Chapter Two: An Unexpected Arrangement

Chapter Two: An Unexpected Arrangement

ARIANA

The morning hit me like a freight train.

I groaned, pressing the heel of my hand to my forehead as I cracked one eye open. My skull throbbed with every beat of my heart, and my tongue felt like sandpaper. Whiskey. Way too much whiskey.

Brilliant, Ariana. Real mature.

I rolled out of bed with all the grace of a corpse, cursing under my breath as my stomach lurched. The orphanage’s thin curtains did nothing to soften the assault of sunlight spilling across the room. Each ray felt like a personal vendetta.

I staggered toward the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face, gripping the porcelain sink until the dizziness passed. My reflection stared back, pale and wild-eyed, the mess of my red hair a dead giveaway that I’d lost control last night.

One night. One stupid night to forget everything and now reality was back with claws.

I dried my face and shuffled toward the dormitory hallway, praying no one saw me in this state. The floorboards groaned under my weight, and every creak felt like a warning.

I almost made it to my door when her voice sliced through the air.

“Ariana.”

Madame Clarisse stood at the end of the corridor like a shadow that had grown teeth. Her gray hair was pulled into its usual severe bun, her brown eyes hard as flint. She wore that permanent frown the one that said she’d been born disappointed and never recovered.

My stomach sank.

“Yes, Madame?” I murmured, forcing a smile that tasted like blood.

“Come. We need to talk.”

No good conversation ever started with those words.

I followed her down the hall to her office, my heart thudding against my ribs. The room smelled of old books and bitter tea, the walls lined with shelves that sagged under the weight of ledgers and files. A crucifix glared down at me from above the door, like even God wanted in on the judgment.

Madame Clarisse gestured to the chair across from her desk. “Sit.”

I did, gripping the arms to keep my hands from shaking.

“I heard about Riverside University,” she said after a beat, her voice clipped.

My pulse skipped. “Madame, I—”

“Save it. That won’t be an issue anymore.”

I blinked. “What?”

She folded her hands on the desk, her rings glinting in the slant of sunlight. “Your tuition is no longer your concern.”

Relief swept through me—sharp and sudden—only to crash into confusion. “I… I don’t understand. How?”

Her lips curved in something that wasn’t quite a smile. “You’ve been given an opportunity. One far greater than any university could provide.”

A chill crawled down my spine. “What kind of opportunity?”

Her gaze pinned me like a knife. “You’re getting married.”

For a moment, the words didn’t register. They just hung in the air, absurd and heavy.

“Married?” My laugh came out hollow. “That’s… funny. For a second, I thought you said—”

“I said you’re to be wed,” she cut in, her tone slicing through my denial. “To an alpha.”

The floor vanished beneath me. “What? No. No, that’s not—”

“It’s been arranged,” she said, like that explained everything. “The ceremony will take place in two days.”

My heart slammed against my ribs so hard it hurt. “Two days? Are you insane? I’m not— I can’t—”

“You can and you will.” Her voice was iron wrapped in silk. “This union has been in motion since before your sister’s death.”

Serena.

The name hit like a blade to the gut, stealing my breath.

“What does Serena have to do with this?” I rasped.

Madame Clarisse’s eyes gleamed with something cold. “She was promised to him. To Alpha Kael Draxen. But since she failed to honor her commitment…” Her smile was a thing of knives. “You’ll take her place.”

I stared at her, numb. Words tangled in my throat, choking me. “You can’t be serious. I’m not— You can’t just trade me off like livestock!”

Her expression hardened. “Don’t be ungrateful, Ariana. This is the highest honor a girl like you could receive. An alpha is willing to make you his Luna. That kind of power doesn’t come twice.”

“I don’t want power!” My voice cracked, sharp as glass. “I want my life. My choice!”

Her mouth twisted into something cruel. “Your choices died with Serena.”

The words sliced through me, raw and brutal. My chest heaved, but no air seemed to reach my lungs. This couldn’t be happening. It couldn’t.

“You can’t force me,” I whispered, but even as I said it, I knew I was lying—to her, to myself. Madame Clarisse controlled everything. The roof over my head. The scraps I ate. The secrets I’d die to keep buried.

Her gaze softened just enough to make me sick. “It’s already done, child. Kael will be here by nightfall to formalize the arrangement.”

Kael. The name curled through me like smoke, unfamiliar yet sharp enough to sting.

And then last night’s memory clawed its way back.

Molten amber eyes. A voice like dark velvet. The stranger at the bar.

No. It couldn’t be.

Could it?

---

KAEL

The orphanage loomed in the distance, a crooked silhouette against the gray sky.

I tightened my grip on the steering wheel, my jaw clenched so hard it ached. Two years. Two years of searching, and this was where the trail ended—at a crumbling building on the outskirts of nowhere.

Leander’s voice echoed through the mind-link, calm but taut with caution. You don’t have to do this yourself, Kael.

I do, I snapped. I need answers. I need to know why she left.

Silence stretched between us, thick as smoke. Then: The reports were… conflicting.

My throat burned. Conflicting. That was one way to say it. First, they told me Serena ran away. Then that she was taken. Now? Now they whispered she was dead.

Dead.

I gripped the wheel harder, my claws threatening to pierce through the leather. No. Not until I saw proof. Not until I heard it from someone who knew her.

And if they lied to me? If they hid her?

God help them.

---

ARIANA

I stormed out of Madame Clarisse’s office, my chest tight, my hands trembling. The hallway stretched like a tunnel, every step pounding in time with the words that wouldn’t stop ringing in my head.

You’ll take her place.

I slammed my door shut and pressed my back against it, heart thundering like it wanted out. My reflection in the cracked mirror looked like a stranger—green eyes wide with panic, red hair a wild halo around a face gone pale.

Married. To an alpha. In two days.

I wanted to laugh, to scream, to tear the world apart until it made sense. Instead, I slid down the door and buried my face in my hands.

Serena had been the golden one. The chosen one. Beautiful, bright, perfect in every way I wasn’t. And now she was dead—and somehow, I was paying the price for it.

I thought of Riverside University, of the email glowing like a promise in the dark. A future ripped away before it even began.

No. I wouldn’t let this happen. I couldn’t.

I shoved to my feet and marched back to Madame Clarisse’s office, my pulse a drumbeat of defiance. But when I burst through the door, she was already standing—smiling.

“Ah,” she said softly. “He’s here.”

Confusion tangled with dread. “Who—”

The door creaked behind me.

I turned.

And the world tilted on its axis.

Broad shoulders. Black hair. Eyes like molten gold, burning straight through me.

The man from the bar.

Alpha Kael Draxen.

Every muscle in my body locked, my wolf slamming against my ribs in a frenzy of recognition and terror.

His gaze raked over me slowly, like a predator assessing prey—and something else. Something darker.

When he spoke, his voice was a low growl that coiled around my spine like chains.

“You’ll marry me,” he said, each word a promise and a threat. “Whether you want it or not.”