Marrying her tonight

AURORA'S POV

I stood still for a moment with my glare fixed on Alpha Dane.

He was sitting at the head of the table beside my father, casually, like he already owned the place… like he owned us.

His posture was relaxed, but there was nothing soft about him. Not his eyes, not his jaw, not the aura that hung around him like a storm waiting to break.

He had a crystal glass in hand, sipping it like everything was fine.

My anger increased the moment his eyes shifted and fell on me. They locked onto me, assessing, stripping me bare without even moving. My entire body stiffened more under the weight of his stare.

"Aurora", My father spoke finally, making me flinch. "Take a sit." He added but I didn't move immediately.

"You're late, but it's fine," my mother turned toward me with a soft expression that quickly shifted when she saw my face. Her brow furrowed, and I could see the question forming on her lips.

I obeyed her but I moved to the furthest chair I could find from Alpha Dane. But it didn't matter. I still felt him. He was watching me, judging me probably.

"We weren't expecting a guest," my mother said, offering a polite smile, though there was a crease forming between her brows. "Not that you aren't welcome, Alpha." My mom added. Dane didn't return the smile and didn't respond.

"Yeah Alpha Dane came early," my father said smoothly. "We thought it was best to have a quiet dinner before tomorrow's meeting." He continued.

"Of course. It's .. an honor." My mother gave a tight smile to my father.

"Yes, plans changed after your daughter's death. Your mate and I agreed it was time to move forward." Dane inclined his head in that cold way then he spoke. My pulse spiked immediately and my fingers clenched under the table. I already knew what he was going to say.

"Move forward with what?" my mother asked, her voice light but uncertain.

The clink of my father's fork pausing on his plate was deafening and I felt like dying. "The marriage is taking place tonight"

My breath caught instantly and my head whipped toward him, but it was my mother who spoke first.

"Tonight?" she repeated slowly, blinking. "After the burial of my first daughter?", she asked shocked.

There was a beat of silence. The air felt thick, heavy.

"We need his protection Clara", my father said. "It's happening tonight before she ends up like her sister",

Suddenly the room turned to ice. His words were final but my mother straightened in her chair, color draining from her face. "What?"

"I've made the arrangements," My father continued, like he was discussing the weather. "The next full moon. It's done."

My mother's fork clattered against the porcelain plate with a crystalline chime.

"You made them without me?" my mother hissed. She pushed back from the table slightly, stunned. "Without her?", When she pointed at me, I heard something snap inside my mind, like a taut wire finally breaking.

"I refuse!" I slammed my trembling hands too on the table.

My father's smile vanished, revealing the familiar viciousness beneath. "Sit down. This isn't a request."

"You can't just decide my life. I won't marry him!" I blurted, my voice shaking but loud, "I don't even know him!"

Dane's cold gaze slid over to me. My father's jaw twitched, and the weight of their combined stares crushed the air from my lungs.

"Mind your tongue, Aurora", My father's voice dropped into that dangerous calm before the storm. "As a daughter of this family, you have obligations."

"Obligations?" I nearly laughed. "You're trading me!"

Dane remained silent through it all, watching us with that same cold detachment. Like none of it mattered. Like we were all just pawns already moving across the board.

"Kane", My mother suddenly stood, her frail frame trembling. "We should discuss this first.. cancel the marriage",

I stared at my mother in shock. In all my eighteen years, my mother had never once questioned Father's decisions, enduring everything silently, even the midnight screams and the makeup she'd apply over bruises come morning.

My father's expression twisted. "Clara" he said slowly. "are you challenging me?"

The air in the dining room turned to ice. I watched my mother's finger nails elongate. She probably wanted to shift and fight her mate but she knew it that she couldn't win an Alpha.

"I'm her mother." Her whisper was broken. "I have the right-"

Before she could finish her sentence, my father lunged across the table, yanking my mother up by her hair. Her choked cry as she clutched at her scalp would haunt me forever.

"Mom!" I surged forward, only for Dane's iron-arm grip to shackle me in place.

"Behave, little bride," he hissed, foul breath scalding my ear. "Watch and learn."

The slap cracked like gunfire. My mother crashed into the side table, a crystal vase exploding against her temple in a burst of blood and shards.

"Twenty years I tolerated your weakness," he snarled, fangs elongating, "and now you dare defy me before guests?"

I raked claws down Dane's arm, but his grip didn't budge. "Let me go!"

He chuckled darkly, wrenching my neck to force me to watch as my father hauled my mother up like a broken doll. Just as the third punch landed my mother's blood splattered onto my skirt.

"I'll do it!" I screamed until my voice shattered. "I'll marry him! Just stop!"

He released her with a heaving breath. My mother collapsed, coughing blood onto the shattered porcelain.

I scrambled to her side, my shaking fingers brushing her swollen cheek.

"Mom..." My tears fell on her bruised eyelids.

My father released her with a heaving breath. Mother collapsed, coughing blood onto the shattered porcelain.

Her eyes held oceans of sorrow. "I'm sorry... I couldn't protect you..."

Father straightened his cuffs, the picture of calm once more. "A wise choice, Aurora", He turned to Dane. "Our agreement stands."

Dane rose, looming over our huddled forms. "I'll collect my bride soon." At the door, he glanced back with a predator's smile. "Look forward to our wedding, bride."

When the door thundered shut, I finally broke, curling around my mother like a wounded animal. The last look Father gave us made one thing clear: from this moment, even our tears were forbidden luxuries.

"There's always a way," my mother whispered, her broken finger tracing my tear-streaked face.

I closed my eyes against the lie.

There was no way.

There never had been.

My father turned, his brow furrowing as he saw me still sitting.

"Aurora, go and prepare yourself right now."

My hands clenched in my lap. My throat burned with all the words I wanted to say. But my eyes darted to my mother, pale, trembling, staring down like she might shatter if she moved.

And in that fragile moment, the fight in me wavered. If I resisted now, he would hurt her more. I swallowed hard, forcing my wolf back down. The taste of blood filled my mouth.

"Yes," I said softly, though my heart screamed.

For now… I would obey.

For her.