Chapter 7

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Chapter 7: Why Me

Layla gracefully put the tiara on my head, announced the end of her engagement to Nathan, and walked out with her father and several other people, who I assumed were all from her pack, in tow. The church was silent for several long, painful. moments, and all I could do was stand there in Nathan’s spell.

After those moments were up, Nathan’s father stormed up to him and shouted, jabbing his finger into the center of Nathan’s chest angrily.

“You are a disgrace!” Colin shouted, causing the rest of the wedding guests to gasp again. “You are a disgrace to the entire pack! Do you realize the weight behind your

actions today, or are you too thick in the head to fathom what you’ve just done?

After everything I’ve done for you, too… All you do is destroy our pack’s credibility

over… Over some hussy!”

The wedding guests gasped again. By now, women were leaving with their children

and were pulling their gaping husbands along with them, and the church was

rapidly emptying.

“I’m sorry, father,” Nathan said, still standing proudly with my hand gripped tightly

in his so that I couldn’t say a word. “But what’s done is done. There’s no going back

now.”

Colin let out a low, angry snarl. He suddenly turned toward me and grabbed my

wrist, trying to pull me away from his son.

But Nathan’s grip was far too strong, and it was no use. Nathan’s eyes flashed red and an even more terrifying snarl rumbled in his throat. Colin finally released me and glared at me before storming out with the rest of the guests, and I could only watch after him with wide eyes before Nathan pulled me away.

Nathan took me down the hallway and led me into the same room that I saw him in earlier that day. Once the door was closed behind us, he released his iron grip on me

and I could finally speak again.

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“Nathan Ford!” I screamed. “What the hell is wrong with you?? I cant telteveyyou

would use me like that!”

Nathan just stared at me for a moment. “You’re not gonna say anythingmow?11 growled, storming up to him. “You sure seemed to have a lot to say infromtodi everyone back there!”

Suddenly, I heard the door creak behind me. I whipped around to see Layin standing in the doorway, still in her wedding gown. And, much to my surprise stive looked like anything but the picture of a scorned bride.

In fact, there was a sweet smile on her face as she walked in and quietly shutthee door behind her. I watched in awe as she rushed up to us and took each of four hamilte in hers, and smiled at us.

“Thank you,” she said. ‘Really. Thank you for what you did back there. Both of you

I scrunched my nose up in a combination of disbelief and illogical anger: Did they

conspire to do this? They couldn’t have. This had to be a bad dream. “What

1haiff snarled, half whispered as I glared back and forth between the two lovers.

Nathan sighed and shook his head, causing his blonde hair to fall into his eyes. Layla is in love with her b*dyguard,” he said, staring down at the floor. “I saw them k*ssing each other earlier, before the wedding. I mean, I guess I always sort of knew.. but… Once I saw it, I knew that I couldn’t pull them apart.”

As Nathan spoke, I felt my heart sink. That must have been why he looked so distraught when I found him before the wedding. He had just seen his bride k*ssing. another man.

Even though I was still furious with him, I couldn’t help but feel bad to know that my childhood friend just went through that on his own wedding day.

I thought back to how sweetly he talked about her the other morning to the builders, and it made my heart ache even more. But I still couldn’t forgive him for using me in this scheme.

“I’m sorry, Nathan,” Layla said quietly. “I know that we had an agreement to make this a good political union, but I just can’t go against my heart any longer. The truth

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is, my b*dyguard did initiate it… But I’m just as responsible, if not more. If you want to never speak to me again, I understand.”

Nathan shook his head. “I won’t get in the way of true love. Besides… You and I knew from the start what this was supposed to be. We were friends, never lovers. It means more to me to make sure that you could be with your true love without your secret coming out and ruining your reputation.”

Layla suddenly hugged Nathan tightly. I watched in a state of total shock as they hugged for several long moments, but then I found myself even more shocked when Layla turned to me next and hugged me as well.

“Thank you,” she whispered, and then ran out of the room in a flash of white and lace. Just before the door closed, I thought I could make out a glimpse of Layla taking the hand of a tall man in a black suit, and they both took off down the hallway together before the door shut. Nathan and I were alone once again.

There was a long silence after she left. When I finally turned back to face Nathan, he was sinking down into a chair with his head in his hands.

“Nathan,” I said, “is all of that true? You used me to hide the fact that your own fiancee was cheating on you? Why wouldn’t you want to expose her for doing that?”

My childhood friend sighed deeply. “Layla and I were really only ever friends,” he

said. “But as the Alpha, I was being pressured to get married and have children, otherwise I wouldn’t be fit to be the leader of the pack. Layla and I agreed to have this political union. I guess I thought that we could join forces for life, but it doesn’t

seem possible now.”

“I’m sorry that happened,” I said as I sat down beside him. “But you still used me-”

“Only out of desperation,” Nathan corrected me. “There’s nothing else behind it, so

don’t think otherwise.”

I stared at Nathan for a few moments in shock. In a strange way, it did hurt just a little bit to think that he only “chose” me for this trick out of desperation. I guessed, deep down, that I had already created this illusion that he was secretly interested in

Even now, I didn’t want to let go of that belief, no matter how silly it felt. Out of an

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