Chapter 4

Aria’s POV 

 I struggled as Ronan pulled me forcefully into our pack mansion. The guards outside stood still while he rough-handled their princess. My brow furrowed, knowing it wasn’t supposed to be so. 

Did my mother approve of this? No! She would never. 

“Let go of me, you toxic bastard!” I yelled, fighting with every strength I had left. 

His grip on my arm tightened as he pulled me up with my legs brushing against the tiles roughly. 

His dark eyes settled on mine, and I hated the satisfaction I saw in them when he noticed my eyes misted with tears.  

“Still acting like a spoiled brat?” He sneered. 

I yanked my arm again as he pulled harder this time, causing a sharp pain to shoot through my skull as I shrieked loud enough for the maids to lower their heads, daring not to take another glance. 

“Will you shut up!” He commanded, and his loud growl pierced through my ears as he finally shoved me into an open space. 

The room went quiet, and the heat of everyone’s gaze on me made my throat run dry. I immediately sprang up and rushed to my mother. “Mother! Ronan did bad things, and he…”

Her cold gaze settled on the red imprints on my arm, and the next thing that followed was a slap to my face. Loud and heavy that it caused me to see stars immediately. 

In all my life, my mother has never hit me; that truth shook against the scale that Ronan mattered more than I did. She punished me but it was never physical abuse.

My fingers slowly rose to my cheeks as my eyes burned with tears. I stared at my father, who would rather not get involved in any of this. 

Have they been brainwashed by Ronan? No matter how hard I tried to convince myself, none of it seemed to matter right now. It was always about the marriage to them. 

I summoned courage and stared at my mother again. “Mother…” I called faintly. 

She didn’t spare me a single glance, but rather her eyes shifted to Ronan. “The Crescent Moon pack apologizes on our daughter’s behalf.”

My heart sank, realizing whatever Ronan had said to them was far from the truth. 

I lunged at him and pushed him hard as he gripped me by my hair. I squinted my eyes shut as Mother stood still. “Your daughter has made a fool out of me and my family, and you think a mere apology is going to settle it?” 

His tone was filled with disappointment, as though he had expected them to do better. 

“Ronan! That’s enough,” my father roared, his pupils crimson red as though he had had enough of the drama. 

Ronan laughed before he reluctantly pushed me off. A maid rushed to my aid, making sure I was okay. 

I didn’t react; I was too weak and also because I couldn’t tell what was going on here. Which side were they on anyway?

“You have no right to have a say in this matter, Alpha. The mountain pack trusted you, and this is how you repay us, by having your daughter bonded.”

“Liar! It just happened, and stop acting like you’ve been so faithful yourself.”

He pushed his hair back with his palm and smiled slyly at me. “Do you have proof of your claims?”

I stole a quick glance at my parents, who seemed to avoid my eyes. Mother shook her head while my father’s eyes shook.

The only thought on my mind was what Ronan was to gain from this. 

“I never betrayed you, Mother. That I swear it. The kiss with Alpha Kael was only but a mistake and we can—“

“A mistake, you say? Your foolishness has tainted my status and family name. Don't be stupid, girl,” my father spat, knowing with the way things were nothing was going to remain the same.

An image of how happy I was with Seren flashed through my mind as hot tears streamed down my face. Why is this happening to me? 

Why now of all times?

My father narrowed his eyes and rubbed his hands together. It seems he was calm now. “What do we do to fix this? Because my daughter can never be a Luna of that family,” there, he finally said it. The words I had always wanted to hear. 

My heart tightened as I struggled to get on my feet. I sniffed and swallowed hard as my parents gambled my future with a man who wasn’t even fit to be here in the first place. 

Ronan looked directly at me. “To mark her.”

My heart stopped. "No." My answer was bold as I balled my hands into a fist. “I'd never let that happen.”

He grabbed me roughly and pressed me still with my back against his hard chest as his other hand stayed on my neck, regulating my rapid breathing. 

What did he have other than that? That, I repeatedly asked myself. 

“So what's it going to be like, Alpha?” He asked. “Let me mark the princess, and we all call a spade a spade.”

“You'd be killing two birds with one stone knowing the black-furred Alpha wolf could go mad,” he added. 

I stayed still as my heart beat skyrocketed. His sharp claws grazed against my flesh as goosebumps appeared on my skin. 

My father’s gaze turned deadly as he took some few steps forward. “How dare you try to blackmail me and threaten my daughter in my house?”

“I'm only trying to protect my reputation.”

“One you never had in the first place, that is,” I struggled to say. 

He pressed harder, and I cried in pain. “You’re in no position to talk back, so why don’t you do what you’re told?”

“I'd rather die than be yours forever, and Kael’s going to kill you.”

He smirked and leaned in further. His cold tongue brushed against my bare skin, sending bolts of lightning shooting through me. 

“Be a good girl, Aria.” 

Hot tears dropped from my eyes like rain as I prayed for the goddess to intervene. 

“I’d let go of her if I were you,” a familiar voice said from behind us. Sweating profusely with blood shot red eyes as though he had ran all the way here. My heart pulled harder as I spat out blood feeling whatever pain he was experiencing.

The others turned around, and my entire body stiffened as our eyes met: Kael. 

What exactly was he doing here? 

For a moment nobody moved as he made his way to us. The maids murmured. In a thousand years, no member of the black fur pack had set their foot in Crescent territory, and here he was, walking like he owned the place. 

Ronan immediately let go of me, as though some invisible force had pressured him to. I remained on the ground, trying to stabilize my breath and the pain that was killing me inside. 

My Mother didn’t even come to my aid and the thought of it intensified the pain I was feeling. 

“What are you doing here?” My father asked, glaring at him as guards swarmed the room, waiting for Father's orders. 

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m here for my mate,” the moment he said that, everyone’s gaze landed on me.