XYRRA

I decided right then and there that today was not only the bride's worst nightmare, but it was also mine. Alana kept bawling her eyes out and no matter how many times I tried telling her that her groom was insane, she did not believe me. "You ruined this. Why do you even have to exist? We would have been happily married by now if it was not because of you!"

I knew I should be offended by her words. I mean, who the hell did she think she was to decide whether I existed?! And why would my existence make any difference when clearly it was her poor choice of groom that had gotten her to this mess in the first place? Still, I calmed myself down and told myself that it was not her fault that her future husband was demented and too spineless to call the wedding off before their wedding day. "Look, I don't care what he said, but I am not involved with him. I never was." I turned to Brett, who was looking at me with a deep frown in between his brows. "I'm with this guy. Brett is my boyfriend and, frankly speaking, I don't know your future husband."

"Don't you dare lie to me, you home wrecker!" Alana was flinging her hand at me and I was ready to put my arm up to evade her when someone grabbed my waist and pulled me tightly against his body.

I looked up past the broad shoulder and movie star jaw to catch a glimpse of his eyes, which I noticed were silver now. His face was tight, his free hand caught Alana's wrist. "Don't touch my mate, Alana," he growled. Whatever came out of his mouth was not human. I tried to pull away from his grip, but it only made him hold me tighter.

"Let go of her," said Brett, rising to his feet. He took a step forward and was face to face with the groom. "I said let go."

If I thought that Brett was defending me, I was sadly mistaken because the next second, his hand shot up and caught the groom's hand which was holding Alana's wrist. I stared at Brett in disbelief. At that moment, I knew where he stood and whose story he truthfully believed in. Still, it did not make it an easier pill to swallow. The guy who had promised to cherish me and wanted to build a life together with me once we graduated was now standing up for another girl instead of me. I always had my doubts when it came to him. It had always been in the back of my mind, but I had always ignored it. Now it was out in the open.

The groom released his hold of Alana's wrist and she massaged her wrist, which I now realized was red. Alana's eyes, however, were still glued on the groom. "You said you would give it a try. You said our love was enough." Another tear slipped out of one corner of her eye and I could not bear the pain on her face, so I shoved the groom away.

"I don't know what you are trying to pull here, but I am not going to stand here and let you blabber another lie. I don't know and I don't plan to. I am out of here." I shook my head and then turned to Brett. The sweet boyfriend who I thought would never hurt me was now looking at me like he could not recognize me, like I was a stranger to him. "As for you, we are done. Have a nice life!"

I was about to make my way out of this place when I felt someone pulling my hair from behind and I realized that those small clutches belonged to Alana. The weak and defenseless Alana, who now had my boyfriend standing up as a knight to defend her honor. "Alana, stop," the groom said with an exasperated sigh as if this whole thing was wearing him out when, in fact, he was the cause of it in the first place. This time, she did not let go. She even pulled my hair from the root just to prove a point. I held on to my hair and refused to let her pull them all off.

Then another weird thing happened. The groom's silver eyes turned black and his low voice made me shudder when he said, "Let it go."

Alana whimpered, dropping her hands. She tilted her head to one side, showing off her bare neck, then ducked her head. And I simply stood there, wondering what on Earth was happening. Alana clutched her head and started to beg. "Please, please. I am sorry, I am so sorry."

I continued to stare at her while she yelped as if she was in pain while, in truth, no one even touched her. I glanced around, expecting one of her folks or friends to help her, but everyone simply ducked their heads in silence. Everyone except for me and Brett. Brett looked just as confused as I was. "What the hell?" I muttered under my breath.

The groom turned to face me. He extended his hand and looked at me as if he was expecting me to take it. No way in hell I would do that, especially since he had just caused an unnecessary misunderstanding. "Come with me."

"When hell freezes over," I replied before turning around and, at last, making my dramatic exit.

I furiously hit the speed dial and called Eros, yet he did not pick up any of my calls. After my sixth call, I gave up and simply left him a text asking for an emergency meeting. Walking down the parking lot in front of the church, I refused to meet anyone's eyes and ignored their whispers. This day had gone from being fine to being a shithole. I opened the Uber app on my phone and booked an Uber because clearly, there was no way I crawled my way back inside and asked Brett to take me home.

The Uber driver informed me that he was stuck at the junction nearby but would be there in about ten minutes so I waited at the front gate. Opening my messaging app, I quickly closed it due to the number of messages I received. No doubt what had happened back there a few minutes ago had been spread among my friends and all over the internet. All of a sudden, schools on Monday did not sound as appealing anymore. I had managed to walk those corridors without a hitch for the last three years and now things would change for the worse. Everyone would truly think that I had ruined Alana's wedding. Gosh, I wished I had at least landed a punch on that groom's face instead I was the one being assaulted by his bride.

Letting out a heavy sigh, I checked my phone again, asking the Uber driver if he would be arriving anytime soon. By the time I looked up, my eyes caught movement from my right and I turned to see the groom walking towards me. He was still wearing jet-black trousers, a dark suit with a white shirt underneath. I casually turned around, wanting nothing to do with him, and would do my best to ignore him unless he came to clear the misunderstanding that he had caused.

"Hey," he greeted me. His body was towering over mine, obstructing the sunlight.

"Unless you are here, to tell me that you will explain to everyone that you were just too cowardly to admit that you're scared of getting tied to a woman, then I have no wish to talk to you," I said without preamble.

He heaved a long sigh. "I meant what I said back there, Xyrra, you are my soulmate and like it or not, I'm bound to you forever."

This time, I could no longer ignore him and faced him instead. "Enough with the bullshits. No one is around so why don't you just cut the crap?" When he did not say anything, I continued with my speech, pouring all my anger and annoyance on him. "We only made out once. Nothing else happened." I laughed at him mockingly. "Hell, I don't even know your name, so how the hell are we soulmates?!"

"My name is Ryker Cromwell," he said after a moment.

"Well, I don't care," I snapped at him. Everything about him just brought anger boiling inside of me. Even his handsome face looked annoying to me. If I wasn't so concerned about the probability of my knuckles getting hurt, I would've punched him.

He caught my arm and looked down to meet my eyes. His silver eyes flickered to black for one split second. "You know, I've been very tolerant with you because you haven't got a clue about my world, but let me tell you that that is not how you talk to your Alpha."

"I guess it's a good thing you are not my Alpha. Whatever the hell that even means." I tried to shrug off his hold, but he was way too strong.

"But, Darling, I am." He let out a deep chuckle and I could feel the hair on the back of my neck stand. "You just don't know it yet."

I looked down at his hand still clutching my arm, then gazed up at his silver eyes. "I do know that if you don't, let go of me, I will file a report to the police and they will have your sorry arse locked up before you can call me 'Darling' again."

For a second, I thought he would not budge, but in the end, he dropped his hand. "You should come with me, Xyrra. Everything will make sense once you do."

I laughed humorlessly. How crazy did he think I was? Why would I go anywhere with a man who had done nothing but made up a bunch of lies and terrified the hell out of me? "I think there's definitely something wrong with either your hearing or your brain because I answered this same request not too long ago."

He leaned forward. His eyes were now of the same color as his suit and when his lips parted, I could see his teeth protruding, almost like a canine. Perhaps the air conditioner at the church had been drugged because I swear the dark hair at either side of his head was getting longer with each passing second. Thankfully, my Uber came, stopping only a few feet away from me, and I rushed my way there before getting into the front passenger seat. From the rearview mirror, I could see him watching me, and I had no doubt that his eyes were as black as the night sky.

* * * * * * * *

RYKER

I watched my mate get inside a car and leave.

'Go after her,' Khrysaor was literally screaming in my ear. 'Go after her and apologize.'

My wolf tried to push forward and he nearly succeeded but I shoved him back. 'No,' I firmly told him. If she was a werewolf just like me, I would chase after her or maybe I would even wait for her outside her door until she arrived home then I would invite her to join my pack and become my Luna. Except that she wasn't a werewolf. She was a human. And a few minutes ago, for a split moment, I'd seen fear in her honeyed eyes. She might not show it in her fearless action or her blunt words, but I had a feeling that deep down she was scared. Perhaps for a moment there, Khrysaor had managed to push through and she'd seen him. 'I don't want to scare her.'

'And here I thought you don't give a shite about her,' Khrysaor growled back before leaving me to deal with my own mess.

Letting out a sigh, I knew that he wasn't entirely wrong. Not until a week ago when I'd first laid eyes on Xyrra Lancaster, I had been very determined in marrying Alana. Alana was my childhood best friend, she and I had grown up together so if I had to choose someone to be my Chosen Mate, if someone had to be my Luna, it would be her.

Yet as my mind recalled what had happened between Xyrra and me, what we'd shared last week, I started to doubt myself. When I had finally decided over half an hour ago that I wouldn't go through with the wedding, it was not just because I wanted to please Khrysaor, who'd been waiting for our mate for a long while. It was because since I had met Xyrra, I'd been wondering if I was making the wrong choice by marrying Alana.

Perhaps there was a reason why the moon had led me to Xyrra that night despite the distance from my packhouse up in the North to the club in the Center. I closed my eyes and once again I relived my nightmares — at least, that was what I'd called fantasizing about another woman while promising to marry another, except that this time, I didn't hate it. I didn't wake up in the middle of the night with a hard-on and feel like I had cheated Alana. My mind had been replaying what had happened between me and Xyrra for at least half a dozen times now.

"Ryker."

I reopened my eyes and looked over my shoulder at Alana who was still wearing her white wedding gown.

"You weren't serious, right?" She gave me a hopeful smile. "You were only kidding, right? I mean, it's me. We've gone through so much and we're finally here. We finally made it." Her bottom lip quivered but I remained planted to the ground instead of moving towards her and pulling her into my arms.

At last, I told her, "It's over, Alana."

"B-but we've gotten engaged. You've proven to your grandfather that our love is stronger. We've even done our best to keep Khrysaor happy. I'm sure if we talk to him again, he'll listen."

Little did she know that my wolf hated her guts and was barely tolerating her for my sake. "She's my mate, Alana." I shook my head and let out a deep sigh. "If yours is here, won't you rather you'd be with him?"

That silenced her. Although not for long. "Let me talk to Khrysaor," she asked softly.

Her request was dangerous. My wolf didn't like her and if I let Khrysaor come forward, he would hurt her. Not physically, but with words. Although growing up, my family raised me to be a gentleman, Khrysaor could have a foul mouth sometimes. Plus, Alana had assaulted Xyrra. My wolf would have a field day hurting her. "No."

"Please," she pleaded. "I know I can convince him."

I studied her for a moment. Determination shone in her eyes and I sighed. Alana was stubborn. I knew she wouldn't drop it until she got what she wanted. Furthermore, I felt a little bad for using my Alpha Aura on her back at the church. "Fine." I took a deep breath and talked to Khrysaor, 'she wants to talk to you.'

'Can I eat her?' asked my wolf without any hint of humor.

'Be nice and just listen to her.'

'No.'

'No — what?'

'I don't want to talk to her. Make her go away or I'll and if I do it, I'm sure she will be scarred for life.'

My jaw tightened as I shook my head. "He doesn't want to meet you. Just go, Alana."

"But—"

I growled at her. "Go!"

Alana whimpered a little, taking a step back. She looked at me as if she didn't recognize me. I'd never talked to her this harshly before. Turning away so she was out of my sight, I said one last sentence, "Unless you have a way to make this work, I'm afraid you'll have to leave the pack too."

"W-what if I have a plan?"

I waited for her to explain further and she did, "What if I have a plan that will help you get your family's empire from that cousin of yours? What if you can be both: the CEO of Cromwell Inc. and the Alpha of The Ethereal?"

This time, feeling intrigued, I turned around and faced her once again. I only had one word to say to her, "How?"

* * * * * * * *

Are you curious as to what Alana might have in mind? Can you guess? ;)