I was still blinking like a stunned owl when Mother leaned over and patted my hand in that maddeningly serene way only she could pull off.
"It's not so far-fetched, querido," she said, as if we were discussing the weather and not my complete social assassination. "Better a sweet, docile sister than a rabid wolf in Luna's clothing."
Rabid wolf. God, I loved my mother.
Dragging in a breath that felt like it scraped against my ribs, I scrubbed both hands down my face and groaned into my palms. "Look, Mamá," I said, voice muffled and probably more desperate than I intended, "I have no other plan. No secret strategy, and no backup escape hatch. I'm not interested in marrying anyone else. I'm marrying María José."
I dropped my hands and met her gaze dead-on. "I don't care what people say. Not the pack, not Dad, not the entire freaking Council of Elders. They can all choke on it for all I care."
