Chapter 10

“It’s okay, Vira. Come on, let’s go.” I grab Elvira’s arm and drag her toward the door, shoving her forward when she twists back to exchange more insults with Celeste.

“You’re an ugly, evil bitch! Don’t forget Cici is paying half the mortgage on this house. You have no right to drive us out. Evil, ugly bitch!”

She spits on the floor and finally lets me pull her outside.

The second the door shuts behind us, I switch to Spanish. “What happened? Why did you go that far? Are you crazy? That’s the former Luna.”

“I can’t take it, Cici.” She yanks her hand from my grip. “I’m not like you. I can’t just stand there and let people walk all over me and spew garbage in my face. I hate that woman. I hate this pack. And I don’t care who knows it.”

She paces across the porch, then glances back at the house like it disgusts her. “Why do we have to live like this? Is this really what you want to marry into?”

“It’s only until I become Luna,” I say quietly, my shoulders sagging. “We just have to endure them until then.”

“You will never be Luna, Cici.” She spins on me, shouting. Then she shakes her head. “I know you love Dante. And yeah, I think he’s the only decent person in this pack. But where have you ever seen an alpha marry a rogue? A packless woman like you? It almost never happens. You know that.”

I scrub a hand down my face and wipe it on my jeans. “Dante is the only one I care about. As long as he loves me, everything will be fine.”

Elvira scoffs and looks at me like I’m something pitiful. She doesn’t understand. Mom and I shielded her from the worst parts of the wild. We made sure she and Lia never went hungry, never slept without at least a blanket.

Mom and I carried logs, hauled buckets of cement until our backs screamed, all while dodging insults and hands that lingered too long.

It’s not that simple to just walk back to that life after five years of tasting something better.

I inhale shakily and press my back against the wall of the house. “Listen. Things are already bad. If you make them worse, the only ones who’ll suffer are us, me, you, Mom, Lia. Even if you hate them, you have to endure.”

Elvira exhales and leans beside me, staring at the ground. “Cici…” She starts to say more, then stops. “What will you do if they stop the wedding? What’s the plan?”

Panic immediately chokes me. The thought of Dante choosing someone else, leaving me, makes me want to curl up and die. He’s my hope. My way out.

“I don’t know,” I admit, my voice cracking slightly. “I just… I want to believe it’ll be okay.”

I reach up and gently touch the cut on her lip. It’s already swelling. I sigh. “Stay out here until Celeste goes to sleep. Otherwise this will never end.”

Elvira nods and drops onto a wooden crate against the wall, her anger still just below the surface.

“I’ll go see what I can fix.”

When I step back inside, the house is eerily quiet. Celeste isn’t in the living room. Lia has Mom seated at the dining table, speaking softly to her, trying to calm her down.

I glance toward Celeste’s bedroom door as I walk closer. “What ha–”

The words die in my throat.

The floor is covered in flowers, ribbons, balloons, invitation cards. Shredded beyond recognition. Someone took scissors and hacked everything to pieces. It looks like confetti exploded in the room, except it’s not confetti. It’s my wedding decorations. The ones I worked hard to buy. The ones I carefully picked out.

“Who did this?” My constricts as I kneel and pick up strips of torn ribbon and paper.

“Celeste,” Mom answers darkly, her lower lip poking out for control. “She sat there cutting them like they were nothing. My daughter worked so hard for those, and she shredded them.” Tears filled her eyes.

“That’s why Elvira confronted her,” Lia adds quietly. Her blue eyes look tired.

My mouth falls open, but no sound comes out. A ball in my chest starts to tear. I draw in a deep breath, force it out, and stand straight.

“Cici, where are you going?” Lia calls as I march toward Celeste’s door. “It’s not worth it.” She doesn’t dare leave Mom, afraid she might grab something sharp.

“I just want to talk to her,” I say, pounding my fist against Celeste’s door.

I know this is exactly what she wants. If I give in to her provocation, she wins. But I just can’t stand it.