Chapter 27. Fake

Tristan

The sound of the piano grated on my ears. Everything about this felt suffocating.

The hall, now transformed for the ceremony, felt even worse.

After weeks of denial, days of resignation and acceptance. It was finally here. My mating ceremony.

I hated every second of it.

Being here brought me back to my first mating ceremony which was ironic when it was nothing like this. There wasn't any fanfare. It was rushed and full of nerves, only a few days after her 18th birthday.

We had discovered that we were mates in front of the pack during a celebration and just like that, our fates were sealed. I remembered being angry at the suddenness of having to cater to her when I barely knew her aside from the complaints of her parents and Alyn's comments.

She was just 18, a few years younger than I was, yet she'd looked so composed. Now with clearer eyes, I had no doubt that back then, she must have been scared.

Why had I antag