Chapter 5 - Lexa
When Kit says we are going straight to the meeting hall for the ceremony, my gut drops as if it’s suddenly filled with cold rocks. The full feeling expands up into my throat until I feel like I’m going to be sick.
I try to hide my stress by staring out the window, but all I see are familiar side streets and shops, places I was afraid to go when I lived here. Even though we lived in this town for years, my mother never felt like she belonged.
But did I?
Yes, there were times when I felt completely at home here. My best friends from school, Misha and Kate, were always there for me, no matter what happened. I was only just old enough for school when my mother brought me here, and I could have been intimidated by the atmosphere if we hadn’t been running from something far worse.
The beatings and abuse that Momo endured as I was growing up are blurry in my memory, locked away beyond a fortified wall. It wasn’t until my father came to get his wife back and claim his child that those horrific memories came back.
Kit asked why I left town. Does he really not know?
I wanted to run away after what he did to me, that’s for sure. I was home alone that evening, contemplating doing just that, when Father and a few of his goons stormed into the house and dragged me into the woods.
Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, Father showed me my mother’s body. She had collapsed in the snow and had obviously been violently killed. I assumed Father or one of his top circle did it, even though they never boasted about it.
The shock certainly had the desired effect. The fight went out of me, and the men dragged me back to Grace’s Fall, where I submitted to Father’s cruelty for the next few years.
Kit turns the truck onto the main street, heading for the church and meeting hall at the end of the road. My guts twist even more fiercely, and I wrap my arms around myself as I try to gather my courage.
“Are you okay?” Kit asks as he pulls into the parking lot.
“Peachy,” I mutter. “I’m about to walk into a church full of people who hate me and marry the guy who dumped me. It might be the greatest moment of my life.”
My mind does a quick flick over my memories to put the words into context. Shock floods into my chest as I realize, by comparison, this day actually is one of the best I’ve ever had.
Just minor discomfort instead of outright abuse and threats of murder.
Wow. My choices are top-tier.
“Lexa, we both signed the contract.” There’s a hard note in Kit’s voice I really don’t need to hear.
“Let’s get this over with!” I snap, jumping out of the truck. I stride up the wide steps defiantly, my back straight and my head high. Even though I’m still wearing my threadbare, dirt-smudged jeans and sweater, I’m taking on this challenge as if I’m decked out like a queen.
I don’t wait for Kit, and I can hear him hurrying behind me as he tries to keep up. I reach the heavy double doors and give them a shove, watching all the people in the church turn to look at me all at once.
Decent crowd. They must have all crawled out from under their rocks to witness the return of the outcast.
The pews have been pushed aside to create a space right in front of the altar where the crowd is gathered. I don’t recognize all the faces, but the only important ones are the pack elders and Kit’s parents.
Wait… where’s the old man?
Kit’s grandfather, Leopold, was a brutal dictator. Even though Kit came off as a massive jerk in high school, I could tell a lot of it came from how his grandfather was raising him. My senses are highly tuned to that sort of thing after my own troubled upbringing.
I could tell that Kit was suffering, and it was obvious no one could ever please Leopold. I wonder why the old man isn’t here, though. Did he finally die?
That means Kit wasn’t just appointed alpha under his grandfather’s rule, but that he has complete control over the pack now. My heart lifts a little as a small breath of hope blooms in my chest.
As I approach the altar, that little spark of hope splutters and almost dies. On one side of the aisle, Kit’s parents, Heather and Josh, are watching us approach, and on the other side, the top elders—Loretta, Derrik, and Jones—do the same.
“Kit,” Josh says, looking over my shoulder to make eye contact with his son. “What’s the meaning of this?”
“I’ve brought my mate, just as you asked,” Kit answers, coming up beside me and taking my hand. “We’ve been traveling a bit, so let’s get this over and done with so we can go home and rest.”
“Where did you find her?” his mother asks, narrowing her eyes at me. She steps forward and extends an elegant hand. “I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure, miss?”
She doesn’t recognize me!
