Married my Alpha's brother

"Turn around, Brenda."

I shifted on the wooden pedestal. The heavy white silk rustled around my ankles.

"The veil is crooked," Clara muttered, jamming a pearl-tipped pin into my scalp.

"Ouch. Watch it."

"You're marrying Alpha Neo today. The future Luna of the Eclipse Pack cannot look like a mess."

I stared at my reflection in the floor-to-length mirror. A wolfless girl. The Beta's daughter. Yet, in less than an hour, I would stand beside the most powerful man in our territory.

"Are you nervous?" Clara asked, smoothing the bodice.

"No. I've waited for this day since Neo proposed last spring."

"Some people say you don't deserve him."

"People talk," I replied. "But Neo chose me."

The heavy oak doors of the bridal suite slammed open, cutting our conversation short.

It wasn't Neo coming to check on me.

Marcus, the Gamma, stood in the doorway. His chest heaved, and his eyes darted around the room before landing on me.

"Stop the preparations," Marcus ordered.

Clara dropped her silver comb. It clattered loudly against the floorboards. "What? The ceremony starts in ten minutes."

"There is no ceremony."

I stepped off the pedestal. "Explain."

"Alpha Neo has made an announcement in the Great Hall," Marcus said. His gaze avoided mine entirely. "He requests your presence. Immediately."

"Did something happen at the border?" I asked, grabbing the edges of my skirt.

"Just go to the hall, Brenda."

I pushed past him. The long train of my dress dragged across the cold stone hallway.

When I entered the Great Hall, hundreds of pack members turned their heads. The string quartet had abruptly stopped playing.

Neo stood at the grand altar.

He wasn't looking at me. His eyes were locked on the woman standing right next to him.

Jessica.

His first love. She had left the pack two years ago to train with the northern covens. Now, her fingers were perfectly intertwined with my fiancé's.

"Neo?" I asked. My voice echoed in the cavernous room.

He finally turned. His expression held absolutely no guilt.

"The wedding is canceled, Brenda."

"You are wearing your ceremonial suit," I pointed out.

"I am taking a Luna today," Neo stated. "Just not you."

Laughter rippled through the gathered crowd. Someone in the back row whistled a sharp, mocking tune.

Jessica smirked, leaning her head against Neo's broad shoulder. "Sorry, Brenda. The Moon Goddess makes the rules."

"My wolf recognizes her," Neo announced, projecting his booming voice to the upper gallery. "Jessica returned this morning. She is my true mate."

"We have been engaged for a year," I said.

"And you still haven't shifted," Neo shot back. "A wolfless Luna makes our pack look weak. I cannot lead the Eclipse Pack with a human at my side."

"She's just a girl playing dress-up!" a warrior shouted from the left flank.

"Take off the gown," a woman sneered near the front.

I looked toward the front row. My father, Beta Miller, sat rigid in his chair.

"Dad?" I called out.

He lowered his head, staring intently at his shoes. He wouldn't even defend his own daughter against the Alpha's humiliation.

Neo raised a hand, demanding silence from the jeering crowd. "Take off the gown, Brenda. It belongs to Jessica now. You are dismissed."

My chest tightened. I didn't scream. I didn't beg.

A bizarre urge to laugh clawed at my throat. I swallowed it down.

I scanned the room. Past the gloating faces. Past the father who abandoned me.

In the darkest corner of the hall, near the northern stone pillars, sat a solitary figure.

Jacob Cross.

Neo’s older brother. The former Alpha heir.

Three months ago, he led the vanguard during a vicious border war. He saved our territory, but his legs were destroyed in the process. Now, he sat confined to a steel wheelchair.

His face was half-hidden in the shadows, his expression completely unreadable.

I grabbed handfuls of my heavy skirt and marched down the center aisle.

"Where are you going?" Neo demanded.

I ignored him. My bare feet slapped the polished marble.

I halted directly in front of Jacob.

He didn't flinch. His dark, fathomless eyes fixed on my face.

"Jacob," I said.

He remained silent. A dangerous aura rolled off his broad shoulders, keeping everyone at least ten feet away from his chair.

"Are you going to let your brother steal my wedding day?" I asked.

A muscle feathered along his jawline. "What do you want, Brenda?"

"Marry me."

The entire hall went dead silent. The sudden quiet felt heavy enough to crush bone.

"Have you lost your damn mind?" Neo barked, stomping down the steps of the altar.

I kept my focus entirely on the man in the chair. "Will you marry me?"

Jacob studied me. "I am a cripple."

"And I am a wolfless reject. We make a perfect pair."

"They will tear you apart."

"They are already trying," I replied. "Is it a yes?"

Jacob leaned forward. His massive, scarred hands gripped the armrests.

"Yes."

Gasps erupted across the room.

"You can't be serious!" Jessica shrieked, her smugness vanishing instantly. "Jacob, she's just using you to save face!"

I stepped behind the wheelchair. My palms clamped over the rubber handles.

"Move," I told the crowd blocking the aisle.

They parted instantly. Disgust and shock warped their features.

I pushed Jacob toward the center of the room. The wheels squeaked faintly against the stone.

We stopped right next to Neo and Jessica.

The Pack Elder stood frozen on the dais, his ceremonial book clutched to his chest.

"Perform the Bond," Jacob ordered. His tone wasn't loud, but it carried a lethal, icy edge.

The Elder swallowed hard. "Jacob, she has no wolf. A bond requires two spirits..."

"Do it."

"I forbid this!" Neo shouted, stepping into my path. "You are making a mockery of our traditions, brother."

Jacob slowly turned his head. "You broke a sacred vow at the altar. I am simply picking up the garbage you threw away. Start the ceremony, Elder."

The old man fumbled in his heavy robes. He pulled out the silver cord.

He wrapped one end tightly around my wrist. He tied the other around Jacob's thick forearm.

"A broken wolf and a human," Neo sneered, crossing his arms over his chest. "Pathetic."

"They won't last a week," someone whispered loudly behind us.

Jacob’s skin burned against mine. The silver cord began to glow with a faint light.

"Do you, Jacob Cross, take Brenda Miller?" the Elder rushed the words, sweating profusely.

"I do."

"Do you, Brenda, take him?"

"I do."

The cord dissolved into our skin. A sharp sting bit into my wrist, leaving a permanent white mark shaped like a crescent moon.

Neo stepped closer, his teeth bared. "You think this changes anything? You are still nothing in this pack, Brenda."

I didn't spare my ex-fiancé a single glance.

I looked down at Jacob. Our fingers remained tangled together.

I squeezed his hand. He didn't pull away.

He caught me when I was thrown to the wolves. I would never despise him.

"Let them talk," Jacob murmured, his thumb brushing my knuckles.

I nodded, but as I stared into his dark eyes, a strange, golden ring flashed in his irises.

A color that only belonged to an Alpha in full, unrestrained power.