THE WEDDING REHEARSAL

Rachel's POV

There was no lie in most of what Jeremy was saying. We all knew I was my dad's favourite, even above Jeremy, who hated this to his heart. He supported this wedding, which made me very suspicious because Jeremy and James were close friends, and James was aware that Jeremy hated me, and yet he was willing to marry me, the daughter of the settlement's most popular gold-digger. Something was not right about this situation, and this unsettled me. 

Jeremy's mother died when he was a young pup, and his dad was a single parent to Jeremy for a while before he met my mom. Jeremy felt neglected by his dad most of the time, and he blamed me and my mother for this. The reality was he failed to see that while his father was trying to raise him for the harsh truth of being the son of powerful and wealthy Beta Damien Darkwater, he raised me like a princess.

I grew up with Jeremy as my constant rival. He was at first nonchalant about me, but when I started excelling above him in class, he felt threatened, and that soon turned to hostility. I never went out of my way to harm him; in a way, I was pretty fond of him, but he never felt motivated to do anything after his mom's death. By the time he was motivated again, I was way ahead of him, and it was too late to catch up with me, so he did everything to drag me down.

This was when the embarrassing rumours of my mom and I being the gold-digging duo came into play. It seemed accurate because of how my mom and my stepdad got together. My mom was first his home tutor which was maybe the only job she ever did. My dad had just left us, and we were destitute. We couldn't afford food or rent, and I was depressed from the break-up. My stepdad saw us one day scrapping for food somewhere, and he took pity on us and hired my mom as a school tutor because that was her qualification from her CV.

He gave us one of his apartments to stay in till we got on our feet. Before anyone could say anything, we were now living in my stepdad's main house, and soon enough, they were married. This happened within the space of six months.

Now, I don't know the qualifications for a gold-digger job. Still, my mom fit the description back then, and Jeremy took advantage of the situation when he came to that conclusion. 

I didn't know what my mom or Jeremy was going to do about the situation on the ground, but I  was just going to sit back and watch because if the wedding didn't hold because of the lack of a sponsor, someone else would be held responsible for the situation and definitely not me. I felt relief at the prospect of the wedding not holding and smiled at the possibility. I was just going to kick back and enjoy my rehearsal dinner while I watched this drama unfold.

***

The wedding rehearsal went smoothly-­­– for my fiancé, at least. My thoughts, however, were preoccupied with other matters. My maid of honour was Katherine, Jeremy's girlfriend, whom I didn't entirely trust. I hadn't formed many female friendships, mostly bonding with the boys during my military training.

I hadn't seen my stepdad since he stormed off, and his absence from the rehearsal and the impending dinner weighed on me. Everyone from both families had gathered for the event except him, which raised many concerns. Even Alpha Nighthawk and his Luna were present. Everybody from both families was present except him. Still, I resisted the urge to call him and force him to pay for the wedding against his will. My mom had better summon Mr. Francis, her ex-husband, to shoulder his responsibilities as my father and cover the expenses.

"That's a brilliant idea, getting our deadbeat dad to fund our wedding. Might as well pick out those jeans now," quipped my wolf, Lisa, finally voicing her opinion. Lisa wasn't a fan of the wedding and had reservations about my fiancé's wolf. I was unsure how this wedding would proceed with such internal conflicts.

"I didn't ask for your opinion, Lisa. Let's be civil for once." I responded.

"The only civil thing here is for you to stop this charade and follow your dreams. We'll both be miserable if we get married to him, and you know this." Lisa said, concern evident in her tone.

"It's too late for that, Lisa. A lot depends on this wedding." I replied.

"Like what? When your brother goes out to battles, and they leave you, the better-trained soldier, behind, I'm sure you'll hate yourself and keep both of us miserable." Lisa said, making a solid point.

"Well, we'd have to live with that…"

"Rachel, what are you doing out here all alone?" James said, interrupting my conversation with Lisa, who was now quiet.

James walked up to where I was standing on the balcony. The rehearsal dinner took place in a castle belonging to my stepfather. It was an impromptu arrangement made by my mother, who had been on the edge trying to patch things up for the event because the moon goddess forbid that these elite folks find out we were working on a tight budget, and my mother would collapse.

"Is anything the matter?" James asked. I avoided staying at the party, and now he had found me.