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Crew smirked, making him look like an even cockier asshole than usual. “Let’s go get our beta.”
11
Hazel
The meeting space was decorated with swaths of gauzy white fabric and candles, giving the rustic space an almost charming touch. But there was nothing warm and cozy about the people waiting for me as I walked back over the threshold hours later.
Okay, more like when I was shoved through the door as I balked at seeing the entire congregation’s eyes on me.
At the front, the High Alpha waited in a white robe, his dark hair slicked back. The smile he gave me was nothing less than triumphant.
“Walk,” Miriam hissed, her nails digging into my lower back. I barely tamped down the impulse to glare over my shoulder at the shrew acting as my matron of honor. Behind her, the rest of the wives made up my bridesmaids.
Ha. That was laughable. Traditionally, the bride got to pick her bridal party.
Then again, the bride was also supposed to be able to pick the groom, too.
This wedding was all sorts of messed up.
I shuddered under the watchful eyes of everyone brought in to witness the farce of a celebration. Gulping, my gaze skipped over the High Alpha to where a table was set up on the dais. It was covered in a white sheet with a simple pillow at one end, surrounded by pillars of candles.
Bile churned in my stomach, and I wondered if I could put a stop to this farce by throwing up. If ever there was a reason to postpone a wedding, the bride projectile vomiting on the witnesses had to be it, right?
But then I heard a small whimper. My head snapped to the side, and my heart sank when I saw Logan on his knees in front of Jared. A collar had been buckled around his throat and was attached to a leash that Jared held. Seeing me watching, he smirked and gave the leash a vicious yank, jerking Logan backward. He arched a brow at me, making a point that Logan would pay if I didn’t behave.
My hands curled into useless fists at my sides, and I swallowed down my nerves.
Miriam poked another nail into my spine. “Move, omega.”
My spine went stiff as I took a hesitant step toward the aisle dividing the room. Only men sat in the pews. Women and children were huddled along the back wall, watching me with a mix of worry, hope, and apathy. Like I was their salvation and damnation at the same time.
Unable to stop myself, I looked for a friendly face in the crowd. It took a second to spot him in the dim lighting, but my heart kicked a bit when I spotted Morris down at the front. His eyes pierced through the space, and it took everything in me to swallow the urge to run to him and beg him to save me.
Don’t be stupid, Hazel, I mentally berated myself. Morris wasn’t my savior; he was just a guy who had treated me a little less shitty than everyone else in this room. But at the end of the day, he would stand by and watch the High Alpha mark me as his fifth wife. He’d sit silently in his seat to witness my violation first hand.
Panic fluttered in my chest, my breaths coming in sharp pants. The edges of my vision blurred as I kept marching forward down the aisle.
The High Alpha grinned at me, the smile enough to make my knees shake and my steps falter.
“Clumsy bitch,” Miriam seethed, her breath hot against my neck. I could feel her hard glare fixed to the back of my head.
Each step felt like another nail being hammered into the coffin of my life. And when I reached the front, and the High Alpha grabbed my wrist, I felt the last nail pierce my heart.
His fingers, clammy and damp, squeezed, grinding the delicate bones of my wrist together. Gasping, I lifted my eyes to his, a whimper on my lips.
Jerking me forward, he pressed a hard kiss to my forehead before pushing me to my knees. He turned and beckoned each wife forward to kiss him. They stood in a dutiful line, only Miriam showing any expression as she shot me a smug look, and then they stepped off to the side.
Looming in front of me, the High Alpha reached down and lifted my chin with his finger. “You look stunning, omega.”
My jaw clenched, and I wondered if everyone could see the hot flush of anger coloring my skin under the sheer fabric the dress was made of. It left zero to the imagination. I might as well have been naked.
Shit. In a few minutes, I probably would be.
Looking back, I definitely regretted not hooking up with my old boyfriend. Losing my virginity to him in the backseat of his Honda seemed like a better plan than letting the High Alpha rut into me while a few hundred people witnessed it.
Without thinking, I jerked away from the High Alpha.
His face mottled with rage, and I knew he was seconds from striking me. Then, seeming to think better of it, he took a deep breath and visibly relaxed before turning to his followers. “You see the defiance of an omega that is without an alpha? Soon she will know her place.”
