The wedding was goin' about as smooth as Alice had planned, which meant every damn detail was exactly where she wanted it. I stood where I was supposed to stand, nursed the champagne I wasn't gonna drink, and kept the emotional atmosphere calm and happy for everyone. Just another day of bein' Alice's emotional thermostat.

Could smell Jacob lurkin' out in the trees, keepin' his distance from all the fancy folks in their Sunday best. Smart of him, really. Wedding like this ain't exactly made for wolves, and Edward invitin' him had already stirred up enough drama to last a lifetime.

Then somethin' changed.

New scent hit me first—unfamiliar, but it made every instinct I had sit up and take notice. Looked across the reception area and saw someone I didn't recognize standin' near the edge of the crowd. Pretty little thing, but that wasn't what caught my attention.

Soon as our eyes met, it was like gettin' struck by lightnin'.

Everything I thought I knew about mate bonds, about what I had with Alice, just... crumbled. This was real. This was what it was supposed to feel like. Not the manufactured connection Alice had convinced me was love, but somethin' that hit bone-deep and true.

Her heart was racin'—I could hear it from here, could feel the shock and recognition rollin' off her in waves. She felt it too, this pull between us that was stronger than anything I'd ever experienced.

Heard Jacob chuckle from his spot in the trees, the smug bastard. So this was his doin', bringin' her here. Don't know what his game was, but I'd worry about that later.

Set my champagne down real careful-like and started walkin' toward her. Each step felt inevitable, like I'd been headed in her direction my whole life without knowin' it.

Alice hadn't seen this comin'. For the first time in decades, her visions had failed her completely.

Should've felt bad about that, probably. Should've felt guilty or confused or somethin'. But all I felt was... empty. Like a machine that had been runnin' the wrong program for years and was finally gettin' the right instructions.

Whatever this was, whoever she was, my life had just changed forever.