Chapter 1 The Wedding DresS

FIONA

The needle slipped.

Blood welled up on my fingertip. I stuck it in my mouth before it could drip on the white dress pooled across my lap.

"You're going to ruin it."

I looked up. Shania stood in the doorway of my small room above the bakery. She was already dressed in her lavender maid of honor gown, the fabric catching the afternoon light in a way that made her look like she belonged in a magazine.

We were both supposed to test dress our gowns but it seemed only mine had issues.

"The seamstress didn't finish the hem," I said, pulling my finger out of my mouth to examine the damage. "I'm just trying to fix it before tomorrow."

"You're making it worse." She crossed the room and took the needle from my hand. "Let me."

I watched her work. Her fingers moved quickly. We'd grown up together at St. Mary's Orphanage on the east side of town. Most of the other kids had scattered after aging out, but Shania had stayed close. She was the only real family I had.

"There." She bit off the thread and held up the dress. "Good as new."

I stood and took it from her, holding it against my body as I turned to the cracked mirror leaning against the wall. The dress was simple. No beading or lace. Just clean white silk that hung a little loose at my ribs because I'd lost weight over the past month without meaning to.

"You look beautiful," Shania praised.

I glanced at her reflection. "You don't have to lie."

"I'm not lying." She put her hands on my shoulders and met my eyes in the mirror. "Bale is lucky to have you."

I hoped so.

"Are you nervous?"

"Terrified," I admitted.

She laughed and squeezed my shoulders. "Don't be. Everything is going to be perfect."

Before I could respond, someone knocked on the door downstairs.

I turned to Shaina. "That's probably Mr. Chen. He told me he needs the room back by noon tomorrow."

Shania's phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out and her expression shifted for just a second. Something I couldn't quite read.

"I need to go," she said, already moving toward the door. "Maid of honor emergencies."

"What emergencies?"

"The florist is threatening to cancel because someone forgot to confirm the order. And your future mother-in-law wants to change the seating chart again." She rolled her eyes. "The usual chaos."

"Do you need help?"

"No, no. You stay here and rest. I'll handle it." She kissed my cheek quickly. "I'll see you tomorrow morning. Don't be late."

She was gone before I could say anything else.

I stood there alone in the room, holding my wedding dress when my own phone suddenly buzzed on the bed.

Bale's name lit up the screen.

My heart did that stupid flutter it always did when I saw his name. I picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey baby." His voice was warm and sweet. "Can you come over to my place?"

I frowned. "Right now?"

"Yeah."

"Bale, you know it's bad luck for us to see each other before the wedding."

He laughed. "Come on. You don't actually believe in that superstition, do you?"

"I don't know. Maybe?"

"I just want to see you. Is that so wrong?"

There was something in his tone I couldn't place.

"I'm not even dressed properly."

"I don't care what you're wearing. Just come. Please. I miss you."

Those last words made my resistance crumble.

"Okay, I'll be there in twenty minutes."

"Perfect. I'll be waiting."

The line went dead.

I stared at the phone for a moment. Then I grabbed my jacket and headed downstairs.

I took a taxi because Bale's house was on the far edge of Creeklaw territory and I didn't have a car. The driver didn't talk much, which was fine. I spent the whole ride looking out the window.

The house appeared through the trees. It was big and modern, sitting alone on two acres of land. Bale's father had built it before he died but sometimes the place felt too big.

Music hit me before I even got out of the taxi. Loud bass that I could feel in my chest.

I paid the driver and stood there staring at the house.

A party?

He hadn't said anything about a party.

I walked up the driveway and pushed open the front door. The smell rushed out immediately. Alcohol and sweat mixed in together. Empty bottles littered the floor. Red plastic cups crushed underfoot.

"Bale?" I called out.

No answer. Just the music pounding through the speakers.

I walked through the living room. The furniture had been shoved against the walls. More bottles and cups. It looked like a hurricane had gone through.

I moved past the kitchen where the counter was covered in liquor I couldn't afford even if I saved for a year.

Next I tried the stairs.

I could hear a sound coming from Bale's room and walked towards it.

The sound got clearer with each step. Moaning.

The door was cracked open and my hand shook as I pushed it open.

The sight before me nearly made me scream.

Bale was on the bed.

Shania was underneath him.

Her hands were tangled in his hair. His mouth was on her neck. Her lavender dress was bunched up around her waist and the sounds they were making drove every thought out of my head except one.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

The scream tore out of my throat.

Shania's head turned toward me. She looked at me and her expression didn't change. No shock. No embarrassment. Just calm.

"So you actually came," she said, still breathless.

Bale pulled back and glanced at me over his shoulder. Then he laughed.

"Told you she was dumb enough to fall for it."

The words didn't make sense. My brain couldn't process them.

"What?"

"You really thought I wanted to see you?" Bale climbed off the bed. He didn't bother covering himself. Just stood there looking at me like I was pathetic.

"We're getting married tomorrow. Is it wrong to think that?"

"Yes." He crossed his arms. "Because we're not."

The floor spinned.

Shania sat up and started fixing her dress. Her movements were casual. "Bale is mine, Fiona. He already marked me two months ago."

I stared at her. At my best friend. At the girl who'd been by my side since we were eight years old.

"T-two months? But you're my best friend.*

"You really think someone like me would be best friends with a wolfless orphan?"

The words hit hard and something inside me snapped.

I lunged at her.

My hands grabbed her hair and I yanked her off the bed with strength I didn't know I had. She screamed as we hit the floor. I didn't think or plan.

My palm cracked across her face once. Twice. She clawed at my arms, shouting, but I couldn't hear her over the roaring in my ears.

Suddenly, Bale's hand closed around my arm and he threw me backward with his Alpha strength.

I stumbled through the bedroom doorway. My heel caught on the edge of the hall rug and I went down.

Then I was falling.

The stairs. I'd forgotten about the stairs.

My body hit the first step. Then the second. The world spun, wood slammed into my spine. My head cracked against something hard and I felt something in my neck pop.

I landed at the bottom in a twisted heap.

Pain exploded through every part of me. I tried to move, tried to breathe but nothing worked.

Footsteps came down the stairs behind me.

Bale appeared in my blurry vision. He crouched down next to me and pressed two fingers against my neck.

"She's still breathing."

Shania's voice came from somewhere above. "Well fix it then."

"That's right. Get the shovels from the garage."