Chapter 8
Judy’s POV
Back in my childhood room, I laid on the bed staring blankly at the ceiling, trying not to fall
apart.
It didn’t work.
Tears slipped out anyway-quiet, hot, and
endless.
Five years.
Five years with Alpha Simon. Five years of loyalty, love, and building a life I thought would
last.
And now?
Now I was marrying a stranger. A stranger with an Alpha title, a powerful name, and a pack
that needed a Luna,
Funny how fast things change,
1/12
My phone buzzed beside me. Then again. And again.
I didn’t want to look-but I did anyway.
It was Wilona.
“Guess where I am?” she wrote, followed by a barrage of photos.
My heart didn’t even twitch when I opened them.
There she was, standing in our living room like
she owned it.
Another photo: her wrapped in Alpha Simon’s shirt, standing beside our bed.
My bed.
And then the last ones-images I could never
unsee.
Wilona tangled up with Alpha Simon, right there on the sheets I had picked. The same ones embroidered with wolves and moon,
symbolizing eternal love between mates.
2/12
The same bedding we used on our would wedding night.
“Your marital bed is so comfy,” she added. “Simon said you chose the pattern? So sweet. The wolves do kinda look like us, don’t you think?”
I stared at those photos for a long time.
Then turned off my phone.
The pain didn’t slice the way it used to. Maybe because I had already bled out everything I had for him. Maybe because my wolf had gone so quiet inside me, she couldn’t even muster a growl.
I wasn’t going back. Ever.
The days blurred after that.
My parents threw themselves into wedding prep like it would distract me from the storm. Dresses, fittings, jewelry, rehearsals-I let them drag me from place to place while I floated through it all like a ghost.
3/12
Chapter 8
+ 5 Points
Ironically thing was, I only learned about Alpha Simon through Wilona’s daily updates.
She sent photos like clockwork-her feeding him fruit, wearing his clothes, sleeping on my side of the bed. She documented everything like she was running a press release for their twisted little love story.
I didn’t delete a single one.
No, I saved them all. Every picture, every screenshot. Every word she thought would
break me.
Meanwhile, Simon kept calling.
He blew up my phone daily, sometimes fifty, sixty times a day. He sent flowers. Gifts. Even had omegas from his pack show up at our gate with “peace offerings.”
I ignored them all.
Let them rot in the trash with the rest of the lies.
4/12
Early the next morning, I sat at my vanity, watching my reflection as my mother gently brushed my hair.
Her fingers trembled more than usual.
“My daughter,” she whispered, voice tight, “today you marry.”
I turned to look at her and gave a faint smile. “Mom, marriage is a good thing. Why are you crying?”
“How could I not?” she said, wiping her tears with the back of her hand. “You’ve grown so fast. And now you’re leaving us.”
She tried to hold it in, but her voice cracked
anyway.
“But… it helps that we know the Silver Claw Pack well. Their Alpha-Grayson Steele- his parents and your father used to fight side-by-side in the war packs. He just got back from the Balkans, did you know?”
I shook my head.
5/12
She continued anyway, proud and teary-eyed. “They say he wiped out an entire rogue pack uprising by himself. Rebuilt their territory, brought order. The warriors say he’s fierce- dominant even by Alpha standards. But polite. Handsome, too.”
She reached for her phone.
“Want to see what he looks like?”
I stopped her gently. “No need. I’ll see him at
the altar.”
It was already 7 a.m.
I stood and smoothed my dress, the white fabric unfamiliar and heavy on my skin.
Simon would be waking up around now, probably wrapping an arm around Wilona while still half-asleep. Maybe he’d finally check the social feed and see the post I was about to make.
I opened my phone and typed:
“Getting married today. Wish me luck.”
6/12
The responses came flooding in.
“Congratulations! Five years of love finally paying off!”
“So excited for you and Alpha Simon! What a
perfect couple.”
“Finally! You two were made for each other.”
I read each one with a bitter smile.
Let them believe what they wanted.
Let them think I was walking toward Alpha
Simon in white and lace, full of love and
dreams.
They didn’t know I was marrying a stranger.
They didn’t know I was walking away from the man I once thought was my forever.
Simon’s POV
The night before the wedding, I should’ve been celebrating. Raising a glass with the guys,
7/12
maybe getting a little drunk, bragging about finally settling down.
Instead, I kept checking my damn phone like a pup waiting for his mate to text back.
Judy hadn’t answered any of my calls in days.
Not one.
Not even a single-word reply. Not even a read receipt.
I sat back in the leather booth of the private lounge, swirling my whiskey, trying not to look
as rattled as I felt.
“She’s probably just tired from all the prep,” | muttered, more to myself than to anyone else.
“Or she found out,” I added under my breath.
“What was that?” Harlan, one of my oldest friends, raised a brow.
I leaned forward. “I said… what if Judy knows? I’ve got this feeling-this weird, gut-deep wolf sense that something’s off. She hasn’t called.
8/12
Hasn’t texted. It’s like she vanished.”
Harlan snorted and clapped me on the back. “Relax, Simon. You’ve been spiraling for days. She doesn’t know. We’ve covered every scent trail, blocked every post. We even got that one
idiot to delete the video. She’s clueless.”
“Yeah,” Brayden added with a grin, lifting his beer. “Besides, you’re doing this for a reason, right? Wilona doesn’t have long. Give her the
wedding she begged for, let her go out happy,
and Judy will come running back once it’s all
over.”
I didn’t answer.
Because they weren’t wrong… but it still didn’t feel right.
My wolf was pacing inside me, uneasy. Growling low, restless.
I couldn’t explain it. But Judy and I-we were bonded. Maybe not fated, maybe not marked, but still… five years meant something.
Didn’t it?
9/12
The Wedding Day
By morning, I was damn near clawing at my
skin.
I’d been up since before sunrise, unable to
sleep. Pacing the packhouse like a lunatic. Trying not to call Judy again.
My instincts were screaming at me— Something’s wrong. Something’s really wrong.
But it was too late to pull the plug.
The hotel was booked. The pack elders had
been notified. The whole damn Silver Claw
Council was in attendance. Wilona was already waiting in her gown.
So, I shoved the guilt down deep, forced a smile, and showed up anyway.
I drove the wedding car myself, picked up Wilona,and we made our way to the hotel.
10/12
The same hotel Judy and I had chosen months
ago.
That should’ve been the first red flag.
As soon as I stepped out of the car, a group of my old packmates rushed over.
“Alpha Simon!” one shouted, slapping me on the back. “Big day, huh? Finally tying the knot! Took you long enough!”
“Where’s Judy?” another asked, scanning the
crowd. “Haven’t seen her yet.”
I froze.
A beat of silence passed. My grip tightened on
the car door.
“I’m… not marrying Judy today,” I said slowly.
They stared at me like I’d just sprouted a
second head.
“What?” Harlan blinked. “What do you mean
11/12
you’re not-?”
“Dude,” another interrupted, pulling out his phone. “Judy posted this morning. Said she was getting married today.”
My heart skipped a beat.
“What?”
He shoved the screen in my face.
‘Getting married today. Wish me luck.’
The post was real. Public. Commented on.
Shared.
All with my name attached.
Another guy frowned. “Wait, isn’t the wedding today? Same hotel? You and Judy booked it months ago. Are you messing with us?”
