Snow
Blood. So much blood in the water that day.
My fingers shook as I stared at the pendant in my hands. It once belonged to Aria before the river took her. Before my foolishness stole my sister's life.
Or so everyone thought.
"Ten years," I whispered to my reflection in the clear water. "Ten years of hatred, and now this."
Outside my window, the Jade Pack lands buzzed with excitement. Lanterns hung from every tree, meat cooked over open fires, and wolves howled with joy. Tonight was the eve of Alpha Jasper's mating ceremony—his joining with Aria, who'd strangely returned six months ago after we all thought she was dead.
A miracle, they called it. A blessing from the Moon Goddess.
For me, it felt like another cruel joke. I'd spent ten years drowning in guilt while the pack spat at my feet, calling me sister-killer. And endured Jasper's fierce gaze each time.
The same Jasper who'd loved Aria since we were pups.
A hard knock shook my door.
"Enter," I called, my voice stronger than I felt.
My door flew open. Aria stumbled in, wedding dress torn at the sleeve, brown tears running down her red cheeks. Her eyes darted wildly around the room.
"I can't do it," Aria cried, falling onto my bed. "I won't marry him!"
I rushed to my sister's side. " Aria, what's wrong? The whole pack is waiting—"
"I do not care!" Aria screamed, grabbing a glass vase and throwing it against the wall. It broke into pieces, water and flowers splashing across the floor. "If they make me go through with this ceremony, I swear by the Moon Goddess, I'll... I'll kill myself!"
My blood ran cold. "You don't mean that."
"Don't I?" Aria laughed, the sound sharp as broken glass. She pulled a silver dagger from her boot. "Try me, sister. Just try me."
Before I could answer, my door flew open again. Father Everett and Mother Yulia burst in, their faces covered with fear.
"Put that down," Father ordered in a low tone. He walked toward Aria slowly, hands up. "No one's forcing you to do anything."
Mother's eyes jumped between us, then to the window. "The ceremony starts in an hour. The entire pack is gathered. The neighboring alphas have arrived. We cannot cancel."
"Then I'll die," Aria hissed, pressing the dagger to her wrist.
Father snatched the blade away with wolf-quick moves. "Enough!"
A heavy silence fell. Mother and Father shared a look... one I knew from childhood. They had made a choice without words.
"We'll send Aria away tonight," Mother whispered. "Quietly. To the Northern Ranges."
"And the ceremony?" I asked, my heart pounding.
Father's eyes locked onto mine with scary sharpness. "You'll take her place."
The world tilted in my stomach. "What?"
"The bride wears a veil through the whole ceremony," Mother explained quickly. "No one will know until after."
"Jasper will kill me!" I gasped, feeling the blood drain from my face.
Father grabbed my shoulders, fingers digging painfully. "You owe this to your sister. Or have you forgotten what you did to her?"
The river. The blood. Ten years of hatred.
"You're the reason she suffers," Mother added, voice cold as stone. "This is how you make up for it."
Aria's crying grew quiet as she watched us, a strange light coming into her eyes.
"Please, Snow," she begged. "Save me from this fate. I can't bear it."
She moved closer to me and wrapped her hands around me, her tears dropping to my skin. I wondered if no one thought about how I felt. If they even cared about me. I thought about a thousand things.
"Do I really have to do this?" I asked, my voice already shaking. "If you can't marry him, then can I?"
"Please," she continued, not listening to me. "Just do me this favour, sis."
My heart hammered against my ribs. Jasper, the proud, beautiful Jasper who had loved Aria forever, who looked at me with nothing but hate. The Alpha whose smell made my knees weak, whose rare smiles I had saved in my memory like precious jewels.
"He'll hate me more than he already does," I whispered, my voice breaking.
"But you'll save your sister's life," Father shot back. "Unless that means nothing to you."
His words cut like a knife. Ten years of guilt came rushing back, drowning me in shame.
"Fine," I whispered, my wolf howling inside me with both fear and secret joy. "I'll do it."
In minutes, Mother was tying me into Aria's wedding dress, pinning my hair, draping the heavy ceremonial veil over my face. Through the thin fabric, the world looked blood-red.
"Remember," Father growled in my ear as he got ready to walk me down the aisle, "say nothing that might give you away. Speak only the ritual words."
As drums began to pound and flutes called me to my fate, my heart thundered with one terrible, wonderful truth. I was about to marry the man I had secretly loved my whole life.
And after tonight, he would hate me more than ever before.
I felt the stares of the pack as Father led me down the path lined with burning torches. My legs trembled beneath Gabby's dress. The weight of the veil stuck to my tear-wet cheeks.
"Hold your head high," Father whispered harshly. "Walk like you're worthy of being Luna."
But I wasn't worthy. Everyone knew that. I was the pack's shame, the sister who had nearly killed the Alpha's chosen mate.
Through the red veil, I saw him. Standing tall at the Moon altar. Even from here, I could feel the power rolling off him in waves. My wolf whimpered, longing to submit to his strength, to feel his touch just once.
The drums stopped. Father placed my hand in Jasper's larger one. His fingers were warm. Cold shivers ran down my spine immediately our body touched.
"Care for her," Father said.
Jasper's grip tightened. "With my life."
If only he knew who he was promising to protect. I kept my eyes down as Elder Martha started the ceremony. The crowd of wolves around us fell silent.
"Tonight, under the light of our Mother Moon," Elder Martha began, "we join Alpha Jasper of the Jade Pack with his chosen mate, Aria of the Everton line."
Aria's name felt like a stab in my heart. This wasn't right. I was stealing something precious, something not meant for me.
"The joining of mates is sacred," Elder Martha continued. "A bond stronger than death itself."
Stronger than death. Would Jasper's hatred be stronger too, when he discovered my lies?
The ceremony moved forward. I spoke the ritual words when prompted, keeping my voice soft, hoping Jasper wouldn't notice the difference.