Chapter 33
It was the morning of the following day – Miranda's wedding day. All through the night, she'd been dreaming about how this day would turn out to be, and now it had finally come.
'Just live through it, dear,' she heard Lily's voice say. 'Live through it all.'
She'd just gotten up when Audrey barged into her bedroom, her expression one of worry. "What is it?" Miranda asked her.
"I just saw a few cars drive into the compound, Miranda. The middle one held the badge of the Night Shadow's Alpha."
"Walden is here? But what for? Why is he here now after ignoring the call to save my life back then?"
"I don't know, Miranda, but this can't be good. If he's coming here, it can only mean that he's found out about the wedding, and he's here to try to stop it."
"Are you sure? I mean it could just be a coincidence. He might just be visiting."
"Visiting?! If he didn't know about this marriage, if he didn't know you were here, he would have gone to the Silver Pack instead to try to save you. I don't think this is just a visit, Miranda. Is this how he usually comes when he visits? With so many soldiers?"
Miranda went over to her bedroom window and looked outside. She saw the escorts that had come along with Walden. She even spotted his Beta coming out of the vehicle too. She hated to admit it, but Audrey was right. This wasn't just an ordinary visit.
"Can you see? Can you see what I'm talking about? If he tries to stop this marriage, it might bring about a war between the Night Shadow and Silver Packs, especially if one of them kills the other! This is bad, Miranda. This is really bad!"
"No!"
Audrey looked at her, perplexed. "No? What do you mean by 'no', Miranda?"
"It won't happen. The two packs won't fight when they know they both have something to lose. There'll be no war."
The look of surprise on Audrey's face was once again replaced with one of worry. "What are you talking about, Miranda? This is no time for irrelevant words. What do you mean there will be no war when you yourself have just seen what's going on downstairs?"
"This is a move well calculated by Walden. He came here to try to win me back. He knows that if he's successful, the Silver Pack's Alpha will do nothing about it, unless he wants to fight for my hand, and given the situation of the rogue wars everyone is preparing for, it would be a foolish thing to do. He'll have no choice but to leave us alone."
"So... So you're saying? You're saying that you can still back off from this marriage, if you don't want it?"
"Yes. As long as I make sure never to step into the Silver Pack territory again, I can."
"Oh Miranda! This is good news! So, you don't have to marry that ferocious Alpha after all! You don't have to give up your men! This marriage doesn't have to hold because Walden is here to fight for you! He wants you to marry him instead!"
Miranda smirked. "That won't be happening, Audrey, because Walden has done nothing but waste his time by coming here. This marriage will hold. I'll be getting married to the Silver Pack's Alpha today."
***
After bathing and getting dressed, Miranda went downstairs to meet with Walden in the meeting room where he was waiting for her. They greeted each other, and after Miranda sat down in front of him, Walden didn't waste time in speaking straight out.
"What's this I hear about a wedding, Miranda?"
"How does that have anything to do with you, Walden? Didn't you get the message I passed through your Beta? It's over between us!"
"Miranda, I'm sorry about what happened between us, but you can't do this! You cannot marry the Silver Pack's Alpha! It'll be the biggest mistake you'll ever make in your life!"
"The biggest mistake I ever made was agreeing to enter into a union with you and turning a blind eye to all that you and Samara have been doing. I would have been running a fool's errand by getting married to you, Walden."
Her words hurt him, but he let out an empty laugh, trying not to let it show. "Oh, so you think that Alpha Damian will make a finer groom, huh? You think he's a much better person than I am?"
"Not that I think, I know that he is. He might be cold and tough, but he's a much better person than you are. He's a great leader, and he'll never do half the things you did... He'd never let a woman play with his head the way you do."
"If you're talking about Samara, then please leave her out of it. She has done nothing wrong except for being a good friend to me. Don't shift the focus away from the Devil in sheep's clothing we're talking about. Alpha Damian is the real enemy here."
"No, Walden, you're mistaken. YOU are the real Devil. I still can't believe that you left me to die in captivity even after receiving the message from Alpha Damian. You never came, and if it weren't for his good heart, he would have killed me by now. And now you come here, trying to claim what never belonged to you!"
Walden slapped his hand on his head in frustration. "What message? Huh Miranda? What message? Oh, let me see here... Did he tell you that he sent me a message?"
Miranda nodded firmly. "Yes, I asked him to send you a messenger to head to the Silver Pack territory with the official seal of the Night Shadow Pack's Alpha to verify my claim as the Lotus Princess. I'd unknowingly stepped into the Silver Pack territory a few days earlier and I was captured by his guards. Damian didn't believe I was who I said I was, so he needed someone with authority apart from my sick father to vindicate me. I told him to send the message to you and also inform you that our engagement would be reestablished if you came, but you never did! You let me die there, Walden! Damian isn't the monster here, you are!"
Another empty laugh from Walden. "Ha- Ha! Is that what he told you? Did he really tell you that he sent me any message?"
"I've already told you what happened, Walden. There's no need for me to keep repeating myself, if you didn't hear me properly. Now, please if you'll be on your way, I have to get married today."
"Miranda, you'll be making a deal with the Devil if you get married to that man today. And as for the message he claimed to have sent me, I think I need to vindicate myself of your false accusation that I never came for you."
Miranda raised a brow. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm about to set the record straight about your so-called husband-to-be, Miranda. You said he claimed to have sent a messenger. He sent someone to me quite alright, but not to deliver any message about you being in captivity. Instead, he sent two assassins to kill me."
The words shocked her so hard that she almost jumped up. "What?!"
"Yes, that's right, Miranda. The man you're about to get married to is nothing but a ruthless killing machine."