Seraya's POV
I skipped through the exquisite halls of La Ronne, the most expensive, high-end boutique as I shopped for what I would wear to my mating ceremony in a few days. Yes! After eighteen long years of waiting with bated breath, my moment was finally coming!
"Calm it down will ya?!" My best friend Marisse sighed, exasperated. "I can't keep up with your long legs."
"I can't." I giggled. "In two days, I'll be mated to Cairh and I'll finally get my wolf! He promised to take me to Nepolis Island for our honeymoon!"
Only the richest werewolves could afford even a night in that exotic island. It's not like I was poor or anything, I would even have access to my inheritance once I shifted but Cairh's family was top ten when it came to affluence in The Northern Bloodlands.
Marisse shook her head but she was smiling. "My ears are chuck full of Cairh's name. Cairh this, Cairh that. You are so in love it's disgusting." She stuck out her tongue and I laughed.
"What do you expect? I'm betrothed to the hottest guy in all of Northern Bloodlands!"
Cairh was literally every girl's dream. His body was carved and chiseled from spending hours gyming and training and he had that boyish celebrity looks that made females swoon. Lately, he started growing his hair out, looking somanly... I shamelessly stare out my window at him for hours... just watching him train in the yard. My heart beat faster just thinking of him and I couldn't stop a stupid smile from taking over my face.
"And he is lucky he got betrothed to the hottest girl in all of Northern Bloodlands." Marisse said and I laughed and flicked her nose. I quickly turned away before she saw the flash of self-consciousness on my face.
Oh it's not like I didn't know I was hot, super-hot even by some standards. I saw the way guys stared at my body when I passed even though I only felt disgusted at their stares. But... Cairh was so out of my league. These days, I'm painfully aware of those stupid stares from the girls, the hunger in their eyes when they looked at him. He had told me again and again that I was the only one for him of course... but I couldn't help but wonder if we hadn't been betrothed since we were seven, would he have ever looked at me? Chosen me?
"Oh my goodness." I stared at a dress flamboyantly displayed on a mannequin. It was a pure white, beaded from head to toe, hugging the doll's frame exquisitely with the cape spilling several yards behind.
"This is it." Marisse came to a stop beside me and stared with equal amazement. "It is this dress or nothing."
A few minutes later, the shop attendants fitted the dress on me and stepped back. I looked into the mirror with a soft gasp.
"Girl! You're legit glowing!" Marisse gushed and she was right. The dress fit like it was made exactly for me. I looked... radiant and out-of-this-world gorgeous. Tears pricked at my eyes and I sniffed and wiped them out.
Marisse gently wrapped her arms around my middle and met my eyes in the mirror.
"I wish... I wish Mama was here to see this." I choked on a cry and she hugged me tighter.
My mother died when I was little, leaving me with only the memories of her laughter and this betrothal. Cairh's mum had tried her best to fill the role afterwards and I'm eternally grateful for that... but sometimes the ache in my chest pushed itself out and consumed me more than I could bear.
Marisse cleared her throat and stepped back, affecting an air of elegance.
"Ohh.. my little girl, my jewel!" She gushed with stars in her eyes. "I knew you would make the most beautiful bride!"
I laughed, wiping the rest of the tears away and shaking my head at her humor. Her impersonation of my mother was so off it was hilarious. My mother had a high sing-song voice unlike Marisse's near-alto but that's what she always called me, her jewel.
"Are you good?" Marisse asked, concern in her eyes.
Before I could answer, my ringtone blared out and we both startled.
"I told you to change that goddess-forsaken tone!" Marisse fished my phone out of my bag and I laughed.
"Uhh... never." My impossibly loud ringtone was still there because she hated it so much.
"Lisa?" She held the phone up to show me the display name and my nose wrinkled. Lisa had never called me before but I'd rather suck on a goat's teats than talk to her for whatever reason, especially today. She was Cairh's "bestie" and goddess, she hated my guts. I've always had this spidey feeling that she was in love with Cairh and wanted him for herself.
"Yeah voicemail." I said and turned back to the mirror, smoothing a hand down the luxurious fabric. I was the one Cairh would be mating, Lisa could cry me a river.
"For sure." Marisse said and put the phone back into the purse but a second later, it blared out again.
"Uhh.. Van?" She held it up again and I frowned.
Donovan was the third friend in our group of three besties. He knew we were getting my dress and was supposed to be in his very important, no-phones allowed guitar class. Marisse picked the call and put it on speaker.
"There had better be an apocalypse." She said into the phone.
"This is bad." Van said. "This is very bad. Is Raya there?!"
My stomach tightened with dread. I don't remember walking to Marisse's side. The horror in Van's voice held a hot rod to my gut and twisted it again and again. Deep down, I may have known.
"What is it?" I breathed.
"Oh my God Raya. I'm so sorry... Cairh just got engaged... and their mating ceremony is in two days."
My jaw dropped. Marisse stared at me, her tiny face frozen in an expression of horror.
"No.. you're joking." I said, shaking my head. I was breathing too fast, the dress was too tight, my head was too light, I felt like I was unraveling. "It's a joke right? Van!"
"I'm sorry." I heard Van say but I was already backing away. Somewhere in the tangled threads of my mind, I knew I was having a panic attack but I couldn't be bothered to take a breath.
If Van was not joking... that means my life had just ended. Marisse was coming towards me, saying something but I didn't want to hear it. Sorry? Sorry for what? It was just a misunderstanding. Cairh would never leave me for another.
I spun around and took off running. Somewhere in the background, I heard the shop attendants cry out in alarm probably because of their dress, I heard Marisse quickly exchanging words with them, probably smoothing out the chaos I left in my wake.
I clambered into my old Camry and peeled tires as I sped away, somehow managing to navigate my way back to pack territory without getting into an accident. People watched me run in with pitying expressions and I burst into Cairh's apartment, coming to a hard stop in their living room.
Everyone was seated and right there in the middle was Cairh, holding onto the hand of the beautiful redhead female next to him, Anya.
My heart stopped. Anya? She was nearly pack royalty... her father was Beta to the recently deceased Pack Alpha. I stared at their entwined hands as I stepped forward, my chest hurting so much it felt like my heart was bleeding itself out of my body.
"Cairh... what is going on?" My voice shook despite my resolve to remain strong.
Cairh's mother stood, a concerned expression pasted on her face as she hurried forward. "Oh my poor girl, I didn't want you to find out until it was already done."
Fake. The concern in her eyes, the warmth in her open arms that I'd grown to rely on, I'd believed she loved me as her own daughter but noone would ever do this to their daughter. I sidestepped her and approached Cairh because nobody could convince me he was actually taking another as his mate. He was my soulmate!
"Cairh this is a joke right?" I asked him, my eyes begging him to say so. "You are my mate."
Anya hissed beside him and he gently patted her hand as he stood. "I'll handle it." He told her.
"Cairh!" His name was a desperate plea on my lips. I took another step closer but the look he gave me stopped me in my tracks. My entire body rattled uncontrollably. "You can't... you can't do this to me."
"I told you we shouldn't have dragged it out since." Cairh snarled at his father. "Now look what a mess she's making of the engagement."
I took a solid step back as if I was slapped. No... this was not my Cairh. The kind guy that traced my face with his fingers and kissed me gently, promising to make me his forever. No, this Cairh had a cold expression I never imagined he would ever bestow upon me. He looked annoyed and... disgusted.
My chest felt too tight. The voices in my head rushed into my ears, years and years of insecurity suffocating me, confirming my worst fears. I was never good enough for him. He never wanted me, it was all a long elaborate joke.
"No!" I gritted my teeth and shook my head. Cairh loved me, I was as sure of that as I was sure the sun would rise tomorrow. I crossed to him and grabbed his hand.
"Why are you saying all these cruel things? It's me Cairh, your Raya. You promised me you would never hurt me... you're hurting me now. Please stop now if this is all a ruse. Stop this joke, please." My voice broke.
"Ugh. Get off!" He pushed me off him so hard I stumbled and tripped over the center table, crashing awkwardly to the ground. Red wine tumbled and spilled all over my white wedding dress. Fitting.
"Don't you get it, Raya?" Cairh asked with a sneer. "There is nothing between us anymore. I reject you, you are no mate of mine."
His words tore a hole through my heart. Tears streamed down my face as I shook my head.
"No, you're wrong." I scrambled back up, pleading silently with him. "You love me, you said so yourself!"
His lips curled. "No." He said. "I never loved you. How could I? You basically threw yourself at me because of some old words our parents exchanged."
My breath stopped. Was he always this callous? This cruel? Anya slipped beside him, wrapping an arm around his waist and looking at me with mocking pity. She was so beautiful, her family so powerful. They looked like they were made for each other, a power couple. How could I have ever dreamed that this perfect man would be mine?
"Oh my. You didn't really believe anybody could love you right?" Anya asked, her brows lowered in fake concern. "Even your own mother didn't love you enough to stay."
I felt her words like a blow to my gut.
"That's enough." Cairh's mother said and stepped between us and then Marisse was there, her hands slipping around my waist as she pulled me back.
"Let's go." My friend whispered.
Tears welled and spilled down my face. Cairh's jaw grew tight and there was a flash of the guy that used to kiss my tears away but in a blink, it was gone and he was a stranger again.
"Raya let's go." Marisse tugged me away and I let her.
I followed numbly until we reached outside. My carefully ordered life just shattered into a million pieces. In my mind, Anya slipped a hand around his waist again, Cairh stared at me as if I was nothing but a stranger... as if it wasn't just yesterday that he kissed me in the gardens and told me he wanted all of me. Tears spilled over my eyes and my knees gave out. I pressed a hand over my aching heart and sobbed my heart out.