed heavy, like a storm was coming.

I found Isobel in the small anteroom adjacent to Hazel's bedroom. My stepmother sat in a chair, her face pale as morning mist, staring at a piece of paper in her trembling hands. She looked up when I entered, and I saw something I'd never seen before in her eyes. Pure terror.

"Mother? What's wrong? Where's Hazel?"

Isobel held out the paper without speaking. Her lips moved but no sound came out.

I took the letter and recognized Hazel's handwriting immediately. My eyes scanned the words, but my brain refused to process them at first. I read it again, slower this time, hoping I'd misunderstood.

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 Cian when my heart belongs to another. I know this will cause problems, but I cannot live a lie. Milo 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, Hazel

The paper slipped from my fingers and fluttered to the floor. "No. No, no, no. This can't be real."

But it was real. I looked around the room and saw Hazel's wedding dress hanging abandoned on its hook, the pearl buttons catching the light. Her shoes sat empty beneath it. The veil lay crumpled on the vanity next to her unused makeup.

Milo. My fated mate. The man I'd loved since we were teenagers. The man who'd told me just last week that he needed time to think about our future together. The man who served as a sentinel in our pack.

My phone was in my hands before I realized I'd pulled it out. I dialed his number with shaking fingers.

"Fia?" His voice sounded different. Guilty.

"Tell me this isn't true. Tell me my sister didn't run away with you on her wedding day."

Silence stretched between us like a chasm.

"Milo, answer me!"

"It's true." His words hit me like a physical blow. "I'm sorry, Fia. I never meant for it to happen this way."

The room spun around me. I gripped the back of a chair to keep from falling. "How could you do this? Today of all days? What happens now? What happens to us?"

"There is no us anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm rejecting our mate bond, Fia. I'm sorry, but Hazel and I... we're meant to be together."

The pain hit me like lightning, starting in my chest and spreading through every nerve ending. The mate bond stretched thin, then snapped like a broken guitar string. I gasped and doubled over, clutching my ribs as agony flooded my system.

"What happens to Alpha Cian?" I managed to ask through gritted teeth. "What happens to our pack?"

"I'm just a sentinel, Fia. My choices are my own."

Just a sentinel. Like that made it acceptable to destroy everything. "He'll be humiliated in front of the other powerful pack in the region! This will wreck us!"

"I have to go. We're already hours away. Don't try to find us."

The line went dead. I stared at the phone, waiting for him to call back and tell me this was all some sick joke. He didn't.

"Fia!" Isobel grabbed my shoulders. "We don't have time for this. Look outside."

I stumbled to the window. The guests had begun standing up from their chairs. Some pointed toward the house. Others checked their watches and whispered among themselves. Alpha Cian paced near the altar like a caged wolf.

"The ceremony is already late," Isobel said. "If we don't produce a bride soon, Alpha Cian will know something is wrong. When he finds out what Hazel did..." She covered her mouth with her hand.

"What do you mean?"

"Think, Fia! This isn't just embarrassment. This is a broken contract between two packs. When the Skollrend wolves realize they've been insulted this way, what do you think will happen to us?"

The truth crashed over me like ice water. Pack alliances weren't just political arrangements. They were sacred bonds sealed in ceremony and witnessed by both groups. Breaking one was considered an act of war or at minimum, grounds for severe punishment.

"Alpha Cian could demand compensation," I whispered. "He could claim our territory. He could have Father imprisoned."

"Or worse." Isobel's voice cracked. "He could have us all killed for the insult. Hazel didn't just abandon her groom. She spat in the face of his entire bloodline."

My legs gave out. I sank into the chair Isobel had vacated, my head spinning with implications. Our small pack had maybe fifty adult members. Skollrend had over two hundred. If Alpha Cian decided we'd dishonored him beyond forgiveness, we wouldn't stand a chance.

"There has to be something we can do," I said. "We could explain. Tell him it wasn't planned. That we had no idea."

"You think he'll care? His pack traveled days to get here. They brought gifts. They arranged business deals contingent on this alliance. And now what? We tell them sorry, the bride ran away with another man?" Isobel laughed bitterly. "We might as well dig our own graves."

Outside, Alpha Cian's voice rose above the murmur of the crowd, though I couldn't make out his words. Whatever he was saying made several Skollrend wolves stand up from their seats. The tension was building like pressure in a kettle.

"Maybe we could offer something else," I said desperately. "Money, part of our territory, anything to make up for this. We have to tell father about this!"

"What do we have that they want? Our pack is barely holding together as it is." Isobel walked to the window and peered through the curtains. "Oh god, he's coming this way."

Heavy footsteps echoed in the hallway outside. Alpha Cian's voice carried through the door, though he was trying to keep it low. "I need to speak with my bride immediately."

Isobel spun around, her eyes wild with panic. She looked at me, then at Hazel's abandoned wedding dress, then back at me. I saw the exact moment the idea formed in her mind.

"No," I said, reading her expression. "Whatever you're thinking, no."

She moved to the dress and lifted it from its hook. "You're about the same size as Hazel."

"Mother, no. That's insane."

"Is it more insane than letting our entire pack be slaughtered?" She carried the dress toward me. "You could walk down that aisle. Complete the ceremony. No one would know until it was too late to back out."

"Alpha Cian would know! He's courted Hazel for months!"

"From a distance, with formal visits and chaperoned meetings. How much time have they actually spent alone together? How well does he really know her face?"

The footsteps in the hall stopped right outside our door. "Mrs. Hughes? I need to see Hazel now."

Isobel grabbed the wedding veil from the vanity and shook it out. The delicate lace fell in layers, thick enough to obscure someone's features if positioned correctly.

"This is madness," I whispered.

"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 choice did we have? If we opened that door and told Alpha Cian the truth, we'd all be dead before sunset.

I thought about my father, who'd worked his whole life to keep our small pack together. I thought about the children playing outside, innocent of all this adult scheming. I thought about Milo and Hazel, already hours away from here, safe while the rest of us faced the consequences of their choice.

The door handle turned.

"Put it on me," I said.

...

FIA

Isobel's hands moved quickly, draping the veil over my head and adjusting the layers so they fell across my face and shoulders. The world became soft and hazy through the lace, like looking through fog.

"Keep your head down," she whispered urgently. "Don't speak unless you have to. If he asks you direct questions, just nod or shake your head."

A sharp knock rattled the door when it would not budge. I did not realize when Isobel had locked it. But she had.

Isobel stiffened at the knock.

"Wait," she called, her voice edged with forced calm. "The bride isn't ready yet." She spun back to me, fingers flying as she tugged me out of the blue bridesmaid gown. The fabric slid down my arms and pooled at my feet. In one practiced motion, she lifted the heavy wedding gown and guided it over my body, fastening it quickly but carefully, smoothing it into place before I could even take a full breath.

The door opened and Alpha Cian stepped inside. I held my breath, my heart hammering so hard I was sure he could hear it.

"Finally," he said, and I caught the relief in his voice. "Are you ready?"

I nodded, not trusting my voice.

"You look beautiful," he said softly. "I know this is overwhelming, but everything will be fine once the ceremony is over."

If only he knew how overwhelming it really was. I was about to marry a man I barely knew to save my pack from destruction. I was about to take my sister's place at the altar and hope nobody noticed the deception until it was too late to matter publicly.

Isobel moved to stand beside me, her hand finding mine and squeezing tight. "She's just nervous," she told Alpha Cian. "Wedding day jitters."

"Of course." He offered me his arm. "Shall we?"

"Just a few more minutes," Isobel interrupted smoothly. "I need to perfect her makeup."

Cian studied us, his gaze sharp and assessing. For a moment, my stomach dropped, certain he saw through everything. Then he inclined his head. "Very well. I'll wait outside."

As he reached the door, Isobel added lightly, "Your woman is going nowhere."

A faint smile tugged at his mouth. "Then all is well," he said, and stepped out, closing the door behind him.

The silence he left behind was heavy. Isobel exhaled sharply. "See how dangerous that could have been? Just get it over with. I'll think of what to do next."

The moments after Cian left felt like hours. Isobel worked on my face with makeup, her hands steady even though I could see the worry lines around her eyes. She kept glancing at the door like she expected him to burst back in at any moment.

"Remember," she whispered, dabbing powder under my eyes. "Keep your voice soft if you must speak. Hazel has a higher voice than you. And for the love of the Moon Goddess, keep that veil down."

My throat felt dry. "What if someone recognizes me? What if my father sees?"

"Your father is too busy playing politics with the other Alphas. He won't look too closely." Her voice was sharp, but her hands were gentle as she adjusted the veil one more time. "Besides, who would think this would be happening? You are safe."

She stepped back and looked me over one final time. "It's time. We can't keep him waiting any longer."

Isobel opened the door and peered out into the hallway. "The coast is clear. Come."

I followed her through the packhouse corridors, my heart hammering with each step. The wedding dress rustled around my legs, heavier than anything I'd ever worn. The sound of voices grew louder as we approached the main hall where the ceremony would take place.

"Keep your head down," Isobel reminded me one last time. "Let me do the talking."

The doors to the ceremony hall were closed. Through the wood, I could hear the murmur of the assembled pack members, waiting for their Alpha's bride to appear. Isobel smoothed down my dress and adjusted my veil once more.

"Ready?" she asked.

I wasn't. I would never be ready for this. But I nodded anyway.

Isobel pushed open the doors and suddenly we were surrounded by people. Pack members lined the walls, their faces turned toward us with curiosity and excitement. I recognized some of them, people who had known me since I was a child. My heart hammered against my ribs.

The hall had been decorated with white flowers and silver ribbons. Candles flickered from tall stands, and the scent of sage burned in the air. It was beautiful, exactly the kind of wedding Hazel had always dreamed of.

At the front of the room stood Cian, looking handsome in his formal dark suit with silver buttons that caught the candlelight. His hair was combed back, and even from this distance I could catch his scent. Pine and something wild that made my Omega wolf stir restlessly.

Beside him waited Elder Moira, the pack's healer and spiritual guide. She was ancient, her silver hair braided with moonstone beads, her eyes the pale blue of winter sky. She would be performing the ceremony.

Isobel guided me down the aisle. Every step felt heavy, like walking through mud. People whispered as we passed, but I couldn't make out their words over the rushing sound in my ears.

"Beautiful," someone murmured.

"She looks radiant," came another voice.

"Hazel always was the prettiest of the sisters," a woman added, and I flinched inside at the words.

We reached the front and Isobel squeezed my hand before stepping aside to join the other witnesses. Cian moved closer to me, offering his arm. I took it, my hand shaking slightly as it rested on his sleeve.

Elder Moira smiled at us, her weathered face creasing with joy.

"We gather on these grounds to witness the joining of two souls," she began, her voice carrying easily through the hall. "Alpha Cian of the Skollrend Pack and Hazel of the Silver Creek Pack have chosen to bind themselves not just in marriage, but in the sacred bond of chosen mates."

My breath caught. Chosen mates. That meant more than just a political marriage. It meant they would attempt to create a mate bond artificially, something usually reserved for true fated pairs.

Elder Moira lifted a silver chalice filled with what looked like moonwater, the ceremonial drink made from spring water blessed under the full moon. She handed it first to Cian.

"Drink, and open your soul to your chosen mate," she instructed.

Cian took a sip and passed the chalice to me. My hands shook as I lifted the veil just enough to bring the cup to my lips. The water tasted like nothing, but it seemed to tingle as it went down my throat.

Elder Moira began chanting in the old language, words that spoke of bonds and souls and forever. She took out a length of silver rope and began wrapping it around our joined hands.

"With this binding, your souls reach for each other across the void," she said. "What the Moon Goddess has not fated, you choose to create through will and love."

The rope grew warm against my skin. Then suddenly, something fluttered in my chest. A strange sensation, like a butterfly trying to take flight. I gasped and looked up at Cian through the veil. His eyes had gone wide with surprise. 

I had felt it once so I knew what it was.

The mate bond. It was actually working.

So that was when terror shot through me like ice water. This wasn't supposed to happen. I was supposed to just go through the motions, not actually bond with him. A chosen mate bond could be broken, but it would still tie us together until we did. It would let him sense my emotions, my location, maybe even my thoughts if it grew strong enough.

"The bond takes hold," Elder Moira announced with satisfaction. "Now, let the union be sealed with a kiss."

The crowd erupted in cheers and applause. Cian stepped closer, his hands coming up to lift my veil. 

"No," I whispered, but the word was lost in the noise. I grabbed at the lace, trying to keep it in place.

Cian chuckled. "Still shy? That's alright."

"She's been nervous all day," someone called out from the crowd. More laughter followed.

"Hazel always was the bashful one," another voice added.

I turned desperately toward where I knew Isobel was standing, but when I found her face in the crowd, she simply looked back at me with blank innocence, as if nothing catastrophic was about to happen.

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 veil down, but his hands were so much stronger than mine. The lace began to lift away from my face.

"Please," I whispered, but he didn't hear me over the shouts of 'kiss kiss kiss' around us.

The veil came up and over my head.

The hall fell silent.

Cian's face went through a series of expressions. Confusion first, then recognition, then something that might have been anger or betrayal or both.

His voice, when it came, was deadly quiet.

"You are not my bride."

The words seemed to echo in the sudden silence. I stood frozen, my face fully exposed now, nowhere to hide.

His eyes, which had been warm and reassuring just moments before, were now cold as winter stone.

"What is this deception?"

The question rang out like an accusation, and I knew that everything was about to fall apart.

...

FIA

The silence stretched like a taut wire ready to snap. Every face in the hall turned toward me, their expressions shifting from celebration to confusion to something darker. I stood there with my face exposed, the wedding veil crumpled in Cian's hands, feeling like a deer caught in headlights.

"You are not my bride."

Those five words hit me like a physical blow. Cian's voice carried across the entire hall, cold and sharp as a blade. His eyes, which had been warm moments before, now looked at me like I was something dirty he'd found on the bottom of his shoe.

Then the voices started.

"Wait, that's Fia, isn't it?"

"Where's Hazel? What happened to Hazel?"

"Is this some kind of joke?"

"What the hell is going on here?"

The whispers grew louder, multiplying and spreading through the crowd like wildfire. I heard my name repeated over and over, each time sounding more accusatory than the last.

Cian stepped closer to me, his presence suddenly threatening instead of comforting. The mate bond I'd felt forming between us twisted into something painful, like a rope being pulled too tight.

"Again, I ask, what is this deception?" he demanded, loud enough for everyone to hear.

I opened my mouth but no words came out. My throat felt like sandpaper. What could I possibly say? That my sister ran away with my fated mate and left me to clean up the mess? That this whole thing was my stepmother's idea? That I was trying to save our pack from destruction?

"Answer me!" Cian's voice boomed through the hall. "Is this a declaration of war against my pack?"

War. The word hit me like ice water. I looked frantically around the open space and saw the Skollrend wolves rising from their seats, their faces dark with anger. Some had their hands on their weapons. This was exactly what I'd been trying to prevent, and somehow I'd made it worse.

"I... I can explain..." I stammered.

"You will explain." Cian's eyes blazed with fury. "Where is my actual bride? Where is Hazel?"

Before I could answer, my stepmother pushed through the crowd. Isobel's face was white as bone, her eyes wild with what looked like genuine shock and horror. She walked straight up to me and slapped me across the face so hard my ears rang.

The sound echoed through the silent hall like a gunshot.

"What the fuck, Fia?" she screamed. "What is going on? Where is your sister?"

I stared at her in complete bewilderment. My cheek burned from the slap, and my head spun from the force of it. This was the same woman who had dressed me in this gown. The same woman who had told me to save our pack.

"Mother, what is going on?" I said, my voice barely a whisper.

She slapped me again, even harder this time. Stars burst across my vision.

"You have always been like this but this is too far!" Isobel shrieked. Her voice carried a hysteria that made my blood run cold. "I will only ask this once. Where is Hazel?"

The world tilted on its axis. She was acting like she had no idea what was happening. Like she hadn't been the one to come up with this plan in the first place.

"Mother, you're scaring me," I said, my voice shaking. "Did Hazel not run away and this is why I had to..."

I couldn't finish the sentence. The words died in my throat when I saw the look on her face. Pure, convincing confusion mixed with rage.

She raised her hand to slap me again, but suddenly Cian's fingers wrapped around her wrist, stopping her mid-swing.

"You had no idea," he said slowly, his eyes fixed on Isobel's face, "that the girl you walked here with was not your daughter Hazel?"

Isobel dropped to her knees like her strings had been cut. Tears streamed down her face as she looked up at Cian with desperate pleading eyes.

"I apologize, Alpha Cian," she sobbed. "This is a happy day for me. My daughter is marrying into a pack with honor and valor like yours. I had no idea when and how this happened."

My mouth fell open. She was lying. She was lying to his face and making it sound so believable that even I started to doubt my own memory.

"After you came to the anteroom, and I made up my daughter, it was still Hazel in that room," Isobel continued, her voice breaking with emotion. "I just stepped out for maybe a minute because of something important we missed, and when I got back, she was veiled and ready to go. I had no idea that Fia here, in jealousy of her sister, had made the most insulting move to you of all."

Jealousy. She was saying I'd done this out of jealousy.

"Spare our pack," Isobel begged, still on her knees. "We had nothing to do with this girl's madness."

Cian studied her face for a long moment. When he spoke, his voice was deadly quiet.

"The thing is, I don't believe you."

Isobel's face crumpled. "Alpha, please..."

That's when the door burst open.

Hazel stumbled into the hall, and I gasped at the sight of her. Her face was bruised, with a dark purple mark spreading across her left cheek. Her lip was split and bleeding. Her dress was torn at the sleeve, and she walked like she was in pain.

"My mother is not lying," Hazel said, her voice carrying clearly through the silent hall.

Every head turned toward her. She looked like she'd been in a fight and lost badly.

"Fia came into my room," Hazel continued, limping forward. "She violently attacked me and attempted to take my place."

The words hit me like a sledgehammer to the chest. I stared at my half-sister in complete shock, trying to process what she was saying.

"That's not..." I started, but my voice came out as barely a whisper.

"She knocked me unconscious," Hazel said, touching her bruised face gingerly. "When I woke up, I was locked in the storage closet. I've been trying to get out for the past thirty minutes."

The hall erupted in angry voices. People were shouting, some calling for my blood, others demanding answers. The sound crashed over me like a wave, but I couldn't focus on any individual words. Everything blurred together into a roar of accusation and rage.

My head spun like I was on a carousel going too fast. Nothing made sense anymore. I remembered Milo calling me and rejecting our mate bond. I remembered the letter in Hazel's handwriting. I remembered Isobel putting the wedding dress on me and telling me to save the pack.

But looking at Hazel now, bruised and beaten, and hearing her story, I started to doubt everything I thought I knew.

Had I attacked her? Had I somehow blocked out doing something so horrible? The mate bond rejection had been agony. Maybe the pain had driven me temporarily insane. Maybe I'd done something I couldn't remember.

"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 were shaking so badly I could barely control them.

Cian stepped closer to me, and the mate bond between us pulsed with his anger and disgust.

"Is this true?" he asked, his voice low and dangerous. "Did you attack your own sister to steal her place at the altar?"

"I... I don't..." My voice failed me completely.

The crowd pressed closer, their faces twisted with outrage. I saw my father pushing through the crowd, his face gray with horror and shame. When our eyes met, he looked at me like he'd never seen me before.

"Fia," he said, his voice breaking. "Please tell me this isn't true."

But I couldn't tell him anything. My mind felt like it was fracturing into pieces. Everything I thought I remembered was being rewritten before my eyes.

Hazel moved to stand beside Isobel, who wrapped protective arms around her injured daughter.

"She always resented me," Hazel said quietly, just loud enough for the crowd to hear. "She couldn't stand that I was chosen to marry an Alpha while she was stuck with a sentinel."

...

HAZEL

I stood at the back of the ceremony hall and watched Fia's world crumble around her. Every confused gasp from the crowd, every horrified whisper, every accusatory stare sent a thrill straight through my chest. This was better than I'd imagined. So much better.

The bruises on my face throbbed, but the pain was nothing compared to the satisfaction bubbling up inside me. I'd done this to myself. Punched my own face against the bathroom wall until the skin split and darkened. Ripped my own dress. Messed up my carefully styled hair. Every injury was deliberate, calculated, worth it.

Fia stood frozen at the altar in my wedding dress, her face pale as death. She looked like she was going to be sick. Good. She should feel sick. She should feel every ounce of the terror and humiliation she'd put me through my entire life just by existing.

Many would be led to believe that I was the villain in her story. Like I was cruel to poor, sweet Fia for no reason. But they didn't understand. They hadn't watched their mother's face crumple with shame when Father brought home his pregnant fated mate. They hadn't been five years old and suddenly expected to call some random Omega woman their stepmother. They hadn't watched their real mother, a proud Luna, reduced to nothing more than a discarded trophy wife.

I remembered that day so clearly. Father's voice when he told us. Mother's face. The way she tried to hold it together for me, but I could see the cracks forming. She'd been Luna of this pack. She'd stood beside Father for years, had given him a daughter, had done everything right. And none of it mattered because some Omega showed up along the way with a mate bond glowing between them.

The worst part was that everyone expected us to just accept it. To smile and nod and pretend everything was fine. To welcome this interloper and her parasite child into our home like they belonged there.

I'd prayed every night that they would die. That the childbirth would go wrong. That the baby wouldn't make it. That something, anything would happen to send them away and restore my mother to her rightful place.

But Fia survived, even if her mother did not—at least not for long. She came into the world small and delicate, with big doe eyes that everyone seemed to love. Even as a baby, she drew attention. People would coo over her in Father's arms while me and mother stood to the side, forgotten. Fia's mother lingered for a while, her weak body and compromised immune system succumbing piece by piece to the rot. And when she finally passed, it wasn't Father who was left alone. It was me and mother, left to raise someone else's child under the scrutiny of a pack that no longer saw us at the forefront.

I thought maybe she'd be born a Luna. That would have been the final insult. The daughter of a mere Omega ranking beside me in the pack hierarchy. But fate had been kind in that one small way. Fia was an Omega, just like her late mother. Weak. Submissive. Below me.

Surely that would be enough. Surely my position was secure now. I was the Luna daughter. I would stay the pride of Silver Creek. I would marry well and bring honor to our pack. Fia would fade into the background where she belonged.

But she didn't fade.

That was the thing about Fia that drove me insane. No matter what I did to her, no matter how much I tore her down, she bounced back. She had this confidence that made no sense. She was an Omega. She should have been meek and quiet and desperate for approval. Instead, she walked around like she owned the place. Like she had every right to be here.

And people loved her for it. They called her beautiful. Not as beautiful as me, obviously. I had the classical features, the perfect proportions, the elegant bearing of a Luna. But Fia had something else. This girl next door prettiness that people found approachable. Comfortable. They gravitated toward her in a way they never did with me.

I tried everything to break that confidence. I spread rumors. I excluded her from social events. I made snide comments about her and her late mother. I reminded her constantly that she was merely the daughter of the second wife, the interloper, the Omega who'd ruined my mother's life.

Nothing worked. She just kept smiling and holding her head high and acting like she belonged. She did not even hate me for it.

Then she found her fated mate.

Milo. A sentinel. Nobody special. Just some warrior with muscles, a decent face and a ten inch cock. But he was her fated mate. The Moon Goddess herself had chosen them for each other. And suddenly Fia had something I didn't. This cosmic connection that made her special in a way I could never be.

I'd been eighteen and mate-less while my younger half-sister paraded around with her destined partner. Do you know how that felt? Watching them together, seeing the way they looked at each other, knowing they had this bond I might never experience?

It wasn't fair. None of it was fair.

So I decided to take him from her.

It was easier than I expected. Milo wasn't as devoted as he pretended to be. A few lingering looks, some carefully placed touches, a suggestion that maybe the mate bond wasn't as important as he thought. He fell right into my lap. Literally.

The sex was fine. Good, even. He definitely knew how to use what he had, and yes, the goddess Selene had been generous in that department. But the real pleasure came from knowing I'd taken something that was supposed to be Fia's. That I'd proven her precious mate bond meant nothing in the face of what I could offer.

Still, it wasn't enough. Milo was just a sentinel. Having him didn't change my position or bring me any real power. If anything, pursuing him was beneath me. I needed more.

Then when I hit twenty three, Skollrend showed a sudden interest in our pack.

Alpha Cian. Everyone knew his name, knew his reputation. Cruel. Powerful. Dangerous. His pack was one of the strongest in the region. An alliance with them would mean everything for Silver Creek. It would elevate us from a struggling border pack to something with real influence.

And he wanted a bride from our pack of all places in the world.

...

HAZEL

Of course he chose me. I was the elder daughter, the Luna, the obvious choice. Fia already had a mate, so she was out of consideration. That, to many-including my father, was my moment. My chance to finally have everything I deserved. To become the Luna of a powerful pack and leave this place.

But it still wasn't fair, was it? I had to settle for an arranged marriage while Fia got to keep her fated mate bond. She'd always have that over me. That cosmic connection I could never claim. Then with me as Luna of Skollrend, she would take over Silver Creek as honorary Luna.

Over my dead body.

So I took Milo away from her completely. Convinced him to reject the bond. Convinced him to run away with me, or so she thought. The plan was perfect. She'd lose her mate, I'd escape the wedding, and Cian would blame the pack for the insult. Our father would be ruined. Maybe even killed. And when the time was right, I would blame it on the obsessed Sentinel.

But then Mother came up with something even better.

She was the one who suggested using Fia as a replacement bride. At first I thought she was joking. But the more she explained, the more brilliant it became. We could set Fia up to take the fall for everything. Make it look like she'd attacked me out of jealousy and tried to steal my place. Cian would be furious. The pack would turn on her. And I'd swoop in at the last moment, injured and heroic, to save the day.

I'd still have to marry Cian, but it would be different now. He'd be grateful to me. Protective. And Fia would be destroyed in a way she could never recover from. Ever.

So I beat myself up. Split my own lip against the sink. Punched my face into the wall until the bruises bloomed dark and ugly. Tore my dress. Locked myself in a closet and waited for the right moment to make my entrance.

Watching Fia standing at that altar in my dress, her face exposed, the crowd turning on her, it was everything I'd dreamed of and more.

And now came the best part.

Father pushed his way through the crowd toward Fia. I saw the horror on his face, the shame, the desperate need to defend his precious daughter. Of course he would try to save her. He always protected her. Always chose her mother over mine.

"Wait," Father said, his voice shaking. "There has to be some explanation. Fia wouldn't..."

"Wouldn't what?" Mother cut him off sharply. She moved to stand beside me, her hand on my shoulder in a show of maternal protection. "Wouldn't attack her own sister? Look at Hazel's face. Look at what she did."

Father's mouth opened and closed like a fish. He looked between me and Fia, clearly torn. Good. Let him suffer. Let him feel what it was like to have his world ripped apart by choices that weren't his.

"Hazel," he tried again. "Are you absolutely certain..."

"Are you seriously questioning your daughter right now?" Mother's voice rose with indignation. "Your legitimate daughter, who has been beaten and locked away? You're going to side with the girl… the omega who did this?"

The crowd murmured agreement. I saw several wolves nodding. Father's face went gray.

I knew I had him. He might want to defend Fia, but he couldn't. Not in front of the whole pack. Not when I was standing here with visible injuries and a clear story. His spine had always been weak when it came to Mother. She'd spent years making sure of that. Comeuppance for his sin of betrayal.

This was my moment. Time to seal Fia's fate completely.

I walked forward slowly, letting my limp be visible. Every step looked painful. I'd practiced this in the closet, figuring out exactly how to move to sell the story of someone who'd been violently attacked.

Cian watched me approach. His face was unreadable, but I could feel the tension radiating off him. The mate bond between him and Fia must have pulsed in the air. I had to be careful here. Had to make sure he blamed her completely.

I stopped right in front of Fia. She stared at me with these wide, confused eyes. Like she still couldn't process what was happening. Like she still believed there had been some mistake, some misunderstanding that could be cleared up.

"What did I do to deserve this, little sister?" I asked softly.

My voice broke on the last words. Tears welled up in my eyes, real tears because I was thinking about everything she'd taken from me just by being born. The legitimacy. The attention. The stable position in my own home. The mate bond I never got to experience.

"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. I welcomed you. And this is how you repay me?"

The crowd was eating it up. I could hear sympathetic murmurs. Several women were crying now.

"I wanted you at my wedding," I said, my voice growing stronger. "I wanted you by my side. I chose you as my bridesmaid because you were my sister. And you... you..."

My knees buckled. I'd practiced this too, the exact way to collapse that would look natural. My vision swam, and for a moment I wasn't entirely faking it. The adrenaline and satisfaction flooding through me was making me genuinely lightheaded.

Mother caught me before I hit the ground. "Hazel! Help! Somebody help me! Hazel!"

I let my eyes flutter closed. Let my body go limp. The perfect victim. The innocent sister betrayed by jealousy and malice.

The last thing I saw before I committed fully to the act was Fia's face. She looked broken. Shattered. Like everything she'd ever believed about herself had just been proven wrong.

Perfect. Rot in hell bitch.