The Alpha’s Chosen Outcast

14. TREY

Chapter 14

TREY

Today is the day. My baby sister is getting married, and I’m sitting here in my wolf form outside the window of the bridal shop, watching my mate get ready to leave.

She’s closing her suitcase and talking on the phone with her boss about her flight home. I can hear the conversation loud and clear in this form.

I can also hear my phone going off in the car. I run back over in a few leaps and change back. It’s her texting me.

Heather: I’m almost ready to go. Jessie gave me my flight details, and I’ll be out of here soon. I cleaned the place up. It’ll be like I was never here.

My heart drops into my stomach. It’ll be like I was never here. I can’t imagine a life where that was the case.

I don’t want her to go, but we haven’t found a suitable Alpha for her to marry yet, and my father is still alive. I don’t know of any other way to keep her here.

It’s too dangerous to hide her at the Hanover estate. Too many wolves come through for me to be able to hide her effectively.

There’s always someone milling around the property, and I can’t guarantee they won’t accidentally spot her even if they’re barred from a space.

My mind is filled with these frantic ideas, and my wolf desperately claws at them after I change. I want to be with her, to keep her here. However, I don’t see any way it will work, and the devastation of that fact is paralyzing me.

But my sister is getting married today. I have to walk her down the aisle and give her away to Brody, who is a good wolf.

I’m glad to be gaining him as a brother, even if Violet will be more a part of his family than mine after the marriage. That’s how it works with wolves. She will bear his children and further his bloodline.

I want Heather to bear my children. This is so fucking ridiculous. She’s my mate, for fuck’s sake! Why did my father and his fucking Alpha cronies make these laws knowing something like this could happen?

We don’t choose our mates, they just come and complete us. I feel like part of me is being ripped out of my body at the prospect of her getting on that plane.

My phone goes off again. Violet is calling me. I won’t bother her with any of this on her big day. Today, she gets everything she wants, no matter what.

“Trey, is Heather still here?”

“Yes, I believe her flight is in a few hours.”

“You can’t let her leave. Get down there now and bring her here.”

“You want me to bring her to the venue? Now?”

“Yes. I don’t know how it happened, but one of my bridesmaids was zipping down the garment bag, and the zipper caught on my dress! There’s a big tear down the seam. I need her here now.”

“Violet, how the fuck do you expect me to get her there without anyone seeing her?”

“Your car has tinted windows, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, but—”

She cuts me off. “Come up through the service elevator. Park in the back and then have one of the assistants come get your car. Leave the keys in it. Be her lookout and check the corridors before you let her come through.”

I think for a minute.

“Trey?!”

“I’m here. Okay, I think we can make that work. Clear the bridal suite and tell everyone that they cannot enter until you give the all clear.”

“Got it. Now HURRY!”

“Okay, okay, I’ll be there soon.”

I text Heather next.

Me: You can’t leave.

Heather: You said I had to be out of here before the wedding was over, or someone might find me.

Me: Violet needs you at the venue. Dress emergency.

Heather: Are you sure?

Me: We’ll make it work. We have a plan. I’m coming in now.

Heather: You’re already here?

Me: Yes.

I go inside and find her in the break room, still holding her phone. I wave at her to come with me.

“Leave your bags. No one will come back here until after tomorrow. Violet is making sure everything is set.”

She puts her phone in her pocket and grabs her purse and another bag that I assume is her sewing stuff. We speed walk out to my car with Heather’s hood up on her sweatshirt. She pulls it down when the doors are closed.

“Trey, you’re really sure about this?”

“I am.”

I buckle my seatbelt, and we head off. At the venue, I do exactly as Violet and I discussed. It takes longer than it should, and we have a couple of near-discoveries, but we eventually get to the bridal suite undetected. Violet rushes over to her, dress in hand.

“Can you fix it?”

Heather examines the dress with the intensity of a surgeon assessing a wound.

“Yes. Can I set up over there?”

She points to a small table strewn with makeup products and hair tools.

“Yes,” Violet answers, “Let me just move all this stuff.”

They start moving like they can read each other’s minds. In minutes, Heather is set up, getting the dress pinned, and ready to do whatever she needs to do to fix it.

Disaster averted.

“Trey, you go stand outside the door and guard the room. Everyone here is a wolf. We can’t let them see Heather. Someone is bound to know who she is.”

I stand outside the closed door of the bridal suite and listen to my sister and my mate talking and giggling like old friends.

This is exactly what I wish for my sister on her big day. My mind falls on the scenario of Heather becoming my wife once again.

The wolf in me starts howling to get out, to get to her. I dream of being in a groom’s suite with Brody and our friends, but this time, he’s helping me get my bow tie straight and making sure my tuxedo is perfect.

A rush of heat runs through my whole body.

At that moment, my phone goes off again. It’s the Hanover estate, which means it may be something about our father.

I answer the call and walk quickly around the corner to find a bit of privacy. Heather and Violet are wolves, too, and they share my keen sense of hearing. I don’t want them to hear this conversation.

“Mr. Hanover?”

It’s one of the nurses. “Yes, hello. What’s going on?”

“I’m sorry to tell you this, sir, but your father has passed. I would have waited to tell you until you got home, but you left instructions to call with any major updates.”

“You did the right thing. Thank you for notifying me.” I run a hand through my hair, grasping the news.

“I’m sorry for your loss, Mr. Hanover.”

“Thank you,” I murmur thickly.

I end the call and put my phone in my pocket. I knew this was coming, but I still feel gutted. My father has never been the most affectionate with us.

He’s never been a traditional father figure, but he’s still my father, my Alpha, and this is a monumental event—the end of an era.

I have to take a moment to catch my breath and stop myself from changing. Something primal inside me wants the wolf to come out, but this is not the time or place.

I’ll go for a run after the reception. Right now, I have to pull myself together for Violet.

“I’ll go get her. You want to set up in the bridal suite for the getting-ready shoot?”

I hear one of the bridesmaids talking in the hallway a few feet away from me. I look up and see she’s talking to the photographer.

Shit, she’s heading to the bridal suite, and she’s ahead of me. I move quickly, but she’s too far away for me to catch up, even with my wolf speed.

Her hand is on the door, and I feel like my whole world is about to end. She turns the doorknob, and I freeze.

I see the door open, see Violet standing there, and I hear her shrieking. I see Heather’s eyes go wide when the bridesmaid points and says in a hiss,

“Exile!”

She runs off, and I watch Violet go after her in a blur of cream and pastels. She stops and turns when she passes by me.

“Trey! Do something!”

I snap out of it and look after the bridesmaid running off. Then I remember what just happened before Heather was outed. I’m the Alpha now. That bridesmaid can tell anyone she wants, and it won’t matter. I’m the Alpha. I make the rules.

As I accept that within myself, I feel it. I inhale deeply when the power hits me, and I let it spread within my body.

I feel it, the connection to every wolf in the pack. Do they feel it? I look over at Violet, and I can tell that something is happening.

“What’s happening? What is this?”

“Okay, don’t panic,” I tell her. “I just got a call. That’s why I stepped away. It was from the house, so I knew it was about Father.”

“He’s gone, isn’t he?” Her face falls.

I nod at her.

“So this, what’s happening—this is you becoming Alpha?”

“Yes.”

“And that bridesmaid running off to yell about an exile at my wedding?”

“Is about to be talking about my fiancé.”

“Wait, what?”

“If I’m Alpha…”

“Then you can marry Heather and save her.” Her smile emerges.

“Exactly.”

“Are you sure that’s what you want?”

“She’s my mate. I’ve never wanted anything more than to keep her by my side.”

“Okay, that’s the biological part of it. That’s your wolf talking. What do you want?”

My shoulders slump in acceptance. “I want her. She’s the most intriguing woman I’ve ever known. Even before I realized she was my mate, I wanted her. She’s beautiful, smart, and she will make an amazing Alpha female for our pack.”

“It’s settled then. You can make the announcement at the reception.”

“Really?”

“Look, we’re all we have now. I know I should be erupting into a pile of tears over the death of our father, but let’s be real here. You’ve always been more my father than he ever was. I love him, and I’ll miss him. The only part of my family I need here with me today is you, Trey.”

At this moment, I feel so proud of my sister. I’m proud to call her my family, and I know she’s going to be an integral part of my inner circle going forward.

If all goes according to plan, we’ll all be a family. The power inside me swells at the thought, like my wolf trying to claw his way out of me to get to my mate.

Right now, I have a different duty to perform. I have to walk Violet down the aisle. I run back into the bridal suite to grab the cascading bouquet of flowers she’ll hold, but I take both of Heather’s hands in mine first.

“Lock this door. You’re going to be safe, I promise. We have a plan.”

After she shuts the door and I hear the lock click, I bring the bouquet to Violet, and I offer her my elbow. She takes the bouquet, puts her manicured hand on my arm, and we head for the ceremony.

The wedding march begins, and I lead her into the room. As we walk down the aisle, I can hear whispers all around.

I’m not sure if news of Heather’s appearance is circulating or if they realize that the power shift they felt a moment ago was me becoming their Alpha. Or perhaps it’s just the sight of Violet’s beautiful gown.

When I reach the end of the aisle, I shake Brody’s hand, then put Violet’s hand in his. The minister asks the question that starts the ceremony.

“Who gives this woman to this man in marriage today?”

“She gives herself,” I say proudly, “and I, as her family, give my blessing.”

It’s what we’d agreed I’d say—the updated version of the ritual that Violet had insisted on using. I take my seat and watch her bind herself to the wolf she loves.

I know our mother would have been proud of her, had she lived to see this. I feel her with me as a tear falls during their vows.

There aren’t any incidents, despite the whispers. When the ceremony is over, I follow Violet and Brody as they kiss and head down the aisle. Brody leans into her as they walk, and I hear him whisper.

“What the fuck is going on?”

She whispers back, “I’ll tell you everything but right now we need to go. Fast.”

They get in the limo that’ll take them to the reception, and I slide in with them. The car pulls away, and Violet and I both let out huge sighs. I turn to Brody.

“Okay, here’s the deal—”