My Gown Had No Gems, So I Walked Out of My Own Bonding Ceremony novel · Chapter 23 of 32

Chapter 23: The Coward's Answer

My father walked up the aisle of the chapel with his hat in his hands.

It took him a long time.

He passed Margot.

He passed the pews where the Snow Moon wolves sat with their eyes on the floor.

He stopped a pace in front of the altar.

He did not look at my mother.

"Elder," he said. "I have lied to this Council three times, and I will tell it the truth now."

"Alpha Winslow."

"My wife told me every spring that Clara had sent the box back." His voice was rough and slow. "She said there was a note in the lid. She said, Clara wants no charity from Ironwood, and it's not our place to push."

"Did you see the note?"

"Once. The first year. It was in a neat round hand, and it was signed with a C." He closed his eyes. "I never saw one again. Lorna said she had burned them, so I wouldn't be hurt."

"And the stones?"

"She gave them to me in a velvet bag, for the girls. She said, Gordon, it would be a waste. I set them on Margot's skirt, and then Cecily's." His hands trembled on his hat. "I knew that was not right. I knew it, every time."

"But you did it."

"I did it, because it was easier than asking."

Nobody in the chapel made a sound.

"The morning of the bonding, she told me Clara would stand up in the circle and say she had never been given a single gem. She told me what to say." He opened his eyes and looked at me. "Say she sent them all back, Lorna said. If you say it loudly enough, no one will think to count the boxes."

I felt Jasper's anger beat in my own chest, hot and slow.

"And you said it," I said.

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