Why Go for Second Best?

Cole tugged on my wedding dress so roughly that he nearly pulled it off me. I gritted my teeth and held my dress up, snapping, "Get this into your head, Cole—your uncle and I are getting married today, and he had this dress tailor-made for me.

"If you get in the way one more time, I won't mind telling everyone at your wedding who was the real murderer three years ago!"

"What bravado!" Cole hissed in my ear. "You think they'll believe someone who did time for murder?"

"Cole!" A female voice rang out from down the hall just as Cole closed in on me.

The next second, Camilla showed up in her wedding dress and put herself between me and Cole. She regarded me with contempt and a challenge in her eyes. "Leah, are you here to attend our wedding? I don't know who invited you, but please leave right away. I don't want to see my father's murderer on my special day."

I raised a brow and looked past her at Cole. Sure enough, there was panic on his face. So, Camilla had no idea that the man she was marrying had murdered her father three years ago!

I fixed Cole with an icy look. Three years ago, he got Camilla drunk and attempted to force himself on her. Camilla's father saw this and tried to protect her, but Cole accidentally killed him.

After that, Cole told me he'd caught Camilla's father attempting to assault her. Cole had rushed to protect her, which was how he ended up accidentally killing her father. I might have believed him if I hadn't overheard what he said while he was drunk a few days ago.

The only thing stopping me from telling Camilla the truth was her long-running bullying streak. There was once a time when she used her position as a daughter of nobility to pick on my maid, an act that ended up killing my maid.

I couldn't wait to see Camilla's face once she learned the truth about her beloved groom.

I plucked the engagement ring from my finger to get everyone to back off. "You recognize this, don't you, Cole?"

The ring was an engagement gift from Fenryr. Rumor had it that the ring was a sacred relic passed down through the generations of the royal family, and only the future Luna Queen had the right to wear it.

Cole snatched the ring from me. "This can't be…"

He then threw the ring in my face and seethed, "I underestimated you, Leah. You certainly know how to make a convincing replica! Only Uncle Fenryr has custody of the Sacred Ring! Not even my father has seen it. Where did you get the replica made?"

His friends were roaring with laughter. "Pathetic! She thinks a phony ring will make her the Luna Queen of Lunholm!"

"As expected of a shameless woman," someone spat. "She's worse than the omegas of the pack!"

I felt their spit like venom on my face, stinging the scratches that Cole had left on my temples.