The Lycan Prince's Silent Bride

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body betrayed her... nerves, fear... and something else. Strength. She moved as if she were walking into her own execution yet refused to collapse. My wolf pressed harder, demanding release, demanding we reject this, end this before humiliation tainted my name. "Unveil her," the priest commanded softly. My hands curled into fists and for a heartbeat, I considered tearing the veil with claws instead of fingers... let the world see me for what I was. Let them choke on blood as a result of their lies. My wolf snarled inside me, rattling against my ribs. 'Unacceptable.' I reached for her veil. My gaze never left the girl. I was seconds away from ripping the fabric from her head, exposing their charade to the entire court, and spilling blood across the polished floor. I moved like a predator cornering prey. My fingers brushed the gauzy fabric, and for a heartbeat, I expected resistance, panic, some sign of the spoiled Dahlia beneath. Instead, silence. Stillness. She didn't fight. She waited. And I saw her. The priest's voice drowned. I barely heard him. The world cracked. Her eyes.... Not the cowering gaze of a lamb offered to slaughter. Not the simpering fear I expected from a human standing in a den of lycans. No. Her silence roared louder than the crowd's hushed breaths. She looked at me as though she knew exactly what I was, and yet refused to bow. Her eyes were as blue as fractured ice. Wide with terror, yes, but burning beneath... fierce, alive, unyielding. They speared straight through me, and for the first time in years, my chest forgot how to breathe. Zorrak stilled. 'She is prey,' he hissed. But she is...' "Human," I growled, voice low enough only she and the priest might hear. Her lashes flickered, but she didn't look away, she didn't even say a word. Instead that blue-fire stare burned through my anger, hooking into me, anchoring me when I should have torn her apart. I forced my eyes to my mother and she met my gaze, warning written in the lift of her brow. She knew. Of course she knew.... And she was daring me to expose it, to start a war here and now in Silver Claw's own den. The priest cleared his throat, oblivious. "Do you, Prince Alaric, take this bride-m.. " "Yes." The word cut