My Guardian Married My Sister But I’m His Alpha Chapter 06
Griffin froze.
Something shifted in his eyes, a ring of gold flaring at the edge of his pupils.
“Three years ago, you chose her,” Chiara said, her voice low and tight. “So choose her completely. Don’t wait for me at the airport. Don’t bring me flowers. Don’t tell me my room is still waiting. Have you ever stopped to think how that makes Francesca feel?”
Griffin said nothing.
The hand wearing the obsidian ring slowly clenched into a fist.
“She’s your wife. A Luna candidate,” Chiara drove the point home. “And I am just her sister. Please try to remember that.”
A faint cough echoed from the corridor.
Chiara turned.
Francesca stood a short distance away.
It was impossible to know how long she’d been there or how much she had heard.
But her expression was perfectly composed. She was still the gentle, considerate woman who always seemed to be thinking of others.
“Griffin,” she said softly, “why did you come out without a coat? It’s cold, and you’ve been pushing yourself with your Alpha pressure for years. Your stomach is already a wreck.”
She walked over, draped a suit jacket over his shoulders, and smoothed his collar.
The gesture was intimate, natural, something she had clearly done a thousand times before.
“Chiara,” she said, her tone light, “Grandpa is furious. I already spoke to him for you. You’ll meet with Tucker tomorrow.”
Chiara went still.
“What did you say?”
“I agreed for you,” Francesca said. “The Council is waiting for an answer. It’s just dinner, to see if your scents are compatible.”
That look on her face—the one that said *I’m doing this for your own good*—made Chiara’s stomach clench.
“I’m not in a bad mood,” Chiara said, her words precise. “I said I’m not going. What gives you the right to agree to a courtship on my behalf?”
Francesca’s eyelashes fluttered. She lowered her head, and her eyes instantly turned red.
A gust of wind made her sway, and she pressed a hand to her chest. Her already faint wolf-scent faltered, becoming so jagged that even the Guardians on duty glanced over.
Griffin moved in an instant.
He stepped forward, steadying her by the shoulders as he reined in his Alpha pressure. “It’s cold out here,” he said quietly. “Go inside.”
“But Chiara—”
“I’ll handle it.”
Francesca turned and went back into the house.
They were alone again.
After a few seconds of tense silence, Griffin spoke. “You shouldn’t talk to her like that. Her wolf can’t handle the stress.”
“She agreed to a courtship meeting for me with Riverbend, and I’m not allowed to object?”
“She’s not well—”
“So because she’s not well, she gets to decide who I marry?”
Chiara stared at him. “You signed an alliance with her because she wasn’t well, too, didn’t you?”
He didn’t answer.
A sudden, sickening thought occurred to her.
“Were you at the airport today because she asked you to be?”
Still, he said nothing.
The silence was a louder answer than words ever could be.
Chiara almost laughed.
“Griffin,” she said softly, “do you remember what you promised me?”
His throat worked.
“You said that no matter what happened, you would always be on my side. What about now?”
He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
Chiara didn’t wait any longer.
She turned and walked back inside.
In the sitting room, Francesca was perched on the sofa. The moment she saw Chiara, she stood, that gentle smile back in place.
“Chiara, tomorrow Mom and I will go with you to pick out a dress for your meeting with Tucker.”
“No need,” Chiara said. “I’m not going.”
Francesca’s eyes reddened again.
“Chiara, are you still upset about what happened between Griffin and me? I really—”
“That’s enough!”
Their mother hurried down the stairs, grabbing Francesca’s arm and glaring at Chiara.
“Your sister is in this state, and she’s still defending you. What did you do? Did you use your wolf pressure on her? What did you say?”
“Mom—”
“Don’t call me Mom!” She looked at Chiara as if she were a stranger. “You could have fallen for anyone, but you had to fall for your sister’s husband!”
A chill washed over Chiara.
“Her husband?” She laughed, a bitter, broken sound. “Three years ago, wasn’t he just the guardian Dad left for us?”
Both Francesca and their mother stiffened.
Heat burned behind Chiara’s eyes, and her voice began to shake.
“Mom, you only ever see Francesca. Her wolf is weak, so I have to step aside. She’s a Luna candidate, so I’m supposed to wish her well. Did you ever once stop to ask me what I wanted?”
By the end, her voice was raw with unshed tears.
Her mother’s expression shifted, her lips parting as if to speak.
Francesca tugged at her sleeve. “Mom…” she murmured.
It was as if their mother snapped back to herself.
She took a deep breath, and when she spoke again, her voice was eerily calm.
“You’ve always hated your sister. You think she stole the man you love and the Luna position that should have been yours. But there’s something you don’t know.”
She paused as Griffin walked back in from the garden, stopping in the doorway.
“It wasn’t your grandfather who forced them into the alliance.”
“Griffin went to the elders himself. He asked to sign a marriage alliance with Francesca.”
“He said he was willing to marry her and take on the responsibility of the Nightfall Pack. Only then did your grandfather agree.”
The living room fell utterly silent.
Slowly, Chiara turned to look at Griffin, who stood frozen in the doorway.