Page 242 of The Werewolf’s Wrong Mate

Ronan’s face shifted. A crack through the Alpha. My brother underneath.

“It does not make sense by the laws we know,” I said. “It does not make sense by the rite we thought we understood. The corruption tried to use what was there. It didn’t create it.”

No one interrupted me.

“She survived the mark. It answered her before the full moon, and it chose her again under it. The bond is ours now. Maybe it was always meant to be. Maybe that is why Silas could not make it obey him. Maybe that is why she lived.”

Cassie’s breath caught beneath my hand. I let the bond carry the rest to her first. Then I said it aloud.

“She was always supposed to have it. She was always supposed to be my mate.”

The silence after that was not empty. It was the sound of an old law taking its first wound.

Then Grant spoke.

“This is insane!” he said, voice shaking with fear and disgust. “Cassie, get away from him! Whatever pathetic midlife breakdown this is, you are not seriously choosing some naked animal over your own family. Over me!”

Every wolf in the courtyard turned.

So did I.

Cassie’s hand pressed harder against my chest. “Do not. He is not worth dental records.”

Grant’s mouth twisted. “You think this is funny? You always do this! You make yourself the center of everything. You ruined Tessa’s wedding, and now you’re standing there like some cheap romance cliché with a freak who bit you. You should be embarrassed! You should be grateful anyone is still trying to get you out!”

The growl started in my chest but Tessa moved before any wolf could. She punched Grant straight in the nose. The crack was wet, sharp, and deeply satisfying.

Grant dropped the chair leg and stumbled backward with both hands over his face. “What the fuck?”

“The wedding is off,” Tessa said.

Grant stared at her through his fingers. “Tessa.”

“No.” Her voice shook, but her arm didn’t. “You do not get to say my name like you are the injured party when you spent this entire nightmare worrying about the wedding while my sister was missing!”

“I didn’t know there were wolves.”

“You knew she was missing!”

Even Grant had no answer ready.

Aunt Linda began applauding wildly.

“Tessa Marie,” Cassie’s mother said automatically.

Then she looked at the dead wolves, the blood, Grant’s bleeding nose, me naked in the rain, and Henry guarding our feet with the seriousness of a war hero.

She lowered the serving tray.

“Actually,” she said, “continue.”

Tessa pointed the broken chair leg at Grant. “You made me feel like marrying you meant I had won something. Do you know how humiliating that is? I almost married a man whose best survival instinct is condescension.”

Aunt Linda clapped harder. “That’s right, honey!”

Cassie’s father looked from Grant to me to Ronan, then back to Cassie. The champagne bottle stayed in his hand.

“I am going to have questions,” he said.