Candace
"Let the marking now begin-"
Ragnor cleared his throat, cutting the priest off mid-sentence.
A sick, twisting sensation spread through my belly. Why would he stop the ceremony now? They could not reject anymore. I glanced sideways carefully. Ryker was not even looking at .
His eyes were fixed entirely on Deidre instead, and a slow smile pulled at the corner of his mouth while she stared back at him through swollen, tear-filled eyes. Cold dread slithered violently down my spine.
Deidre was smiling too and it wasn’t the broken, devastated smile she had worn minutes ago for the pack. This one was subtle, tucked carefully at the corner of her mouth where only soone watching closely would notice it.
Aunt Elena leaned toward Uncle Nathan, whispering sothing into his ear while a smug expression spread slowly across her face. My heartbeat hamred against my rib cage.
"We have an announcent to make," Ragnor declared calmly, his voice carrying across the church with terrifying calmness.
The church fell silent so quickly. My fingers curled against the silk of my dress.
"They can’t reject us," I whispered shakily beneath my breath.
Can they? Star asked, her voice suddenly uncertain.
"According to Section Three-B of pack law," Ragnor continued evenly, "when the Prikaya bond is invoked, the opposing mates involved may contest the bond within twenty-four hours of the binding ceremony."
A loud ringing exploded inside my ears. For a mont, I could not hear anything else. My fingers tightened violently around my wedding dress until I heard the seam strain beneath my grip.
I knew the Prikaya law. At least, I thought I did.
I had read about it years ago, hidden away in one of the dusty library books Father had once allowed to borrow.
I knew it would stop them from flaunting Deidre before my very eyes and would protect . But contesting it?
I had never once read about contesting it.
"I’m right, aren’t I?" Ragnor asked, turning toward the priest.
The priest folded his hands slowly inside his robes before giving a grim nod.
"Yes, Alpha Ragnor," he murmured.
"You are correct."
My heart dropped violently into my stomach, my eyes snapped toward him, "W-what does that an?"
Reign’s low chuckle slid in from beside .
"Oh, smarty-pants." His hazel eyes glead mockingly while his head tilted slightly toward . "You invoked an ancient law without fully understanding it first?"
"That is not very intelligent, Candy."
The nickna struck harder than the insult.
I swallowed against the burn in my throat.
"Did you really think," Ryker said, his voice rough and furious, "that you would suddenly walk off into the sunset with us?"
His mismatched eyes burned into mine with naked disgust.
"That a law changes what you are?"
The church suddenly felt hot. I sucked in a breath a slow breath, tears brimd in my eyes but I didn’t let them fall.
They hated enough to search through ancient pack laws just to find a loophole. They hated enough to turn the one thing I thought could protect into another weapon against .
"Lady Candace," the priest interrupted gently.
My gaze snapped toward him.
"Contesting the bond ans you will remain mated to the Alphas for one hundred and fifty days while the bond undergoes review." He hesitated visibly before continuing. "During this period, the Alphas remain free to seek pleasure elsewhere."
My breath stopped completely, my heart shattering to the floor like broken china. The floor beneath suddenly felt unsteady. They wanted to mate publicly while still touching Deidre behind closed doors.
They wanted trapped beside them while they crawled back into her bed every night.
They wanted to carry their na, bear their mark, stand as their mate before the pack, and still watch them choose her again and again.
Humiliating was not enough anymore.
I turned my head just enough to catch Deidre smiling behind .
Rage slamd through .How could they?
LET OUT. Star exploded inside so violently my knees nearly buckled beneath .
LET FUCKING OUT RIGHT NOW, CANDY.I’LL RIP THEM APART.
I clamped down on her desperately. My ribs burned with the effort while she clawed furiously against from the inside.
Her rage was valid, but I could not let it free here. Not inside a church packed with wolves waiting for any excuse to call cursed again.
If she lost control here, I would hand them the final excuse they needed to finish what they started three years ago so I held her back.
Ragnor suddenly closed the distance between us, his scent wrapped around instantly.
His eyes locked onto mine while a cold, crooked smile tugged atone corner of his mouth. I instinctively stepped backward. Every nerve inside scread to run.
"We hope you enjoyed our wedding gift," he murmured softly then his hand shot forward.
His fingers wrapped tightly around the column of my throat before yanking straight back toward him.
A startled breath tore from my lips. His thumb rested over my pulse, and I hated the way his eyes flicked down to it. He felt how fast my heart was beating.
His brothers stepped closer, the trio forming a wall around . Reign slid behind while Ryker stepped against my right side, fury radiating from him in hot, brutal waves.
The three of them trapped effortlessly between pressed black suits, expensive cologne, restrained rage, and brutal Alpha aura while the entire church watched.
Ryker twisted the signet ring around his finger slowly, the movent small but restless. His nostrils flared once, then twice, like my scent kept reaching him no matter how hard he tried to shove away.
Reign’s fingertips brushed lightly across the back of my neck from behind. A violent shudder rolled down my spine before I could stop it.
His fingers flexed against my skingently , before he pulled his hand away and let it return again colder than before. Humiliation flooded instantly afterward.
Even after everything they had done to .
My body still reacted to them. Star’s grief twisted through mine.
They’re ours, she whispered.
"Why run?" Ragnor’s thumb slid slowly across the frantic pulse beating against my throat.
"Things are about to beco very interesting, Candace."
The way he said my na made my stomach twist. His fangs slid free and my eyes widened instantly.
"Wait, don’t mark if-" I protested but the second Ragnor’s lips touched my neck, my body betrayed completely. A violent shudder rolled through , not entirely from fear.
Three years ago, I used to dream about this.
I used to imagine my mates marking because they loved . Not because they wanted to break .
Ragnor bit down hard into the side of my neck.
Pain exploded through instantly. Before I could even scream, Reign’s fangs sank into the opposite side while Ryker’s mouth latched beneath my ear.
Agony ripped through my body. A loud scream tore from my throat hard enough to echo across the church walls. My hands shot upward, grabbing desperately at Ragnor’s forearm as my knees buckled beneath the force of it.
The bond flared beneath my skin, hot and vicious, spreading from each bite like molten silver pouring directly into my veins.
My vision blurred around the edges while dark spots sward across the church ceiling.
Ragnor’s hand tightened at my throat.
Reign’s fingers flexed once against my nape.
Ryker made a low sound against my skin that felt almost like a growl, and Star answered with a broken whimper that left shaking.
The humiliation of it nearly killed .
Because even through the pain, even through the hatred, the mate bond recognized them.
My body recognized them. Around us, I vaguely heard the priest’s voice rising above the silence.
"By sacred law and divine witness, Candace Sinclair is now bound to House Pendragon."
Bound, not loved, not chosen. Bound.
The word felt like another noose pressing around my throat.
"Candace Pendragon," the priest announced.
A wave of murmurs swept through the church.
Then he added in a quiet voice but no less devastating, "Tentatively."
Tentatively. The word wrapped itself tightly around my chest.
In one hundred and fifty days, the three n pressed against , their fangs buried in my skin and their hands keeping upright, would reject publicly.
They would return to Deidre and they would throw away again. If they succeeded, whatever fragile piece of survived this bond would die with Star.
Ragnor withdrew first. His tongue swept over the bite to seal it, and I hated the way my breath hitched from the sensation.
For a fleeting second, his grey eyes dropped to my mouth. The look vanished almost imdiately, but I saw it.
I felt it. The bond pulsed between us like a wound refusing to close. Reign followed, stepping back so quickly it almost looked like touching burned him.
Ryker’s lips lingered half a second longer than it should have before he jerked away, his jaw clenched so hard the muscle jumped.
I swayed on my feet. Blood roared in my ears.
Star trembled violently inside my chest, fierce even through the pain.
Hold on, Candy, she growled. Hold on.
I lifted my head slowly and looked at the three n who had just marked like a punishnt. Nothing in their eyes promised a happy-ever-after.
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