Free Web NovelChapter 194: Wedding or Funeral?
My mouth ran dry as I caught sight of the longing in Damon’s blue eyes. Gone was their previous icy demeanor, instead now they seemed to capture the beauty of the bright blue sky in the heat of summer, the waves under my feet, threatening to pull me under. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
They seemed to call out to my very soul, and everyone else in the venue seemed to fade into the background. If I cared to spot Dahlia’s face, I would have noticed it growing steadily darker by the second.
Later I would be ashamed to remember that I didn’t even register Blaise’s presence in the venue, never mind that he was standing right behind Damon as his best man.
"I can wear it myself, you can just give it back to me," I said weakly, my breath coming out in a hushed whisper as I held out my hand, a wordless prompt for Damon to drop the necklace in my hand and continue the ceremony.
Damon looked like I struck him in the face with my refusal, and strangely enough, I felt guilty.
"Go, marry her," I prompted when Damon showed no signs of turning back to Dahlia. We had a mission to accomplish. Did Damon suddenly lose his memory?
"Let me put it on for you," Damon pleaded, his voice low with desire. "Harper, please."
Heat bloomed in my cheeks as I heard the desperate want in his voice. And I wasn’t the only one― the audience sitting in the first row of the pews began to mutter to themselves behind their hands, their eyes wide with disbelief even as matching flushes crawled up their cheeks.
After all, their highly enhanced hearing managed to catch all of Damon’s words. Never had anyone heard the mighty alpha of Fangborne sound so desperate, especially for a woman who was not his bride.
Logically, I should have rejected him. I should have simply held out my hand to take my necklace back from Damon. It was just a necklace, and I could rewear it after the ceremony after we hightailed it out of Thunderstrike. Damon shouldn’t be halting the entire ceremony for my sake, not when we had so much riding on this.
Then, I recalled that this necklace was meant for Fangborne’s luna. Was this the reason why the clasp suddenly undid itself when I spent weeks trying to tug it off me to no avail?
The necklace might not know that we aimed to ruin this wedding ceremony to begin with. The magic that was imbued in it perhaps simply registered that Dahlia would be Fangborne’s new luna.
And the necklace wanted to go to its new owner.
No, I couldn’t let that happen.
Before I could accept Damon’s offer, Dahlia’s shrill voice cut through the proceedings like a hot knife to butter, bursting the bubble of the expectant, weighty silence that enveloped us both.
"What is the meaning of this!" she demanded, her hands fisted in the smooth fabric of her skirts. If I cared enough about her wedding, I would tell her to stop creasing her dress.
She stormed over, her heels clacking angrily against the podium floor, an accompaniment to the thunderous expression on her face. In that very moment, she seemed to become the embodiment of her pack’s namesake― thunder striking straight at us.
Instinctively, I took a step back.
"Dahlia, I can explain―"
"What is there to explain!" Dahlia shrieked, stretching out her hands as though she wanted to claw out my eyes at that very moment. "You’re a slut that seduced my fiance even though you’re his brother’s fated mate! And to think I made you my maid of honor! Oh, humans can’t be trusted at all!"
Gasps of shock chorused through the venue as Dahlia’s words reverberated through the chapel. I could only laugh to myself. Goodness. My character was being assassinated right before my eyes. Dahlia raised a hand, ready to slap me with the force of a rampaging pack of rhinoceros.
I raised a hand to stop her, but there was only so much I could do against her fury. She was a trained warrior, and in her eyes, she had all the reason to skin me alive.
The slap landed against my cheek, the sound louder than a gunshot. I winced in pain. Goddess, that was going to look terrible the next morning.
I supposed it was a blessing that I’ve been hit by so many people in my life that this wasn’t even the worst blow I’ve endured through the years. But of course, Dahlia wouldn’t be satisfied with just one measly slap, never mind that it was hard enough to draw blood and split my lip.
She was going to deliver on her words a few days ago; she was going to kill me right in full view of everyone and turn her wedding celebration into a funeral procession.
"Dahlia, stop this right now. You are embarrassing yourself."
Suddenly, I could no longer see Dahlia’s enraged face. Instead, my view was covered by Damon’s broad back. He had stepped in between us, grabbing her hand in the midst of her second swing.
"Me? I’m the one embarrassing myself?" Dahlia repeated shrilly, flinging Damon’s hand away like he disgusted her. "Damon Valentine, you’re addled in the head!"
How the tables have turned; never did I think this day would come. I could feel twin feelings of amusement welling within me. That reassured me more than anything that they could have said; if Damon and Blaise could still find things funny despite our plan going off the rails, I had nothing to worry about.
Blaise hurriedly went to my side, attracting Dahlia’s eyes and ire. She said, "Blaise, wake up! You’ve been cucked by your own brother! He wants your mate, and she wants him too!"
"I beg to differ, since Harper and I actually already have mating marks for each other," Blaise said, sounding remarkably delighted at this turn of events.
I pressed my lips down, refusing to burst out laughing now.
"I would strip in front of you to confirm it, but you’re the one with the likelihood to tear men’s clothing unprovoked, not me," Blaise continued, and I lost the battle― a snort escaped my lips and Dahlia’s face purpled at the reminder.
With Blaise next to me, she could only turn her hatred to Damon, the one man she never thought would betray her like this.
"How dare you do this to me!"
