On My Drowing Day, He Announced His Bonding to Her Chapter 04
They dropped off the black coffin that same evening.
“The Rite doesn’t wait for anybody. Get ready.”
I opened my phone and there it was, John’s newest post
on the Pack forum.
A photo of him and Scarlett picking out rings at some
jewelry counter.
The caption read: Twenty–five years together. About
time we made it official.
The three days were up.
At first light, my mother tied the veil over my head
with her hands shaking, tears running down her face the whole time.
Layer after layer of blood–dyed fabric settled over me
until I already felt like I was underwater.
In the mirror, my skin looked ghost–white, my lips
painted this sick, feverish red.
Outside, the moon guard’s funeral procession got closer by the second.
Bare feet crunching over gravel, the scrape of chains dragging along behind them.
The gate swung open. John walked in with Scarlett on his arm.
Rings on both their fingers.
Every Pack member out there froze and stared.
John stepped into the yard and made it official, right in front of everyone.
“Look, a lot’s happened these last three days. I’ve done a lot of thinking. Maybe I’ve had the wrong girl this
whole time.”
“Today, Scarlett and I are claiming each other.”
He turned to look at me.
“As for Violet, I’ll handle it through proper channels. Through the law.”
“I’m not bowing to some old superstition, and I’m sure as hell not trading a bond just to save somebody’s life.”
I gathered up the heavy skirt of my veil and walked toward him, one step at a time.
“John. If you’re free enough to bond with somebody,
why can’t you bond with me first and save my life instead?”
His brow creased.
“See, this is exactly the problem, Violet.”
“You think it’s cute, using something that doesn’t even exist to guilt me?”
“That’s half the reason I decided on Scarlett last night.
She’s never once pressured me into anything. She just gets me.”
There was nothing left to say. Nothing was going to
change his mind at this point.
Elder Moonsong, the highest authority this Pack had, stepped forward.
“Time’s up, John.”
“When the Groom wants a bride, nobody gets to keep her.”
They loaded me into that coffin and carried me, swaying the whole way, down to the edge of Black
Hollow River.
John turned to argue with Elder Moonsong.
Scarlett walked up and covered her mouth, laughing softly.
“Violet. You were never anything more than John’s
backup plan whenever he got bored.”
“Lily was mine for seven years. So was he.”
“Dog or mate, he always ends up picking me.”
She stepped back and started wailing on cue.
“Killing Lily wasn’t enough for you? Now you’re pulling this haunted–river act to guilt John too?”
I couldn’t hold it in any longer.
I lunged and grabbed her by the collar.
“Shut your mouth, Scarlett.”
We tore into each other right there on the bank.
She grabbed my sleeve, screaming for help.
“John! Help me, please!”
“She’s jealous of us! She’s the one who killed Lily!”
“Now she’s trying to push me in the river too!”
John heard her and came running.
“Violet, what exactly is losing it right now supposed to fix?”
“Let go of her and I’ll forget this ever happened.”
That’s when the wind picked up over Black Hollow
River out of absolutely nowhere.
The coffin on the bank flipped over. The water churned and rose in violent swells.
My veil went impossibly heavy all at once, crushing the air right out of my lungs.
Like a hundred drowned hands were dragging me under at the same time.
“It’s here! The Groom is here!”
“He’s furious! He’s come to collect his bride!”
Every Pack member scattered backward, terrified.
Scarlett couldn’t stop crying.
“John, I’m scared. I don’t want to end up like Lily.”
John lunged forward and grabbed her with both hands, holding on for dear life.
The three of us were all hanging there, right over the edge of that tilting bank.
But he was closer to her. He was always going to be closer to her.
Even now, even at the very end, I was still the one he’d drop first.
In the middle of that screaming wind, my tears just stopped.
All these years, and what exactly had I even been holding onto?
I looked at him and said it, quiet.
“Go on, John. Be happy.”
The next second, I let go.
The blood–dyed veil billowed out above the water like
some dying flower, and I dropped straight down into the current.
“VIOLET!”