I'm Getting Married but the Groom is not You

Allison’s POV

The faint thump of bass echoed through the walls like a steady heartbeat, each note rattling my desk lamp. Downstairs, the Hawthorn Pack was throwing one of its usual loud parties — another excuse for the Alphas’ sons to parade Trisha around like a fragile little moonflower.

I sat in the dim glow of my bedroom, my fingers cold despite the warmth of the summer air. The phone pressed against my ear felt heavy.

“Allison,” my mother’s voice came soft but firm on the other end, “the threats against you in Plum Blossom are no longer there. Your father and I… we feel it’s time you came home.”

I didn’t reply. My gaze stayed fixed on the half-moon outside my window, glowing over the Hawthorn forest like an omen.

Luna Althea, my mother, hesitated before adding, “We’ve arranged a marriage for you, sweetheart. For your safety… and because you are who you are. You know we’ve always tried to protect you. But the pack’s ready now. Strong enough to keep you safe. So… will you return to Plum Blossom and marry your fiancé?”

Her words settled heavy in my chest, but I stayed silent.

“If you don’t want to,” she continued quickly, “we’ll speak to the other family. We’ll cancel the engagement if that’s what you want, my dear.”

Still silence.

She sighed on the other end, clearly thinking I was about to refuse again — like I always did before.

But this time, something inside me shifted. The quiet realization that there was nothing left here worth fighting for.

I adjusted the phone in my hand and said, calm and even, “I’ll come back and marry him.”

There was a sharp inhale on the other end.

“You… agree?”

“I agree,” I repeated, my tone detached. “But I need a little more time here. A week, at most. I need to finish a few things in Hawthorn before I leave.”

“Allison…” my mother’s voice wavered, full of surprise and relief.

“Go ahead and start the wedding preparations,” I added. “I’ll be home in time.”

We exchanged a few more words — she fussed over details as mothers do — before I hung up.

The music downstairs drifted back into my awareness. Louder now, the crowd singing Happy Birthday.

I didn’t have to wonder for whom. Of course it was for Trisha.

A knock at my door broke me out of my thoughts. I already knew who it would be before I opened it.

There she stood, Trisha — the perfect picture of innocence. Her big doe eyes shining, her dark hair curled just so. She wore a pale sky blue dress that made her look even more fragile than usual, and in her hands… a peanut pie.

I stared at it for half a beat. She knew I was allergic.

“Alli,” she cooed, smiling sweetly. “Sister… I brought you a slice of my birthday pie. Come down and join the party, won’t you?”

Her voice was syrupy, affectionate on the surface but thin enough for me to see right through it.

“No thanks,” I said coldly, folding my arms. “I’ve got work to do. Have fun.”

Her eyes immediately shimmered with unshed tears, her lower lip quivering. “You… don’t like me, do you?” she whispered pitifully. “Is that why you always avoid me?”

I clenched my jaw. Moon above, I hadn’t done anything to this girl — and yet she always managed to look like I’d ripped her heart out.

“Trisha,” I said flatly, “save the act. It might work on Ryan and Warren, but it doesn’t work on me.”

I reached for the door, ready to close it in her face. But her hand shot out, blocking the frame.

“Allison, wait—”

I glared down at her slender fingers pressed to the wood.

“I just… wanted you to have this,” she insisted, holding up the pie again. “Please…”

That was it. My patience snapped. I smacked the plate out of her hands. It shattered on the floor, crumbs scattering.

She gasped theatrically and immediately dropped to her knees, trying to pick up the shards with her bare hands.

Predictably — and probably intentionally — she cut herself.

Her pale hand started to bruise and bleed, and she let out a delicate cry, her tears finally falling.

And of course — because fate hated me — that was the exact moment Ryan and Warren came charging up the stairs.

“Allison!” Warren barked, his sharp voice like a whip crack.

They rushed to Trisha, who whimpered and showed them her injured hand.

Warren rounded on me instantly. “What the hell is wrong with you?! You don’t have to like her, but this? This is petty and cruel!”

Ryan’s eyes met mine, colder than the full moon. “It’s her birthday, Allison,” he said quietly. “You went too far.”

I swallowed down the bitter laugh that threatened to escape. Too far? When she purposely tried to give me something I’m allergic to? Who went too far between the two of us?

Then both of them softened their expressions as they turned back to her.

Ryan crouched, gently cradling her injured fingers. “Does it still hurt? Come on — let me help you clean this up. We’ll get some salve on it.”

Warren knelt beside her too, his expression full of guilt. “Don’t cry, Trisha. After the party, I’ll get you that a fresh deer from the woods. Okay? Anything to cheer you up.”

Trisha sniffled and looked up at them both with watery eyes. “Thank you… both of you.”

Then she turned to Warren, her voice so small and sweet it made me want to vomit. “Warren… don’t go hunting anymore. It’s dangerous. I… I’d worry about you.”

Warren’s shoulders stiffened, but he nodded without hesitation. “If that’s what you want. I’ll stop.”

And just like that, they led her away — one on either side, hovering protectively, utterly devoted.

I stood there in the doorway, the shadows of the hall stretching long around me, watching them disappear down the stairs.

For a moment, I felt like I’d woken from a dream.

Because years ago… it was me standing between them.

I’d grown up here in Hawthorn, sent from Plum Blossom at ten years old because my identity made me a target there and even in the neighboring territories who secretly heard about the news of my awakening. Ryan and Warren had been my world from the first day.

They’d walked me to school, torn up love notes from other wolves, glared at anyone who even thought about asking me to dance.

Even as adults, one on track to be Alpha, the other set to serve the Wolf King himself — they still stayed. Bought the houses next to mine, knocked down the walls so we could all live like one packhouse.

They’d cried when my parents wanted me to go home. “Wherever Allison is,” they’d said, “we’ll be there.”

I stayed because of them.

But that was before Trisha.

Trisha, the shy little Omega whose father had disgraced his bloodline and left her a pariah.

I pitied her once. Took her under my wing.

And she took everything.

Ryan started throwing parties for her, even though he hated crowds. Warren quit hunting at her slightest frown, even though he lived for it.

They stopped competing for me. And started competing for her.

I’d once thought I might choose one of them to stand at my side when I became Luna.

But now? I see things clearly.

I looked at my phone and set a countdown timer. Seven days. Seven days, and I’d be gone.

For good.

From now on, I wouldn’t disturb the three of them anymore. And they could keep their little moonflower.