Chapter 2

Nikolai:

“I accept your rejection, Alpha Nikolai Romanov.”

The words should have been a relief. They were not.

My wolf slammed against the inside of me like a fist against a locked door. I felt it in my knuckles, in the way my fingers curled until the nails bit my palms.

No!

I ignored him and watched as  Valeria stood across from me with her chin lifted, the contract crushed between her fingers.

Mate.

I had known the second she crossed the threshold. Before her eyes found mine and before she inhaled the same air as me. She was mine…

And I was rejecting her.

The word nearly left my mouth when I saw my mother again: pale beneath linen, the Romanov mark darkening against her throat while her wolf thinned and vanished. I had been thirteen. I remembered every scream as if it were my own.

So I had done the only thing I could.

I rejected her.

“You may go,” I said. “The maids are going to show you to your chamber.”

Her brows lifted. “That’s all?”

“For now.” I said, and she scoffed.

“How generous.”

Wolfless. That was what the files said. Every healer who had examined Valeria Morozova had reached the same conclusion: no wolf. No bond. No threat.

“I assume someone will tell me what happens next,” she said. “I mean, after your maids guide me to the chamber?”

“Yes.”

“Wonderful.” She turned toward the doors. “I’ll be expecting them, then.”

“Valeria.” I said, calling for her.

She stopped and looked over her shoulder. My wolf surged at the sound of it. But I knew the truth behind this, rejecting her was the only thing that might keep her alive. That if I marked her, I could kill her.

Instead I looked at the unmarked skin at the side of her throat and kept my mouth shut. “You will be informed of your duties and tasks, and I will expect no mistakes… do you understand me?”

The softness that had almost touched her face vanished. “Of course, you needn’t worry, Alpha. I might not have a wolf, but I am no fool.” She opened the doors and walked out.

I remained still until the doors closed, then I let out the breath I had been holding.

Idiot. My wolf’s voice tore through my mind. She is ours. You shouldn’t have let her go!

“She will live,” I said aloud, because saying it made it real. “To say the least, this could be her only chance.”

Ours.

The doors opened and Viktor entered without waiting for permission. He had known me long enough to know that this was something that he would easily get away with.

“You rejected her despite her feeling the bond.” he said.

“I wasn’t going to stand by and wait for her to die simply because she was cursed by being my mate.” I said, and he shook his head.

“How can a wolfless woman have an Alpha as her mate?” He asked, and I shook my head, not knowing the answer. “You know that it should concern you.” He lowered his voice. “Because I think the council misclassified her.”

My gaze sharpened. “She has been examined since childhood… it is not the council who misclassified her.”

“Then perhaps everyone missed something.”

The possibility had already been gnawing at me. Valeria Morozova had been chosen because she was supposed to be simple: disgraced bloodline, no wolf, no political leverage. She was convenient. Disposable. The perfect solution for an Alpha who needed an heir without a mate.

Instead, fate had made her mine. And something inside her had resisted Romanov command.

“You cannot go through with this as originally planned,” Viktor said.

“Yes, I can.” I said, knowing that it was going to be more difficult, but it was still possible.

“Nikolai.” His voice softened in a way that made my teeth ache. “You rejected your mate.”

“I rejected the bond.”

“That distinction will mean nothing to your wolf.” He said, looking me in the eye. “And you do realize that it is going to be more difficult to control him…”

I moved to the council table. “The wedding proceeds.”

He stared. “So, you still intend to marry her?”

“She signed the agreement.” I said calmly. “And I will still expect an heir as it is the purpose of the marriage.”

Viktor’s face changed, and for the first time in years he looked genuinely speechless. “You cannot mark her.”

“I have no intention of marking her.” I said calmly. “I only intend to consummate the marriage.”

“You are playing with something you do not understand.”

“No.” I stopped beside the table. “I understand it better than anyone… and I am not going to stop simply because fate decided to stand against me.”

Viktor rubbed his jaw. “And if being with her strengthens the bond?”

“It won’t change anything.” He watched me long enough to make me uncomfortable, then sighed. “The ceremony begins before sunset. Have the maids prepare Valeria” His eyes narrowed. “Once the ceremonies are completed, she is to be brought to my rooms.”

“You rejected her less than ten minutes ago,” he said. “And now you intend to tell her she must spend the night in your bed.”

“She already knows what this marriage requires… and we are going to proceed as we are.”

Viktor shook his head. “You have no idea how badly this could end.”

“Have the maids prepare her,” I repeated. “I expect my wife in my rooms once the ceremonies are finished.”

Viktor’s expression darkened. Then he bowed. “As you command, Alpha Romanov.”

He turned to leave. “Viktor.”

He stopped. “No one tells her about the curse.”

His shoulders stiffened. “Nikolai.”

I met his eyes, stopping him before he could say another word. “What are you going to tell her when she asks why you rejected her?”

I thought of Valeria’s face, the way she had accepted without begging, the way her voice had hardened when she used my full title. “Nothing. She would be gone in a year, so there would be no need for me to do so…”

Viktor stared for several seconds, then walked out. I was alone again.

My wolf returned like a tide. She will hate us.

That was a good thing, though. If she hated me by the end of the year, perhaps leaving would be easy. I had no reason to care about that. At least, that was what I told myself.

But the wolf’s whisper lingered, and for the first time in years, the certainty that had shaped my life cracked just enough for something else to try and get in.

She is ours, the wolf said again. And we can’t change that…