Chapter 102: Exposed
Leonardo’s POV
I quickly dialed Alessandro’s contact while pacing up and down my room.
A knock came on my door, but I didn’t answer. Then it came again.
“Yeah, who is it?” I called out.
“Sir, Alpha John is looking for you. The wedding is about to start.”
I clenched my jaw, my grip tightening around my phone. Alessandro still hadn’t answered, and now I was being summoned to the very event I was trying to stop.
Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to stay calm. I had to play along, at least for now.
“Tell him I’ll be there in a minute,” I replied, my voice steady despite the storm inside me.
“Yes, sir.” The footsteps faded as the messenger left.
I tried calling Alessandro one more time. Still no answer.
Damn it.
Something wasn’t right. Aurora wasn’t answering, Alessandro was missing, and Damian’s safety was uncertain.
I had no choice but to head to the ceremony, but I wasn’t going to let this wedding happen.
Not today. Not ever.
With one final glance at my phone, I grabbed my suit jacket and walked out the door, ready to face whatever was coming.
*****
When I got into the wedding hall, my father, Alpha John, was standing and looking for me.
When he sighted me, there was relief on his face and anger as well but I didn’t care.
I wasn’t about to spend the rest of my life with that witch, Lena.
My father walked up to me as I approached the altar.
“Where the hell have you been? The guards have been looking for you,” he said, his tone angry.
I shook my head. “Nowhere, Father. I was just getting ready,” I told him.
I wasn’t about to tell him what we had found out. My father wasn’t someone who believed in theories.
He believed in facts and evidence, and that was what we were trying to get to stop this whole stupid wedding from taking place.
My father started searching the wedding hall with his eyes. Then he looked back at me.
“Where are your brothers?
Rafael, Gabriel, and Alessandro should be here. Where the hell are they? The wedding is about to start.”
“They will be here soon, Father,” I said, hoping and praying they would.
Alessandro had told me to play along until they got there, but it had already been two hours, and they still hadn’t returned.
I was beginning to wonder if I should just walk out of the hall. That was when the door opened, and Lena, in her white wedding dress, walked in hand in hand with Alpha Maverick, her father.
The pack members stood up as they looked at them. I stood there, shouting at the top of my lungs in my mind for something to happen anything that would stop this freaking nightmare from happening.
As Lena walked down the aisle, her face beaming with a smug smile, I felt my entire body tense up.
She knew she had won or at least, she thought she had. The weight of the moment pressed down on me, but I forced myself to stay still, my hands clenched into fists at my sides.
Alpha Maverick was grinning, clearly pleased with himself. The pack members whispered among themselves, some excited, others confused about the noticeable absence of my brothers.
I couldn’t help but wonder what was taking them so long. Every second that passed without their arrival only increased the unease bubbling inside me.
Lena reached the altar, her eyes locking onto mine as she gave me a sickeningly sweet smile.
“You look tense, my love,” she whispered, barely loud enough for me to hear.
“Second thoughts?”
I forced a smirk. “Wouldn’t you love to know?”
The officiant cleared his throat, beginning the ceremony. Every word he spoke felt like another nail sealing my fate, another step toward the doom I was desperately trying to avoid.
Lena kept looking at me with a smirk on her face. She then leaned closer to whisper to me.
“You guys think you can beat me, but I am always one step ahead of you.”
I looked at her. “Where is Aurora? I know you took her.”
She smirked again. “If you want to see your precious Aurora, then behave and don’t mess up my wedding.”
My jaw clenched, my hands curling into fists at my sides. I wanted nothing more than to grab her and demand she tell me where Aurora was, but I couldn’t afford to make a scene not yet. I needed to stall, to think.
The officiant continued speaking, his voice fading into the background as my mind raced.
Where could she have taken Aurora?
Was she safe?
I glanced toward the doors, hoping praying that Alessandro, Rafael, or Gabriel would barge in any second with the evidence we needed.
But they didn’t.
Lena took my silence as victory. Her smirk widened, and she leaned in once more.
“Say ‘I do,’ Leonardo,” she murmured.
“Or you’ll never see her again.”
My heart beated. I had to make a choice.
My breathing was steady, but inside, I was raging. She had Aurora. I knew it.
But without proof, without my brothers here to back me up, I was trapped.
The officiant turned to me, his voice calm and authoritative.
“Do you, Leonardo, take Lena to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
Lena’s fingers squeezed mine, her nails digging into my skin as a warning.
I hesitated.
Silence filled the hall. I could feel the weight of my father’s gaze, the watchful eyes of the pack, and the smug satisfaction radiating from Lena.
And then—
BANG!
The doors to the wedding hall burst open, slamming against the walls. Gasps and murmurs spread through the crowd.
I turned sharply, my heart leaping with hope.
There they were Alessandro, Rafael, and Gabriel, their faces set with determination. But they weren’t alone.
Damian stood between them, bruised but very much alive.
Lena’s grip on my hand went slack. For the first time, I saw something I never expected from her.
Fear.
“We object to this wedding. Leonardo cannot marry Lena.” Alessandro said as he walked towards the altar.
“What is the meaning of this?” Alpha John asked as he stood up, his face filled with anger.
“Father, Leonardo cannot marry, Lena and we have evidence to support why she isn’t the perfect person to be his mate.”
Lena stiffened beside me, but I didn’t care I was already stepping away from her.
My father’s gaze hardened as he turned toward Alessandro.
“This better not be one of your reckless interruptions, Alessandro.”
“Oh, it’s not,” Alessandro replied coolly.
He lifted the phone in his hand, tapping the screen.
“This is a recording of Damian’s confession the truth about Lena, her father, and their real intentions for this alliance.”
The entire hall fell silent.
Alessandro pressed play.
Damian’s weak but clear voice filled the room.
“Lena and Alpha Maverick have been planning this from the beginning.
The wedding isn’t just about joining packs it’s about taking control. Once the marriage is sealed, they plan to take over Alpha John’s pack and remove him as Alpha and making Lena’s heir the next Alpha of the alliance pack and later have Leonardo killed since he is just the puppet to their plan.”
Gasps and murmurs erupted throughout the crowd.
I turned to Lena, watching the color drain from her face.
She clenched her fists.
This is ridiculous. You expect everyone to believe that?
For all we know, you might have faked the recording.”
Alessandro smirked.
“We also have a witness.”
He stepped aside, revealing Damian, who slowly made his way to the altar to face everyone.
“Lena and her father have been using me as their puppet.
One day, during the full moon, Lena and her father had me kidnapped and drugged me with a controlling substance that made me do their bidding.
They sent me to kill some female pack members to stir up tension in the pack, in order to pressure Alpha John into agreeing to the alliance.
She also sent me to attack Aurora, Alpha John’s stepdaughter, because she was close to Leonardo.”
Alpha Maverick stood up.
“That’s preposterous.”
Alpha John’s face darkened with fury. “Is this true?” he demanded, his voice carrying throughout the hall.
Damian turned to him, his face pained but determined.
“Yes, Alpha. I was under their control. I did horrible things because of them, but I swear on my life, I am telling the truth now.”
Gasps rippled through the audience.
Lena’s hands clenched into fists.
“This is all lies!” she snapped.
“You’re just trying to ruin my wedding because Leonardo still has feelings for Aurora!”
Alessandro scoffed.
“And you don’t? You were so desperate to keep him that you had to drug and manipulate people into doing your dirty work?”
Alpha Maverick slammed his hand on the table.
“This is ridiculous! My daughter is being framed! This so-called confession means nothing he’s a traitor and a liar!”
Gabriel stepped forward.
“Then how do you explain this?” He pulled out a small vial filled with a dark liquid.
“This is the same controlling drug that was used on Damian. We found it in Lena’s room.”
The hall erupted in murmurs.
Lena’s smirk faltered, her eyes looking toward her father.
“Father, say something!”
Alpha Maverick’s jaw tightened, but for the first time, he looked… uncertain.
Alpha John turned toward him. “Maverick, is this true?”
The tension in the room was suffocating.
And then, before anyone could react—