Chapter 7
I smoothed the folds of my gown, avoiding their eyes.
“Stay if you like. For Alpha Victor’s sake, I won’t have the guards throw you out.”
Xander looked stricken, as if I had stabbed him.
“Willow! Don’t joke about this. The mate bond isn’t a game! Are you truly serious?”
“I’ve stood by you for twenty years,” he pressed on, voice breaking. “And yet you never said you wanted to be my Luna. But now you’ll seal the mate bond with a stranger. An Alpha King, seriously? How can you be so shameless?”
His words rolled off me like rain on glass.
“I’m not being reckless. Every choice I’ve made has been thought through.”
They believed they had waited for me two decades. But hadn’t I waited just as long?
All those years, I was certain I’d end up with one of them. Certain that one day, we would seal the mate bond and finally be a family.
But now I knew, puppy love couldn’t withstand the weight of destiny. Childhood dreams wilted like flowers out of season. And if there had been no real love to begin with, why cling to its ghost?
Xander’s eyes searched mine, desperate and raw. “Then why him? Why Griffin? If you truly wanted to seal the mate bond, why didn’t you choose me?”
In the mirror beside me, a she–wolf stood draped in white, smiling softly. The image looked almost identical to the daydreams of my childhood.
I turned to them, my own smile serene.
“It wasn’t me who chose him. Fate made the choice.”
The truth was, the arranged mate bond with the royals‘ Alpha had been on the table years ago. At the time, I couldn’t bear to leave the Bloodstone Pack, so I refused. The royals could have chosen others. Griffin could have too. But they waited for me.
I didn’t know why. But when the time came, Griffin remained steadfast. And because he chose me, I chose him.
Lucas scoffed bitterly. “This is about Maxie, isn’t it? You’re still hung up on her.”
He softened a beat later, voice thick with tears. “Why bother, Willow? She could never replace you. Nothing can erase our twenty–year friendship. The pack will always be your home.”
Xander seized my arm, his tone urgent. “Willow, don’t ruin your future out of pride Come with me. I’ll explain everything to the royals.”
He never finished the sentence. A boot caught him squarely in the ribs, sending him stumbling.
Before I could process what happened, a hand grasped my arm. The air filled with the rich, grounding scent of vanilla. My wolf stirred wildly, ecstatic.
My heart stilled, calmed, as if it had finally found its anchor.
I turned and met his gaze, the word leaving my lips in a dazed whisper: “Mate.”
