Chapter 02

Alpha Drake was the devil in human form. At least, that was what everyone called him. Actually… he even called himself that.

He had no regard for life. If you made a single mistake, or if he woke up one day and simply decided he didn't want you alive anymore, then that was it. You were dead.

His guards would hunt you down and deliver your head to him. There were even rumors that he kept trophies.

Some people said he had a dark room where he stored the heads of the people he had killed. Honestly? He was a monster.

I was twenty-seven. Drake was said to be twenty-four. Yes, the man I was being forced to marry was younger than me. But age meant nothing when someone had power like his.

He took over his father's pack when he was only sixteen years old, and he had been ruling ever since.

Sixteen. Most wolves were still trying to understand themselves at that age, but Drake was already an Alpha. The Alpha King.

He didn't have a mate either. Which wasn't surprising. Everyone said the Goddess had cursed him. They said someone like him didn't deserve a mate.

They also said he had never shown any interest in women. I had heard so many stories about him that I didn't even know which ones were true anymore.

Some people said he only found pleasure in dark rooms, surrounded by the twisted reminders of the people he had killed. Whether those rumors were true or not… I was still being sent to marry him.

“It's an exchange marriage. It's not like you have much of a life anyway.” My uncle Henry, my mother's brother, said those words so casually. Like he wasn't talking about sending me to a man everyone feared. Like he wasn't basically sending me to my death.

Uncle Henry had hated me from the day I was born. And do you want to know why? My mother died while giving birth to me. To everyone else, it was a tragedy. A heartbreaking accident. But to him? His sister died because of me. That was how he saw it. He believed I had taken her away from him.

He only kept me because he was an Alpha, and abandoning his own niece would have looked bad. But he never loved me. Not once. And neither did his wife or his other children, Kai was kind.

Kai, the youngest son, was eighteen and had fallen in love with the devil's little sister. Not only that… They were fated mates.

They didn't want to waste time. They wanted to get married and leave together to study abroad.

Because of their age, and because Drake's sister was only sixteen, they needed some kind of assurance.

Drake needed to believe Kai would take good care of his sister. But he didn't actually think things through.

My uncle and his family didn't care enough about me. They only saw one thing. A way to use me to make their precious son happy.

Alpha Drake didn't do proper research because he believed that if Kai ever dared to do something to his sister, I would be the person who suffered for it. Silly, honestly. Because he clearly didn't understand my uncle would be happier when I was suffering.

I couldn't refuse. Not really. Uncle Henry did what he always did. He manipulated me. He reminded me that my mother died because of me.

He reminded me that I had taken his sister away. And just like every other time… I let his words affect me. I agreed. I didn't fight back. The wedding happened the same day.

There was no time to think. No time to process that I was marrying not only a stranger, but a monster.

We exchanged vows. A huge celebration was held. Everyone smiled and congratulated us. And then, when the day was over… I was taken to the devil's den.

Now I stood inside the bathroom, staring at myself in the mirror as tears rolled down my cheeks. I hated crying. I hated feeling weak. But I couldn't stop. Because it wasn't just the fear of Drake. It wasn't just knowing that I could die at any moment. I was still hurting.

I had barely recovered from everything Maverick and Hannah had done to me. And then I heard the news. Hannah and Maverick were getting married soon.

The two people who destroyed my life were moving on together. And I was here. About to spend my life with the man everyone called a monster… It–it was too much.

I had been in the bathroom for a while before I finally forced myself to calm down. I wiped my tears and took a deep breath. Then I stepped outside, afraid that Alpha Drake would become annoyed and come looking for me.

When I walked out, I found him sitting on the couch, working on his computer. This was supposed to be our wedding night, we weren't even at the palace. We were staying at some resort.

I had noticed a river nearby. And honestly? I wouldn't have been surprised if he had already planned to drown me there.

“Don't you need me to do anything?” I asked. The moment I said it, I felt stupid. But I didn't know what else to do. I had no idea how someone was supposed to act around a man like him.

Drake finally looked up. “Just stay away from me.” His reply was cold. Distant. But his tone carried so much weight that my entire body stiffened.

“Of course.” I quickly moved toward the bed. Then I stopped. Maybe he didn't want me sleeping there. Maybe I was doing something wrong already. “I'm sorry,” I said quickly. “I'm just nervous.”

I gave an awkward laugh, trying to pretend I was calm when I was anything but that. It was crazy. I was terrified of a man who was literally two years younger than me.

He would be twenty-five soon. And tomorrow, I will be twenty-eight. With my chubby weight, it was embarrassing to even be here, even if he was a normal man, he wouldn't want me in his bed. Only Maverick did and now, no one will ever.

“Take the bed.” His response was filled with annoyance.

I didn't argue. I got into bed. Because even though I felt like I had nothing left to live for… I wasn't trying to die tonight.

Death for werewolves was painful. A silver dagger through my chest? No. Not tonight. So I stayed awake. Every time my eyes started closing, fear would pull me back.

What if he was waiting? What if he decided he wanted me dead? What if the rumors were true?

I had heard about honeymoon crimes before. A husband killing his wife and then returning with a heartbreaking story.

Thankfully, this was modern times, and the police investigated those cases. But the scary thing about werewolves was that even true mates could hurt each other.

They could destroy each other without caring that losing their mate would hurt them too. They simply didn't care.

And Alpha Drake? He looked exactly like the type of person who wouldn't care.

I don't even know how many times I fell asleep and woke up. Five minutes… ten minutes… maybe thirty? I definitely didn't get proper sleep.

Drake eventually fell asleep on the couch, but even then, I didn't trust him. He could have been pretending. Besides, he had a wolf. Wolves didn't need as much sleep as humans. He could stay awake for days and still function perfectly.

When I finally opened my eyes, it was already early morning. Drake was gone. I guess I must have slept longer than I thought.

I went to the bathroom, took a shower, and was drying my hair when I heard a familiar voice calling me from the room.

“Hi, I'm Amara. Hope you remember my name.” She introduced herself. Of course I remembered. She had been in town before, so I knew who she was.

“Kai went fishing, and I'm not interested in that, so you and I are going to therapy.” She smiled.

She was only sixteen, but her voice sounded much more mature. They said our bodies naturally changed after finding our mates, so I guessed that was what happened with her.

“T-therapy?” I stared at her in confusion.

I knew everyone knew about my situation. But why would she care enough to take me to therapy? Especially when this was supposed to be her honeymoon. How did any of this make sense?

“Retail therapy, sister-in-law,” she corrected with a giggle. “I need new dresses to deal with Kai going fishing.”

I needed to be nice, so I awkwardly laughed with her. “Let me just change, then I'll come out.”

“Okay, take your time.” She threw herself onto the bed. “Just kidding. We have a lot of places to visit.” She giggled again, and I gave her an awkward smile before going back into the bathroom.

This girl was important to Alpha Drake. Honestly, his mother and sister were probably the only people in town who were truly safe. So I had to be careful. I had to laugh at her jokes. I had to do whatever she wanted.

Because if I wanted to stay alive a little longer… I needed to keep the people Drake loved happy.

Inside the bathroom, I removed the towel and looked at myself in the mirror. I was about to walk toward my suitcase when the reflection in the mirror changed.

I froze. That wasn't me. It wasn't even a human reflection. A grey wolf stared back at me. Golden eyes locked onto mine. I looked down at my body in shock. Had I shifted? No. That was impossible. I didn't have a wolf.

Everything supernatural about me had been bound. But then… The wolf howled. And the moment I heard it… I recognized who it was.