The Fiancé Who Rejected Me, And The Two Men Fate Gave Instead

Adrian came home at six the next morning with flowers.

White peonies. My favorite. He set them on the kitchen counter, right next to the photo of us on the fridge, and didn't look at it once.

Noah was gone. The couch cushions were still dented where he'd slept.

"Sienna." Adrian stood in the doorway of the bedroom. His collar was open. I could see a faint red mark under his jaw. "Can we talk?"

I sat up. My ribs still throbbed where the bond lived.

"You hung up on me."

"I know."

"I was bleeding on the floor, Adrian."

He winced. It looked practiced. "I didn't know it was that bad. I swear to the Moon, I didn't know."

"Callie knew. I heard her."

"Callie's confused. I'm confused." He crossed the room and knelt by the bed. He took my hand, and his thumb rubbed the back of it the way it always had. "I made a mistake. A stupid, ugly mistake. I don't want to lose you over one night."

One night.

Noah's phone flashed in my memory. *The last two years.*

I pulled my hand back. "Then postpone the wedding."

His thumb stopped. "What?"

"I'm not walking down that aisle in six days like nothing happened. I need time. If you're sorry, give me time."

He was quiet for a long moment. Then he nodded.

"Okay."

I blinked. "Okay?"

"You're right. We'll tell the families together. Tonight. My parents are hosting dinner at the estate anyway." He kissed my knuckles. "We'll do it properly. Side by side."

I wanted to believe him so badly that my chest ached.

So I did.

...

The Rourke estate glowed like a wedding cake. Every window was lit. Cars lined the gravel drive.

"That's a lot of people for a family dinner," I said.

Adrian squeezed my waist. "Council members. Mom invited a few."

The dining hall was full. My father sat near the head of the table in his good gray suit. He didn't stand when I came in. He didn't even meet my eyes.

Then I saw Callie.

She sat at Adrian's mother's right hand, in the seat that had been mine for three years. Pale blue dress. Hair pinned up. A pearl comb tucked behind her ear.

One of my pearls. From the neckline of my dress.

"Sienna, sweetheart." Margaret Rourke rose with her wine glass. "Sit. We were just finishing the toast."

"What toast?"

"To the new arrangement, of course." She smiled at Callie. "The wedding goes ahead Saturday. Same venue, same guests. The council has already approved the change of bride."

The room went still and loud at the same time. Forks scraped. Someone coughed.

I turned to Adrian. "Change of bride."

He didn't answer.

"You said we'd postpone. You knelt by my bed this morning and *said* it."

"I said we'd talk to the families." His voice was even. "We're talking."

"Dad?"

My father finally looked up. His mouth was tight. "The alliance with Silver Hollow matters to our pack, Sienna. The Mercers are close kin to us. It changes very little."

"It changes *me*."

"Sienna." Callie rose halfway from her chair, her eyes wet and wide. "I never wanted it like this. But Adrian and I... we didn't plan to fall in love. Please don't make this harder than it has to be."

I stared at the pearl comb in her hair.

Then I started laughing again. Quietly this time.

"You want me to make it easy?" I asked. "You want me to sit down, eat dessert, and clap?"

Margaret set her glass down. "We'd like you to step aside gracefully. You'll be compensated. A house. A position in the pack—"

"No."

The word cracked across the table.

"I won't step aside. I won't smile for your council. If Adrian wants to marry her, he can stand up and tell everyone what he did in room 1408."

Adrian's jaw locked.

Every head in the hall turned to him.

He pushed back his chair and stood. When he spoke, his Alpha voice rolled through the room, low and heavy, and I felt it in my teeth.

"Sienna and I haven't been in love for a long time."

My lungs stopped working.

"We stayed together out of habit and duty. I won't keep pretending. It isn't fair to either of us." He finally turned to face me. His eyes were flat gray stones. "This is a mutual decision. It's just hard for her to say out loud."

"Mutual," I whispered.

"I, Adrian Rourke, Alpha of the Silver Hollow Pack," he said, "reject you, Sienna Dorsey, as my mate."

The bond snapped.

It didn't break the way a thread breaks. It tore like a root ripped out of wet ground. Something inside my chest came loose and kept coming. White light burst behind my eyes. My knees hit the marble before I knew I was falling.

I heard glass shatter. A chair tipped over.

Callie screamed.

Through the blur, I saw Adrian move. Fast. Alpha fast.

Not toward me.

He caught Callie by the shoulders as she stumbled back from the table, and he pulled her against his chest.

"I've got you," he murmured into her hair. "You're okay. Don't look."

Don't look. At me. On the floor.

I tried to breathe and tasted copper again. My fingers scraped at the cold marble.

"Noah." Adrian's voice came from somewhere far above, irritated. "Get her to the hospital. Quietly."

Footsteps. Heavy. Running.

"Sienna." Noah's face swam into view. His hands were on my cheeks, hot and shaking. "Look at me. Stay with me, okay? Stay right here."

"He..." My voice was gone. Just air.

"I know. I know. Don't talk."

He slid one arm under my knees and the other behind my back. Then he lifted me against his chest like I weighed nothing.

The second my cheek touched his collarbone, the world caught fire.

Heat surged through the raw, empty place where Adrian's bond had been. It didn't hurt. It *filled*. It was warm and bright and so fierce it pulled a gasp out of me.

Pine. Rain. Woodsmoke.

His scent hit me like I'd never smelled anything before.

Noah froze in the middle of the dining hall.

His heartbeat thundered under my ear. Once. Twice. Then it slammed into a rhythm that matched mine exactly.

"No," he breathed. His arms tightened around me. "No, no. Not now."

I lifted my head. His eyes had gone gold, wolf-gold, and he was staring at me like I'd just set him on fire too.

Behind us, the dining hall had gone dead silent.

Then Adrian spoke, and his voice had changed.

"Noah," he said slowly. "What the hell did you just do?"