Chapter 4 Chapter Four, The Wedding Without a Groom
The morning of the wedding dawned bright and silver, sunlight spilling through Meadow’s window as if blessing her day. For the first time in her life, she woke with hope glowing gently in her chest. A fragile, trembling hope, but hope nonetheless.
Today, she would meet her husband at the altar.
Today, she would become Meadow McCloud.
Mate to the Alpha.
The mute girl who was finally chosen.
Despite her inability to speak her vows aloud, she had spent hours practising them in her head. She wanted her heart to be loud, even if her voice could never be.
Since the engagement, Joseph had been kind whenever they crossed paths. He had even stood up for her more than once, shielding her from whispers, stopping bullies, offering her a warm, almost affectionate, smile.
It was foolish, perhaps. But she allowed herself to believe that maybe, just maybe, he was beginning to accept the union.
Maybe fate wasn’t cruel after all.
The ceremony was grand. Too grand.
Flowers hung from archways. Lights sparkled like stars. Murmurs filled the hall as pack members took their seats, eager to witness the union of the Alpha heir.
When Meadow stepped onto the aisle in her ivory dress, her breath caught. The world blurred at the edges. The path felt impossibly long.
Her father held her hand firmly, guiding her forward.
She lifted her gaze toward the altar,
, and froze.
There was no groom.
The space beside the officiator stood empty.
Meadow’s steps faltered. Her stomach lurched. For a moment, she thought her legs would collapse beneath her. Her fingers tightened around her bouquet until petals trembled loose.
Her father squeezed her hand sharply, his voice tightening through the mind link:
Keep walking.
Her vision swam.
Her heart cracked quietly inside her chest.
A cold dread wrapped around her spine.
Why wasn’t Joseph there?
Did he refuse the marriage? Was he making a statement before the entire pack, showing them all that he didn’t want her?
Her breaths shortened. Her throat burned with unshed tears.
Her father continued leading her down the aisle, ignoring the gasps and whispers rising from the crowd, some shocked, some amused, some pitying.
Meadow searched the rows desperately. Her eyes locked on Victoria.
Victoria’s face was streaked with tears, her hands trembling. She mouthed a single word:
Why?
Meadow didn’t know.
She didn’t understand.
She felt like a child walking into a nightmare she had dressed up as a dream.
Still, she trusted her parents. She trusted the Luna. She trusted that this couldn’t be happening for no reason.
But every fibre of her being screamed that something was terribly, terribly wrong.
Her knees buckled, but her father steadied her and moved her forward until they reached the altar.
The officiator did not mention names.
He did not ask for vows.
He did not call the groom forward.
He simply offered a blessing, generic, cold, rushed, as if trying to finish a task he did not fully understand or support.
A wedding without a groom.
A Luna without her Alpha.
A ceremony delivered like an apology.
Meadow forced herself not to cry. She forced herself to breathe. She forced herself to believe that perhaps the Luna had arranged it this way deliberately, to spare her embarrassment over her inability to speak her vows aloud.
Perhaps Joseph was delayed.
Perhaps he was dealing with Alpha duties.
Perhaps,
She clung to denial like a lifeline because the truth was too devastating to hold.
When her father stepped away from her at the altar, she felt the emptiness ripple through her bones.
She had never felt more alone.
The ceremony ended.
There was applause, awkward, forced.
A reception had been arranged, but the moment Meadow moved towards it, one of the attendants blocked her path.
“The Luna has instructed that the bride should be taken to the marital residence immediately,” he said politely. “The Alpha is expecting her at home.”
Her heart dropped.
Joseph hadn’t attended the wedding…
…but was expecting her privately?
Her hands shook as she climbed into the backseat of the pack’s limousine. The bouquet lay limp in her lap. The silence in the car felt suffocating, pressing against her lungs until breathing felt like swallowing stones.
Meadow had no experience with men. None. She didn’t know what a wedding night entailed beyond vague stories and the whispered anxieties of other girls.
Now she was being delivered to a husband who had not shown up for the ceremony…
…who had not spoken a single vow…
…who had not stood beside her before the pack.
She pressed her trembling palms to her knees, trying to steady herself.
Every minute the limousine rolled forward, the fear inside her grew darker.
What awaited her behind the Alpha’s door?
Why had Joseph not come?
And worst of all,
Why had Luna Amber done this to her?
