Concubine

~Aria~

“You soured his mood!” Bertha sneered at me the moment Damon walked out. 

My fingers curled. I turned towards her, pushing the nice, gentle me aside. Goddess! I'd never felt this level of urge to strangle life out of someone before. 

“It's our wedding night! You could have had him anytime else, why this night!”

“Point of correction, he only marked you. Didn't you hear him? Until you prove yourself worthy, he would never wed you or accept you as his Luna,” she smirked, her lips curling up. 

“You are only but a concubine. His whore and nothing else,” I sneered, my chest rising. 

She chuckled. “Despite that, I have his heart. He would go to war for me. But for you, he'd not move a finger even if you are trapped in the snarls of the worst enemy,” she countered, her tone mocking and her eyes filled with scorn. 

Bitter bile climbed to my throat. “You think?” I challenged, even though a tiny part of me shamefully agreed. At least with the last part of her statement. And with the things I've experienced so far.

“Don't overestimate your worth in his life. The crown? The title? Even if you ever get them, they’d mean nothing. You are invisible to him and will always be.”

And just like that, my chest deflated. My wolf moaned softly, in a bid to comfort me. 

But it only made me sadder. 

I practically dragged myself back to my chambers. I lay in bed and forced myself to sleep. 

The next day, it was Beatrice's movements while cleaning the room that woke me. 

“It's a brand new day! Come on, let's get you ready for your duties.”

“Duties?” I asked, rolling away from my plush pillow.

“First, you will visit the pack school. You have to take some courses. Now that you are the Luna, or at least would be soon, you have to learn Pack politics, combat and maybe a bit of others too. Not just that, you also have a meeting with the she-wolves later and–”

I propped myself against the bed frame, Beatrice's words flying over my head. 

“Pack duties, pack politics or whatever, I have no interest,” I said, trying not to sound bitter.

For someone that Pack politics reduced to what I was suffering at the moment, I would never involve myself with it on my own accord. 

My Father was the Alpha of my Pack. He died helping the pack but what did he get in return? Framing for a crime he didn't commit. And to pay for it, I was selected to be the Alpha’s bride to stop him from attacking our Pack and build a relationship. 

I'm never getting involved in any of that again. 

“You don't have a choice,” Beatrice muttered with a sigh. Before I could protest, she was already pushing me into the shower. 

As the warm water ran over me, the events of yesterday reared up in my mind. 

Did Damon really not recognize me?

Even if I was an entirely different person, did he have to be so cold to me?

Why does it seem like he hated me? Like I'd wronged him. He seemed so different from the cheerful, kind boy I met two years ago. How could he change so drastically? 

“Why don't you ask him?” My wolf purred calmly. 

But I couldn't. 

It was obvious that I was nothing but an enemy to him now.

“Hurry up! You'll be late. You are riding with the Alpha and you can't keep him waiting!” Beatrice called from outside. 

Riding with the Alpha?

Goosebumps covered my skin at Beatrice's notice. I quickly rounded up my bath and hurried out. 

“What do you mean I'll be riding with the Alpha?” I asked, my insides already sensing the worst. 

“I told you. He's still young and learning the ropes of a leader. Obviously, he still has to attend some classes. When he's not being the Alpha, of course,” Beatrice explained as she shoved the blue lacy gown she'd selected for me to wear down my neck. 

“Still he–”

My next words were swallowed as she abruptly zipped me up. 

Grudgingly, I prepared. But then I saw this as another opportunity to know if truly Damon did not recognize me. Even maybe find out if and what I'd done so wrong to warrant the coldness from him. 

“This is as far as I go,” Beatrice said as we stopped in front of the Alpha's chambers. “The Alpha should be out soon. The guards, with some designated personal Alpha maids, would go with you. But just in case you need me going with you–”

“It's okay, Beatrice. Thank you. I can take care of myself there,” I said, once again grateful for all her help. 

When Damon didn't come out after I'd waited for over ten minutes, I became confused. 

Did he know I was waiting here for him?

Some maids trooped out of his chambers but none went in. I could have asked any of them but they have been nothing short of rude ever since I came here. I couldn't waste my breath on them so I entered his chamber on my own.

Bertha was helping him dress up when I walked in forcing me to halt in my tracks. 

“Why are you here?” He asked coldly the moment he sensed me. 

Bertha glanced at me, her eyes taking a mischievous glint. She leaned in closer to him and brushed her fingers on his chest seductively as she buttoned his shirt. 

I swallowed painfully. 

Keeping the bitterness in my throat hidden, I answered. “Pack duties obviously,”

Immediately, Damon spun, as if I'd said an abominable thing. 

“Pack duties?! On whose orders?” He slammed.

From his eyes, to the way his body clenched, scared me. 

“Do nothing,” he sneered. “You came here as my bride and that's all you'll ever be. Not my wife and never my Luna!”

For the first time, I understood there was a difference between being a bride and a wife. 

Fuming, he returned to dressing up. 

“Oh darling, let me help you,” Beatrice cooed as she helped him. As she did, she glanced towards me, her lips cocking up. 

Mocking me. Daring me. 

When she finished, she brushed her lips on his. 

He returned it, grabbing her waist as they kissed each other with reckless abandon. 

She broke the kiss but neither of them let go. Her hands trailed his chest to his groin area where it rested. “I was going to please you before you leave. I can still do it,” she spoke in a sultry tone. 

At this point, I've had enough. 

My wolf roared, clawing at my walls for freedom. Freedom to pounce on the bìxch before me. Freedom to end this damn useless, hopeless thing called marriage that I'm in!

But my mother's words flashed in my mind, forcing me to stop. 

“Remember to hold it in, Aria. No matter what, you must never allow yourself to be consumed by anger. Never.” 

Did Mom already know all this would happen when I was sent here? Did she know I'd be humiliated like this?

As Bertha tried to unhook his belt, he stopped her. 

As if that would be any reprieve for my already dashed pride. 

“I need to leave now. Tell Logan to prepare the car.”

“Yes, my Alpha,” she purred.

He walked into the inner room and shut the door. 

Like I wasn't there. Like he didn't just humiliate me yet again in front of his concubine. 

“Told ya,” Bertha smirked, her twisted smile spreading. “No one makes him feel the way I do. No one can ever take my place in his life. Not even you, little bịxch.”