Chapter 312: After Everything.
Sonia.
I was completely dumbfounded the moment my eyes landed on the guard standing beside me, still dressed in the red ceremonial robe and shoes.
My breath caught instantly.
Because the one who had just lifted my veil...was him and not Noah.
For a second, my mind went completely blank, struggling to process the humiliation burning through me.
The audacity.
My fingers curled slowly beneath my sleeves as disbelief crashed violently against my chest.
Was Noah insane?
Did he truly think this was some kind of joke?
After everything I had done to make this wedding happen...
After every single thing I sacrificed just to stand here today as his bride...
This was what he chose to do to me?
I slowly closed my eyes, trying to steady the rage and shock threatening to consume me alive.
And unwillingly, my mind drifted back to everything that had happened before today.
Everything I had done to get here.
I remembered sitting quietly inside my room that night, staring endlessly at nothing while my thoughts spiraled in every direction at once.
My mind had been restless and chaotic.
No matter how hard I thought, I couldn’t come up with a single way to stop the wedding.
Not after Noah had made his decision, not after everyone had agreed for that bitch to be chosen.
The frustration had been suffocating me slowly.
Then suddenly...
A pigeon had flown into my room.
At first, I had frozen in shock, watching the bird land near the window before noticing the small letter attached carefully to its leg.
My heart had pounded as I untied it quickly.
And the moment I opened it, my entire life changed.
> The Lycan prince has chosen you to work with him. He knows your greatest desire is to marry Noah. You can have the wedding, but ensure you follow his plans, as he wants Lady Moon to himself.
That was what the first letter said.
I could still remember how violently my hands had trembled afterward in fear, shock and hope.
Every emotion had crashed into me at once, but above everything else...one thing stood stronger—the desperate desire to become Noah’s bride.
And ever since that day, I had followed every single instruction the Lycan prince sent without hesitation.
Every single one.
Even the terrible ones.
I made sure that a strange woman was allowed among the omegas chosen to serve the bride.
I cooperated with the healer behind everyone’s backs, as I threatened him until he had no choice but to obey me.
I could still remember the fear in his eyes when I warned him that refusing me would cost him far more than his position in the pack.
And because of me, he created the illusion that I had fallen into a coma. A lie carefully crafted just to manipulate Noah and everyone around him.
But even that had not been enough.
No.
I had gone even further—far further than I ever imagined I would. I forced the healer to forge a temporary euphoria of a mate bond between Noah and me.
A fake connection, a fake pull, a fake destiny, just so Noah would believe, even for a moment, that I was truly meant to be his.
That I belonged to him and that he belonged to me.
I knew fully well there would be consequences for what I had done.
Terrible consequences.
Defying the Moon Goddess was the greatest crime anyone in the wolf clan could commit. It was forbidden. Unforgivable. A sin punishable by death itself.
But I didn’t care.
I truly didn’t.
Not when Noah was involved, not when the only thing I had ever wanted was standing so close within my reach.
Anything...anything just to be with Noah, I was willing to do. Be it to manipulate, to lie, to threaten and to destroy.
I would have done all of it without hesitation if it meant remaining beside him forever.
And for a while, everything had gone perfectly according to plan.
Even until this very moment, part of me still couldn’t believe I had truly become the bride standing in this room today.
I had won.
Or at least, I thought I had.
But Noah...Noah had ruined everything at the very last stage.
The final moment.
The most important moment.
If he had simply lifted my veil himself, then everything would have been sealed permanently.
There would have been no turning back after that. I would remain by his side forever as his acknowledged bride, and Maria...whether she escaped alive or died somewhere alone...It would no longer concern me.
Because by then, Noah would already belong to me.
But instead...he humiliated me.
I slowly opened my eyes again, staring directly at Noah. The fury on his face almost made my chest tighten.
His eyes burned with rage so intense it looked like he wanted to tear me apart with his bare hands.
"Where is Maria?" he demanded.
His voice came out low—dangerously low, but instead of fear, laughter suddenly escaped my lips.
A broken, bitter laugh.
"She is in the pit of hell," I shot back immediately, my voice shook slightly, but I forced myself to keep staring at him. "Probably dead," I added coldly.
The next thing I knew, Noah crossed the distance between us in seconds.His hand wrapped violently around my throat.
I gasped instantly.
My body slammed hard against the nearest surface as his grip tightened mercilessly.
"No, Sonia," Noah growled darkly, his face inches away from mine. "I will make sure you die before she does."
Fear finally crashed into me then. I clawed desperately at his wrist, trying to loosen his grip, but Noah only tightened it further.
My lungs burned painfully.
Air refused to enter properly.
I struggled harder, my fingers trembling violently against his arm as panic consumed me completely.
But Noah didn’t care, as there was no softness in his eyes anymore. It was as though he truly wanted to kill me right there.
The room started spinning slowly around me as my breathing became weaker and weaker.
My chest tightened painfully.
Dark spots blurred my vision.
Then suddenly...
He shoved me away violently.
I crashed hard onto the ground immediately, coughing harshly as I struggled desperately to breathe again.
Air rushed painfully back into my lungs.
I stayed bent over for several seconds, panting uncontrollably while my throat burned from his grip.
Tears gathered in my eyes from the pain, but I forced myself to look up at him again.
And what I saw terrified me even more.
Noah pointed slowly toward the guard still wearing the red ceremonial robe.
"You..." he said coldly. "...consummate your wedding."
My entire body froze.
No.
No, no, no...
Panic exploded inside me instantly.
"Noah..." I whispered shakily before scrambling forward on my knees. "No... Noah... please!"
My voice cracked desperately as tears finally spilled down my cheeks but he didn’t listen.
Without another word, Noah turned around and walked out of the room with the other guard beside him.
Leaving me behind.
