The Beta’s Ugly Daughter

Chapter 27

Gail’s POV

I woke with heaviness in my chest that felt like drowning from the inside out.

The past days had been filled with confusion and pain so sharp it left me breathless. Wyatt had shown me more attention than ever before, remembering details I'd said weeks ago, asking me questions no one else cared about, looking at me like I actually mattered. When he'd called me extraordinary, when he'd defended me against Garrett's cruelty, when he'd brought me tea prepared exactly how I liked it, it had felt real. But none of that changed the truth. Today, he was marrying my cousin.

I dressed quickly in my small room, my hands shaking as I tied my mousy brown hair back in a simple braid. The reflection in my cracked mirror showed the same cursed face I'd lived with for eighteen years, hollow cheeks, dull eyes, the magically twisted features designed to inspire revulsion rather than love.

"Pull yourself together," I whispered to my reflection. "Mira needs you today."

I couldn't let myself fall apart. Not when my cousin had been nothing but kind to me, not when she'd offered to sacrifice her own happiness for mine. Today was supposed to be about her joy, her future, her moment to shine as the Luna she was born to be. Even if it meant watching the man I loved pledge his life to someone else.

The Raymond estate buzzed with pre-ceremony activity as I made my way to the main hall. Staff members rushed past carrying flowers and ceremonial decorations, their voices bright with excitement. Everyone seemed caught up in the magic of the day, everyone except me.

"There you are," Mira said when I found her in the bridal preparation room. "I was starting to worry you'd changed your mind about helping me get ready."

She stood in front of a three-way mirror, wearing the most beautiful ceremonial gown I'd ever seen. Ivory silk flowed over her graceful figure like water, the intricate silver embroidery catching the afternoon light and making her look ethereal. Her dark hair was swept up in an elegant style that emphasized the classical beauty of her features. She looked exactly how I imagined a future Luna should look. Perfect, radiant, and worthy of the Alpha's heir.

I paused in the doorway, feeling a mix of admiration and grief so intense it made my knees weak. This was how it was supposed to be. This was the right choice, the smart choice, the choice that made sense for everyone involved. So why did it feel like my heart was being torn from my chest?

"You look beautiful," I managed, stepping into the room.

Mira noticed me through the mirror and smiled, but something in her expression seemed almost sad. "Could you give us a moment?" she asked the attendants, who immediately filed out, leaving us alone.

"Truly, Mira, you look perfect," I said, trying to inject genuine warmth into my voice. "Wyatt will be amazed when he sees you."

"Will he?" She turned from the mirror to face me directly. "Gail, I need you to listen to me. It's not too late."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean if there's something you want to say, something you need to tell him before-"

"There's nothing to say." The words came out too quickly, too sharp. "You're marrying him tonight. That's what's supposed to happen." Mira studied my face with the careful attention she'd always possessed, and I could see her reading all the pain I was trying to hide.

"Is it?" she asked gently. "Is it really what's supposed to happen?"

I couldn't answer that question, couldn't give voice to the desperate hope that had been growing in my chest despite every rational thought telling me to crush it. So I just smiled and made an excuse about needing to check on the ceremony preparations, fleeing before my carefully constructed composure could crumble completely.

That evening, when the ceremonial hall filled with pack members dressed in their finest clothes, I chose a seat at the very back of the room. My cursed form didn't belong near the front with the important families and honored guests. I kept my head low as people took their places, trying to make myself as invisible as possible.

The hall looked magnificent. Hundreds of white roses filled the space with their sweet fragrance, silver ribbons caught the candlelight like captured starlight, and the altar had been positioned perfectly to catch the moon's light when it rose. Everything was exactly as it should be for the mating ceremony of an Alpha's heir. When the music began and everyone stood, I couldn't help but look up.

Wyatt stood at the front of the aisle, looking every inch the Alpha he was born to be. His formal attire emphasized his powerful build, his dark hair was perfectly styled, and his posture radiated the kind of calm authority that made people want to follow him. He should have looked happy, confident, ready to claim his bride and his future.

Instead, his silver-blue eyes were scanning the crowd like he was searching for something. As if he could sense my gaze, he looked directly at me. Our eyes met across the crowded hall, and the familiar mate bond pull hit me like a physical blow. Sharp and unavoidable, it made my breath catch and my heart stutter in my chest. For a moment that felt like eternity, we stared at each other, and I saw something in his expression that made my carefully guarded hope flicker back to life. Recognition, longing, and something that looked almost like... certainty.

He didn't look away right away like he usually did, he didn't shift his gaze to someone more worthy of his attention. He just kept staring at me with an intensity that made me feel exposed despite being surrounded by hundreds of people.

I looked down quickly, trying to hide the emotion that was rising in my throat like a tide. Tears burned behind my eyes as the reality of the situation crashed over me again. I was watching the man I loved prepare to marry someone else. And that someone was my cousin, the only person in my family who'd ever shown me genuine kindness.

Above us, the moon was beginning to rise through the tall windows. It glowed white for now, but I'd heard whispers among the staff that a blood moon was expected tonight. The perfect celestial backdrop for a mating ceremony, they'd said. A sign of the Moon Goddess's blessing on the union.

I quietly hoped it wouldn't appear until after the ceremony was over. The last thing I wanted was to transform in front of hundreds of witnesses, to have my secret revealed in the most public way possible. I just wanted to slip away when it was over, curse still intact, heart still hidden, dignity still barely held together.

But as the ceremonial doors opened and soft music filled the hall, as Mira appeared looking radiant in her perfect gown, I had the strangest feeling that nothing was going to go according to plan today. And I wasn't sure whether that terrified me or gave me hope.