Page 27 of The Forbidden Wolf

Without changing their positions relative to each other, all four turned smoothly to face South, which happened to be the direction Blaze and I were standing in. Sebastian’s eyes immediately locked on mine, and though I was hardly an expert in the field, it felt safe to say they were burning with desire. Disturbed, I pressed closer to my own intended, who must have noticed the Heir’s odd behavior also because his possessive arm swept around my shoulders. Sebastian’s jaw flexed so hard our parents probably heard his teeth grinding.

I shot him a glare and then twisted my neck around to watch the arrival of the Elder Wolf. A shiver ran down my back as her white-frosted ears came sailing down the aisle above the human heads blocking my view. The Bronx Elder Wolf had no relation to my family, but there was a very good chance the stately female padding her way into the circle now was Sebastian’s grandmother or perhaps even great-grandmother. If not, she was the oldest member of another high-ranking family, someone held in the highest regard simply for having survived.

She limped a little, and her gray fur barely concealed her jutting shoulders and hips, but someone had spent a great deal of time grooming her dull old coat until it shined like a pup on the verge of her prime. Sebastian held out his right hand, and when she finally arrived, she pressed her white muzzle against it for the channeling and transfer of ancestral blessings. Every head in the room bowed, including my own, but I continued watching through my eyelashes, as I always did during mateship ceremonies, hoping to catch a glimpse or something magical actually happening. But all I saw was a young male petting the nose of an old wolf.

And then her whiskers twitched. Sebastian pulled his hand back, frowning. The Elder Wolf brushed past him into the true center of the circle and turned to the West. Everyone else rotated to join her. Everyone except Sebastian. He just stood there staring at me, his brow furrowed deeply as if willing me to… what? Stop my sister’s wedding? Declare my undying love? I didn’t have the right to claim a mate on a normal day much less this one, and I didn’t want him anyway. It was just a little rescue and a brisk walk.

Max gripped Sebastian’s right arm, and father and son shared a heated look that sent a ripple of murmurs through the crowd. Sebastian glanced at his mother as if seeking her help, but Yara had begun swishing the skirt of her creamy dress like an impatient flower girl at a human wedding. What the hell was going on out there?

Blaze’s hand squeezed my shoulder, and I leaned into him, trying with all my might to communicate my complete lack of interest in whatever shit the spoiled heir was pulling. I had already made the only choice available to me and gracefully accepted my unwanted match instead of struggling against it. Sebastian needed to do the same. Or else they needed to hurry and get Kiana out there so he could see that we were exactly the same.

Father leaned in and murmured something to the Elder Wolf, and without waiting for Sebastian’s compliance, she sank to her haunches, tipped back her snout, and released a long low howl that rumbled the floorboards and rattled the chandeliers. It was not a loud, throw-our-heads-back-to-the-moon howl, but it stirred my wolf in a very primal way—as it was meant to stir Sebastian and Kiana in preparation for what they must do later.

I squirmed, suddenly uncomfortable under the weight of Blaze’s arm because I suddenly understood why the older pups of my generation had given this peculiar vocalization the giggle-inducing nickname Baby Boom. But if Father thought urging the Elder Wolf to get on with this call of duty would inspire Sebastian to fall into line, he was sorely mistaken. The Alpha Heir whimpered and took a step toward me. Blaze growled softly in warning.

Max forcefully turned his son in the right direction. The Manhattan Alpha let out a breezy laugh and said, “My son has waited seven years for the perfect pairing to present itself, and now he’s just a little shell-shocked the day has finally come! Let’s get her out here, shall we?”

With everyone facing West, I could only see a sliver of Sebastian’s profile from my position, but when the crowd on that side parted, I had a perfect view of Damian escorting my sister into the circle. A murmur of appreciation and approval rolled through the room, and in spite of all our differences, I felt a surge of love and pride toward my sister. And relief because surely now Sebastian would see he’d been barking up the wrong tree.

Kiana had never looked more radiantly feminine than she did in the dress we’d finally picked out. The snowy white bodice fit like a corset, and the delicate navy-blue vines embroidered along the plunging neckline drew even more attention to the swell of her breasts. A matching navy-blue cape with silver vines embroidered along its borders disguised the brute strength in her shoulders, and a flared skirt further balanced her figure. Her long flaxen hair had been piled on top of her head in delicate tendrils, held in place with an exquisite white orchid.

I knew the moment my twin’s eyes landed on Sebastian because she smiled a smile I had only ever seen in photos of our mother. A little bit sweet, a little bit shy, and shockingly free of her usual guile. She had hit the jackpot, like always, but for once in her life, she had the humility to recognize it. Judging from the pink flush spilling over her pale skin, mating would come just as naturally as Damian had promised. Just as easily as it had come to me and Sebastian in my dreams.

Once Damian guided Kiana into the open circle, the Eternal Ring closed behind them, and a reverent hush fell upon the ballroom. Damian kissed Kiana on either cheek and then gestured for her to continue the journey to her mate alone. She tightened her grip on the bouquet she held before her heart and moved forward. There wasn’t a sound on the planet except for the gentle tapping of her heels and the soft whispers of her dress. She was the only being in the universe, a goddess descending from the lunar realm.

I tore my eyes away from my superior mirror image to check on Sebastian, to make sure that he wasn’t tearing his eyes away from her, that he was figuring out he, too, had hit the jackpot, that he was realizing whatever he thought he saw in me was made perfect in her. I could still see only a sliver of his profile, but the wide set of his eyes and slack quality of his jaw seemed promising. His Adam’s apple bobbed dramatically when Kiana stopped in front of him and held her hand out to the Elder Wolf.

“Wait!” Sebastian cried. He scrambled backward, hands in the air as if Kiana meant to arrest him. He shook his head frantically. “Wait. No. This isn’t right. There’s been a… there’s been some sort of…” Sebastian looked back at me, those big brown eyes pleading for help, like a silly little pup who’d gotten lost on his first real grown-up errand. “Misunderstanding,” he finished weakly. “Some sort of mix up.”

I shook my head, shrinking against Blaze as every shifter in the room turned their attention away from my sister and onto me. Every shifter except Yara, who had inexplicably knelt at her mate’s feet and started rocking back and forth. Max reached to pull her up with one hand while the other smacked the center of his son’s chest with an echoing thump. Sebastian strained against him, one arm cautiously lifting to point as if I were a ghost nobody else could see. But everybody could see.

Father’s face had gone ashen, his lips parted in silent horror. My cheeks burned with embarrassment and fury. There was no greater shame than the rejection of a daughter by a male who had already claimed her. The implications were humiliating, even though anyone could smell for themselves that Kiana had never been mated.

My wolf scratched at my ribs, snarling in a way that peeled back my own lips. The Old Stories were full of female wolves gone feral after being jilted once and never claimed twice. Cautionary tales, crafted to keep little female pups in line so they would never bring such dishonor on their pack and kin. But not a one of those characters had been an Alpha in her own right. This insult was unprecedented.

“What do you mean?” The Elder Wolf’s word echoed inside my mind, inside everyone’s minds, I imagined. “What sort of mix up? Careful what you accuse…”

Sebastian shook his head. “I make no accusations. Only that… that perhaps it would have been better if I had known…” He gestured between me and Kiana without even looking at her. “If I had known there were two.”

A collective gasp went up from the crowd, making me think of the moments of stillness in Twister right before the tornadoes pounced on their next victims. I looked at my sister, expecting to see the face I saw in every mirror twisted with rage, but I found something far, far worse. I found the exact same image I’d seen reflected in the window of my beloved pizza place on Friday night as I mourned the inescapable loss of everything that made my life worthwhile. Her eyes met mine but looked right through me as if she were a vampire with no reflection at all.

“Explain yourself,” the Elder Wolf ordered. “You made your claim, and you rushed this ceremony, and now you wish to call it off when so much depends upon it? Explain, pup.”

“Yes,” Max growled into his son’s face. “Explain, pup. And make it good.”

“I can.” Sebastian lifted his chin. “And none of our plans need change. I look forward to the union of our packs and will gladly return with my mate to the Bronx this very evening.”

“Then why have you stopped the most sacred of ceremonies?” The Elder Wolf asked. “Get back in your place and make your pledge to the one you’ve claimed.”

“I cannot mate with the one I’ve claimed,” Sebastian answered, “for her sister is my fated.”

Chapter Twelve

Once upon a time, Kiana and I were a single zygote. And then we split.

Once upon another time, Kiana and I were best friends. And then we split again.

Once upon a final time, Kiana and I were still sisters. And then we split forever.

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