Chapter 1

LEXA POV

The white dress strangled me like chains. I stood frozen in the small room at the back of the ceremonial hall, my hands trembling as my father's pack helper stabbed the last pins into my hair.

"Stop fidgeting," she snapped, jabbing a pin into my scalp.

I bit my lip until I tasted blood. Pain was nothing new these days. What was a little more?

Through the window, I watched pack members file into the ceremonial grounds. Their faces glowed with joy and excitement, emotions that felt like foreign languages to me now. This wedding wasn't my celebration. It was my prison sentence.

"Your father will be here soon," the helper said, her eyes sliding past mine like I was already a ghost. Nobody looked at me directly anymore. Not since Sara's "accident." Not since I became the replacement bride.

My stomach twisted into knots. What could I possibly say? That every fiber of my being screamed to run? That the thought of marrying a man who loathed me made me physically sick? A man whose heart would forever belong to my sister, who now lay broken in the pack hospital?

The door banged open. My father, Beta Thomas, filled the doorway, his massive frame blocking the light. His eyes slid over me like I was cattle at auction.

"It will do," he said finally.

Not *you look beautiful* or *I'm proud of you*. Just *it will do*. The words landed like stones in my empty stomach.

"Father," I whispered, hating how small I sounded. "Please don't make me do this."

His face hardened to granite. "The alliance with Alpha Gregory's family must stand. Sara can't fulfill her duty, so you will. The pack needs this."

"But Damian hates me. He loves Sara." My sister's name caught in my throat.

"Hate has nothing to do with it. This is about duty, Lexa." His eyes narrowed. "For once in your life, be useful to this pack."

His words sliced deeper than any knife could reach. I'd spent my entire life trying, and failing, to prove my worth. Always second best, always living in Sara's shadow. Beautiful, perfect Sara who could do no wrong. Sara who was meant to marry the Alpha's son.

Until she fell down those stairs three months ago. The stairs everyone whispered I pushed her down, despite my tears and desperate denials.

Music began outside, a death knell calling me forward. My father grabbed my arm, fingers digging into flesh that would surely bruise.

"You will smile. You will say your vows clearly. You will not embarrass me," he growled, his breath hot on my face. "Do you understand?"

I nodded, choking on unshed tears.

"Say it."

"I understand, Father."

He yanked me forward. My legs moved without my permission, numb and clumsy. Sunlight blinded me as we stepped outside. The music swelled, a song that should have been Sara's. The crowd rose, their faces blurring through my tears.

And then I saw him.

Damian stood at the altar, tall and rigid in his formal pack clothes. His dark hair swept back, his jaw clenched tight enough to crack teeth. He was handsome, everyone said so, but all I saw was pure hatred blazing from his eyes as they locked on mine.

This man who would be my husband by sunset looked at me like I was something rotten. He blamed me for Sara just like everyone else. And now he was being forced to take damaged goods instead of the woman he truly loved.

Each step toward him felt like walking through quicksand.

My father placed my hand in Damian's. His grip crushed my fingers. Up close, I could see the muscle jumping in his jaw, the fury simmering beneath his mask.

Alpha Gregory stood before us, his eyes softer than his son's but just as determined. This wedding would happen whether we wanted it or not.

"We gather today to unite these two in the sacred bond of pack marriage," the Alpha began.

The words floated around me, meaningless sounds. I couldn't breathe. Damian's hand felt like ice against mine, his grip punishing rather than comforting.

When time came for vows, Damian's voice cut like steel. "I, Damian, son of Alpha Gregory, take you as mate and wife under pack law."

The bare minimum. Nothing more.

My turn came, my voice a broken whisper. "I, Lexa, daughter of Beta Thomas, take you as mate and husband under pack law."

The Alpha nodded, satisfied with our empty promises. "By the power of the pack and the moon above, I declare this union complete."

Custom demanded the groom kiss his bride. A ripple of whispers spread as seconds stretched into an awkward silence, Damian frozen in place. Finally, he leaned forward and pressed cold lips against my cheek, brief as a winter breeze. The crowd exhaled, satisfied with the barest gesture.

The reception felt endless. I sat beside my new husband, food turning to ash in my mouth. Damian spoke to everyone but me, his body angled away like I carried disease. His mother, Linda, watched me with thinly veiled disgust.

"Such a shame about Sara," I heard her tell another elder. "She would have made the perfect Luna for our son."

My hands shook so badly I had to put down my water glass.

Hours dragged by. Pack members danced and celebrated a marriage built on lies. Finally, as moonlight spilled across the grounds, Alpha Gregory stood.

"It is time for the newlyweds to retire to their new home," he announced.

Cold dread flooded me. The wedding night. I hadn't let myself think about it until now.

Damian's face was stone as he offered his arm, a show for appearances. I took it, feeling every inch of space he kept between us. Together we walked through the crowd, accepting hollow congratulations.

The Alpha had given us a cabin on pack lands, at least we wouldn't live under his family's roof. Small mercies.

The cabin door closed behind us with finality. Damian dropped my arm like it burned him and stalked to the far side of the room.

"I'll sleep on the couch," he said, the first words directly to me since our vows.

Relief and shame crashed through me. "The bed is big enough..."

"I said I'll take the couch." His voice could have frozen fire. "Don't mistake this arrangement for something it's not, Lexa. This is duty, nothing more."

I stood in my wedding dress, more alone than I'd ever been.

"I never wanted to take Sara's place," I whispered, the truth ripping from my soul.

His eyes finally met mine, burning with hate. "But you did, didn't you? First you pushed her down those stairs, and now you've taken her place as my wife."

"I didn't push her! I would never hurt Sara." The denial tore from my throat raw and desperate.

"Save your lies." He turned away, yanking a blanket from a chest. "Everyone knows what you did. You were always jealous of her. And now look where we are."

Tears scalded my eyes. "Damian, please..."

"I don't want to hear it," he snapped. "Just because we're stuck in this joke of a marriage doesn't mean I have to pretend to like you. Stay out of my way, and I'll stay out of yours."

I retreated to the bedroom, closing the door with shaking hands. Only then did I break. I crumpled to the floor, still in my wedding dress, pressing both hands against my mouth to silence my sobs.

This was my life now. Married to a man who hated my very existence. Cut off from what little family I'd had. Blamed for a crime I never committed.

As I finally crawled into the cold, empty bed meant for two, I stared into darkness and wondered how things could possibly get worse. But deep down, I knew they could. And they would.

Because tomorrow, I'd wake up as Damian's wife. The unwanted bride. The replacement for the sister everyone wished was here instead of me.

And for the first time, I let myself want something dangerous: a way out.