Free Web NovelChapter 14: Chapter FOURTEEN — SET UP
Candace
"Let the marking now begin-"
Ragnor cleared his throat, cutting the priest off mid-sentence.
A sick, twisting sensation spread through my belly. Why would he stop the ceremony now? They could not reject me anymore. I glanced sideways carefully. Ryker was not even looking at me.
His eyes were fixed entirely on Deidre instead, and a slow smile pulled at the corner of his mouth while she stared back at him through swollen, tear-filled eyes. Cold dread slithered violently down my spine.
Deidre was smiling too and it wasn’t the broken, devastated smile she had worn minutes ago for the pack. This one was subtle, tucked carefully at the corner of her mouth where only someone watching closely would notice it.
Aunt Elena leaned toward Uncle Nathan, whispering something into his ear while a smug expression spread slowly across her face. My heartbeat hammered against my rib cage.
"We have an announcement to make," Ragnor declared calmly, his voice carrying across the church with terrifying calmness.
The church fell silent so quickly. My fingers curled against the silk of my dress.
"They can’t reject us," I whispered shakily beneath my breath.
Can they? Star asked, her voice suddenly uncertain.
"According to Section Three-B of pack law," Ragnor continued evenly, "when the Prikaya bond is invoked, the opposing mates involved may contest the bond within twenty-four hours of the binding ceremony."
A loud ringing exploded inside my ears. For a moment, I could not hear anything else. My fingers tightened violently around my wedding dress until I heard the seam strain beneath my grip.
I knew the Prikaya law. At least, I thought I did.
I had read about it years ago, hidden away in one of the dusty library books Father had once allowed me to borrow.
I knew it would stop them from flaunting Deidre before my very eyes and would protect me. But contesting it?
I had never once read about contesting it.
"I’m right, aren’t I?" Ragnor asked, turning toward the priest.
The priest folded his hands slowly inside his robes before giving a grim nod.
"Yes, Alpha Ragnor," he murmured.
"You are correct."
My heart dropped violently into my stomach, my eyes snapped toward him, "W-what does that mean?"
Reign’s low chuckle slid in from beside me.
"Oh, smarty-pants." His hazel eyes gleamed mockingly while his head tilted slightly toward me. "You invoked an ancient law without fully understanding it first?"
"That is not very intelligent, Candy."
The nickname struck harder than the insult.
I swallowed against the burn in my throat.
"Did you really think," Ryker said, his voice rough and furious, "that you would suddenly walk off into the sunset with us?"
His mismatched eyes burned into mine with naked disgust.
"That a law changes what you are?"
The church suddenly felt hot. I sucked in a breath a slow breath, tears brimmed in my eyes but I didn’t let them fall.
They hated me enough to search through ancient pack laws just to find a loophole. They hated me enough to turn the one thing I thought could protect me into another weapon against me.
"Lady Candace," the priest interrupted gently.
My gaze snapped toward him.
"Contesting the bond means you will remain mated to the Alphas for one hundred and fifty days while the bond undergoes review." He hesitated visibly before continuing. "During this period, the Alphas remain free to seek pleasure elsewhere."
My breath stopped completely, my heart shattering to the floor like broken china. The floor beneath me suddenly felt unsteady. They wanted to mate me publicly while still touching Deidre behind closed doors.
They wanted me trapped beside them while they crawled back into her bed every night.
They wanted me to carry their name, bear their mark, stand as their mate before the pack, and still watch them choose her again and again.
Humiliating me was not enough anymore.
I turned my head just enough to catch Deidre smiling behind me.
Rage slammed through me.How could they?
LET ME OUT. Star exploded inside me so violently my knees nearly buckled beneath me.
LET ME FUCKING OUT RIGHT NOW, CANDY. I’LL RIP THEM APART.
I clamped down on her desperately. My ribs burned with the effort while she clawed furiously against me from the inside.
Her rage was valid, but I could not let it free here. Not inside a church packed with wolves waiting for any excuse to call me cursed again.
If she lost control here, I would hand them the final excuse they needed to finish what they started three years ago so I held her back.
Ragnor suddenly closed the distance between us, his scent wrapped around me instantly.
His eyes locked onto mine while a cold, crooked smile tugged atone corner of his mouth. I instinctively stepped backward. Every nerve inside me screamed to run.
"We hope you enjoyed our wedding gift," he murmured softly then his hand shot forward.
His fingers wrapped tightly around the column of my throat before yanking me straight back toward him.
A startled breath tore from my lips. His thumb rested over my pulse, and I hated the way his eyes flicked down to it. He felt how fast my heart was beating.
His brothers stepped closer, the trio forming a wall around me. Reign slid behind me while Ryker stepped against my right side, fury radiating from him in hot, brutal waves.
The three of them trapped me effortlessly between pressed black suits, expensive cologne, restrained rage, and brutal Alpha aura while the entire church watched. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
Ryker twisted the signet ring around his finger slowly, the movement small but restless. His nostrils flared once, then twice, like my scent kept reaching him no matter how hard he tried to shove me away.
Reign’s fingertips brushed lightly across the back of my neck from behind. A violent shudder rolled down my spine before I could stop it.
His fingers flexed against my skingently , before he pulled his hand away and let it return again colder than before. Humiliation flooded me instantly afterward.
Even after everything they had done to me.
My body still reacted to them. Star’s grief twisted through mine.
They’re ours, she whispered.
"Why run?" Ragnor’s thumb slid slowly across the frantic pulse beating against my throat.
"Things are about to become very interesting, Candace."
The way he said my name made my stomach twist. His fangs slid free and my eyes widened instantly.
"Wait, don’t mark me if-" I protested but the second Ragnor’s lips touched my neck, my body betrayed me completely. A violent shudder rolled through me, not entirely from fear.
Three years ago, I used to dream about this.
I used to imagine my mates marking me because they loved me. Not because they wanted to break me.
Ragnor bit down hard into the side of my neck.
Pain exploded through me instantly. Before I could even scream, Reign’s fangs sank into the opposite side while Ryker’s mouth latched beneath my ear.
Agony ripped through my body. A loud scream tore from my throat hard enough to echo across the church walls. My hands shot upward, grabbing desperately at Ragnor’s forearm as my knees buckled beneath the force of it.
The bond flared beneath my skin, hot and vicious, spreading from each bite like molten silver pouring directly into my veins.
My vision blurred around the edges while dark spots swarmed across the church ceiling.
Ragnor’s hand tightened at my throat.
Reign’s fingers flexed once against my nape.
Ryker made a low sound against my skin that felt almost like a growl, and Star answered with a broken whimper that left me shaking.
The humiliation of it nearly killed me.
Because even through the pain, even through the hatred, the mate bond recognized them.
My body recognized them. Around us, I vaguely heard the priest’s voice rising above the silence.
"By sacred law and divine witness, Candace Sinclair is now bound to House Pendragon."
Bound, not loved, not chosen. Bound.
The word felt like another noose pressing around my throat.
"Candace Pendragon," the priest announced.
A wave of murmurs swept through the church.
Then he added in a quiet voice but no less devastating, "Tentatively."
Tentatively. The word wrapped itself tightly around my chest.
In one hundred and fifty days, the three men pressed against me, their fangs buried in my skin and their hands keeping me upright, would reject me publicly.
They would return to Deidre and they would throw me away again. If they succeeded, whatever fragile piece of me survived this bond would die with Star.
Ragnor withdrew first. His tongue swept over the bite to seal it, and I hated the way my breath hitched from the sensation.
For a fleeting second, his grey eyes dropped to my mouth. The look vanished almost immediately, but I saw it.
I felt it. The bond pulsed between us like a wound refusing to close. Reign followed, stepping back so quickly it almost looked like touching me burned him.
Ryker’s lips lingered half a second longer than it should have before he jerked away, his jaw clenched so hard the muscle jumped.
I swayed on my feet. Blood roared in my ears.
Star trembled violently inside my chest, fierce even through the pain.
Hold on, Candy, she growled. Hold on.
I lifted my head slowly and looked at the three men who had just marked me like a punishment. Nothing in their eyes promised me a happy-ever-after.
