Why Go for Second Best?

Just as I lunged for Cole, he pulled out the silver dagger concealed at his waist and stabbed it through the open wound on my palm.

I went still as the intense, blinding pain shot through me, and Cole seized his chance to attack. He leaped forward and wrapped his tail around my midsection, then threw me to the ground.

"The skank knocked my tooth out!" Greyson growled with a hand clamped over his mouth, blood trickling through the gaps between his fingers.

"She dislocated my arm!" Theodore yelled. "Someone pop it back in for me! Ow, ow, ow! That hurts!"

Cole's friends closed in on me. My cumbersome wedding dress was my greatest disadvantage, for it took them no effort to pin me to the ground. Greyson snarled menacingly, "Cole, this woman knows too much. We can't let her live."

"Not today," Cole bit out. "It's my big day with Camilla. I won't have bloodshed."

"Tomorrow, then." Lucas licked his incisor. "We'll take her someplace remote and kill her there."

There was a tense silence before Lucas broke into a wicked grin. "We may as well have some fun with her since she's dying tomorrow."

"Fair point," Theodore agreed. "I've never taken anyone as hot as her to bed before."

"She's still my ex, guys. If anyone wants to have a go at her, I should be the first. For sentiment's sake," Cole interjected, frowning. He clutched the lower half of my face again, his claws digging into my skin. "It's too bad things had to get so ugly, Leah. Had you obeyed me, I might have made you my mistress."

His fangs were mere inches away from my throat as he continued, "And now, let me have you in all the ways I want."

Cole was about to rip my dress off when Camilla shoved herself between us. "Cole, you can't betray me like this!"

He released me immediately and snaked an arm around his scorned bride-to-be. "I was only humiliating her, Camilla. Don't worry, you're the only woman for me."

With that, he led Camilla out of the room and reassured her of his loyalty. Once she was out, he locked the door and turned to approach me. I fought against the hand clamped over my mouth and seethed, "Don't you dare lay a hand on me, Cole! I'm the future Luna Queen!"

Cole slapped me across the face. "Still clinging to your pathetic lies even at your deathbed, Leah? If you truly are the Luna Queen, why don't you beg Fenryr to save you?"

I felt countless pairs of hands roving my body, tearing the fabric of my wedding dress. "Get off me! Don't touch me! Please…"

My sobs and pleas only riled them up even more. In their excitement, one of them extended his claws toward my chest.

There was a thunderous bang as the door flew open, and Fenryr growled in warning, "The wedding is starting, and the lot of you are here to pick on and humiliate a helpless woman? What happened to decorum?"

Cole put on a congenial smile as he left the room. "Uncle Fenryr, a certain shameless woman robbed the royal family. I'm merely punishing her for you.

"She stole the wedding dress you designed and had a replica of the Sacred Ring—which has been in our family for generations—made just to hound me into taking her back. I'm teaching her a lesson on your behalf."

He had been expecting praise, but the next second, Fenryr gripped him by the neck and lifted him off the ground. The promise of violence colored Fenryr's gravelly voice as he demanded, "Who's in the room?"