Jennifer’s Pov

The second the High Priestess told me to go prepare for the wedding night, my breath caught in my throat like the air itself had turned solid.

I turned and looked up at Christian, hoping for something, I didn’t even know what. He didn’t turn to look at me at all. That was my cue to leave.

I walked away from the clearing with my legs feeling like they belonged to someone else. Amelia and another girl fell into step beside me, and together they walked me into the Alpha’s chambers. The guard at the door let only me and Amelia through.

The room took my breath away before I could stop it. It was massive, a chandelier hanging like something out of a dream, the bed dressed in fabric so fine it looked untouched by human hands. It was beautiful. It was also completely lifeless, like a room built to be admired and never lived in.

“I really wish you were going to survive,” Amelia said quietly.

I looked down at the floor. “I wish that too. But if anything happens to me, just know it was nice knowing you, Amelia.”

“It was nice knowing you too.” Her voice cracked a little. “The other brides begged me to help them escape. It’s like you’ve already accepted it. I just hope fate is kinder to you than it was to them.”

I only nodded. There wasn’t anything else left to say.

She pulled me into a quick hug, then let go and left the room.

I stood there alone, turning her words over in my head. Fate changing. I almost laughed out loud at that. Fate had never once been kind to me in my entire life. If I had a last name that actually fit me, it would have been Unlucky.

I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. Sit? Take off the dress? Then I saw a nightgown laid out on a chair, clearly meant for me, and figured that answered the question.

I peeled myself out of the wedding gown and slipped into the nightgown instead. Then I sat on the edge of the bed, fidgeting with my fingers, staring at the window across the room.

It was too high to jump from. Not that it mattered. I told myself I was being stupid anyway. Was I really thinking about running now, after I had already bonded with him in front of the entire pack?

I was still sitting there, lost in that thought, when the door started to open.

My heart slammed against my ribs so hard I thought Christian would hear it before he even stepped inside.

The door opened and it was him, his long dark hair loose around his shoulders. I shot up to my feet and bowed my head.

“Did I scare you?” he asked.

“No,” I said, even though every part of me was shaking.

He shut the door behind him and walked closer. I had to tilt my head all the way back just to hold his gaze once he stopped in front of me.

Neither of us said anything for a moment. I stood there trying to guess what was going through his mind, my hands starting to move on their own, reaching for the strap of my nightgown.

“Stop.” His hand caught mine before I could pull it down. “What are you doing?”

“We are meant to consummate the marriage, Alpha.” I kept my eyes on the floor as I said it.

He tilted my chin up, gentle but firm, forcing me to look at him. “Are you scared?”

“Who wouldn’t be?”

“Are you scared,” he said again, like the first answer hadn’t been enough.

“Yes.” The truth slipped out before I could stop it.

He studied me for a long moment. “Would you like some wine?”

I blinked at him. What is happening right now. But I nodded anyway. If nothing else, I would get one good glass of wine before whatever came next.

He walked to a table where a bottle and two silver goblets sat waiting, engraved with the mark of the pack. “Sit,” he said, without turning around. I sat.

He poured both goblets and brought them over, handing me mine. “Thank you,” I said, and meant it more than I expected to.

When I looked up at him properly for the first time since he walked in, it hit me all over again just how beautiful he was. Not handsome the way normal men were handsome. He looked carved. He looked like something a sculptor spent a lifetime trying to get right.

He sat down beside me, and I stiffened without meaning to.

“There’s no need to tense up,” he said. “I don’t bite.”

You certainly do bite, I thought, remembering exactly what marking a mate involved. But I only gave him a small smile and nodded, keeping that thought to myself.

“Are you going to keep staring at that wine,” he said, “or are you going to drink it?”

I smiled despite myself and took a sip. He drank from his own goblet a second later.

He turned his cup slowly in his hand, watching me over the rim of it. Just watching. It made my skin feel too warm.

“You’re beautiful,” he said.

That was the last thing I expected to hear from him. I felt heat rushing up my neck and into my face before I could stop it.

“Thanks,” I said, and immediately wanted to disappear. Why are you blushing, you absolute fool. You are going to die in this room, possibly tonight.

I stared down at the wine in my hands instead of at him. What is all this for. The wine. The compliments. The gentleness. None of it made sense for a man who was supposed to just get this over with and move on to whatever came next for him.

“What are you thinking about,” he asked instead of answering.

“Nothing,” I said.

“Tell me.”

I gave an awkward little laugh. “It’s nothing, really.”

“Tell me,” he said again, quieter this time. “I’m listening.”

“Well.” I fumbled for the words. “You’re doing all these nice things. The wine, the compliments. I don’t know. Maybe you’re just prolonging what we’re actually here to do.”

Something flickered across his face, amusement pulling at the corner of his mouth. “What we’re here to do.” He set his wine down slowly. “You mean touching you.”

Before I could answer, his arm curved around my waist and he pulled me across the space between us until there was nothing left of it. We were close enough that if either of us moved even slightly, our lips would touch.

He took the goblet from my hand without looking away from my face and set it down on the table beside his own. Then his thumb brushed against my bottom lip, wiping away a drop of wine that had lingered there.

My whole body went still.

His hand moved from my lips down along my jaw, tracing slowly toward my neck, then further, along my collarbone and the edge of my shoulder. Everywhere his fingers touched, something warm spiraled through me, spreading fast, impossible to ignore.

I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think.

Christian leaned in close enough that his words brushed against my ear.

“I like how you respond to me.”