Chapter 21: 21: Missing Wedding Dress
I was utterly, royally, doomed.
Cassian’s eyes practically glowed with disdain, as though I was a smear of dirt on a pair of newly bought, highly expensive white shoes. He growled, and before I could even pull my hands away, he did it for me.
He grabbed my hands and tossed me off of his body as though I was no more than a rag doll. I barely even had the time to regain my balance, causing me to crash into the next person, who just so happened to be Rowan.
His cologne and natural scent instantly wafted into my nose, causing my stomach to churn and do flips. I looked up, horrified. This time, I made sure to act first before yet another one of the triplet Alphas found a reason to throw me to the ground.
I all but tore my hands away, quickly stepping back to put some distance between us. Rowan’s eyes trailed after me, dark and unreadable. I couldn’t tell if he was displeased, but I wouldn’t dare to assume otherwise. After all, he had never been pleased with me. There was no reason to start thinking he would be now, especially after I had practically groped him.
"W-What is it?" I asked, my voice quaking uncontrollably. The overwhelming sense of fear had not yet dissipated. I wanted to scream, to yell, to argue, but instead, all of my usual sharpened claws and weaponized words failed me.
"Briar, please, now’s not the time for games," Violet said.
She stepped forward and grabbed both my hands with hers, locking me firmly in place. I tugged and pulled, but her grip remained firm. It was impossible for me to worm free.
"I entrusted you to steam iron the wedding dress before the ceremony. Where is it? The ceremony is about to begin!" she continued.
My eyes popped wide open at her words.
"Since when did that happen?" The words tumbled out of my mouth before I had the chance to stop myself.
Her eyes instantly turned red and watery, as though she had an in-built switch meant for summoning tears at will.
"You’re joking, right?" Violet said in between quaking breaths. "Come on, Briar. I know you’re upset at me about your friend, but I merely did what was right. She broke the rules. If she wasn’t punished, what would the rest of the pack say? How will order be maintained in the future?"
She continued, "You can’t just hide my wedding dress because of this. We’re all grown adults here."
"But you’ve never―"
I paused, realization dawning upon me. When I woke up, I was wearing a beautiful white gown. Back then, I was so enraptured by what was happening between the strange heat in my body and Rowan appearing in the room — as well as the events after — that I didn’t put two and two together.
By the time I had regained my senses, the dress had become shreds of fabric, unsalvageable. Unless Rowan had sent omega servants in to clean the room, it would still be there, lying in wait.
But I couldn’t say that. If I did, I would have to explain why the dress was ripped in the first place.
I glanced at Rowan from the corner of my eye. His expression had not changed even once. It was cold and frigid like a winter storm, and his eyes were dark― I couldn’t read a single thing. If eyes were the windows to one’s soul, then Rowan Hadeon’s soul was nothing more than a dark, endless abyss.
My lips fell apart, and I began to gape wordlessly. There was nothing I could say in explanation. All three of the Alphas stared at me, and Violet stood right at the front, staring hopefully into my eyes.
Explaining what happened to the wedding dress would also mean explaining what transpired between Rowan and me. I didn’t dare to imagine what would happen to me if I did. Rowan might not even admit it, and even if Cassian had witnessed something happening firsthand, he definitely would choose to hide it.
After all, Rowan made it very clear that no one else was supposed to know what happened between us.
If I dared to tell anyone, the best-case scenario would be that I would be executed for treason. The worst case scenario would be getting tortured beyond any way or method I could possibly imagine. He would no doubt make everything I had experienced up until now seem like child’s play in comparison.
Judging by how reluctant the Alphas were for me to take my own life, it was very likely that they would choose the latter.
Telling the truth would never be an option anyway. I refused to believe that Violet was truly heartbroken about the loss of her wedding dress. Chances were, she was the one who put me in that dress and in that room in the first place.
She probably wanted me punished by Rowan once he realized I had entered his room without permission. And if she failed, at least she had the case of her missing wedding dress to serve as a backup.
That meant that even if I told the truth, Violet would never believe me. She was doing this on purpose.
"You never gave me your wedding dress," I insisted. While speaking, I made sure to stare straight into Rowan’s eyes. "Nor did you give me any instructions to steam iron it, or do anything else with it."
"There’s no need to waste time with a thief," Cassian said with a snarl. He gave me the stinkeye before coming forward to place a hand on Violet’s shoulder, tenderly giving her a squeeze to show his support. "The wedding ceremony is about to begin."
"I can’t go in there without so much as an evening gown," Violet said, her bottom lip quivering.
Then, she turned back to look at me. Something sinister flashed through her eyes as she scanned me up and down.
"Speaking of which, where did you get that dress, Briar? I don’t recall you ever owning something so extravagant."
