MEETING THANE

Thane Thunderhoof sat in his room, his eyes fixed on the wall as his thoughts consumed him, filled with regret and longing.

The outside world was once his battleground. He had been the perfect warrior: strong, fast, ruthless. Now, his legs, shattered by a brutal rogue battle, were glued to a wheelchair. His pride was gone, his confidence gone, his strength gone.

This once mighty warrior, the future Alpha of the Lunar Pack, was no more than a ghost of what he used to be: broken and useless, he felt. The future of his pack seemed so bleak. The rogues; those no-good, damned creatures, were once more on the rise. It wasn't the pain of the wounds that troubled him.; it was the pain of abandonment and helplessness that was tearing at his heart.

Axel was a fated mate who had left him for dead in that loneliest cold corner of his mind, and now everything associated, even with the memories of their love, was bitter, taunting remarks as far as his frailty was concerned.

“What's the point of being a fated mate if they can't even stay?” Thane muttered bitterly, his finger digging into the armrest of his chair. More than the scar on his body, it was the one in his heart that ran deeper.

The door creaked open. He didn't need to look to know who it was.

Father.

Standing in the doorway was Malcolm Thunderhoof, his father and Alpha of the Lunar Pack. Over seventy now, he still carried himself with the surety of one many years his junior. His eyes gently fell on Thane, but there was no pity in them, just concern.

"Son, we need to talk about the future."

Thane sighed, wanting to avoid speaking about the future. It was grey, like some sort of thorny highway. Yet, he couldn't help but see the concern in his father's eyes, his own too, for these past months. The question of how he would be an Alpha when he wasn't even capable of walking, let alone leading with a broken entity.

"I know, Father. I think now understand what you're thinking. I am not fit to lead anymore."

Malcolm shook his head, walking over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You're stronger than you think, Thane. You've always been strong. Your strength, however, isn't just in your body—it's in your heart, your mind. It's in how you rise after a fall."

"Then why does it feel like I'm drowning deeper with every breath?"

Before Malcolm could answer, a gentle rapping came from the other side of the door. Thane looked up, the flicker of confusion crossing his eyes. Who was it that would come at this hour?

The door opened, revealing an unfamiliar face. The woman standing there—River—looked out of place in the luxurious hall of the Lunar Pack. But what really struck Thane was the energy surrounding her. Something about her seemed different. A bit wild, a bit untamed. Something sparked within him, but he quickly dismissed it.

“River Ravenwood,” Malcolm said with smiles, stepping aside. “Welcome. We’ve been expecting you.”

River did not immediately enter the room, instead she threw a glance at Thane. For a moment, neither said anything. The tension between them was thick, as if each knew that neither had any other choice but to bear what was to come.

Thane cleared his throat. "I have heard of you, but I do not see why you are here. We are strangers to one another."

River stood tall, meeting his gaze. “I’m here because of my father. He wants an alliance between our packs. I’m the price.”

Thane frowned, feeling a pang of something—regret, maybe? But what bothered him more was the bitterness in River’s words. Neither one of them wished to be there, and he was unsure if he wanted her there either.

“You’re not a price, River. You’re a person.”

She laughed. "Tell that to my father and yours."

Thane also chuckled.

As the night wore on, River and Thane exchanged only few words between them. They both felt the weight of what was going on: an arranged marriage, a forced union. And though the bitterness was heavy within them, there was something beneath their silence, a feeling that destiny had brought them together in most unlikely of ways.

And with the moon overhead, shining that pale, silver light through the window into the room, for the first time in her life, River felt something. She was not invisible; she was seen by a man who would at least understand her pain.

The journey was far from over. For the first time, though, River thought maybe, just maybe, she did have a chance at something more. With the precious secrets she had discovered in the attic, she now had a chance at a better future. Secrets she would keep within herself, as long as possible.

River had never been one for grand entrances. As a matter of fact, she had never been invited to anything remotely close to grand. Today was different, though. She wasn't some nameless, faceless entity lost in a sea of people; she was being dragged right into the hotbed of politics, alliances, and unwanted promises that was her life.

Her father, Raymond Ravenwood, had made sure of that. Arranged marriages were nothing new within their world, but it felt colder than any. There was no love here, no whispered affection, only a political game being played at her expense.

She stood in the main hall of Lunar Pack, striving not to feel so small and out of place, despite knowing fully well what she must look like. The stone walls closed in on her, cold seeping into her bones as she sat across from Thane Thunderhoof.

He sat in his wheelchair, a warrior he once was, all bulk of muscles, though the break in his body still sowed . River had heard stories of Thane: his bravery, his strength and ruthlessness in battle; but none of it mattered anymore. A shadow of the great warrior was before her. His eyes, once bright with confidence, were dull now, like embers of a fire which had burnt too long without nourishment.

“So,” River said, breaking the silence, “this is where we’re supposed to make our grand debut as a couple, huh?”

Thane didn’t answer right away, his gray eyes studying her with a mix of curiosity and reluctance. His voice was low when he finally spoke, a gravelly tone that seemed at odds with the usual strength he exuded. “Seems like it. But I’m sure neither of us asked for this.”

"Well, there's always the option of running away," River said, attempting a joke, but the words came out laced with a bitter edge.

Thane's lips moved just a little bit when he spoke. It wasn't much of a smile, but it was enough for River. This made River's heart beat faster. A thought struck her. Maybe, if they both looked at the problem together, they would find a way out of it.

"Running wouldn't do either of us much good, as you can see." Thane said, and motioned to his crippled legs. "The whole pack would run us down like wolves after a rabbit.”

River huffed a half-hearted laugh that sounded more like the sigh of defeat. "You are right.” She looked at his legs covered with a shawl. “Sorry about your legs."

Thane simply nodded.

They were silent for a moment, reality settling heavy around them. A weird kind of tension it was, not born out of hostility but simply out of the fact that neither knew what to expect from this marriage and neither knew how to go about it. Both were forced into it, both powerless to alter the course their lives now traveled upon.

"You don't have to do this, you know," Thane said suddenly, "There is yet time. You don't need to marry me."

River's eyes widened in surprise at the offer. "And what would that look like, pray tell? Me going back to my father and begging him to let me off the hook?”

Thane's eyes flashed dark, and in that single moment, she had seen him; the ghost of what would become the alpha, that didn't give up any battle. "You want to leave, River, that's your call to make, I won't stop you, but you could do a damned sight better than getting dragged into something just for your father's convenience.

By those words, River's chest screwed a little tighter; she could not tell whether that was conviction or an offer for an easy quit point that would relieve Thane of his guilt of saddling her with himself. Whatever was making him say so, she was grateful, way more than she cared to acknowledge.

But it didn’t matter. The truth was, she had no choice. The marriage was set, the deal made. Her future had already been decided for her.

“I don’t have a choice,” she said quietly, looking away from him. “Neither of us does.”

Thane seemed to consider this for a moment before nodding slowly. “I guess we’re both stuck with each other, then.”

River's voice barely above a whisper. "If it would help, I have my flaws too. I am wolfless."

Thane's expression darkened, his voice laced with anger. "What?"