Heart pounding, I emerged in the wedding gown, only to find my sister Sienna’s tail coiled around my fiancé Reid’s. The tail ring—meant for me, symbol of our bond for no one else—was already on Sienna’s. I parted my lips to demand an explanation, the stylist swept past me with my bridal hairpin crown. “This way, please, bride,” she said, gesturing toward Sienna. Sienna smiled—a shy, victorious tilt of her lips—and followed. And Reid? My fiancé. He didn’t deny it, not even a blink. “Gale, bring the bouquet over,” Sienna turned to me and said, as if she were the bride walking down the aisle days later. I didn’t move. Then Reid walked over, frowning. He pulled the bouquet from my stiff finger. The lily of the valley—I’d spent two hours choosing each stem—swung once in his grip. Petals scattered across the floor. “Move, Gale. Go check the invitations or something. I’ll find you when Sienna and I finish the shoot.” I watched him walk toward Sienna, and Cole—my childhood friend—raised his camera and pressed the shutter, sealing their betrayal. Ninety-nine previews lit up the screen. Every single frame held Sienna and Reid. Not one of me. “Gale…” Cole squinted through the viewfinder. “Just step back two feet. You’re blocking the key light.” Was I？ I stepped back. Two feet. Then three. Until my shoulder blades met the wall. The wall was cold. In that moment, I finally saw how utterly extraneous I was. If this wedding didn’t need me in it—I wouldn’t be at it. … After changing, I picked up my leather bag from the wooden bench near the door. I pushed open the heavy door. The brass latch clicked. No one looked up. Outside, the wind carried the scent of wet pine and distant asphalt. I turned. Through the glass of the storefront, I saw them. Sienna twirled before the mirror, Reid at her back, his paw cinching the harness at her waist. Cole’s shutter clicked five times. I walked out to my truck, starting the engine. A messenger from the Hall of Council found me. “Hi, Gale. The matebond scroll—have you settled on the pattern?” “Or we can let Sienna choose. She has an excellent eye for design.” My breath fogged the windshield. I answered. “Let her.” “Perfect. Will do.” He left. I exhaled slowly, opening my phone for directions. The group chat started flooding in. Cole was uploading the photos. I tapped the first image. The golden light hit the side of Sienna’s red-furred face, illuminating the tips of Reid’s wolf collar. They looked like a true pair of mates. A bitter laugh escaped my throat. I drove back to my den. On the pantry shelf, a scrap of hide read: Wedding—7 Days. I peeled the scrap off the shelf, rolled it tight, and tossed it into the trash.
I didn’t open my phone until the next afternoon. The group chat was past a hundred unread messages. I tapped Sienna’s audio note. Her voice was light, accompanied by the rustle of her tail. “Gale, I changed the mating chant for the entrance. The one you chose was too heavy. A mating ceremony should have some rhythm.” Right below it, Reid’s text: Agreed. The old one didn’t fit. But the old chant was the one my parents had shared before they went cold. It was the only trace of their scent they had left me. Reid knew that. Sienna did too. Sienna’s text followed: Gale doesn’t really care about these details anyway. She doesn’t understand them. We’ll handle it. Reid: Right. I stared at the screen. Nobody in the chat asked why my icon remained silent. … I opened my direct messages with Reid. The last text was from the night before the fitting. I had written: The ceremony date is too close. I felt kind of nervous. He had sent a head-pat sticker. Nothing else. No follow-up after I walked out of the store yesterday. In the group chat, he had sent one message: What happened, Gale? Too nervous, so you went home early? No one answered. I didn’t expect them to. Sienna had quickly posted a picture of herself in the gown with the tail ring glinting: Fitting went great! Gown is locked in! The thread immediately moved on to the floral arrangements and the feast menu. My phone screen lit up with a video call from Sienna. I swiped to answer. She was sitting in a high-backed chair, a stylist brushing out her copper ruff. “Gale, you’re taking too long with the stylist,” she said, squinting at the camera. “I went ahead and booked the lynx team. And I’m testing the look for you now.” I opened my mouth to speak. I told you two weeks ago my friend from the northern ridge was doing my grooming. Did you ever ask if I wanted a lynx to touch my fur? But I said none of it. I knew what Cole would say. “You’re the eldest. Let your sister have her way.” Cole was my childhood friend, but his ears always twitched toward Sienna’s voice. When Reid first began courting me, he said he liked my quiet nature. He called me steady. But after he met Sienna, he started talking different. He started saying a she-wolf should be sharp, lively, and quick to show her teeth. I remembered the night we were standing by the river boundary. “Don’t stand so close to her,” I had said. He laughed, rubbing the space behind my ears. “She’s your sister, Gale. You want me to treat her like a stray?” And that was that. No one brought it up again. I looked out the window of my den. The sun was hitting the bare floorboards. I remembered playing “Den and Territory” when we were cubs. Every time they ran off to find a new clearing, they left the scattered pine needles behind. I would gather them alone, packing them back into the basket. No one ever looked back. They just left me alone. They always did.
I called my landlord. “You’re really leaving, Gale?” his voice came through the receiver. “It’s been four years.” Four years. When Reid and I first started dating, he had suggested moving in together. Sienna said a pre-mating cohabitation was bad luck, and I had wanted to keep my own boundary anyway. So I rented this den near his home, hoping to catch his scent more often. He had agreed, staying over once in a while. “Yes,” I said. “I’m leaving today.” “Leave the key in the mailbox,” the landlord said. Not long after I hung up, the front door swung open. Reid and Sienna walked in, their shoulders brushing. Sienna looked back at him, her tail flicking with a light, rhythmic tap against his leg. “So it’s settled. The room with the sun-ledge in the new house is mine. But we have to change the drapes to pink.” I stood in the center of the kitchen. “If I say no?” I asked. Sienna paused. Her ears twitched back, then drooped. She looked down at her paws. Reid frowned. “What is wrong with you, Gale? You’ve shared your territory with her your whole life. Now you’re keeping count of a single room?” “I’m not keeping count,” I said. “Then what does this mean?” he huffed. “She’s your sister. It’s a big house. Why let a good room sit empty?” “It’s a mating house,” I said. “Is she mating you?” Reid stared at me, his jaw tightening. Sienna tucked her tail close, her head bowing. “Gale, I just wanted to be near you… It’s fine. I won’t move in.” Reid looked at her, his voice softening before he turned back to me. “Look at what you’ve done. You make her back down with one word. She’s your sister, Gale. Can’t you think of her for once?” “Then Who thinks of me?” I asked. “I got her the record-keeper spot at your clan’s hall. I made sure she had a steady share of the hunt. And I—” “Enough,” Reid cut me off. He stepped closer, his shadow falling over me. “You’re keeping score. She’s your sister. I only look out for her because of you. Don’t be petty.” “Petty?” I repeated the word. Then I laughed—and it sounded nothing like me. I didn’t say anything else. Sienna pulled lightly at his sleeve. “Reid, don’t. Gale is just having a rough cycle.” Reid patted her paw. “I’ve made the decision, Gale. Sienna is moving in. It’s better if you two stay together.” I nodded once. Then I went back to packing my trunk. Behind me, Sienna’s voice was small, but clear. “Can I really have the pink drapes, Reid?” “Whatever you want,” Reid said. … In the afternoon, I drove to Vance Logistics. My bag held Reid’s building pass, office keys, and the client ledger he had asked me to sort out. The receptionist at the front desk smiled. “Hi Gale. Let me buzz Reid’s office.” “No need,” I said, putting the bag on the counter. “Just give him this.” I turned toward the exit. As I passed the glass corridor, Reid’s voice drifted through a half-open door. “I’ll take you to get your claws polished on Saturday?” He laughed, a low, rumbling sound. “I know. You want to look perfect for the ceremony. I’ll take care of it. I’ll tell Gale.” My fingers went stiff against my purse. We had agreed to do the one thing we never got around to during our courtship—a run to the ridge to watch the sunrise. We had postponed it from winter to spring, and finally set it for this Saturday. Now it was gone again. I didn’t wait to hear the rest. I walked down the concrete stairs, got into my truck. And I took the highway north toward Blackwood Valley.
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