#Chapter 193: The Venue

DEREK The old estate was exactly as I remembered it. Grand stone columns. Arched windows. The kind of place that looked impressive in photographs but felt cold in person—the kind of venue an Alpha chose because it was expected, because tradition demanded something grand and impersonal, because asking your bride what she actually wanted would have required a vulnerability I hadn't been capable of. I should have asked Elena. But I hadn't. I'd made every decision without her and called it duty. I parked the car and killed the engine. Elena sat in the passenger seat, staring up at the building with an expression I couldn't read. "I haven't been back here since," she said quietly. "Neither have I." We got out. The air was cooler here, autumn settling into the stones. I'd had the estate closed after that day—couldn't stand the thought of anyone else using it. Six years of no one coming or going. The gravel path was overtaken with weeds, and a strip of silver drapery still hung